Charles Clay is a first-year fullback/wide receiver for the highly successful Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team. Tulsa finished the regular season with a 9-4 record and earned a spot in the Conference USA championship against the University of Central Florida, who ended up beating the Golden Hurricane 44-25. On Sunday, January 6, the Golden Hurricane take on Bowling Green in the GMAC Bowl, the third straight bowl year for Tulsa. Before his team headed to Alabama for the game, Clay fielded questions from Joshua Fischman about his freshman season, his impressive QB Paul Smith and his impression of Bowling Green. We hope you enjoy the interview.
Joshua Fischman: From dominating in high school to your successful freshman year at Tulsa, you haven't missed a beat. Talk about the adjustments you have made to acheive so much success in your first year of college football.
Charles Clay: You have to adjust to the speed of the game. Coming from high school and jumpin' into the fire, playin' in college so early, speed is a major adjustment. It is also a major adjustment as far as how much time you put into football, from conditioning and watching film to game-planning; things like that are big adjustments.
JF: You are listed as a fullback, and have been great running the ball, but you have mostly played wide receiver. What do you like about playing each position?
CC: I like moving around. Not only does it provide mismatches for me at times, but oftentimes moving around [will] draw extra attention toward me, which also frees other people on the team up.
JF: Talk about your fellow wide receivers, Brennan Marion and Trae Johnson. How special is it to have three dominant first-year D1 wide receivers on one team?
CC: Brennan actually is a junior college transfer, and is a junior. But having those two on the team really gives our quarterback lots of options going into a game. I'm sure [it] gives offensive coordinators fits when trying to gameplan for those two.
JF: Your QB Paul Smith is second in the nation in passing TDs and passing yards and [he] has 12 rushing TDs as well. Talk about how important Smith is to your team in his leadership and athletic abilities.
CC: I think Paul is the reason our offense is as good as it is. Being a senior, he really knows how to manage a football game. Having so many young guys playing in this offense is only possible because [of] the way he keeps his composure and keeps all of us calm.
JF: How does it feel to be a strong contributor [for] the most productive offense in the nation?
CC: It feels good that the offensive coordinator (Gus Malzahn) and the head coach (Todd Graham) believe in such a young guy and include me in the offense, when they could have easily worked with an upperclassman.
JF: What have you heard about Bowling Green? How are you preparing for them?
CC: Watching film and talking to the coaches, Bowling Green is a well-coached team. They also have great team speed. They have good defensive ends who are great speed rushers and a good, fast secondary.
JF: Who do you think deserved to win the Heisman [this season]?
CC: I think [that] Tim Tebow deserved it. All four players are great, but I think Tim Tebow is having the best year.
Be sure to watch Charles and his Golden Hurricane as they take on Bowling Green on Sunday, January 6 in the GMAC Bowl. Game time is 8:00 p.m. Eastern Time. You can find coverage of the game on ESPN.
For further coverage of NCAA sports, check out our interviews in the Davis Sports Deli Archives .
