When I walked into practice today they were working on kickoff coverage, which was the single weakest element of the opener against Southeastern Louisiana, which returned Ethan Head's second kickoff 45 yards (the first was a touchback) and the next one 39 yards before settling down. Four of his nine kickoffs went for touchbacks, and the other five were returned, with one resulting in a penalty and the other two going for 19 and 25 yards. The two early ones almost broke even bigger, and a couple others were close. Jon Sumrall is not taking the issues sitting down.
"We made a couple of personnel changes in the game," he said. "The plan was (Patrick) Durkin and Head were going to rotate (on kickoffs) going into the game, but Durkin wasn't quite ready to go swing in a game, so Head got them all. That may or not be the case this week. We don't know that yet, but there were a few things we changed within the game and there are two or three things coach Mac (Greg McMahon) and I talked about (this week). There are a couple guys that played positions last year that they didn't play last week and we go back to where they were last year because they were comfortable year. There are some things we're tinkering with definitely and maybe a thing or two schematically. Any time something doesn't go right, you are always re-calibrating and assessing. We've clearly got to bet better there, looking at personnel and scheme."
Kai Horton went in second in a 7-on-7 drill, so it may be another package week for Ty Thompson behind Darian Mensah, who completed passes to Shaadie Clayton-Johnson, Zycarl Lewis and Bryce Bohanon during the session.
I did not see any new injuries today. Scout-team QB Kellen Tasby was wearing the No. 2 jersey of Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson in practice.
Sumrall, Yulketih Brown, Shaadie Clayton-Johnson and Rayshawn Pleasant talked after practice. Sumrall definitely is playing down Tulane's chances against Kansas State unless it improves dramatically from last Thursday. We will find out whether it is coachspeak on Saturday.
Two years ago, when Tulane won at Kansas State in September, the game was on ESPN+. This year it is on ESPN. That says it all about what the two programs have done since that day, which was a breakthrough for the Green Wave and galvanized the chastened Wildcats to go on and win the Big 12 championship.
SUMRALL
"We have to really take up the urgency and preparation to have an opportunity to play in this game. A big opportunity. Really good opponent in our stadium, ranked opponent, but if we don't get ready and improve a lot, it's not going to matter what the opportunity looks like. We've got to get better in house before we worry about the opponent."
On what stands out about Kansas State:
"You start with their defense. They are big, physical, athletic. They are experienced. Their linebackers, DBs, a lot of guys I recognize from last year (when K State beat Troy 42-13). There D-line's long. They look like. a really well coached team across the board, but defensively big and athletic. Offensively they are really veteran on the O-line. A couple of the guys started last year, but they are really veteran. They are all seniors and juniors. The quarterback is a tremendous athlete. He throws it well, but he's really gifted athletically. I've heard he's the fastest guy on the team, and when you see him go, it wouldn't surprise me. And the backs--DJ Giddens and Dylan Edwards. Gidden is a physical guy who runs well. Edwards is electric with the ball in his hands. He's a good pass catcher and a good runner. He's good in punt returns as well. The thing that probably doesn't get enough credit is how good they are on special teams. They blocked seven punts the last two years. They blocked two last year and they blocked one last week, so we've got to be really good in punt protection and then we have to cover kicks better obviously, but their special teams units have been really good. When you watch them play, they are really well coached, they are very detailed and the play incredibly hard. They don't beat themselves. They are a really good team."
On familiarity:
"I looked back on our roster to see who was dressed out for that game, and it ain't many guys. It's like four guys who played a lot of snaps and four or five other guys who played some kicking game snaps or backup snaps. I think there are 10 guys or maybe 11 guys who were even on the sideline for that game on our team, so totally different rosters than it was then. And looking back last year, they have a new offensive coordinator--Colin Klein's gone to Texas A&M and they've got really two guys running the offense. They are doing some good run game stuff and the pass game stuff matches the run game well. They are efficient with what they do, but there's some carry-over on both sides of the ball. Defensively they're the same as what they've been. A lot of three-safety pictures, a unique structure that can stress you a little bit, so there are some knowns on both sides. I've got a lot of respect for their staff. Chris Kleiman won a bunch of national titles at North Dakota State and all they've done at Kansas State is just win. We'll both have some things we didn't show last week."
On Darian Mensah:
"About the same as I felt after the game Thursday night. He was 10 for 12 and one of those was a drop, so he should have been 11 for 12. There was a procedure penalty for not enough guys on the line, which I could argue from what I saw on tape, but if you don't take that one back, he would have been 12 of 13. That's pretty efficient. He took care of the ball. He probably left two throws a little short than he would like--the one to Mario he had to come back and dive for and the touchdown to Yulkeith, he needs to put the ball a little further out there. He knows that. You don't leave a corner throw in the end zone short. You'e got to put it out there and let the receiver go get it and the DB can't play it. Yulkeith did a really nice job coming back for the ball, but first--game action along with first start, he looked poised and played with good command. I'm not really surprised by that. You just never know what a guy's going to do when they get under the lights. He handled the moment really well."
More on Mensah:
"He's just steady. He's very consistent. Same guy every day, and I think that's what bodes well for him is you don't have to wonder whats he going to be like energy wise, what's he going to be like focus wise. Hes just very calm. The challenges are about to get much harder, and he knows that. We're going into big-boy football real fast. We've got a stretch of games starting with Kansas State that's grown-man football every week, so there's going to be some adversity. I think he'll handle it well and he'll be ready for whatever comes his way."
On depth at RB:
"Shaadie's really stepped up. He had four carries for more than 40-something yards. He's improved a ton. Duda's been solid, and then Trey Cornist came and Jamauri McClure came in and they had some physical runs, too. I like the depth of the room. We need those guys to continue to grow faster and become more capable of carrying some of the load. Makhi's strength is really getting him a ton of runs. He wears the defense down, and he didn't get his normal workload the other night, but it was nice to see the other guys step up and play with production and we need them to continue to do that."
On if Tulane feels overlooked as nearly 10-point underdog:
"I'm not oblivious to the outside world. I don't always know the spread or all that stuff, but I try to focus on what's going to help us play our best. Last week the message for me was be where your feet are. My biggest fear was guys looking ahead to what was to come. This week it's just do your job. Nobody has to be a superman. Everybody on our team, the way they've been put together, they are more than good enough. Last week maybe at times some guys tried to do a little too much in some roles, and then some guys weren't maybe as detailed as they needed to be. It's just as simple as doing your job to the best of your ability and doing it really well and having urgency in your preparation. We try to make sure they understand they are on high alert. Complacency's a killer, and anybody that's ever complacent in life is getting ready to get exposed. We won't be complacent. We've got nothing to be complacent about. We played a really average game. We're getting ready to play a really good opponent, a top 20 team, and we're not a top-20 team. We didn't play like one on Thursday last week. If we play like we did last Thursday, we will get destroyed coming up. It will not be close."
On what offense needs to do to have a chance:
"I think the team that can run the ball best this game is going to have a good opportunity to win. The team that protects the ball and doesn't turn it over and the team that executes explosive plays when they present themselves. Those are the things that you're looking for. I don't think it's anything magical. it's run the ball, take care of the ball and hit the shots when they present themselves. Both sides will probably tell you similar type answers. That's the way they play, too. They are a physical team and they run the ball and they hit vertical shots off of it typically. That's where the key is. It's not playing outside of yourself. It's playing within yourself."
