Three Things Tulsa Coach Philip Montgomery Said at His Tuesday Teleconference

Philip Montgomery’s Tuesday teleconference with reporters was supposed to be a few days out from his team’s season-opening game, but instead of a heavy load of football-related questions, he had to answer questions on the game’s postponement.

On Monday, Oklahoma State and Tulsa postponed their season-opening matchup to Sept. 19, citing corona virus-related stoppages in Tulsa’s fall camp not giving the Golden Hurricane ample time to prepare.

Montgomery, Tulsa’s coach, still took part in his scheduled teleconference Tuesday. Here are three of the topics he hit on.

1. Monday’s Postponement Helps Level an Already Tough Playing Field for Tulsa

Monday showed the world what an underprepared team could look like.

BYU throttled Navy 55-3 on Monday night, as the Midshipmen were unable to play much live football in their fall camp because of COVID-19 restrictions. BYU outgained Navy 580 yards to 149 yards in front of a national TV audience.

Monday evening’s delay of the OSU/Tulsa game could have prevented something similar from happening in Stillwater.

“I think that’s one of the reasons why this postponement for one week is gonna help both universities,” Montgomery said. “You’re trying to, again, make sure that your team is ultimately prepared to play the game at the right level and at the right pace. This is a game that can show your weaknesses in a hurry, especially depending upon who you’re playing.

“Obviously, I’m looking at [OSU]. They got a lot of guys back. They feel, obviously, very confident in who they are and what they do, and I know for sure that our guys have got to be prepared to step on the field against a very explosive, talented team.”

2. Importance of Keeping the Game Scheduled

As drastic as the postponement seemed Monday evening, it doesn’t seem like too big a deal for either side.

OSU and Tulsa each had Sept. 19 open, so it isn’t as if too many things had to be shuffled around. Something that should give fans of either team a little peace of mind is that Montgomery said there wasn’t ever talk of outright canceling the contest.

“I think both universities want to play this game,” Montgomery said. “It’s an important game for the state, in my opinion. This has been a great rivalry. Both these universities have played each other a multitude of times. I think it just makes a ton of sense.

“There wasn’t ever any talk of just flat canceling the game. I think both schools and both universities want to play the game. I think the teams want to play the game, so that was never really the discussion. It was just ‘Hey, we both have an open date the very next week. It just makes a lot of sense right now that you just postpone it for one week and then we’ll play it a week from Saturday.'”

3. Tulsa Filing for Waiver for Bryce Bray

Bryce Bray’s transfer to Tulsa was late in the summer and rather sudden, but apparently there is still a chance he suits up for the Golden Hurricane in 2020.

Montgomery said Tulsa will file a waiver in hopes to get Bray immediate eligibility. Given he transferred in mid-August, it would seem unlikely he would be available for TU’s game against OSU next weekend. However, Tay Martin transferred from Washington State after that, and he is already eligible and on OSU’s two-deep.

The two cases have differing circumstances with Martin transferring from a school that wasn’t playing fall football, and Bray being dismissed from OSU, but the NCAA’s transfer policy can be a fickle ordeal.

“Bryce is a very talented young man,” Montgomery said. “He’s a big kid that can move. He’s got great feet, and we’re excited about adding him to our program. He brings a lot to the table.”

“We’ll submit the paperwork, and we’ll see what the NCAA says. At this point, we’re not there yet, but we’re excited to have Bryce. He’s already, I think, kinda found his niche with us and within our offensive line. It’s been great having him around.”