UNIVERSITY OF TULSA FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

August 29, 2024

Kirk Francis

Press Conference

Tulsa 62, Northwestern State 28

Q. Your touchdown throws, none of them were cheapies. Do you have a favorite from that batch?

KIRK FRANCIS: Honestly, they were all really good. JB had a really nice catch. He was kind of falling down in the end zone. I was like, why you falling?

Kam obviously we have great chemistry. We always have. He finds ways to get open down the field. Conner Vaughn is one of our best tight ends. He is really twitchy, great mover, and he made two incredible catches tonight that made me look really good, so I appreciate him for that.

Q. What kind of improvement have you seen from Connor going back from the end of last season to now?

KIRK FRANCIS: He's matured so much on and off the field. I think he's really a guy who can be a great tool for us this year. Great weapon down the field and the blocking game. I think he's someone you'll see a lot.

Q. Maybe some plays that you weren't a part of today would be those two returns. What were you thinking on the sidelines when you see Kam and Lloyd make those runs?

KIRK FRANCIS: Yeah, that's a great feeling honestly. Seeing the returner in the end zone, it's a great feeling.

And Lloyd is a really special player. As a true freshman coming in, we've known that since the first day he touched the field. You guys have seen Kam. I think we're going to be really dangerous in the special teams unit this year.

Q. Also sit on the sidelines and you see Northwestern State go down and score on the second play of the game. Come out and don't get it the first time; you get it the second time. What was being said?

KIRK FRANCIS: Definitely just don't panic. We prepared for this situation. It's all about how you overcome adversity. We got to establish the run game. We knew that coming out in the first drive when we punted. We didn't run the ball very well. Missed a go ball down the field to JB.

But it's about how you overcome that and how you respond, and I think we responded really well. We established the run game and hit some shots down the field, and that kind of opened everything up for us.

Q. Beyond just wanting him because he's from here and you work out with him during the off season here, but to get Braylin, kind of break the ice with him, get him in the end zone, get him fourth down throw, how important do you think that is? You got to like targets all over the place. To get Braylin involved is like an X factor, like a curve ball type guy. How important is that?

KIRK FRANCIS: It's you huge, honestly. He is going to be a really big player for us. You guys have seen how dangerous us he is with the ball in his hands. I think he had some really big receptions tonight. He had that long fourth down and then we had the reverse for a touchdown, which was huge for him. I think he's going to have a breakout year. I'm really excited for him.

Q. Talk a little bit about what Steptoe brings. Feels a little bit like a deep threat also. Talk about what he kind of brings to this offense.

KIRK FRANCIS: Definitely. He can do a little bit of everything. That guy practices harder than anyone I've ever seen before. He's so deserving of getting targets. He works harder, blocks downfield every single play for the other guys. He is so good about running off. He has earned those targets and he's going to make the most of them. You can trust that guy.

Q. Seemed like early on with Kam Benjamin you guys continued off a little bit of what ya'll had going last year.

KIRK FRANCIS: Yep.

Q. How has that relationship developed and why does it seem that you guys have such good chemistry together?

KIRK FRANCIS: Yeah, Kam and I instantaneously, once I hit the field last year we had a great connection. We grew a lot off the field this off-season. I think he's a guy I can trust, that guy I can rely on. Find 18; he's going to be open all the time.

He makes me look good a lot. He gets wide open. I really appreciate that. He's really good with the ball in his hands and really good one-on-one.

Q. In general, how do you evaluate your performance tonight and what was your feeling going out there the very first time?

KIRK FRANCIS: Definitely. You never know how the first game of the season will go. Obviously not the start that you want. We did some really good things; we did some bad things. There are some throws I wish I had back and some throws I'm happy about. It's all about just getting better every single day, every single week.

They say the jump from week one to two is the biggest out of any week. That's what we're looking forward for next week.

Q. You got one drive after another for the most part early in the game tonight. I get the sense that that could change at any time. Kevin did go to Cooper in the red zone at one point. When you don't know drive to drive if you're going to be in, seems like that could mess with somebody. How do you personally deal with that?

KIRK FRANCIS: You just can't worry about it. You got to take it one play at a time and do everything you can play by play. Coach Wilson is really good about managing the game and substituting. He has a great feel for playcalling and he'll let you know in the headset, hey, we might be thinking if we get to third and one here we're putting Coop in for a run; or, hey, we're putting Cardell in.

He's really good about managing that and letting us know what's going on.

Q. Whatever happens next week could go a long way in defining what the season looks like, right?

KIRK FRANCIS: Definitely.

Q. TU haven't been 2-0 since you were in the fifth grade I think.

KIRK FRANCIS: Wow. Feel old.

Q. But just you want to win every week. Just because it could be such an important piece in a big picture, how do you feel about next week?

KIRK FRANCIS: Definitely. Every week is big week to us. We say we want to go 1-0 every week and the great seasons will come. Play one week at a time, one practice at a time, just like one drive in a game.

After the first drive today we just had to flush it on move on to the next one. I think after this one I think we are going to work really hard. Arkansas State is a really good team. They have a lot of good talent and good coaches. Going in there is not going to be easy.

Q. I think three of your touchdown passes were back shoulder throws. Is that something you like to throw? Is that something you take pride in, something that is going to be a big part of this offense?

KIRK FRANCIS: I think so. I think our vertical passing attack is going to be huge for us. And I think just the way they were playing. They were carrying defenders vertically. If the defender is staring at your guy, he can only cover the width of his shoulders, so that gives you a lot of room to miss for those big tight ends like Connor Vaughn, and JB had the same one.

So I think that's an area we can definitely thrive this year and I'm looking forward to it.