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Smith Makes Tulsa a Title Contender
Published: 8/30/2007 10:32 PM
Last Modified: 8/30/2007 10:32 PM

Tulsa has a chance for another great season because of quarterback Paul Smith.
A good quarterback can cover up a lot of other shortcomings in college football.
Smith covered up a shaky first half for the Golden Hurricane in a solid 35-17 victory at Louisiana-Monroe on Thursday night.
Winning on the road to open the season is always a good omen.
Smith was his usual self. When Tulsa needed someone to step up, make some plays and get on top of the Warhawks, the Hurricane looked to Smith, its natural leader, and he responded.
A good quarterback can win games that would otherwise be hopeless.
This game was far from hopeless. It was just sloppy for 30 minutes.
However, when Tulsa needed to steady the shiip and put doubt in the minds of Monroe, Smith delivered.
Quarterback is the most important position at all levels of football.
But in college football, where the talent level between teams can sometimes be rather large, a good quarterback can level the playing field.
Two years ago, Tulsa played Oklahoma in an even game in Norman although the Sooners had a huge edge in overall talent.
Eventually, OU was saved by Adrian Peterson with a couple of fabulous fourth quarter runs.
But until those late heroics by Peterson, Tulsa was actually the better team because Smith completely outplayed OU's Rhett Bomar.
That's what happens.
Smith is one of those guys that makes the right decisions. He doesn't put his team in bad spots.
He makes the smart choice when throwing the ball.
Tulsa has a good chance to win its second Conference USA in three years because of Smith.
He is the league's best player and makes TU a good bet to win the conference and play a Southeastern Conference team in the Liberty Bowl.
On Thursday night, he saved the Hurricane on the road in the deep south.
This was not a game to be remembered. But it was, nonetheless, an important start to this season.



Reader Comments 1 Total
Jeremy (5 years ago)
I'll go a step further John. If OU doesn't bring it's "A" game to Skelly on Sept. 21, it could leave Tulsa an upset victim.
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Klein's Korner

Tulsa World senior sports columnist John Klein is in his fourth decade of covering sports. He started his newspaper career at The Daily Ardmoreite in 1977 and moved to the Tulsa World in 1978. He served 10 years as sports editor for the Tulsa World before being named to his current position in 2005. He also spent five years as the Southwest Conference beat writer for the Houston Post. He has won many writing awards and is a former Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year.

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