Well, for the first time since Tulane started doing Zoom calls in 2020, they could not get one to work today. I talked to Jon Sumrall on the phone but got no players.
Tulane played well enough to win and could have won by a lopsided margin if Dickson Agu had not held on the deflected ball he intercepted with a 45-24 lead. The defense got too soft and too handsy down the stretch, needing to recover a perfect onside kick to ensure victory. I don't really have much to say about this one. I almost pegged the score at 41-31 and the game played out pretty much like I thought it would (I knew Patrick Jenkins probably was not going to play but was told not to say anything until this morning). North Texas is really good in the passing game. Tulane tackled well for the most part but had a couple of coverage breakdowns on North Texas's first two TDs (one by Lu Tillery, the other by Caleb Ransaw). I did not like the run on third-and-6 from inside the Wave 10 with a 21-3 lead early in the second quarter, but that's nitpicking. Tulane had the right plan on offense and executed it well. There were zero dropped passes by the receivers, a massive improvement from the Rice game.
The Wave almost definitely will be 8-2 when it heads to Navy for the Nov. 16 game, and if Memphis had not gone 75 yards in less than 80 seconds to beat Charlotte today, a win against Navy would have clinched a spot in the championship game. Now it is still possible the Wave will have to beat Memphis on Nov. 26 in a winner-gets-in game.
SUMRALL
On if North Texas was giving Tulane the run:
"It was interesting. At times they were loading the box and then at times they weren't. Then there were a couple of times when they did have numbers in the box but we were able to half things up and Makhi (Hughes) ran strong. As the game went on, they really committed to stopping the run in the second half. It got to the point where we needed to run it to keep the clock rolling, but they were making it really hard to run in those predictable situations. We had to kind of work through the air some but also still run it even though it might not be there as much you'd like but you needed to keep the clock moving."
On getting out to 21-3 lead in first quarter:
"Against a team like that which is so explosive, you never have enough points honestly. They are capable of scoring 21 real fast in their own right, like you saw at the end, so you can't ever pull off the gas against a team like that. They have the ability to strike fast, so getting out to a lead's great, but there is no lead that's safe against a team like that because they can score in droves."
On play of the defense:
"Yeah, the drive that was really aggravating was the 23-play drive where we had a couple of DPIs, We're off the field on a couple of them if we just don't get penalized. There's some aggravating things in there. We could have played a lot better. We played good enough to hold on, but we did not finish maybe in a way that any of us are pleased with."
On onside kick:
"It was an unbelievable onside kick. Bryce (Bohanon) did a great job going and getting the ball. He couldn't have gone down soon enough for me, though, after catching it. He started to take a step or two and we were all screaming, 'go down!' But really good job by him getting his hands on it and securing the game for us."
On Matthew Fobbs-White strip sack:
"Yeah, an unbelievable job by Fobbs-White. Really making the decision to go for it on fourth there didn't work. Him getting that sack and forced fumble was a game-changer."
On Makhi Hughes:
"He is a beast. He's just an absolute stud. He's a workhorse. He just chews yards up and is physical and plays the game the right way. Our team, everybody watches him play and is just in awe of how he plays because he's so physical and tough. He's always churning yards out."
On Arnold Barnes:
"It was a solid performance by him. He was good in some areas. It was fun to see him have some production. His biggest thing is just being consistent. He's got enough ability. We just need the consistency to look like every day, every play, all the time."
On Darian Mensah:
"If you take out the one interception, you feel pretty good about the way he played. The interception was an unforced error really that they had us covered and we just need to know not to try to force one in there. We don't need to do anything fancy, just play clean. They get a touchdown there right before the half and we get a field goal, so it ended up being a four-point advantage for them, but it was unforced and we did not handle that situation well."
On short week before Charlotte:
"Yeah, we'll have a good plan about making sure we've got enough things in to be multiple but at the same time fresh. I always think that you give yourself the best advantage in these games by being fast and fresh. We've got to get a little bit of work in. Tomorrow we'll just walk through stuff and then Monday will combine a Tuesday and Wednesday practice and then Tuesday will be like a Thursday walkthrough and Wednesday will be a Friday walkthrough and we'll go play the game."
On Will Karoll's massive punt:
"Oh my gosh. He's been big time. Honestly we didn't want him to hit that big of a bomb against that returner. We wanted it higher and a little bit shorter to be honest, but he did hit a bomb and is impressive with what his abilities are. But if he had a higher, shorter punt, we would have been happier with the opportunity to cover that. He's continued to punt the ball really well, though."
On interference penalties:
"It's extremely frustrating because you're just prolonging drives and sustaining opportunities for them when we could have ended the game if we just cleaned that up. We gave them too many opportunities there with some of those penalties for sure."
On Charlotte nearly beating Memphis:
"I heard. Charlotte's a much improved team. They are really a lot better than people realize."
On Patrick Jenkins:
"We talked about it last night. I addressed the defense on Monday about Pat's mom and then I addressed the team last night about why Pat wasn't here, so the guys knew. I told them, hey, look, with how you play today honor Pat, honor his family, honor his mom with your effort. Like he can't be here with us. Yesterday he had to make a decision on some arrangements, and I understood that and respected that. When we celebrated in the locker room today, we Facetimed Pat and he was in there with us on Facetime, so the technology of having Pat live with us in the celebration and seeing a big smile on his face, I can't wait for tomorrow to give him a big hug."
