Alexander’s promotion: Last season, Derrick Alexander was a backup defensive end. During the spring, he was a backup defensive end. Brentom Todd was touted as the University of Tulsa’s best pass-rush guy.
Now, as the Golden Hurricane approaches the Aug. 29 opener at Bowling Green, Alexander (a sophomore and former Booker T. Washington star) has supplanted Todd (a junior and former Union star) as a starter at one of the end positions. Currently, the other starter is Chris Hummingbird, a relentlessly steady junior from Tahlequah Sequoyah.
The 6-foot-2, 267-pound Alexander was involved in the rotation last season, but now is preparing for more snaps and a greater level of responsibility.
“When your time comes, you have to be prepared for it. Otherwise, you lose the game,” he said. “I believe we have a chance to be better than we’ve ever been before.
“I never thought of myself as being a (second-team player). Even last year, when we had a dude (Jared St. John) who played in front of me and got 11 sacks, I never thought of myself as a two. I always told him that I was trying to take his job.”
During TU’s recent Media Day event, the eloquent Todd was among the more frequently interviewed players. How has he responded to running with the No. 2 defense?
“I think it shook him up at first, and now he’s digging down again,” Hurricane coach Bill Blankenship said. “Once he realized that it wasn’t a motivational ploy – that we were grading production – it made him go, ‘Ah, I’ve got to dig.’
“I think (Todd) got comfortable. I think the other two just didn’t read the clippings. I think they all three have worked hard, but (Alexander and Hummingbird) made up ground.”
When Alexander opened preseason camp with the No. 2 unit, “that put a little fire in me,” he said. “I got refocused. I got right spiritually, and it helped me excel during this camp.”
Alexander says he and Todd have both a friendship and a competitive relationship.
“It’s not awkward. That’s football,” Alexander said. “If you don’t have competition, you can’t get better. The team can’t get better. That friendship is going to have some adversity, but the coaches’ job is to put the best man on the field. You have to trust the coaches.”
Alexander has one of the more impressive beards in the program. He says his face hasn’t been completely shaved in 13 months.
“I’m letting (the beard) go for the rest of the season. No shaving,” he said. “By the bowl game, I might have to braid it or something.”
-- Bill Haisten
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