Memphis Football: 3 takeaways from win over Tulsa in Week 10
By Dana Becker
1. Montgomery on hot seat in Tulsa
Last year, Philip Montgomery looked like the right fit for Tulsa, leading them from six wins in 2015 to a 10-3 season that ended in a win in the Miami Beach Bowl.
Now, sitting at 2-8 through 10 games in 2017, Montgomery might be feeling the fire from Golden Hurricane fans.
A former finalist for the Broyles Award, given annually to the top assistant coach in college football, Montgomery’s Tulsa teams are lacking the extra punch this year that they had a season ago – and even two years back when they finished fourth in the American West division.
The 45-year-old was a two-way starter at Tarleton State at both quarterback and free safety. He made his mark in coaching with Baylor, helping the Bears put together one of the more dynamic offenses in the country from 2008-14.
This Tulsa team, though, will not be going bowling for a third consecutive season, as they close with South Florida and Temple.
On offense, the Golden Hurricane have scored over 30 points just once since a 54-51 loss to in September to Toldeo. That was a 45-17 victory over Houston that appeared to possibly be a jumping off point to reaching the postseason.
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Instead, Tulsa has lost 20-14, 38-34 and 41-14 over the last three weeks. As noted, four of the eight losses have been by a touchdown or less, but results are what everybody looks at nowadays and Montgomery isn’t delivering.