Tulane received the best news possible when cornerback Donnie Lewis was cleared to play against UCF and practiced Tuesday, possibly shoring up what has been a gaping hole in the dense since he exited with a shoulder injury against Memphis.

Richard Allen struggled mightily against Tulsa and was burned again on the second play from scrimmage on Saturday by SMU. He got hurt on that opening series, so freshman P.J. Hall replaced him with mediocre results. The primary blame for the third-and-25 conversion SMU had on its winning TD drive lay with the defensive line allowing the QB all day to throw when he left the pocket to his left, but it was Hall's man who came free of him to make the catch and get the pivotal first downs.

Lewis gave up some big plays in the first five games, too, but he provided much tighter coverage overall and could make a play on the ball. Having him in the lineup against UCF's shaky passing attack could be a difference-maker. He said today he thought he might be done for the year when he hurt his shoulder against Memphis, and an initial diagnosis was he would not return before a second opinion gave him hope. It turns out he will miss only two games.

In other news, Tyler Johnson continued to practice with the first-team offensive line at left tackle, with Todd Jacquet at right tackle, the spot he played last year. Tight end Kendall Ardoin sat out practice in a red jersey, and defensive ends Peter Woullard and Quinlan Carroll weren't even on the field as far as I could tell. Woullard likely is done for the year with a leg injury, although his status has not been confirmed by anyone.

Linebacker Zach Harris was in green, but Nico Marley once again rested his sore ankle. I have a feeling Marley will not practice much the rest of the year, or at least until his ankle is 100 percent.

Tuesdays have become TV reporter question-asking day at Tulane practice. Here's what Willie Fritz had to say.

Is giving up a third-and-17 and a third-and-25 the kind of stuff that makes you stay up at night?

"Yeah, it does. It's disappointing. We did a good job of applying some pressure, but the quarterback did a good job stepping up in the pocket and buying extra time staying behind the line of scrimmage. The receivers were good in their routes, and our guys got wandering a little bit and they were able to convert. But like I told the guys, it didn't come down to one or two plays. You just never know what plays are going to highlighted at the end of the game. That generally happens."

Closing out games, is that a long-term process or is something that you can learn pretty quickly and master as a team pretty quickly?

"I think you can master it quickly. Live I've said many times, we've just got to have an attention to detail on every single snap. Our margin for error is very slim, and that's what I keep telling these guys throughout the game, regardless of whether it's third-and-25 or a first-and-10 play in the first quarter. When you look back at it, we didn't start very good, either. It was a three-or four-play drive and boom, we were down 7-0. We just have to do a great job of just, I know you guys are tired of hearing me say it, of being on point every single play. There is going to be some time in our program when we're going to be able to not bring our A game or have a play where we're off here or there and still be able to overcome and win, but right now we're not there. I just want our guys to put together a whole game. That's what we're striving for. Perfection is our goal, but excellence will be tolerated, so we want to try to be excellent every single play."

A little Vince Lombardi there?

"I don't know who that's from. I think it's from somebody else. Is it Vince?"

Yeah.

"He's a pretty good guy to copy."

The defense has been pretty solid. Does giving up plays like that worry you?

"Yeah, you know, they played well. They can't have one bad thing lead to another bad thing. We knew that coming into the season. We felt like the defense was the strength of our team, but we just have to get better in all three phases. Defensively there's still room for improvement. I thought we played a little better in the kicking game. That's the best we've played as far as coverage and different things like that. Then offensively, we've got to continue to get better. We had some short fields, and we've got to get touchdowns out of those short fields."

The passing game was really clicking in the third quarter. What did they do there that they didn't do in the first, second or fourth?

"It was effort by everybody. We protected. We did a good job of running the correct routes, and the backs protected and Glen was accurate in his throws. There's not one thing. It's just a team effort. Generally speaking, when you're unsuccessful on a play, it's one group, one area, that's not doing their job. When everything's going well, it means everybody's in concert with each other."

You had a few days to prepare for them before the postponement due to Hurricane Matthew. Is there any advantage to just having a few days under your belt?

"I think a little bit. We went back and we looked at our game plan that we had leading up to the cancellation of the game. There were some things we're still using, and there are some other things that are going to be a little bit different. Their team has changed quite a bit since that time, as our has as well."

Has this thing been more challenging than you thought it would be?

"I knew coming in here it was going to be a challenging job with the changing the culture of the program. We're this close right now, and that's what frustrates me. We were talking about it the other day. I talked about it with the players. Heck, if we get a stop here or there, we're 4-4 and feeling good about these last four games. Instead, we're not, so it's a learning process. I gotta remember that all the time. You'd like for it to happen quickly and we're within a few plays of it being a quick fix, but it is what it is and we've just got to keep working."

Donnie Lewis was in green today.

"Oh, he's going to be going to be going on Saturday. We're excited about having him back."

Could you talk a little bit about UCF? They were 0-12 last year and now they're 4-4.

"They're doing a very nice job. Their situation might be a little different than ours. I think they went into a tailspin, and I'm not sure what it was, but just a few years back they were a top five team in the country, maybe something like that. I know at my last job we tried to recruit against them and didn't have a whole lot of success. Coach Frost has done a great job of injecting enthusiasm and a new style of play. You watch them and they have a lot of ability, too. They've done a very good job."

How surprising is it that penalties have popped up?

"It's disappointing, really disappointing. We've got to stay away from that. We looked at some of those things on Monday as a team. We had a penalty where we had a face mask, and instead of having the ball at the 26, it pushed it back to the minus-48 or something like that, so it really wasn't a 15-yard penalty. It was closer to a 30-yard penalty, so we just have to do a great job of playing smart and understanding doing your one-eleventh. It's a process also."

Are you patient or impatient with the whole thing?

"I want to get it done now, without question, but I've seen a lot of good things as well. We're fighting and scratching and clawing. We competed extremely well for four quarters last week. The effort was outstanding, and that's something we've wanted to improve. So I see a lot of good things, but obviously we have to keep improving and play better football this last quarter of the season."

What is the story with Ardoin? He was on the sideline but I never saw him with a helmet and he didn't play. Medina went the distance at TE.

Richard Allen also never went back in the game after getting burned early. I didn't even see him on the sidelin

After watching the Tulane-Tulsa game again yesterday, here are some thoughts:

1) If Nico Marley's ankle isn't better, and he missed practice Wednesday and Thursday to rest it, Tulane may be better off with him on the sideline. Marley's a warrior, but when he returned from getting his ankle rolled in the first quarter, he was not effective, making plays only when he was unblocked. He had a hard time changing direction or accelerating, making him easy to take out of the running lanes. The key here would be Zach Harris' health. He practiced in a no-contact jersey this week with a bum shoulder, but if the shoulder is able to withstand contact, he and Rae Juan Marbley, who had a good game against Tulsa, can be an effective combination. If Marley's ankle is better AND Harris is effective, Tulane could be back in business this afternoon.

2) Braynon Edwards can't play. He had limited snap against Tulsa and was taken advantage of on almost every one of them I saw. He was credited with his first tackle of the year, but when he had a chance to make a play in the fourth quarter, he sort of just reached out to try to grab a guy with his arms, and the guy easily got away from him before going down a second later. If that's the tackle, it really wasn't a tackle.

3) Against Tulsa, Tulane's best D-line, by far, was Kennedy and Aruna at end and Smart and Wilson at tackle. Kennedy did not start, but I bet he starts the rest of the season if he stays healthy. Daren Williams was a liability against Tulsa. Smart was blocked more often than usual, but he still made about four outstanding plays that would not have happened if he had not been on the field.

4) The defense, aside from Richard Allen, actually held up OK for a lot of the first half, stopping Tulsa on three of its first five possessions. For contrast, witness Navy giving up touchdowns to South Florida last night THE FIRST SIX TIMES THE BULLS HAD THE BALL. The tipping point was Darnell Mooney's muffed punt, and that one's on the coaches because he never should have been put in that role. When Tulsa scored on a nice pick play on third-and-goal to go up 21-7, the floodgates opened. The final score could have been much worse because when Tulsa had the ball with a 38-7 lead midway through the third quarter, Tulane busted a coverage on Parry Nickerson's side and Dane Evans missed a wide open receiver for a sure TD on a slant. That would have made the score 45-7. Instead, Tulane scored back-to-back touchdowns to make the score 38-20 before the 2-point return turned momentum again. Trey Scott, by the way, made a token effort at the beginning of that return to tackle the guy. He was the only player who had a good shot to bring him down.

5) It's fashionable to rip Chris Taylor because he has lived up to the potential he showed when he started as a true freshman, but he had a pretty good game. He was involved in most of the plays that worked in the second half. I watched him on almost every snap because I did not think there was much to glean from the overall terrible offense in the first half. For the most part, the mistakes came from the tackles and Leeward Brown. I'm not saying Taylor was dominant by any stretch, but he was not the problem.

6) Glen Cuiellette really fell apart there for a while. Bothered by the pressure, he never set his feet when he wanted to pass, and he regressed on option plays. His low point came when he tossed a no-pace desperation floater over the middle under duress when Tulane trailed big in the third quarter. It was asking to be picked off, and a Tulsa player with a full head of steam dropped it on what might have been a pick six--hard to say because it happened in the middle of the field and the screen shot was tight. I still think Cuiellette is the best option because they can run more offense with him in there, but I understand the contrary viewpoint. The thing is, Cuiellette actually made some beautiful throws against UMass. I understand the caliber of competition was lower, but he's a capable passer even if he has not shown it often.

I don't know what to think about today's game. The fact is SMU has played better in its last two games than Tulane has for any stretch since beating North Texas and East Carolina back to back in 2013, and even those wins didn't compare to the way SMU shellacked Houston. If SMU plays like that, I don't think Tulane can win. But SMU had won only one AAC game in two years before upsetting Houston--the beatdown of Tulane last November--and if Tulane's capable front seven can slow down the Mustangs' running game, the Wave can win. SMU barely completes half of its passes, although someone (P.J. Hall?) needs to play a heck of a lot better at cornerback than Allen did against Tulsa because SMU's top receiver, Courtland Sutton, is dangerous with a capital D. Still, as almost always, the outcome should revolve around the line play. I can't see SMU beating Tulane's D-line up front like Tulsa did for long stretches. And maybe Tulane found something in the second half offensively at Tulsa (Or maybe the Golden Hurricane lost interest). All of the running backs had some good moments, and Rounds and Hilliard were terrific. If they can get Sherman Badie in the mix today, particularly as a pass receiver, something he's never done much, SMU will have a lot to contend with.

One thing is certain. Tulane's head wasn't in the game at Tulsa. On the blocked field goal, Kendall Ardoin just let the outside rusher go right around him and block the kick. That guy was his responsibility. All he had to do was push him, and he didn't do it.

Because too many drivers out there do too much idiotic stuff. Have fun!

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As always, the Tulane counts double, home teams are listed first and the point spreads come from VegasInsider.com consensus:

Tulane (-2.5) SMU
Memphis (-6.5) Tulsa
FSU (+4.5) Clemson
Oklahoma State (+3.5) West Virginia
Texas (+3) Baylor
Wisconsin (-8.5) Nebraska
Ole MIss (+4.5) Auburn
Utah (+10) Washington

I was the only person who picked Memphis, and I still think I made the right pick even though Navy won fairly comfortably. I would have won the week outright. Oh well. As it is, All but two of us had 3 or 4 points.

It's very strange that three of the eight games had all but one person on one side, particularly the two that did not involve Tulane. Props to ny oscar for picking Louisville, which destroyed the spread against NC State.

5

ny oscar
MNAlum

4

Guerry
Charlamange8
Golfer81
Gretna Green
Kettrade1
Rcnut
Wavetime
DrBox
paliii

3

Mono41
LSU Law Greenie
highwave
diverdo
winwave
WaveON

OVERALL STANDINGS

38.5

Kettrade1

34.5

MNAlum

32.5

DrBox

31.5

diverdo
LSU Law Greenie
winwave
Gretna Green

30.5

WaveON
highwave
Charlamange8
Rcnut

29.5

ny oscar (missed 1 week)

28.5

paliii (missed 1 week)
Guerry

27.5

Wavetime

26.5

Golfer81

24.5

Mono41

21.5

jjstock2005 (missed 2 weeks)
Harahan Wave (missed 3 weeks)

GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulsa over Tulane 1 of 17
Navy over Memphis 16 of 17
LSU over Ole Miss 8 of 17
Alabama over Texas A&M 5 of 17
Louisville over NC State 1 of 17
Colorado over Stanford 6 of 17
Wisconsin over Iowa 16 of 17
West Virginia over TCU 10 of 17

Don't read anything negative into C.J. Sturdivant de-committing (the other RB in the class, Stephon Huderson, is a stud), and look for one or two more of the guys already committed to start looking elsewhere. It's either because Tulane moved on or their grades aren't good enough, two factors that have become a bigger issue in the last 10 years with guys committing before their senior years start. If they don't produce in the classroom or on the field, circumstances change.

Here's the list of visitors.

1) Michael Scott, a 6-3, 220-pound 3-star LB from North Florida Christian who has committed to USF but Tulane is trying to sway. The Wave really wants him.

2) Justice Oluwaseun, 3 stars, OT, Richmond (Texas) Foster (6-3, 285)

--has an offer from UNLV and that's it. Tulane is after him hard.

3) Andres Fox, 3-star DE, Mobile (Ala.) Christian (6-5, 230)

--has offers from Arizona, Penn State and NC State among others

4) Segun Ijiyera, 2 stars, OL, Corinth (Texas) Lake Dallas (6-2, 270)

--has an offer from Southern Miss

5) Chase Kuerschen, 2 stars, S, Knoxville (Tenn) Catholic (6-1, 200)

--Has more than 15 offers, but none from P5 schools (Cincy, Air Force, Navy)

6) Kevin LeDee, 2 stars, Houston Cypress Ridge, WR (6-3, 182)

--has offers from Memphis, Illinois, Bowling Green, Colorado State, UNLV

7) Chandler Fields, QB, Holy Cross (5-11, 185)

--no stars from Rivals, has offers from Jackson State and, supposedly, Memphis as a dual-threat guy.

8) Shannon Forman, 2 stars, DT, Southern Lab (6-2, 254)

--has offers from Troy, Tulane and Jackson State.

9) Kirk Groome, MLB/K from Newman (6-2, 200)

--not in Rivals database

10) Braden Smith, no stars, ATH, Flowood (Miss) Northwest Rankin (5-11, 172)

--offers from Idaho and Jackson State

11) J'Arius Warren, no stars, LB, Long Beach (Miss) (6-2, 250)

--has offers from South Alabama, Navy, ULM and Southeastern

COMMITTED ELSEWHERE

1) Amik Robertson, 3 stars, CB, Thibodaux (5-9, 172)

--La Tech commitment, also visited Kansas State

2) Michael Young, 3 stars, WR, Destrehan (5-11, 175)

--committed to Notre Dame

3) Troy Young, 2 stars, WR, Mobile Christian (6-0, 193)

--committed to Arizona, also has offers from Miss St and South Carolina

4) Myles Meyer, 2 stars, DT, East St. John High (6-1, 205)

--McNeese State commitment

JUNIORS

1) Trace Oldner, 3 stars, OG, Katy (Texas) (6-5, 290)

--has offer from Indiana

2) Christian Trahan, 3 stars, TE, Sulphur (6-3, 238)

--has offers from ULM and La Tech

3) Devin Winters, no stars, DT, McDonogh 35 (6-2, 250)

--received interest from Oklahoma State and UAB

4) Collins Woods, not rated, WR, Blount High in Ala.

5) Oteder Foster, DT, Westgate High (6-2, 210)

6) Taron Jones, RB, Mandeville (5-10, 180)

ALREADY COMMITTED TO TULANE

Stephon Huderson
Luke McCleery
Jaylon Monroe
Jaetavian Toles

Tulane is at the time of the year where it almost always stopped giving full effort in the past, turning bad seasons into worse seasons while getting blown out repeatedly. Step one for Willie Fritz as he tries to build a winning culture is reversing that trend and get the Green Wave to flush its first dismal loss of the season, 50-27 and it wasn't that close, to Tulsa.

The Wave is favored by 2 1/2 points for homecoming against SMU, so that would be a good place to start. I'm not often off by much in predicting point spreads, but I expected the Mustangs to be favored by about 2 1/2 instead of Tulane. Clearly, the oddsmakers and betting public do not expect Tulane to throw in the towel, so let's see what happens.

The raw numbers are brutal. In the last eight years, Tulane is 6-34 in its final five games of the season and has lost 25 of those games by double digits. Never in that span has the Wave won more than one of its last five, including the bowl season of 2013 when 6-2 turned into 7-6. Tulane's record leading into the last five games was still poor but a much better 23-52. And even in conference play, Tulane is 10-22 in league action before the final five games and 5-30 afterward.

You get the picture.

So now, coming off a game in which a previously solid defense got thrown over and run through, what will Tulane have in terms of full-out effort Saturday?

"In the past when the season started going bad, it just kept going bad," senior defensive tackle Tanzel Smart said. "But I think coach Fritz and them picked our spirits up and we are going to get over that hump this week."

Smart didn't back away from Tulane's history. So many times in the past I've had guys stare right through me when I asked them about avoiding late-season folds. Not Smart. Although words don't mean much if they are not backed up by team-wide performance, at least he admits to the problem.

"People are going to be kind of down after a 50-point loss, but we shook back and had a good practice today," Smart said. "All the other losses we had were close and this loss was bad, but every loss is bad," Smart said. Nobody remembers the score. They just remember the L on the chart. We just have to get over that hump and get this W."

Tulane encountered some of the same problems it has struggled with all year against Tulsa--the absence of a passing game and poor protection--but this was the first time the defense capitulated. The Wave had no answer for Tulsa's version of the Baylor offense, including a running game that piled up more than 300 yards.

"They found the outside run play, which has hurt us before (at times against Navy and Memphis), and they just kept running it," Smart said. "We didn't have an answer for it."

Tulsa kept running at Glen Cuiellette when Tulane tried to pass, and the Wave had no answer for that, either. He was a dreadful 3 of 19 with four sacks and two fumbles when he was hit so hard, the ball ricocheted out of bounds. He will get the start against SMU and uttered words Tuesday I've heard before from other Tulane quarterbacks. Hopefully for the team's sake, he believes them and a high degree of buy-in from his teammates.

"We just all have that motto of stick together, don't point the finger, don't put the blame on anybody," he said. "We all just need to take ownership of what happened as unit as a whole and just keep going. We can't lose hope."

Tulsa put constant heat on Cuiellette, making life difficult. In the first half, the Wave was overmatched in every department.

"They were just dialing up a lot of pressure," Cuiellette said. "They were ready to play and came out the gate with guns hot. They were just coming. They were very relentless, and we didn't have an answer really."

Outside projections had SMU as the worst team in the league along with Tulane at the start of the year, but after living down to that reputation early, the Mustangs have lost to Tulsa in overtime and throttled Houston 38-16 in back-to-back games. SMU (3-4, 1-2 AAC) will be very confident coming into Yulman Stadium.

"We just have to keep doing what we've been doing and not stray away from anything," Cuiellette said. "It just wasn't our day on Saturday, so we have to keep fighting through it. This conference is not going to be easy any week, and especially after what SMU did last week, they are going to be motivated and high ego and ready to bounce around and play ball. We've got to be on our Ps and Qs and get everything done."

The best news for Tulane--potentially--was the return of cornerback Donnie Lewis to practice on Monday in a no-contact jersey. Fritz said it was too early to know Lewis would be able to play Saturday, but they will give him every opportunity. Richard Allen had a nightmarish first half against Tulsa as Lewis' replacement.

"We're going to have to see," Fritz said. "That's one of things we're going to get him out, let him run around a little bit. This is day 1 to see how he's doing. It will probably be a game-time decision."

Bowl talk seems absurd at this point, but if Tulane beats SMU, it will be 4-4 and two games away from bowl eligibility. That's another one that stunned me in the past. Even in 2008, my first year back in New Orleans when I wrote the features for four of the six programs for the home games, players were talking about getting bowl eligible when the team was 2-6 and had lost three of its previous four games by 25 points or more. The level of denial or disingenuous talk was very high.

At 3-4, it is legitimate for players to talk about getting to a bowl even if the recent performance says no way.

"That's important, man, because I didn't go to a bowl game since my freshman year," Smart said. "To go out with a bang would be lovely."

Guerry, do you have any scoop on if the Angry Wave by Kern is going to be up for the SMU game as promised? Thanks.

Here's the deal on injuries.

Nico Marley did not practice yesterday or today to rest the ankle he rolled against Tulsa, but he definitely will start and play the whole way unless he gets hurt again.

Zach Harris practiced in a no-contact jersey all week and may be able to play.

Donnie Lewis practiced in a no-contact jersey, too, but spent the last two days working with the scout-team defense to prepare the offense for SMU. His legs are fine, but his shoulder is not and he has been ruled out.

Backup DT Eldrick Washington, who was not in pads yesterday, was full go today. He was just being rested, and I'm not sure what the injury is.

Peter Woullard did not dress out all week and is out with a left leg injury.

I also found out from defensive coordinator Jack Curtis that true freshman P.J. Hall will start at cornerback as listed on the depth chart in Tulane's weekly release. I'm a little surprised because he got very few reps on the first unit yesterday or today against the scout-team offense, but I think it's the right move. Richard Allen will move back to nickelback, where he is much more comfortable.

That means Tulane's starting defense against SMU will be Ade Aruna and Robert Kennedy at end, Tanzel Smart and Sean Wilson at tackle, Marley and Rae Juan Marbley at linebacker, Allen at nickelback (although I'm still not 100-percent convinced on this one), Hall and Parry Nickerson at cornerback and Roderic Teamer and Jarrod Franklin at safety. Taris Shenall will not start Saturday.

Troy Dannen showed up for the last part of practice today and went directly to Marley, who was watching the defense go against the scout-team offense from the end zone. The two slapped hands and talked for about 15 minutes before practice ended.

Miles Strickland practiced today--that's the first time I've seen him get reps--but Willie Fritz confirmed he would be redshirted barring a series of injuries. Strickland had to practice since Josh Rounds and Lazedrick Thompson attend classes during practice time on Thursday. Devin Glenn has been moved back to wide receiver, too, so the lone running backs were Dontrell Hilliard, Sherman Badie and Strickland.

Badie, by the way, will return punts and kickoffs Saturday. He stayed after practice to shag punts from the ball machine along with Hilliard and Nickerson, but Fritz said the job was Badie's. I believe that will be his most valuable role for Tulane because he's proven he can be a difference-maker on kickoff returns and might be good on punt returns, too. We know the guys they've used are not difference makers even when they catch the ball.

The one thing I did not lock down was the starting quarterback. Based on reps, I assume it will be Glen Cuiellette again, but Fritz never said that this week. All he said was Cuiellette and Johnathan Brantley would both play.

They sang Happy Birthday to Terren Encalade at the end of practice. He is the only player whose birth date is not listed in the Media Guide, so I can't say for sure how old he is.

For the second straight day, Fritz yelled through the microphone his main talking point of the week when practice ended, which is that he wants in-season heroes and that everyone is a hero in January, February, March and the summer but he wants guys to be heroes when it really matters, during games.

Maybe Hall will be that hero this week. After watching Allen get torched at cornerback by Tulsa, a change definitely was in order.

I caught up with defensive coordinator Jack Curtis after practice. Here's what he said:

The Tulsa game was really the first bad performance on defense. What were the main problems?

"It was a culmination of things. That first drive, we got rocked back on our heels and couldn't get the right play call or just to get us in a good situation to get off the field. It's a little bit of everything. You start to give in on some things and you're not playing quite as hard, and that's the thing we've got to fight against. There's going to be some bad things happen, and you've got to be mentally tough enough to overcome it. I don't think we did a very good job of playing with that mental toughness. We've done it in the past. We turned the ball over down there on the 5-yard line and we'd hold a goal line stand. We didn't have that (against Tulsa), so that makes you a little softer on the edges and softer on the coverages, and everything went their (Tulsa's) way. That's something you always fight against, and it can happen to anybody--a good team or a bad team. That's how upsets happen, and it's what you always have to guard against. We can't have a letdown. We gotta be at our best and make plays, and if you don't get that, it gets tough. The further that game went along, they had the upper hand and we could hardly make a call that worked."

That Tanzel Smart offside penalty on third-and-6 when it was 7-7 turned out to be significant. Tulsa converted the third-and-1 easily, scored a long touchdown on the next play and never looked back.

"It was huge. It's not just this part of the defense didn't work or that part. It was a culmination of a lot of things. We couldn't get off the field. They were in some short-yardage situations. They made those first downs and extended drives, hit us on some deep balls with good receivers and a good quarterback."

How similar is what SMU runs to Tulsa?

"Real similar. Going back to Central Florida in a game we prepared all week for but didn't play, there a similar offense. So is Memphis and so is Tulsa. It's the American Conference offense almost. It's a lot of similarities, tweaking a play or two here, a lot of tempo, fast, stuff that you gotta be able to handle. We've been doing it for a month, so hopefully we're improving and knowing what we're seeing."

Stopping the run is always pivotal. Is that the key against SMU?

"Our philosophy is always to stop the run, but they'll do a good job in their passing attack spreading the ball around and they have a big-play guy (wide receiver Courtland Sutton with 37 catches for 673 yards). He's extremely talented, and we are going to have to find some ways to not be in so many one on ones with him, and that's scary. It's hard to stop the run and not be in one on ones, and that's where they can get the upper hand on you."

How much is P.J. Hall going to play?

"P.J. is going to play a bunch. Mentally, he's done an excellent job. He's really come in and studied the game. He's a very mature kid and he's going to be able to play a lot for us, so we're excited about where he's at in his young career. Sometimes you get thrown into the fire and that's the best way to grow up is to see him play a lot of real live football in the games."

Richard Allen had a rough first half against Tulsa, and sometimes it's hard to get over something like that. What are your thoughts on him?

"Richard has been outstanding all year long. He's been one of our leaders and played outstanding. His toughness, he barely comes off the field for special teams and defense. He's on everything, so we've been real proud of him. He's done an outstanding job. It's such a difference out there from that inside position at nickel to corner, and I know he feels much more comfortable at nickel, so we're going to play him a bunch there.

So that means he'll start at nickel or corner?

"We're probably going to look at him starting at nickel and P.J. will start at corner. We're having to double train a lot of people, so we'll bounce those guys around."

In a rough defensive performance, Rae Juan Marbley looked like he played well against Tulsa.

"He did. I tell you what, he tackled really well. When he gets his arms around you, you're going down. He's continuing to improve, but you're right. He did a real nice job stepping in and playing."

What is Zach Harris' injury, and will he play?

"He's got a little stinger in his shoulder, but he's about close to full speed. He's moving around great. Of course we haven't gone anything live where there's tackling, but once he gets that first lick in there and it feels like he's OK, he's going to be fine."

I guess it doesn't matter much if Nico Marley sits out a couple of practices?

"Yeah, he and Tanzel have the most experience on the defense, and we have to have him ready to go. He's there. He's bouncing around pretty good."

Did he sprain the ankle?

"He got it rolled on a little bit, but I don't think it was anything. He came out and played the rest of the game. He's pretty tough. He's going to have to be missing a foot to be out of these games. He loves to play, and that's what you really love so much about him is how hard he does play the game."

What are you guys suggestion to putting some spark in the offense ... Any realistic ideas the staff should try?

I talked to Travis Jewett and three players Friday. Here's what they said:

JEWETT

What were your impressions of the scrimmage today?

"Well, you can see what we did a little bit was take maybe some of the older, experienced hitters and try to run them out there against the (Chase) Soleskis and (Ross) Masseys of the world. We tried a little mano y mano, so to speak, and the younger pitching against the less experienced, so I just wanted to have a raised competition for those older guys. The younger kids came out and did a good job today."

What are your impressions of the fall overall with one week left?

"Pretty good. I certainly think we're trending forward, which is an important thing. Physically we are, team-wise we are. I'm not looking toward the end for sure because I don't want it to be over, but at the same time I am excited about the evaluations that we've made. The coaches are spending time just kind of talking about what the next phase is going to become. I told the kids don't get too looking forward to the end of fall. Just be engaged in today, but they are doing a good job being in the moment and I just hope we keep taking steps forward every day."

Jeremy Montalbano can't throw yet (coming off Tommy John surgery in June), but he played catcher today and tossed underhanded. How much does it help for him to being getting reps?

"Just a huge amount. It's fun for me to stand out behind second base and look back there and there's big Jeremy. He's a presence back there. He presents the glove well. He receives well. He's blocking well. He's been quick to his feet. Obviously he's just now starting to throw, so his timeline's coming around good. He should be good to go once we get back from the (winter) break."

Paul Gozzo did not have a good throwing day behind the plate, but how has he been this fall?

"He's a freshman. But you can tell it's important to him. What he has to do is breathe and make sure he understands the situation and takes a deep breath and lets his skills shine a little bit. Sometimes when you're young, you press. But his gas level or what we call give a shucks is high. I can tell that. He wants to do well, and he's getting better."

How hard does Jack Hogan throw? He looked good in his pitching stint today.

"I don't know what he was throwing today, but it had a good angle to it, he had command on the mound, his pace was good and he came in filling up the strike zone, so I was excited to see that. He had been a little bit dinged up and took a little bit of time off, so it was good to have him back out there today."

Which of the young pitchers have made the most progress?

"Well, his (Logan's) limited times that he's touched the dirt, he's filled up the strike zone tremendously, so I'd have to say he's right up there. It was good to see Soleski. He maybe hasn't been as sharp the last couple of times out, but today I extended him out a little bit and he threw the ball over and had a good changeup, so it's good."

You were right in the middle of the action behind second base during the scrimmage. What's behind that?

"It's just kind of like be able to communicate from short distances all over the field, just kind of be able to keep my eyes on everything. I tell these kids I have eyes in the back of my head, so that's a good spot for me to be in for that to be true."

It that always where you stand during scrimmages?

"A lot, yeah just because it allows me to have short communication gaps with everybody on the field and be able to talk the game with the kids."

You were very vocal early. Is that pretty normal?

"Yeah. I'm trying to bring an energy level. If I'm going to try to be the leader of this program, I want to show the kids what I want out of them, I expect out of myself, too. I want the kids to learn that whole culture we've talked about and just be engaged in one another and excited to be out here. The word "grind" in our program doesn't exist. It's not a grind. This is a fun baseball game. We're out here on a playground, and I want them to treat it as such, and so I try to bring a little bit of energy when I can."

JAKE WILLSEY

It's a little different having your coach stand 10 feet behind you while you're scrimmaging. What kind of different energy has he brought?

"He definitely puts a much greater focus on having energy, and he tries to lead by example and sort of encourage us, kick us in the ass, stuff like that, but he puts a huge premium on what he calls spirit. That's just something we've been trying to work on. In the past our focus had been sort of baseball, baseball, baseball."

He just told me "grind" wasn't in the team's vocabulary. How different is that?

"It's a different mentality that we try to have. We try to embrace things. Challenges that may be presented as us, we try to think of them a little bit differently. And yeah, in his own words, digging ditches is a grind, playing baseball isn't a grind. You can see where he's coming from."

The seniors have been through a lot of coaching changes. Does that make it easier or harder to adjust?

"It doesn't change the fact that things are extremely different than past years. It's been really a massive adjustment for us, probably even harder on us, to tell you the truth because we're so engrained in our ways and we have to change a lot of our ways. There's a lot of adapting, and the freshmen are more malleable. But it's great to have a veteran club because we know the ins and outs."

How much more hands on than David Pierce is he? He appears to be.

"That's exactly right. It's very different."

In what ways can that help or hurt?

"I wouldn't say either is better or worse. It's just sort of different. It's something we have to just adapt to. If he's got something to say, you listen and you do it. He's the head coach and he knows where he's coming from. We just embraced the new, what he calls culture, that he's trying to instill here."

How high is the confidence overall coming off a successful year?

"A lot of of people don't realize how good we were last year. We made it to a regional but the fact of the matter is we were a super regional team. We just weren't in a super regional. Especially with the lineup we have coming back, it should really speak for itself. Almost our whole lineup is coming back. We know what we did last year worked and I just think we can take big steps from that foundation that we build last year."

How long did it take you to get over the two losses to Boston College?

"It was really hard for me, living very close to that school about a mile from campus. It was tough. My sister goes there and my girlfriend's whole family went there. It was brutal. I have a little bit of history with Boston College myself, just some recruiting stuff that I had gone through with them, and it was pretty brutal to lose to them how we did because we were the better team and everybody and their mother knew that. So it was a tough pill to swallow."

In the first game you lost to BC you went against an incredible pitcher in Justin Dunn. Was the second loss the harder one to take?

"There's no doubt. Justin Dunn, you know you are going to have to win a low-scoring game. But I remember everything like it was yesterday, every pitch I saw. It just really stung, but it's a new season and we have the talent to go even further."

When you eliminated Ole Miss, did you really feel like you were going to win the regional?

"As soon as we were in the regional I felt like we were going to win the regional because I felt like we were the best team in the regional. Ole Miss was obviously a very good team, but sometimes that's just what happens. Any team can get hot in a regional. Once it's the postseason, it's sort of any given today. That's sort of what happened to us unfortunately."

Losing Jake Rogers will be tough because there's really no one in college baseball who can match his defensive skills behind the plate. How can you compensate?

"We have a veteran catcher in Jeremy. He's caught at Texas. He did a little bit of catching last year. His bat speaks for itself, and he's more than an adequate catcher. Nobody is a Jake Rogers. He'll be the first to tell you that. We'll miss Jake, there's no doubt about it, but I don't see us really skipping a beat in that regard."

As always, the Tulane game counts double, the home teams are listed first and the point spreads are from VegasInsider.com consensus:

Tulsa (-10.5) Tulane
Navy (+2.5) Memphis
LSU (-5.5) Ole Miss
Alabama (-18) Texas A&M
Louisville (-19.5) North Carolina State
Stanford (-2) Colorado
Iowa (+3.5) Wisconsin
West Virginia (-6) TCU

I was able to make it out on a gorgeous afternoon. The wind was blowing in from RF. They were doing BP when I got there. The pitching machine was set up just in front of the mound. It appeared he was trying to get them to hit to the opposite field. When they did that they got a whistle from Jewett. Spoon was first in and Jewett jawed at him for not doing well. His next couple of rounds were ok. Hoese did well each of his three times thru. Rowland also did well. Willsey was just so-so. The next group started with Kaplan. He did poorly and Jewett ordered a do-over. He then did ok. Same w/Hope needing a do-over. Browns three trips thru were a mixed bag. He did so-so and then hit well at the end. Williams also started slow and finished fast.

It appeared set to go 8 as that's what they had on the board. I stayed for 7.

Team Blue:
Kaplan: 0 for 2 w/a walk.
Spoon: 0-3
Hope:0-3,1k
Williams,1b: 1-3
Brown,RF,LF: 1-3, 2k's and a homer to left
Glancy,DH (for Montalbano): 2-3,1k
Sal Gozzo,SS,2B: 0-3,1k
Hoese,2B,SS: 1-3,1k

Team Green:
Rowland,1B:2-4,double to left field corner, triple to the RC gap,2k's
Heinrichs, RF: 0-5
Willsey,2B: 0-4,1k
Galy,3B,SS,1-4,1k, got on twice on errors
Owen,CF,RF: 0-4
Paul Gozzo,C: 2-4,
Artigues,SS,3B: 0-2,1k
Kirsch,LF: 1-2,walk and a SF

Yes I know that only list 8 hitters for each but that's how they did it. In the 4th inning Gozzo and Artigues flip-flopped in the order. Not sure if it was a mistake or not but after that they went back to the original order.

The only one who hit well was Rowland. Other than that lot of soft hits for the most part. Team green was ahead 8-1 when I left after 7. Mostly due to horrid defense by Blue. Hope was awful at third w/two errors on routine balls. Spoon was weak in CF. He came in on one w/a runner at first. The runner only went a little towards 2nd as he thought it would be caught. Spoon looked at him and then when it was clear he wasn't going to make the catch instead of just fielding it on the hop and throwing him out at 2nd he lunged and the ball hit him and hopped away resulting in 2nd and 3rd instead of runner on first w/two out. Hoese then made an error at short. Hope made an error. Then Hope threw home on a ball and made a bad throw allowing the runner to score. This all ended with 4 unearned runs in the inning. We mad e al lot of throws at lead runners that didn't get outs and allowed hitters to get to second instead of being held at first.

Massey pitched well for Blue. He went 4, 2h, 0 runs,1W, 6 K's. Price started for Green. He went 4, 3h, 2 runs, 3 walks 4 k's. Price throws a ton of breaking stuff. He doesn't have much on the fastball. Schnake came in for Price. He pitched then next three that I saw. He gave up 3hits, no walks, no hits and two hit batsmen. He brings the heat but has trouble w/the breaking balls. Though I thought his breakers got better as he went. Solesky came in for Price. He was solid. He gave up three hits including the homer to Brown. No walks or K's.

Montalbano caught for Blue. He has to throw underarm to the pitcher. I think I read someone say Paul Gozzo has an arm injury. They were letting him throw thru but it was not good. we are really weak behind the dish. I think it's a pipe dream to think Montalbano can be a regular catcher after TJ surgery. Shortstop is not impressive and we are weak in center.

It was a very unimpressive outing. As I sat there I was telling myself it's just fall ball and maybe I just caught them on a bad day. In the 7th inning a long time fan walked over to talk. I told him my impressions which weren't good and he emphatically agreed. He said he has been to several of the practices and this is the way they have looked. I hope guys get healthy and things take a turn for the better.

Almost all of us won when Tulane got the backdoor cover. I'm still irritated that Indiana didn't cover after falling behind Nebraska 17-0 and dominating the rest of the way. The Temple-UCF result changed with one second left.

Kettrade 1, who was almost perfect, is creating some serious separation.

8

Kettrade1

7

winwave

6

LSU Law Greenie
Rcnut
DrBox
paliii
highwave

5

ny oscar
Charlamange8
diverdo
Gretna Green
WaveON
Wavetime
Golfer81

4

Guerry
MNAlum
jjstock2005

3

Mono41


OVERALL STANDINGS

34.5

Kettrade1

29.5

MNAlum

28.5

diverdo
LSU Law Greenie
DrBox
winwave

27.5

WaveON
Gretna Green
highwave

26.5

Charlamange8
Rcnut

24.5

Guerry
ny oscar (missed 1 week)
paliii (missed 1 week)

23.5

Wavetime

22.5

Golfer81

21.5

Mono41
jjstock2005 (missed 1 week)
Harahan Wave (missed 2 weeks)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane over Memphis 16 of 18
Alabama over Tennessee 11 of 18
Wisconsin over Ohio State 8 of 18
Arkansas over Ole Miss 12 of 18
NC State over Clemson 9 of 18
Nebraska over Indiana 11 of 18
Temple over UCF 8 of 18
Tulsa over Houston 4 of 18

Not much to report from practice today. Tulane, still low on bodies, had to use DE Luke Jackson as a scout-team offensive lineman for part of practice. Guard Phabion Woodard, who has an undisclosed injury, practiced as a scout-team defensive tackle without his helmet on at the end of practice. Obviously these were not contact drills, but that was a strange one.

For those wondering about Tre Jackson's progress, he is not on the travel roster for the Tulsa game. I have not been able to obtain the list this year, but his name was announced for doing community service Friday afternoon along with a bunch of players you know won't be going on the trip.

Braynon Edwards had an interception against the scout-team offense.

Shenall will start at nickelback and Allen will start at cornerback, but Shenall got some reps at safety on the second unit and Allen got a few reps at nickelback.

Here's what Willie Fritz said after practice:

What's Sherman Badie's status?

"He's going to be playing Saturday hopefully. We'll have to see how it goes. He's only had a couple of days of contact, but he is going to play. He's a good player. I know he had a great game against these guys a couple of years ago. It's good to have another weapon in there. He's a home run hitter for us. I thought he was kind of getting into the rhythm when he got hurt. The more good players you have out there, the better off you are."

Will Hilliard return punts?

"We're waiting to see where we're at. I wanted to talk to my coaches. We'll have a big meeting, go over everything and watching practice. It's hard for me to make decisions like that on the fly. I'm not down there catching every punt. I'm down running the other drills, so we'll visit that."

Will Harris be out multiple weeks or just this week?

"Just this week."

How important is it for this offense to put together a big game on the ground?

"Real big. We've got to be able to run the football. That's our bread and butter. When we do that, it just opens up everything else. We've got to do that. It will be huge for us."

What are the roots of that inconsistency?

"Missed assignments, and not just by the offensive line. We've missed cuts five or six times where it was blocked pretty well and we were going to get five yards but we ventured the wrong way and gained one. Second-and-5 is an extremely good down and distance for this offense. That's part of it. Blocking on the perimeter. It's everybody. If I could pinpoint one or two guys, those one or two guys would be over there standing with me and we'd have somebody else playing. That's part of establishing a culture of every play being important and doing you're one-eleventh and being mentally focused and tough every single play. We have a bunch of guys who do that all the time. We need more."

You faced Baylor twice at Sam Houston State, and Tulsa runs the Baylor offense. Is there anything you can gain from that?

"A little bit. The only thing I felt like we did a good job of at Sam was getting lined up. We were actually winning 20-10 going into the fourth quarter (in 2012) and ended up getting beat. Just getting lined up, you have to hustle. You have to anticipate that every play is going to be a fast-tempo play. Now a lot of them aren't. That's the illusion of it, and when they smell blood, they start really going fast. We've got to do a good job of getting lined up, then seeing the call, not the other way around."

I wish I had known about Rounds' side business when I wrote about him for The Advocate two weeks ago. This is interesting stuff.

http://www.tulanehullabaloo.com/sports/article_974c5ffc-963c-11e6-8a35-af6f5dc2276d.html

Although the defense played valiantly, this was Tulane's worst game of the year. Willie Fritz pointed out how the Wave made a ton of mistakes (it was a special teams debacle) and still only lost by 10, and that's what good coaches do, but the reality is Tulane just as easily could have lost 31-7 after the offense disappeared for the final three quarters. Memphis almost popped a 90-yard touchdown run while up 24-7, but after limited it to 60-plus, the Wave forced a third turnover on the next play with terrific effort by Nico Marley, then drove 80 yards for a meaningless touchdown (except, of course, that it meant everything to anyone who bet on the Wave versus the points) that made the final margin closer.

This was a game Tulane should have led at halftime, but after getting a first down at the Memphis 11 with a 7-6 lead in the second quarter, the offense went into permanent reverse. First, Trey Scott never turned around on a pass intended for him near the goal line--that's why he seldom plays. Then Tulane was penalized for an illegal formation. Then Glen Cuiellette dumped the ball off the Lazedrick Thompson with a guy right on him for a 6-yard loss in a poor decision. Then Cuiellette threw it about five yards out the back of the end zone. Then Andrew DiRocco missed a 39-yard field goal.

The rest of the game was a struggle. Memphis' previously low-regarded defense controlled the line of scrimmage, and Tigers running back Darrell Henderson was the fastest player on the field, burning Tulane's defense for big plays.

It will be interesting to see where the Wave goes from here. It does not have enough playmakers on offense to win without playing a clean game in all three phases, and the special teams were abysmal while the offense was poor. That won't get it done against any upper-division AAC team. Next week's opponent, Tulsa, has a very vulnerable defense. If the offensive line does not have its way against the Golden Hurricane, it will be a long conference season. But at least Tulane is 3-3 and has something to play for other than pride in the second half of the year. It probably will be an underdog in five of its remaining six game, but it was an underdog nine times in 2013 when it finished 7-6.

Here is what Willie Fritz said after the game. Unfortunately, I did not get to the interview room in time to ask him any questions because I was on deadline for The Advocate, so the quotes are from the SID office. I love his opening statement. He doesn't stomach games like this and expects his team to play better. Not a word about Memphis having better athletes or any acceptance at all of the performance.

Opening Statement:

"This was a disappointing loss. The coaches, managers and everybody affiliated with the program feel like that was a game we could have won. Like I've been preaching all year long, we've got to be on point at all three phases in order to win. There's going to come a point in time when we can not play real well and still win games like that, but it's not going to be this season. We had some costly turn overs, and ball security is something that we've been really good at all season long. Sometimes a punt's not a bad play. There were some costly plays in the kicking game, we dropped some punts and made some mistakes with penalties that put us in a poor-starting field position.”

On playing so many freshmen: (ED comment: frankly, I don't think Tulane plays a lot of freshmen)

“We have a bunch of true freshmen playing for us, and they've got to grow up in a hurry. I wish I had the benefit of red shirting a bunch of these guys, but I just can't with our limitations on numbers. With more guys getting banged up, more of them will start playing on offense and defense.”

On how the team did as a whole:

“I'm sure there's some guys who played really well, but we'll have to watch the tape and evaluate to get better. We've got to hang together. We didn't do a great job of coaching them, and we didn't do a great job of playing. I was encouraged because we had a really good week of practice, but it didn't translate out onto the field this evening."

On how disappointing it was to see the offense take a step back towards bad habits:

"Seeing the offense struggle like that was very disappointing. At times we thought we were getting into a bit of rhythm running the football, but we didn't sustain that rhythm throughout the game. We can't have missed assignments, we're just not that type of team right now. Every body's got to be on point. Obviously we didn't play that well offensively, and we've got to play better than that."

On how the pressure affected the quarterback:

"For a few plays, we just missed a protection call. I thought that if we ran the ball more effectively, it would help the passing game, but we just weren't quite running the ball as well as we needed to. A couple times we tried to take a shot with passing the ball, but hindsight's 20/20 and I should have ran the ball. I felt like we just weren't in sync whether we were running or throwing the ball. A couple times we blocked the power play and the inside zone cleanly and had some big rips on it, but we did have problems. And these are the guys that we're going to play with for the rest of the year, there's no transfers coming in next week. They've got to get better, and we've got to coach them better."

On difficulties with the running game:

"I think the turnovers were probably more disappointing than our issues running the ball. We turned the ball over and had a bad starting field position giving our defense short fields, and as a result, they got some cheap shot field goals, which was disappointing. The kicking game combined with difficulties running the ball was disappointing. There's a lot of room for improvement."

On the fight in the defense:

"The defense did a good job up until the end. Memphis had that last long run, and we got a turnover after the next play. We thought they were going to come out with a quarterback sneak, so we played a nose guard and they got a big rip on us. Unfortunately, sometimes you get into a defensive struggle like that and you just have to keep matching, and that's difficult. The defense gets tired and lose their focus a bit when that occurs, but for the most part, I thought we played pretty well defensively."

On coaching the young guys into more mature players:

"We've got to put more pressure on the young guys in practice. I think we do, but we have to put even more. That way when we're in a game, and it's the real deal going on, we're not having missed assignments. That's what winning teams do. We had some really foolish penalties, and to win, we have to be clean. I'm going to keep playing these guys because they have to grow up and get better, plus we don't have any alternative. They'll get better. We'll bounce back and play much better next week."

On the bye week throwing off the team’s rhythm:

"I don't think the bye week had anything to do with it. I thought we had a great week of practice, we just didn't come out and play."

On the turning point of the game:

"The touchdown that Memphis had at the end of the first half was critical. If we had about two or three guys over on the ball, it would have been a gain of about seven or eight instead of 46 yards. We also gave them some short fields with miscues by us in the special teams. There were a lot of mistakes. We have to play really well to win those kinds of games. It's discouraging that you play that poorly and you lose by 10."

Watching the play on tape, Tulane made a boatload of mistakes on the screen pass for a touchdown, and Darrell Henderson had the speed to turn those mistakes into a touchdown.

Tulane lined up in its base defense on the first-and-25 play (after offensive interference), with Jarrod Franklin and Roderic Teamer at safety, Parry Nickerson and Richard Allen at cornerback, Taris Shenall at nickleback, Nico Marley and Rae Juan Marbley at linebacker, Tanzel Smart and Sean Wilson at DT and Quinlan Carroll and Peter Woullard at end.

Here's what each player did on the 46-yard score:

1) Woullard, playing left end, got knocked to the ground by the right tackle and never was a factor on a play that started the other way and came back to his side of the field. By the time he got up, Henderson was headed to the end zone.

2) Wilson, playing left tackle, got caught up in the blocking at first and starting pursuing laterally but was not nearly quick enough to get involved and would not have expected to be involved.

3) Smart, playing right tackle, was allowed to get by his blocker so that he would be too far upfield to get back to the screen. When he realized he was not going to get Henderson, he slowed down and did not give full effort, but it wouldn't have mattered. He was already out of the play.

4) Carroll, the right end, went on a stunt to the inside, taking himself out of the play entirely on the screen to his vacated side.

5) Marley, lined up at MLB seven yards off the line, cut to his left to run around a blocker and got pushed out of the way, giving Henderson plenty of room to cut inside and go by him. If Marley had not tried to run around the block, Henderson would not have had the cutback lane.

6) Marbley playing just to the left of the left hash at the 40, over pursued, taking himself out of position as Henderson cut right in front of him. Give credit to Henderson for a sharp cut, though. Marbley was not anticipating it.

7) Shenall, who had a straight path to Henderson from his nickel spot, got too far outside and had not shot when Henderson cut back. He probably would not have been able to make a play anyway because a big lineman was about to engage him, allowing Henderson to cut either way.

8) Allen, playing right corner, was blocked out of the play by the wide receiver on his side.

9) Nickerson, playing left corner, a long way from the play, ran forward to protect against a possible screen to his side. He was the only defender who ran full speed to try to chase Henderson down when he cut back to his side of the field, but Henderson had a five-yard lead on him and he was only able to cut half of that margin by the time he reached the end zone.

10) Teamer, playing safety on the side the screen went to, came up a little but was too deep to do anything when Henderson cut across the field and did not have an angle on him. He also did not give full effort, conceding the touchdown quickly.

11) Franklin, playing safety on the other side, went too far inside, too, allowed Henderson to get outside of him easily and capitulated when an offensive lineman got in his way. It wouldn't have mattered at that point.

Everyone was running in slow motion except for Nickerson. Marbley, Shenall and Franklin all took bad angles. It was a very uncharacteristic play for the defense, another example of how you can't take a down off. Again, though, Henderson has some serious speed and acceleration. Tulane has no one on offense who can do that.

Although Willie Fritz continues to publicly hold out hope for Donnie Lewis' availability against Tulsa, Tulane's starting lineup defensively appears set for Saturday's game. Richard Allen will replace Lewis at cornerback, with Taris Shenall playing nickelback. The other change in the lineup, also due to injury, is Rae Juan Marbley at weakside linebacker instead of Zach Harris.

Fritz is higher on Allen, who had his first career interception while playing cornerback in place of the injured Lewis in the second half against Memphis last Friday, than most observers. Allen started the first six games at nickelback and has 21 tackles, although he has been targeted quite a bit by opposing quarterbacks.

"He's a really good corner also," Fritz said. "Richard is one of our toughest football players. He really is. I made note of that with our team yesterday. We have to get more guys who are able to play a large percentage of plays on either offense and defense and can still play at a high effort level in the kicking game. Richard's able to do that. We need more guys that can do that. I've been very impressed with his mental toughness. That's really what it is. Everybody's in shape. I always tell them if you had a million dollars after every play if you play hard, you'd do it. That's how important you have to make it."

Shenall has not played a whole lot as the top backup at nickel and strong safety, with Allen and Roderic Teamer staying on the field. He'll get his opportunity this Saturday against a Tulsa passing attack that averages 264.2 yards in the air, with wideout Keevan Lucas on pace for a 1,000-yards season (41 catches, 596 yards, 5 TDs).

"He (Shenall) is a good player," Fritz said. "You have to have depth, and sometimes you have to manufacture depth where guys can play different positions. The easiest way is to have two positions where one guy can play both instead of pigeon-holing a guy to only play one spot."

Harris left very early against Memphis and has not practiced this week. Marbley stepped in for him and tied his career high for tackles with six. Two years after competing for a first-team spot in preseason practice as a true freshman, Marbley will get his second career start. The first came against Army last year, so he is 1-0 as a starter.

"He did some good things (against Memphis)," Fritz said. "The one thing about Rae Juan is when he gets you between the clubs, you go down. He's a strong guy. He just has to to a really good job of playing with leverage. He's got good attention to detail. He had an opportunity to play more on Friday night, and he did well, so he just parlayed that into more plays. Some guys had opportunities on Friday and didn't play very well, so they are not parlaying it into more plays. It's not that complicated to figure out who you are going to play based on practice and when they get opportunities in the games. It's pretty simple."

Fritz was happier about Wednesday's practice than Tuesday's, when he felt there was too much of a carryover from the disappointing performance against Memphis.

"I feel much better today," he said. "As you guys heard me say many times and I've said to the guys many times, every game counts as one. There's not one that counts two, and none of them count a half. They all count one, so you have to put everything into it that you possibly can. The big thing that the winning programs are able to do is have a lot of in-season heroes. They have guys do their best and are mentally tough and physically tough during the season and not in January, February and March. Most teams in the country are really good in the offseason. We have to be tough during the season."

Tulane's practice structure is very similar on Tuesday and Wednesday, with position drills followed by team drills followed by group work that includes a tackling drill for the linebackers and defensive backs and ending with scout-team work. Parry Nickerson has sat out the team work two straight day as a precaution but is 100-percent healthy after playing the best half of his career in the first half against Memphis, when he was sensational.

The tackling drill varied slightly today from yesterday. Instead of running to tackle a rolling donut, the players had to tackle a cushion a trainer was running with. Fritz never backs off on tackling instruction, and though nowhere close to perfect, Tulane has tackled better this year than any year under Curtis Johnson or the last three years under Bob Toledo (my time spent covering they team).

Maybe I'm burying the lead, but Sherman Badie returned to practice today in a red no-contact jersey. Fritz said Badie would be on the travel roster to Tulsa. I'm not expecting much from Badie yet, but he would be returning to the scene of his 200-yard explosion against Tulsa in the 2014 season opener.

"He looked good," Fritz said. "Hopefully he'll be able to play a little bit Saturday."

Really the pivotal drive in the Memphis game was the one where Tulane ripped big chunks of yardage on four straight plays to get a first down at the Tigers' 11 and then went backwards, resulting in Andrew DiRocco's missed field goal with a 7-6 lead in the second quarter. Here's what happened on each play, with an explanation from a player or Fritz.

1-10-11: Cuiellette throw in the direction of Trey Scott, who was running down the field looking to block.

Analysis: As I mentioned yesterday, Cuiellette shouldered the full blame for that one. He thought it was a run-pass option, but it was not. The only option was whether he would keep it or hand off to running back Josh Rounds. He faked to Rounds, held the ball a second and then fired. Tulane could have been called for having illegal men downfield but wasn't since the linemen were blocking for a run.

"We were just discombobulated right there," Cuiellette said. "We had some communication issues on the sideline, and some of the teammates thought they saw a different signal and some said they heard me say a different call. I just have to be more vocal and be more louder in the situation. That was my fault. I thought it was an RPO (run-pass option), but it wasn't one of them. I was supposed to hand the ball off. We just all have to lock in. That was big. That's what defines the game right there, as little as it sounds, but that's what defines it. You're on the 11, you're about to score and go up 14-6. You gotta capitalize, especially in this league."

2-10-11: Illegal formation penalty wipes out a 3-yard run by Rounds.

Analysis: This one was on Larry Dace, who lined up as the inside receiver on the left side a yard off the line. Chris Johnson was lined up wide to the left, and the only other guys on the line were the five linemen. Tight end Kendall Ardoin was lined up as a blocking back in front of Cuiellette to the left, Rounds was behind Cuiellette and wide receiver Darnell Mooney went in motion from the right side as a possible pitch man. That means Dace had to be on the line, although he would have been ineligible as a receiver since Johnson would have been covering him.

"It was the inside guy," Fritz said. "We've got to line up correctly. It's tough. You hope guys stay away from penalties, and all of a sudden we get that. We went from at the very least a chip shot field goal to a longer field goal, and we don't make."

2-15-16: Cuillette throws swing pass to Lazedrick Thompson, who is immediately tackled by LB Austin Hall for a 6-yard loss. Hall was unblocked with no one ever near him.

Analysis: I'm not sure who was supposed to account for Hall, but someone was. Fritz said the play was designed to go to Thompson, so it was not a case of Cuiellette making a bad read. The closest guy to Hall was inside receiver Terren Encalade, so I guess he should have slid to the inside to account for Hall. Instead, Encalade went downfield to try to block a DB and whiffed, although it didn't matter because Hall already was tackling Thompson at the time. The offensive linemen were engaged, so none of them could have gotten out to Hall, who lined up three yards behind the line and about five yards wide of Todd Jacquet.

"There was another one where we had a missed assignment," Fritz said. "When you have missed assignments, particularly at the point of attack, it's like running one less play. We have to block the right guy. That's a misses assignment at the point of attack. It's disastrous. That's the other thing I challenged our guys about--put pressure on yourself in practice so when you get out there in the game and you have people in the stands and you're playing on national TV, it's not that big of a deal. As I told my coaches, we can do one of two things. We've got to do a better job coaching them or put somebody else out there to play. It's plain and simple. All these games we're playing are going to be close. We've just got to be spot on."

3-21-16: Cuiellette heaves a pass intended for double-covered Chris Johnson, and it goes about five yards out the back of the end zone.

Analysis: Tulane had three receivers on the play, and Cuiellette never looked for anyone but Johnson. It wouldn't have matters. The wideout on the far left was blanketed running a drag route, and Encalade was well covered on a down and out inside the 10. No blown assignments here. Just no one open.

"That was the guy he wanted to go to and everything was covered, so instead of taking a sack and putting us in even a worse position, he threw it out of there," Fritz said. It was a 38-yard field goal. We have to make that, but it sure would have been nice to have attempted a 21-, 27-, 25-yard field goal if we had gained a few yards on those plays. That's just the evolution of our program and the process of being able to play smart every single day. We're working on that on a daily basis."

I've got mixed news for the people who wanted Taris Shenall to move to cornerback and Richard Allen to stay an nickelback with Donnie Lewis sidelined. That was one of the looks Tulane had in practice Tuesday against the scout-team offense.

Shenall, who started three games at cornerback as a true freshman last year under CJ, had practiced at safety and nickel under Willie Fritz but not cornerback.

I did not ask Fritz about Lewis after practice because there were several TV cameras there and he essentially refuses to give a direct answer on injuries in group settings, but Lewis did not practice and clearly is out.

"Taris was a starter for us last year, and he was definitely a person that we're looking forward to playing with this year," safety Jarrod Franklin said. "Having him back in the secondary (as a starter) is definitely a positive and something I'm happy about."

Shenall has played in all six games while making 10 tackles but has not played a big role in a secondary where the starters have logged most of the time. True freshman Will Harper probably plays the most, replacing Jarrod Franklin at safety, but the other four guys have not come off the field much--Parry Nickerson and Lewis at cornerback, Allen at nickelback and Roderic Teamer at strong safety. Shenall, Teamer's backup, appeared to get more work in the first few games, subbing in with Harper, than he has lately because Teamer has stepped up. Shenall had one tackle against Memphis.

Allen, who struggled earlier in the year just as he did last season, has picked it up lately. He had his first career interception against Memphis and although the Tigers targeted him successfully at times in the second half, he is making his share of plays.

Nickerson rested during the team portion of Tuesday morning's practice, allowing true freshmen Thakarius Keyes and P.J. Hall to get some reps with the first unit. Fellow true freshman Eric Lewis got some time, too, but none of them are ready to start, having combined for one tackle (Keyes) through six games. The starters will be Allen and Shenall. The only issue is where those two will line up.

Linebacker Zachery Harris did not practice Tuesday, either. His loss would be significant because he played so well against ULL and UMass, but his backup, Rae Juan Marbley, also played well against Memphis. It seems like the light has gone on for Marbley, who was in the running to start at the beginning of his freshman year in 2014 but did not do much and was not a huge factor last year despite making 34 tackles. He tied his career high with six tackles against Memphis and was active throughout. His 21 stops for the year are tied for seventh most on the team.

Freshman wide receiver Chris Johnson, who was shaken up against Memphis when his head hit the ground hard, practiced today. He got chewed out for not going all out on one play by an assistant coach, but it was a good sign that he was able to go at all.

Look for Larry Dace to play a bigger role against Tulsa. His biggest moment this year was dropping a sure touchdown pass against Southern, and he was hurt for a while after that, but he almost brought in a fade for a score against Memphis in the final minute, landing just out of bounds, and received a lot of reps in practice today. On one play, he drove the defender back by running as if it was a streak route, then stopped, planted hard and turned around for a nice catch from Glen Cuiellette. On the next play, however, he tried to make a one-handed leaping catch on the sideline, drawing a rebuke from two coaches to use both hands.

As Nola07 predicted in another thread, I owe Trey Scott an apology. In the Advocate and here, I wrote that he failed to turn around for a Cuiellette pass on the disastrous drive that was the turning point against Memphis as Tulane went from first down at the 11 to missing a 39-yard field goal. Cuiellette took full responsibility for the play after practice today, saying he thought it was a run-pass option but that it was a run-only play. Scott was doing his job trying to block downfield.

Fritz says he is the same way in every practice regardless of the result of the previous game, but his assistants appeared to be tougher on the players than usual today. Doug Ruse was all over Cuiellette for a bad decision he made (I didn't see it), telling him the receiver he should have thrown to should have been furious the ball didn't come his way because he was wide open. Tulane has the 114th-ranked offense in the nation, but the coaches definitely are not accepting that type of low output.

Here is coach Mike Norvell and one quote from LB Austin Hall:


Coach Mike Norvell

Opening Statement:“This was a great game. I thought in all three phases that our guys came out and played a difficult opponent but did what was necessary to win the game. I thought our special teams and our defense were absolutely dominant throughout and I’m really happy with those guys. On offense, we’ve just got to continue to grow and continue to eliminate those silly mistakes that are making it a little bit tougher. Once again, another week we’ve come back in the second half and been able to knock off a couple of really explosive runs and put the game away. We’re still a work in progress, and we know the offensive side of the ball we are a little younger there, and we are going to continue to work and get better, but this is about team, and I thought our guys came out and did what it took to be able to win this football game. I’m very proud.”


On the defense’s performance:“I thought they did an outstanding job. Coach Ball and the defensive staff put together a great plan and our guys went out there and executed it to create some takeaways. I think Austin Hall played incredible. He finished up with maybe 12 tackles and three tackles for loss, he was just all over the field. I thought he did a nice job. Anytime you’re playing an option football team, you’ve got to go out there and play at a high level and trust your eyes and trust your reads. I thought we did a really good job defensively of containing them.”


On Austin Hall: “He really fits all the values that we look for - he’s smart, tough, and he loves playing this game. He’s maximizing his opportunity and continuing to get better each and every week. He’s made a lot of plays for us throughout the season, and being a redshirt freshman, he’s showing that he’s a guy who can be counted on and has really established himself as one of the leaders on this defense.”


On the offense:
“I thought the line really calmed down there in the second half and was able to open up some seams. When you get a guy who can run like Darrell in the open field we know he’s got a chance to take it. That’s one of the great things about this offense, that it’s truly built for playmakers, so we can highlight the versatility of our backs. I think tonight there were too many dropped passes and some missed opportunities, but at the end of the day our guys did what it took to win that game. I’d like to see us a finish a little better. We can’t have a turnover there late.”

Austin Hall

On the defense:“We prepared really well. Option team wise we really had to get down our technique. We got the QB handled and the pitch handled technique wise so that we could make plays. I play that outside linebacker position so my job is to buy time for other guys to get there so that they can pitch it out on the edge and guys can get there on edge.”

Do we have a list of guys who are redshirt this year ?

Anyone have an idea what recruits visited this week? Being a Friday night, I'd guess not many. Still, any info?

Roll Wave!!!

As always, the Tulane game counts double, the home teams are listed first and the spreads come from VegasInsider.com consensus.

My apologies for not getting this up yesterday with a Friday night game, but other than going to practice and attending the media luncheon, I was tied up all day. That is no longer the case. The list of games is crummy. It's a shame this is one of my free Saturday.

Tulane (+11.5) Memphis
Tennessee (+12.5) Alabama
Wisconsin (+10) Ohio State
Arkansas (+7.5) Ole Miss
Clemson (-17.5) North Carolina State
Indiana (+3.5) Nebraska
Central Florida (-3.5) Temple
Houston (-21.5) Tulsa