Tulsa World: Practice Report: Tulsa

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Practice Report: Tulsa

University of Tulsa football player Alex Singleton at Media Day. Stephen Pingry/Tulsa World

By ERIC BAILEY AND JIMMIE TRAMEL, World Sports Writers
Published: 8/15/2009 2:21 AM
Last Modified: 8/15/2009 6:34 AM

Position update

Cornerback

Three lettermen return at the cornerback position this season — seniors Kenny D. Sims and John Destin and sophomore John Flanders. Sims has started 27 career games, including 20 at cornerback. Destin has six career starts, and Destin five.

Sims and Destin have provided leadership during preseason camp, defensive coordinator Keith Patterson said. Flanders is pushing for playing time, and junior college transfer LaQuentin Black is looking to make an impact.

Sophomore Reid Singleton is healthy after battling a knee injury and true freshman Tony Peoples has turned some heads.

Takeaways are a point of emphasis with this group. Sims, Destin and Flanders combined for only two interceptions last season. Graduated cornerback Roy Roberts had three picks.

As a team, TU finished with nine interceptions.

News and notes

Getting physical: TU hasn't had any days off since reporting on Aug. 4. The defense hasn't taken any days off, senior linebacker Mike Bryan said.

"We're coming together," said Bryan, TU's leading tackler last season. "We're trying to do the same thing we did in the spring and carry it over into the fall. I think we're doing that.

"We still have the same hard-edge attitude and we're just going to work. Everyone is looking to do their 1/11th out there."

"The one thing that we have going right now is we have a great spirit about ourselves," defensive coordinator Keith Patterson said. "The kids have a tremendous passion and work ethic. We're trying to get better every day."

Getting adjusted: Alex Singleton, a highly recruited running back from Louisiana, is making the transition to the college game. In high school, he was the featured back in a run-first, ball-control offense. At TU, he's learning the program's fast-break style.

"The adjustment is tough," Singleton said. "Coach Graham expects so much from us. The tempo is very hard for me because I came from a huddle-type offense. This offense is 1-2-go."

There is a reward. The Golden Hurricane open the season Aug. 4 at Tulane, which is just minutes from his hometown of LaPlace.

"My whole family will be at that game and I can't wait for it," Singleton said. "I'm just doing my best to try to get on the field and show that I'm playing."

Scrimmage time: Tulsa will hold a closed scrimmage on Sunday night. It is the team's second workout of fall camp.

Opponent watch

East Carolina

East Carolina prepared for its first scrimmage of fall camp with a two-hour workout in shorts and helmets on Friday afternoon.

The scrimmage will be designed to produce the program's first depth chart of the season. Coach Skip Holtz kept the Pirates out of pads to minimize contact during Friday's practice, which focused on individual drills and skeleton work.

"I feel real good about the week of practice leading up to tomorrow's scrimmage," Holtz said. "We've had a physical week and certainly have had our share of colliding and banging, so we have a lot of guys who are sore. Plus, going in shorts also allowed us to use this practice as an opportunity to polish things up for the scrimmage."

Key dates

Aug. 24: Classes begin

Aug. 31: First Todd Graham press conference

Sept. 4: Tulsa at Tulane, 7 p.m., La. Superdome

2009 schedule

Sept. 4: at Tulane ESPN-25 7 p.m.

Sept. 12: at New Mexico *7 p.m.

Sept. 19: at Oklahoma FSOK-27 2:30 p.m.

Sept. 26: Sam Houston State 6 p.m.

Oct 3: at Rice CBSC-249 6:30 p.m.

Oct. 14: Boise State ESPN-25 7 p.m.

Oct. 21: at UTEP ESPN-25 7 p.m.

Oct. 31: SMU 1 p.m.

Nov. 7: Houston CBSC-249 6:30 p.m.

Nov. 15: East Carolina ESPN-25 7:15 p.m.

Nov. 21: at Southern Miss 6 p.m.

Nov. 27: Memphis CBSC-249 Noon

Dec. 5: C-USA championship game TBA

*on MountainWest Sports Network (not available on Cox in Tulsa) By ERIC BAILEY AND JIMMIE TRAMEL, World Sports Writers

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