Jon Sumrall left practice early to attend the funeral of Patrick Jenkins' mom, but it ended in the same way as all of the Tulane's Wednesday workouts with a two-minute drill pitting the first-team offense against mostly the second-team defense. Starting at the defense's 45-yard line with 49 seconds left, Darian Mensah completed a 7-yard pass to Mario Williams on a quick out that gained 7 yards and went out of bounds. He then rolled out to his right and fired a 19-yard strike to Yulkeith Brown before the offense called a timeout. A 5-yard gain I missed preceded a run that was stopped at the line of scrimmage and a spike to stop the clock, setting up Bobby Noel for last-second field goal. Unlike the previous four weeks, though, he missed the 33-yard kick, banging it off the outside of the left upright. They gave him a do-over and he hit the second one.
The second-team defense was Adin Huntington, Deshaun Batiste, Adonis Friloux and Gerrod Henderson from left to right on the line, Chris Rodgers and Dickson Agu at linebacker, Javion White at nickelback, Johnathan Edwards and Jaheim Johnson at cornerback and Jack Tchienchou and Joshua Moore at safety.
The only significant injury question this week is whether Sam Howard will play at linebacker after spraining an ankle against Charlotte. I will find out from Sumrall what his status is tomorrow.
I've brought this up before, but Tulane's depth defensively is off the charts. The Wave has no player among the AAC's top 25 in tackles or tackles for loss but is one of the best units across the board, ranking second in scoring defense, third in total defense, fourth in rushing defense, first in pass defense efficiency, third in sacks, second in interceptions, fourth in fumbles forced, third in fumbles recovered, second in third-down conversion defense, first in fourth-down conversion defense and first in fewest touchdowns allowed per red zone possession. Tyler Grubbs, who has a team-high 39 tackles (no other AAC team's top player has fewer than 45), would need to make 34 more tackles the rest of the way to match Macon Clark's 73 tackles from 2021, the Wave's low total for a leading tackler in a media guide chart that goes back to 1969.
Tulane has 21 players with double-digit tackles, 28 with at least one tackle for loss and goes at least two deep everywhere. Tyler Grubbs and Howard are backed up by Agu, who is ninth on the team in tackles, and Rodgers, who has an interception return for a touchdown. There is arguably zero drop-off from safeties Bailey Despanie (35 tackles) and Jalen Geiger (16 tackles) to their backups, Jack Tchienchou (27 tackles) and Kevin Adams (28 tackles). The trio of Rayshawn Pleasant, Micah Robinson and Johnathan Edwards are all starter quality at cornerback, with Lu Tillery a serviceable No. 4. Caleb Ransaw at nickel has a playmaking backup in Javion White, with Jayden Lewis a decent third option. Adin Huntington, the leading tackler among the lineman with 17, does not even start anymore. Patrick Jenkins is right behind him with 15, and Terrell Allen, who struggled at end before finding a home at backup tackle, is next with 14. Kam Hamilton, who has been more effective at end than tackle, is tied with Jenkins for most tackles for loss (five) among the front four. Backup end Gerrod Henderson has 13 stops, and starting bandit Matthew Fobbs-White has 12. Nose tackles Eric Hicks and Adonis Friloux each have five tackles, and another backup, Parker Peterson, has eight. That's nine significant contributors, and I'm not even including Batiste, Michael Lunz, Elijah Champaigne (interception against UAB) and situation pass rusher Shi'Keem Laister.
I talked to Despanie, Agu and Pleasant about the defensive depth.
BAILEY DESPANIE
On depth at safety:
"It helps a lot. We have so much depth, we are able to get fresh legs in anytime we want to. If we are having a long drive, we can get fresh legs in and there's no drop in energy, no drop in play, so I felt like that's one of the strengths of our team."
On so many different tacklers:
"It takes a lot of stress off the guys out there, being able to trust the guy next to you that he's going to be able to make that play, make that tackle. I feel like we play with a lot of great effort, so that plays a big role in that, too."
On pushing each other:
"We definitely compete with each other. That's just built into the culture of the defense, the culture of the program, to compete every day, to compete for the brother beside you. That's just our motto."
On how much D has improved during the year:
"I would say we definitely got a lot better. You could check the film. You could check the stats throughout the games. We definitely learned the ins and outs of the defense, the things that we needed to learn to be established as a great defense in this league, and I feel like we've done that."
On having championship defense:
"Definitely. That's the mindset throughout the program and throughout the entire team, but we try to stay focused on just next game, being 1-0 that week and just doing everything we can to accomplish that goal."
On Tchienchou:
"He brings a lot of energy. He's one of those high-motor guys that doesn't stop. It spreads throughout the defense."
DICKSON AGU
On defensive depth:
"With this new staff, they came in and brought in a few new people and also gave everyone who's been here a new chance, so me being a redshirt freshman, coach believed in me and put me out there and I just do my job, produce. There's other people like Chris Rodgers, they took from Troy, he played last year and he produces, too. But that's at every position. Jack Tchienchou at safety comes in and produces also."
On frustration last year:
"It gets a little frustrating knowing that you could go out there and play with those guys. You got a few reps, but you're not getting the full-game experience, so this year really being able to get some game experience boosts your morale and it helps the guys around you feel better."
On what he does best:
"I do my job consistently. I might have a few missed assignments every now and then, but whatever call it is, I'm going to do my best to go play it and I'm going to make a play on the ball."
On defense being able to stay fresh:
"Having Sam and Grubbs go in there first and having me being able to go in and take a drive or two really helps keep everyone fresh, so while the other team is really tired and frustrated, you're going in there fresh with new bodies ready to hit you and come at you again, it really helps our team."
On how much D has improved:
"We were talking about this in the meeting with Polk earlier. From Southeastern to now we've gotten so much better just in understanding our defense and knowing our assignments and just overall playing well together. If one person makes a play, we're all hype and we're ready to go change the momentum of the game and make another play for one another."
RAYSHAWN PLEASANT
On defensive depth:
"It helps a lot. We have a lot of guys that can go in and keep us fresh, so when the fourth quarter comes we are playing our best ball, so it just really means a lot having a lot of people we can rely on and go in and don't have a drop-off."
On pushing each other:
"We all know we've got one goal at the end of the year, so we just hold each other accountable knowing whatever it takes for us to make that goal, we've got to do it. We get along very well. We love each other, and we just hold each other to a higher standard."
On Micah Robinson and Johnathan Edwards coming in after spring and defense improving as guys got comfortable with each other:
"It got so much better like you said. As the year went on, guys got comfortable knowing how Gas and Summie wanted the defense to be played. It just makes us a better team in general."
On same scheme as last year with different head coach:
"It helped a lot for sure. I feel like we put the work in each and every day. We've been doing this since spring, so it's up to us to go out and execute every Saturday."
