Tulane is as healthy as any team you are ever going to see at this stage of the season entering Saturday's game at Navy. Tight end Reggie Brown, the only player on the two-deep depth chart who missed the Temple game, practiced this week and has been cleared to play. Javion White, who got hurt in the fourth quarter against Temple, also will play.
"He (White)'s good," Sumrall said after Thursday's walkthrough. "Reggie's available. He'll be on a pitch count. He did a little bit with the trainers on Monday and Tuesday, practiced Wednesday and he'll go tomorrow. He's not going to play 50 snaps, but he should be available for 15, maybe 20."
I asked Sumrall about his reaction to Tulane being 25th in the college football playoff rankings, and his answer will not make it into the newspaper, let's put it that way.
"I don't give a s..."
Yep, Sumrall is a big believer in not letting his team get caught up in any hype, as almost all coaches are. He makes darn sure that his guys do not get full of themselves.
I rewatched the Temple game last night, and confirmed the obvious: Tulane absolutely dominated up front on both sides of the ball. Temple, a really bad team, played even worse than normal, dropping three passes on the few occasions the quarterback had time to find an open receiver.
But I had to go back and watch Terrez Worthy's shutout-avoiding 75-yard TD run in the fourth quarter closely after Sumrall's rant about it on Tuesday. Here's what happened:
Tulane's 11 defenders on the play were end Gerrod Henderson, nose tackle Eric Hicks, tackle Terrell Allen, bandit Javon Carter, linebackers Makai Williams and Chris Rodgers, nickelback Jayden Lewis, cornerbacks Lu Tillery and Jaheim Johnson and safeties Jalen Geiger and Kevin Adams. Those are all guys who get reps in a normal game, not deep reserve and walk-on types.
Rodgers blitzed untouched but went straight to the quarterback and ignored Worthy, who had the ball on a late handoff and whom he easily could have tackled for a loss if he had been more alert. Henderson ran too far inside, taking himself out of the play when the running back headed to the right. HIcks simply got blocked effectively. Makai Williams should have cleaned up the play for a short gain, but he went too far inside in the open field as Worthy cut outside of him. Adams had a bead on him and was right in front of him for a one-on-one tackle with leverage, but he let him get around him, too, dived and missed the tackle. Johnson could have made the play, too, but he lost his balance for a second, putting his hand on the ground, and Worthy was by him in a flash. Jayden Lewis was blocked well initially and then clobbered by a second guy, preventing him from getting into the play. Geiger did not run with full effort, assuming others would bring Worthy down, before turning on the speed too late to catch the faster-than-expected Worthy. Carter was too far from the play to have an effect. as were Allen and Tillery.
It was a bad play by a team up 52-0, but I did not see a ton of loafing, although the video that showed the full field would have revealed more than you could see on TV.
I believe Tulane will beat Navy by at least two touchdowns. I've been wrong before and will be wrong plenty in the future, but I don't think I will be wrong this time.
