Walk-on quarterback Dagan Bruno, a freshman who played for John Curtis, could be the most valuable player at practice this week for Tulane because he has a ton of experience running the option. John Curtis's split-back veer is not exactly the same as Navy's modified Wing T, but the option principles are the same and Bruno knows how to execute handoffs or pull the ball back and run, preparing the defense for Saturday's pivotal game at Navy. He played hard today, forcing me to scramble out of the way well behind the sideline as he finished runs around the corner at full speed. Those are the little things that can make a difference because no other Tulane quarterback has played in that type of offense.
I don't really think Navy will keep it close Saturday because quarterback Blake Horvath has an injured thumb on his throwing hand. Here is what coach Brian Newberry said Monday when asked about Horvath's thumb:
"I haven't talked to him today, but I got a decent report from the training staff this morning. It's the nature of that position that with what we do is have him carry the ball. He's a tough kid, now. He's gotten banged up a little bit, but he's in pretty good shape."
The follow-up question was if they had been forced to become more run heavy since the thumb injury.
"Our plan really hasn't changed throughout the course of the year. He's got to be able to run the ball for us. There's times where we may do a little bit more of that than others, but he's run it pretty effectively, so for us to be hitting on all cylinders, he's got to carry the ball for us."
Interesting. He ducked the question about how it was affecting Horvath's passing, but the numbers tell the story. Horvath completed 46 of 72 passes for 888 yards with 10 touchdowns and one interception through the Charlotte game, when he hurt his thumb. In the three games since then, he is 23 of 45 for 266 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. I did not see the South Florida game, but against Rice two weeks ago he was throwing wobbling ducks. He is still a very effective runner, but that added dimension Navy had earlier in the year, when Horvath threw for 192 yards and two touchdowns against Memphis, is gone.
Tulane will be at full strength defensively. Sam Howard returned to full practice this week and will play Saturday. Having an experienced player like him is important because as good as Dickson Agu was against Temple, he is more likely to bust as assignment than Howard, and busted assignments are a recipe for disaster against option teams.
The other key will be Tulane running well early. Navy stuffed South Florida, but Memphis ran for 274 yards on 38 carries in September and even UAB and Charlotte surpassed 185 yards on the ground against the Midshipmen. If they cannot slow down Makhi Hughes, it will open up play-action touchdown passes in bunches because their DBs cannot hang with Dontae Fleming, Mario Williams and Yulkeith Brown. Memphis torched them for 659 total yards despite losing 56-44. and there is no way Tulane's defense will struggle as much as the Tigers did when Navy gained 566 yards. Unless Tulane tenses up considering the magnitude of the game, I just don't see how this one is close late. I don't. It would involve Navy selling out to stop the run and Darian Mensah finally playing like a first-year starter instead of staying poised. If he has a first half like Justin McMillan did in 2019, then it could be a tight one. If he has to throw and plays like he is capable, Tulane will win comfortably. Despite its heavy emphasis on the run recently, Tulane is one of 12 teams averaging 200 or more yards on the ground and in the air, and the Wave is one of only five teams averaging at least 210 yards rushing and passing (Boise State, New Mexico, Tennessee and South Alabama are the others).
Sumrall, Alex Bauman and Tyler Grubbs talked after practice. I am posting some of Sumrall and will get the rest later.
SUMRALL
"Good Tuesday practice. It was a good day's work on both sides and the kicking game. I liked the energy today. We have a really big challenge this week on the road against a really good team. I've got a lot of respect for the way these guys play and the way they're coached. Navy is the class of our league in a lot of areas, and there's a reason why they are 7-2 and 5-1 in the league. They are really, really good. We've got our work cut out for us this week."
On having a lot of guys on defense:
"The depth of your team on defense a lot of times is different every year. The depth of guys making plays is fun to watch. This week the challenge is you have to be good at all three levels--alignment, assignment, eye discipline, technique, all of it. We were not pleased with the tackling a couple weeks ago in the Charlotte game, the first half in particular, so last year we did a little extra thud period. We're not allowed to do Oklahoma (drills) anymore. We just did a little thud tackle period. The look team today in our scout team for offense did a phenomenal job in today's practice. It's nice having Dagan Bruno running our scout team this week. He's pretty natural at it. He's got a lot of background handling the ball under center and doing some of the reading we're asking him to do this week."
On being ranked 25th in AP poll:
"I told our guys who cares? We're ranked in one poll. Like about half the people that vote in that poll didn't rank us (he is close; 25 of 62 did not rank Tulane), so we're not really that respected yet. We slid in the backdoor. We're 25th by the skin of our teeth, so I'm not that impressed, and if our team's very impressed, I'm not impressed. We're not that good yet. If we're worried about where we're ranked on Nov. 12, we're not going to be real pleased with how we're ranked Dec. 12. We haven't been ranked in the CFP yet. All that stuff, just win. Just win."
On talking about rat poison and don't eat the cheese:
"Don't buy into the hype. I tell everybody the same people who are patting you on the back and telling you how great you are are the same people who dog cuss you if you lose. They are. Aw, you're great. you're great. The same people if you go lose a game, they're like, oh, they suck, they're terrible. They are with you when you win and they're not when you're losing. I don't buy into the excitement of ranking, win streak. It's all garbage. It has zero effect on this week's game. We get to carry no points over from last week's game and count them this week. You get what you earn each week. This is a very humbling game. You get every seven days to get promoted or exposed, and everybody that we play is good enough to expose it. And if we also start to feel real comfortable about ourselves or complacent, we're not that good. We're good when we play with a lot of focus and detail and a chip on our shoulder and a blue-collar mindset. If we lose any of that edge, we will not be very good. But our guys have had the right mindset this week so far, and hopefully they'll continue that."
On if success against Army at Troy the past two years is relevant against Navy:
"There are some things. Leveraging the ball, having a dive/quarterback/pitch player. There are some elements that are the same. There are some schematic things that are different. The people are different. The Navy quarterback is a really good passer, which is unique. A lot of times in this offense he's just another running back in the backfield. He is that, too, but they have been explosive in the throw game. They are scary in a lot of areas. They are built a little differently by who their people are. The Army dive back the last couple of years looked like an offensive lineman who could run a 4.7. He was like 260, 270 pounds. I'm like who's this guy? They (Navy's guys) are a little more conventional running back-looking bodies. This No. 22 (Eli Heidenreich) that plays one of the slots for them is a Swiss Army knife guy that runs it really good, catches it really good. The schematics are unique. They play the game in different buckets. It's not just the triple option. Some of it's Wing T, some of it's they get in the gun and do more conventional things, so it's really like there's buckets you have to prepare for to play this game, and they get to dictate which bucket they're playing that down, and we have to adjust our eyes and our alignment to match. It is a real challenge."
On eye discipline in back of defense:
"It's critical. Eye discipline and then staying on top. To me it's about two things. It's about leverage on the ball, and it's about staying on top in the throw game. That's the challenge, and they've gotten most everybody they've played on it. They didn't play a great game against Notre Dame. That was turnover driven as much as anything. That was what got them, but you haven't really watched people just shut them down. They are very aggravating in what they do and they find a way to move the ball. It's a very efficient offense, and our defensive staff and kids have a huge task in front of them. And I'll say this, too. They're defense is probably not talked about enough. They create a ton of negative plays. They run a lot more zero pressure. They run the seven-up package that you have to have a good plan for, and they bring zero blitz from depth. They do some things that put stress on you in a lot of different ways."
