Tulane commitment, Jack Abraham, threw seven TD passes on Friday night to give him a total of 29 for the year with three interceptions in eight games. Overall, he was 22 for 30 on the night for 354 yards. For the season, he is 161 for 256 (62.9%) and 2,441 yards. That’s over 15 yards per completion and 9.5 yards per pass attempt—pretty phenomenal numbers.

Right now he's scheduled to enroll in January in time for Spring practice.

Roll Wave!!!

As always, home teams are listed first, the Tulane game counts double and the point spreads are from VegasInsider.com consensus. Picks need to be in by kickoff of the Tulane game on Friday.

Tulane (+19) Houston
Memphis (+10.5) Ole Miss
Temple (-21.5) UCF
LSU (-9.5) Florida
Texas A&M (+4) Alabama
Michigan (-8) Michigan State
Notre Dame (-6.5) Southern Cal
Northwestern (+2.5) Iowa

We all know the difference on the field has been dramatic between the two teams this year.

But what was the difference in the perceived caliber of the players when they enrolled? Here's the answer.

QUARTERBACK

Houston: Greg Ward, a junior, was a 3-star recruit listed as an ATHLETE and rated 5.5.

Tulane: Devin Powell, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4

RUNNING BACK

Houston: Kenneth Farrow, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5. Javin Webb, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

Tulane: Sherman Badie, a redshirt sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5. Dontrell Hilliard, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4; Rob Kelley, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

WIDE RECEIVERS

Houston: Chance Allen, a junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the No. 94 wideout nationally.
: Demarcus Ayers, a junior, was a 3-star athlete rated 5.6.
: Steven Dunbar, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit from Rummel rated 5.4.

Tulane: Teddy Veal, a sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6.
Devon Breaux, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3
Rickey Preston, a true freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4

TIGHT END

Houston: Tyler McCloskey, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

Tulane: Charles Jones, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2, Trey Scott, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

LEFT TACKLE

Houston: Alex Cooper, a redshirt senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2.

Tulane: Arturo Uzdavinis, a redshirt senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3

LEFT GUARD

Houston: Mason Denley, a redshirt freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4

Tulane: Colton Hanson, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4

CENTER

Houston: Colton Freeman, a redshirt freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2.

Tulane: Nathan Shienle, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4

RIGHT GUARD

Houston: Carter Wall, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the No. 79 tackle nationally.

Tulane: Chris Taylor, a junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the No. 38 guard nationally.

RIGHT TACKLE

Houston: Damien Parris, a senior, was a 3-star Juco recruit rated 5.5

Tulane: Todd Jacquet, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.


ANALYSIS: Four of Houston's five skill position guys were 3-star recruits compared to Tulane's two. The Cougars are hurting on the offensive line, having lost two starters for the year, and a replacement for one of those starters is out this week, too. Tulane's shot tonight rests on its defensive line dominating a group that has two redshirt freshmen and is not used to playing together.

DEFENSE (Houston runs a 3-4 but I'll count Steven Taylor as an end)

LEFT END

Houston: Tamme Mark, a senior, is a 3-star recruit rated 5.6.

Tulane: Royce LaFrance, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

LEFT TACKLE

Houston: B.J. Singleton, a junior, was a 3-star recruit from Destrehan rated 5.5.

Tulane: Tanzel Smart, a junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

RIGHT TACKLE

Houston: Cameron Malveaux, a junior, was a 2-star end rated 5.3. He plays end in the 3-4.

Tulane: Corey Redwine, a redshirt senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

RIGHT END

Houston: Steven Taylor, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

Tulane: Ade Aruna, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

INSIDE LINEBACKERS

Houston: Matthew Adams, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.
: Elandon Roberts, a senior transfer from Morgan State, was not in Rivals database

Tulane: Eric Thomas, a junior was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.
: Nico Marley, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER/NICKELBACK

Houston: Tyus Bowser, a junior, was a 3-star DE rated 5.7 and the No. 34 prospect at his position.

Tulane: Jarrod Franklin, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

CORNERBACKS

Houston: Brandon Wilson, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.
: William Jackson III, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5. Ended up at JC first.

Tulane: Parry Nickerson, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.
Donnie Lewis, a redshirt freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2
Taris Shenall, a freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

STRONG SAFETY

Houston: Adrian McDonald, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Darion Monroe, a senior, was a 4-star recruit rated 5.8 and the No. 23 CB nationally.

FREE SAFETY

Houston: Trevon Stewart, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Roderic Teamer, a freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

ANALYSIS

Houston has 5 3-star recruits, while Tulane has two 3-star guys and one 4-star guy. The Cougars, unlike UCF and Temple, have more highly rated players in their starting lineup than Tulane, but the edge is not overwhelming. And again, take all these ratings with a grain of salt since Taylor, who is second nationally in sacks and a heck of a player, is one of the lowest rated recruits in the Cougars' lineup.

Before erasing the Temple game from my DVR list, I compiled a list of the worst plays for Tulane's offense to make note of the blocking culprits on each.

1) The Sherman Badie run for minus-4 yards on the first offensive snap
--For some reason, Kendall Ardoin started as a blocking tight end on the left side, which was where the play headed. He missed his block, blowing up the play. Strange choice of personnel.

2) The first sack
--a DE ran to the inside of Jacquet, who did not even touch him. Jacquet's feet look really slow.

3) Heavy pressure forced INC
--Chris Taylor got run past, and Uzdavinis got beaten easily on a stunt. Two missed blocks.

4) The disaster play, where a 3-man rush gets to Lee at the same time despite five blockers
--All five guys messed up, as I outlined in another thread and in The Advocate. Defensive end Nate Smith used a spin move to beat Jacquet and also got past Taylor, who tried to help out. Lee stepped up in the pocket to avoid getting hit and went right into the arms of defensive tackle Matt Ioannidis, who beat the double team of Diaz and Shienle with ease. The other pass rusher, end Praise Martin-Oguike, ran around Uzdavinis and reached out to grab Lee just before Ioannidis finished him off.

5) Lee has ball slapped out of his hand for fumble
--Uzdavinis let hims man get around him, but at least hustled to fall on the ball to prevent a killer turnover.

6) Another sack
--Shienle, playing with no strength (hopefully because he was injured, otherwise it's scary), gets beaten on a spin move while putting up little resistance.

7) Forced bad pass
--Jacquet beaten, plain and simple

8) Another sack
--Shienle beaten easily again, and Diaz falls down trying to block his guy, letting two guys in

9) Final sack
--Shienle beaten badly, Uzdavis pushed all the way back to Lee by end coming wide and Taylor beaten to inside. Another complete breakdown.

10) Heavy pressure
--Jacquet lets his guy get right around him again.

No one played well, but Jacquet and Shienle had the biggest issues. Jacquet beat out Santa Marina in fall camp (before Santa Marina was suspended for the year) but never looked good while doing it. Shienle, I assume, was hampered by his arm and maybe by playing guard once Hanson went out because this was his worst game by far. Uzdavinis moves better than Jacquet but still struggles to keep up with good pass rushers. Taylor had a couple of mistakes but is better than the other long-time starters by default.

Diaz, aside from falling down once, did not show up on any of the big mistake plays, so maybe Tulane will fare better against Houston tonight with Hanson back at guard and Diaz at center. The problem likely will comes outside, where Houston has the nation's No. 2 sacker and Tulane is susceptible to speed rushers and basically any stunt.

Another rough week for most of us even outside of the Tulane game. Inevitably I was going to be caught because I've never excelled at picking versus the spread.

7

Dew99

5

MNAlum
jjstock2005

4

winwave
LSU Law Greenie
Golfer81

3

Guerry
kettrade1
DrBox
Rcnut
WaveON
paliii
Wavetime

2

nyoscar
p8kpev

OVERALL STANDINGS

26.5

Guerry
Dew99

22.5

Rcnut
kettrade1
wavetime
MNAlum

21.5

winwave
DrBox

19.5

jjstock2005

17.5

nyoscar
LSU Law Greenie
Golfer81
p8kpev
WaveON

And two contestants who have missed three weeks

Charlamange: 10.5
paliii: 7

Week 5 game-by-game results

Temple 3 out of 15
East Carolina 8
UConn 7
Michigan 7
Notre Dame 8
California 4
Miami 5
LSU 9

We went 51-69

This was a truly terrible performance.

Some are blaming the referees and the best I could tell on TV and listening to Graf on the radio, the refs didn’t do us any favors to say the least. The Badie call appeared to be particularly egregious. But the refs didn’t cost us this game. We were beaten in every phase of the game.

It’s clearly true that we are poorly prepared, poorly conditioned, and poorly coached. But, for those who keep talking about our “talent,” I simply disagree. With very few exceptions, none of our starters could start for Temple, at least based on this single “head-to-head” comparison. I think LeFrance and Smart are the only ones on defense. On offense, as good as I think our backs are, we don’t have anyone who could start in front of their guy, Jahad Thomas. Veal might be the #2 or #3 wide receiver for them, but he wouldn’t be their #1 option by any means. Our line? Our QB? Our special teams? Our DB’s? I’d be hard pressed to find someone else.

As for the game, we got a couple of tremendous breaks early. The first was their fumble on the Temple 29 yard line caused by a terrific play by Roderick Teamer. I think, in time, he will be a great player, though he badly missed a tackle later on. After the turnover, we moved inside the ten but an errant toss from Lee caused a big loss and a resultant field goal. Some didn’t like the call, but, from what I saw, an accurate throw would have been a TD. Bad call, poor execution, whatever, it didn't work.

After forcing a punt, we punted to Temple. In a bad play, Nickerson caught the punt at the 20 yard line rather than let it roll inside the ten. It probably didn’t matter, as Temple went on an 80 yard TD drive on six plays. We were then stopped cold and forced to punt. In a play reminiscent of many Tulane special teams’ plays, a Temple player got hit by the punt and Tulane recovered deep in Temple territory. From that point, a terrific run by Rob Kelley and a nice pass from Lee to Veal resulted in a TD which gave us the lead. From there on out, it was all Temple.

Temple drove 90 yards in 7 plays for the “go ahead” TD to make it 14-10. On this drive Temple overcame a 2nd and 29 after a 19 yard loss. As on the previous drive,Tulane tackling and pass coverage were pathetic throughout.

Our next drive went nowhere and a low snap to Block on the attempted punt may have caused the youngster to hyperventilate as he caught the ball and then promptly dropped it. Temple recovered and, given such a break, took it in for a score for their third straight TD drive. We then punted twice and they punted once prior to Temple running out the clock to end the half.

They had the ball seven times in the half, fumbled once, scored three TD’s, punted twice, and ran out the clock on their final possession. Other than the two recoveries deep in their territory, Tulane never threatened.

In the second half, we punted twice and they punted once before they got their offense going again on a 70 drive that took six plays. A personal foul (hands to the face) on Aruna aided in the drive, but, except for an incompletion, they gained 21, 4, 8, 6, and 16 yards, so we weren’t close to stopping them.

From there, if it hadn’t been messy enough, it got worse. Lee was intercepted for a “pick six” and then intercepted again on the next series that put Temple at Tulane’s 15 yard line. They were in the end zone in two plays. We then punted and they drove 54 yards for their third straight, and final, TD before sending in the scrubs.

After looking really good against UCF, our offensive line looked worse than I’ve seen them in years. None of them were any good. None of them! Our backs were hit in the backfield on almost every rush. That they got 71 yards in 19 carries (3.7 avg.) means they gained at least 80 yards after contact. And, Lee, for his part, did a pretty good job for a half until the unrelenting pressure became just too much. I don’t remember if we ever threw a pass more than 15 yards down field. Our longest gain through the air was 13 yards. There wasn’t enough time to do anything but throw short. 110 yards of total offense resulted from a combination of a solid Temple defense, terrible coaching and play calling on our part, and a lack of talent, particularly in the offensive line, one of the most experienced elements on our team.

On special teams, DiRocco remained perfect on the season with limited challenges. Block came in and showed why he hasn’t been called on long before now. He got off a couple nice punts but still averaged only 36.5 yards/punt, while dropping a snap at our own 10 yard line reminding everyone of Picerelli. He’s our punter for the next 3 ½ years?

On defense, our gambling style resulted in numerous (12) tackles for losses but allowed far too many long gains, the worst of which was the 28 yard run on a 2nd and 29 play in the second quarter when we had a 10-7 lead. That said, I thought our starting defensive line looked fine. LaFrance, Smart, Redwine and Aruna all had some nice plays. I also thought Eldrich Washington played pretty well and Sean Wilson looked good at DE late in the game. But, once they got past our DLine, we couldn’t tackle. And once again, our pass defense was suspect. Even with pretty good pressure, their QBs had their way with us. Between them they went 14-18 for 223 yards and three TD’s. That’s REALLY good or, from a defensive perspective, REALLY bad.

And though CJ talked about playing “a lot of young guys “on defense, I didn’t see it. Even at the end of the game, we had LeFrance, Smart, Marley, Monroe, etc., in the game, though we did bring in Sean Wilson at DE and a couple of freshmen DB’s played a few snaps late. But, up until it was 49-10, we did very little substituting on defense outside normal line rotations.

Their second and third teamers on defense also stuffed our first team offense late in the game. Again, even on the last drive, except for a couple backups in the offensive line and Powell at QB, we were playing “front line” guys.

One comparative statistic pretty much sums up the game. Temple had 64 plays for 345 yards (5.4 yds/play), despite losing 33 yards on two fumbles and scoring three TD’s (including the “pick six”) on drives totaling 37 yards. But for those short fields, they probably would have had a lot more yards. We had 110 yards in 57 plays (1.9 yds/play), though, in fairness, that also includes the12 yard loss when Block fumbled the ball trying to punt. Our only two scoring drives totaled 45 yards of offense.

It wasn’t pretty, but there is always next week.

Roll Wave!!!

My interview. He's an unabashed Rick Dickson supporter, but if you read between the lines in his quotes, you'll see some hope for change.

"I don't know that the timetable has been set yet, but I'll tell you that my thought process is hopefully to get as good an athletic director as Rick Dickson. The search is wide open. There will be a million people I'm sure going for this job because the Tulane job is far more desirable than it has been in the past. I have no doubt we'll find a competent candidate, but again, like I said, Rick Dickson will be some pretty big shoes to fill.

"Tulane athletics are a wonderful thing. Unfortunately our two teams that generate all the interest have not been as successful as we would like them to be. We would hope we'll get a new athletic director who will be much better in football. I see no reason why we can't be because you see some of these other schools that don't have tremendous resources but seem to do very well."

"Tulane operates on a budget that's a little different than the ACC or the SEC. It makes it a lot harder to be able to do some of the things that they can do, but there's no reason we can't be successful."

How long do you think the search will take?

"I don't think it's going to take real long because I think the committee is committed, if you will, to get this position filled promptly. It will not be dragged out over an extended period of time."

Is there a set schedule for meetings after the first meeting tomorrow?

"We're going to do that when we get there tomorrow. We'll set some parameters and go into what we're looking for. You can write down a lot of things about what you're looking for, but what it all boils down to is to get a good person that's a competent administrator and a competent athletic director. One of the key criteria, and I'm sure you know, is to get someone that's a good fund raiser. That is a big part of the job, and Rick has been outstanding at that. It doesn't do any good to have a great administrator if he can't talk to the alumni. On the other hand it doesn't do any good to have a guy that raises all kinds of funds but one that makes bad decisions when it comes to the athletics.

"So all that will go into play, and I think we'll get outstanding candidates. I'm a minor cog in this wheel, and I've already had four or five people tell me that they have this great guy who should get the job. They are already lobbying me."

Well, a little later than my prediction but I still stand by my other prediction that his replacement is already working in the Athletic Department.

My story is on the front page. He apparently got it in the first quarter against Temple, which partially explains what happened to him the rest of the way.

Tulane issued a clarification within his quotes correcting what he said about the timing of Lee's concussion diagnosis. Interesting.

Opening Statement:
“It’s always tough after you have an opportunity to do something you want so bad for your program, especially for the kids. The game last week started off like how we scripted it, getting a couple of turnovers. Then all of sudden it started to go south and we didn’t do anything to stop it from going south. We made some critical mistakes when we should not have.


Quarterback Tanner Lee sustained a concussion, probably somewhere in the first or second quarter. Some of his decisions, I kind of looked at him like what are you doing, but after the game we knew why. Tanner is such a competitor that he wanted to be in the game. He just wanted to play and wanted to win. I would never put a kid in jeopardy, and we know that and he knows that. So he’ll be out this week and we’ll go with Devin Powell. We’ve done this in the past. He’s played well for us when our starter has been out.


It was a disappointing loss, but now everybody’s back up and done with those nightmares. Temple is a fantastic team. Coach (Matt) Rhule has his defense going. That defensive front is outstanding. Now we have to get ready for that offense of Houston, which centers around their quarterback. They have a tough defense and an offense that scores a lot of points. We have our work cut out for us and our kids will be ready to play by Friday.”


When do the coaches know about Tanner:
“I think in the third quarter he went to the locker room and we kind of knew something was off, but didn’t know exactly what it was. It was one of those games where it was going fast. He started off so well and then after a while there was something and they brought him back to the locker room. We knew we didn’t have him but they don’t really give us a diagnosis of everything when it happens. They just say whether you’re guy is out or not.”


*(Point of Clarification)

As Coach Johnson referenced, Tanner Lee sustained a concussion during the Temple game. HERE IS THE SEQUENCE:


In the second quarter, the Tulane medical staff evaluated Tanner Lee and he exhibited no signs nor symptoms of a concussion.


He was re-evaluated at halftime and once again displayed no signs or symptoms of a concussion. In the fourth quarter, Tanner reported symptoms to the Tulane medical staff and was immediately removed for the remainder of the game.


Is there a protocol at Tulane on concussions:
“Yes, Dr. Stewart has a protocol. He feels like Tanner Lee should be out this week for sure and I agree with him. Dr. Stewart is the NFL guy so it’s the same policy.”


On Devin Powell:
“I’m about as comfortable as I could feel. You look at a couple of years ago what he did in a two to three game stretch. I thought he played outstanding for the number of reps he had. It’s just a simpler plan. He gives us the ability to run it a little bit more. He can tuck it under and run. He’s big, he’s physical and has a strong arm. I’m excited to see him play.”


On whether Sherman Badie’s penalty was a momentum changer:
“I don’t know whether we would have won the game or not, but we thought we would get the ball back in the second half. We were thinking we have a first down on the other side of the 50, getting ready to throw a shot play, a play in which we were waiting to throw all day. Then he (the official) said it was on Sherman. I’ve never seen that happen before. Then I almost get kicked out of the game because I just couldn’t believe it. It was mind boggling. Usually, I’ll go after them then leave it alone but I just couldn’t leave it alone. Then we get the report back that this wasn’t a holding and how screwed up it was. I don’t want to complain about the officiating but that particular call took the wind out of our kids. This is a relatively young team with very little success, and now a call like that was just devastating for us. We may have lost but not that bad.”


Is it a sign of needing more maturity on the team:
“To me, it’s a case where when you’re playing so many young players, those guys can’t really get it back together. That’s the one thing we have to do. It’s a must that when you’re in that situation you don’t flinch or worry about the scoreboard. You just keep going and going.”


Has it been hard to gauge the offensive line this season:
“One of the points that I talk with the coordinators, especially Coach (Eric) Price, is I don’t care whether we’re up by 100 or down by 100, I don’t want to be one-dimensional. I’ll take the boos but we have to run the ball with this young quarterback. These receivers are fairly young as well. I don’t just want to throw, throw, throw, and if you do that, I don’t think the offensive line will be very good. However, if you run it enough, which we did vs UCF, you get that chance to achieve a mix. We can’t look at the scoreboard. We still need to mix it, and that’s where we are at right now.”


On Roderic Teamer’s play on Saturday:
“I thought he played okay. For our young kids, especially the freshmen who played in that game, I thought the atmosphere was great. You hear the guys talking about playing in a pro stadium and I told them not to worry about that. I thought the game for Roderic and those young guys was just a little too big for them. He played much better and comfortable at home.”


Has it helped with Devin Powell being in this kind of situation before:
“Absolutely, I think he’s going to be comfortable. Devin is a consummate back-up. He’s the guy you want having at back-up. I’m hoping he can give us a Michael Vick-like performance like last night (Mondaynight football game), where Vick didn’t do that much but kept it close, then at the end he does some things. That’s what he (Devin) reminds me of. A quarterback that can get you out of a game, win the game, and knows enough of the offense, that throws it well enough and gives you a chance to win the game. Now, we have to play outstanding defense in order to have a chance vs. Houston. Their quarterback is electric.”


On last year’s game vs. Houston:
“Two things that I thought really happened. I thought we played outstanding defense. When we play defense very well, I think our offense really feeds on it. I thought the kids had a very small, concise plan and executed it well. I also thought Tanner Lee was on. It was one of those days he really felt it. When he or Devin (Powell) feels like that, we have a chance at beating anybody.”


How much does last week’s outcome put pressure on this young team:
“A lot of pressure when they look at newspapers and see what other teams are doing. It’s an outstanding team. We have to concentrate on us and practice and work hard. We need to think about us and not worrying about teams around them. I think that’s what takes the pressure off of you. If you’re thinking about yourself, your assignment and whether you’re doing the right thing, that helps you play well.”


More on Tanner’s concussion and whether he is worried from hearing from the conference office:
“No, I don’t think about that. He was fine but I think it was then a combination of hits. Finally, when they saw it, was the point in the game they took him into the locker room. He wasn’t groggy or doing anything particular, it was just hit after hit after hit. That’s when they noticed it.”


On the level of competition of The American and how Tulane can get to that level:
“The level of competition is outstanding. If you look at those top-25 teams and their rosters, specifically Temple. A friend of mine, who is a scout with the Philadelphia Eagles, expects three guys on that defense to get drafted. You look at what Memphis is doing with its older squad. You look at Houston and their number of seniors and juniors they have. I think all we need to do is continue to improve. If we continue to improve I think we can be there this year, but for sure in the future.


We have a quarterback I think is outstanding. We have three or four running quality backs. Everyone is coming back. We’re losing (Darion) Monroe and (Royce) LaFrance, but the rest of the defense will be back. That reminds me of the Temple team I saw last year. Then on offense, everyone but (Rob) Kelley and Arturo (Uzdavinis) will be back. Everyone has played and has played a lot. If you can continue to bring these guys along we’ll be great. Our challenge was, we didn’t have older kids that were really, really good, like a Ryan Grant or a Julius Warmsley or a Ryan Griffin that could lead these guys. Now, these guys are doing it all together, so you’re more likely to make mistakes, when you do it like that.”

I talked to Monroe after practice on Monday. Here is what he had to say about Tulane's 49-10 loss to Temple and what needed to be done.

What happened after you fell down 21-10. The air seemed to come out of the entire team?

"We had some things happen like a special teams drop or things like that, when that momentum switched, they took advantage of it and they kept it. We basically couldn't get it back from them."

Your two worst games have come on the road. How much will it help to get Houston at home, especially for some of the younger players?

"We feel more comfortable at home in front of our own fans. We might not get a good output this week because we're on fall break, so the students will be home, but we feel comfortable at home. We have to protect our house first before we go anywhere."

You guys did a good job of bouncing back from the Georgia Tech game. How do you make sure guys bounce back from another lopsided loss?

"We gotta stay the track. We have to stay the track. We know what the end goal is for what we want to do, where we want to be at the end of the year, and it's still in front of us. Everything is still in front of us."

How discouraging did it get in the second half because the defense played with a ton of energy in the first half and it looked like the game would go down to the wire?

"It was hard because we have a lot of young guys and once they kept piling on points, heads went down and the older guys on the team, we were trying to keep those heads up, but it kind of got out of hand at the end of the game."

There were a lot of penalties on the defense. How do you fix that?

"A lot of those penalties weren't penalties. They came back and said it was mistake calls, like the holding call on Jarrod (Franklin) on a crucial third down (Tulane already trailed 49-10 at the time). They called a roughing the passer on Tanzel (Smart, a definite poor call that moved the ball to the Temple 40 on the drive that put the Owls ahead for good). That was a legal play. They called something else on Ade (Aruna). They called hands to the face but it was actually hands to the collar, so a lot of things just didn't go our way, and it looked bad on the scoreboard."

How much did the bizarre penalty on Sherman Badie affect the team?

"Yeah, I've never seen it called on an offensive player. It just felt like every call was going against us, and we can't control that. That's in the officials' hands. Sherman was just getting the guy off him, and the guy slung him down and he called the flag on Sherman. I've never seen that one, but it happens sometimes."

What is going to be the toughest challenge about stopping Houston QB Greg Ward?

"Basically probably his run game. He ran for 182 yards his last game, so we have to contain him and make the other guys try to beat us. We have to stay focused, read our keys and do what we have to do on defense."

How much does beating them last year help you this time?

"Oh, it helps a lot because they had a lot of seniors last year and they lost a lot of guys, so they are not the same team but we are the same team. And I got kicked out in the first half of that game, so I really didn't get to play against them too much, but we feel confident against this team. We know them and they know us and they have been in our conference every since Conference USA. We'll see what's up."

It worked last week, so let's do it again.

QUARTERBACK

Temple: Quarterback P.J. Walker, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

Tulane: Tanner Lee, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3

RUNNING BACK

Temple: Jahad Thomas, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2; Ryquell Armstead, a freshman, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Sherman Badie, a redshirt sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5. Dontrell Hilliard, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4; Rob Kelley, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

LEFT TACKLE

Temple: Dion Dawkins, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

Tulane: Arturo Uzdavinis, a redshirt senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3

LEFT GUARD

Temple: Shabhaz Ahmed, a senior, was a 2-star recruited rated 5.3.

Tulane: Colton Hanson, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4

CENTER

Temple: Kyle Friend, a senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

Tulane: Nathan Shienle, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4

RIGHT GUARD

Temple: Brian Carter, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2.

Tulane: Chris Taylor, a junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the No. 38 guard nationally.

RIGHT TACKLE

Temple: Eric Lofton, a redshirt senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2.

Tulane: Todd Jacquet, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

TIGHT END

Temple: Colin Thompson, a redshirt junior, was a 4-star recruit who went to Florida for two years before transferring.

Tulane: Charles Jones, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2, Trey Scott, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

WIDE RECEIVER

Temple: Romond Deloatch, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.
Robby Anderson, a redshirt senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.
John Christopher, a redshirt senior, was unrated.

Tulane: Teddy Veal, a sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6.
Devon Breaux, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3

ANALYSIS

Tulane gets the edge at four of the five line spot and at running back. Temple's only significant edge is a tight end who originally signed with Florida and has not been productive. The Owls' only other starter rated more than two stars is Deloatch, who has three catches. The other nine starters were 2-star guys.

But Temple is very experienced, with 10 upperclassmen and one redshirt sophomore. These guys have played together for a while and know what they are doing.

DEFENSE

LEFT END

Temple: Nate Smith, a redshirt senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

Tulane: Royce LaFrance, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

LEFT TACKLE

Temple: Matt Ioannidis, a senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

Tulane: Tanzel Smart, a junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

RIGHT TACKLE

Temple: Averee Robinson, a junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Corey Redwine, a redshirt senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

RIGHT END

Temple: Haason Reddick, a redshirt junior, was not even in the Rivals.com database.

Tulane: Ade Aruna, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

MIDDLE LINEBACKER

Temple: Jarred Alwan, a junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the the No. 43 inside linebacker in the country.

Tulane: Eric Thomas, a junior was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

WEAKSIDE LINEBACKER

Temple: Tyler Matakevich, a senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2.

Tulane: Nico Marley, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2.

STRONGSIDE LINEBACKER/NICKELBACK

Temple: Avery Williams, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3; Stephaun Marshall, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

Tulane: Jarrod Franklin, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

CORNERBACK

Temple: Sean Chandler, a sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.
: Tavon Young, a senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

Tulane: Parry Nickerson, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.
Donnie Lewis, a redshirt freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2
Taris Shenall, a freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

STRONG SAFETY

Temple: Will Hayes, a redshirt senior, was not in the Rivals database after attending Milford Academy, a prep school in 2010.

Tulane: Darion Monroe, a senior, was a 4-star recruit rated 5.8 and the No. 23 CB nationally.

FREE SAFETY

Temple: Alex Wells, a senior, was a three-star juco recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Roderic Teamer, a freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

ANALYSIS: The ratings are even, with Temple having four three star guys, five two star guys and two unrated guys while Tulane has eight two-star guys, two three-star guys and one four-star guy. Again, look at the experience of Temple, with five seniors, five juniors and a sophomore starting. That's a significant eye the Owls do not have in terms of raw talent.

One other comment: the fact that Matakevich, the leading active career tackler in college football, and Marley, Tulane's leading tackler, were 2-star guys tells you all you need to know about recruiting rankings. They miss out on a lot.

Our opponents went 6-5 this week. Temple, Houston, and Memphis remained undefeated, though Navy was finally beaten by Notre Dame. Army continues to look like our best shot at a victory with SMU, Tulsa, UCONN our next best opportunities roughly in that order.

Duke (5-1) pounded Army (1-5) (44-3), outgaining the cadets 458-168. Duke completely bottled up the Army QB, Bradshaw, who lost 33 yards rushing in 15 carries and only completed two of his six passes. It’s instructive that Army, even down by several TD’s, continued to try to run the ball. If you can stop Bradshaw, you will stop Army. Hopefully, in a few weeks, we can.

Georgia Tech (2-4) lost to Clemson 43-24 for their fourth straight defeat since beating the Wave. In this one, the “jackets” were completely outclassed as Clemson took a 40-10 lead mid-way into the third quarter. Georgia Tech’s vaunted run game was held to 71 yards on 42 carries and they only completed 6 of 14 passes, though for two of their three TD’s. The other came late in the game when they recovered a fumble in the end zone. Meanwhile, Clemson gained 537 yards (336 passing and 201 running) in a balanced attack that Tech simply couldn’t handle. What looked like a top ten team when we played them, now looks like a “bottom feeder.”

Maine (2-3) beat Albany 39-7. Who cares?

UCONN (3-3) hammered UCF (0-6) 40-13 in a game similar to Tulane’s win the week before, except it was played in Orlando. The major similarity was that UCONN took a 40-0 lead into the fourth quarter before scrubs allowed UCF a measure of self-respect late. UCONN won the yardage battle 433-330 and was greatly helped by four UCF turnovers as they won their first road game of the season.

Temple (5-0) crushed an outmanned and outcoached Tulane team 49-10. Enough said.

Houston (5-0) beat SMU (1-5) 49-28 in yet another “track meet” as Houston came back from a 21-14 deficit to win going away. Houston won the yardage battle 457-399 and won the turnover battle 3-1, but SMU played them pretty tough for much of the game, logging 21 1st downs to 23 for Houston.

Navy (4-1). Navy’s eight game winning streak was broken by Notre Dame, 41-24. The score was 21-21 inside a minute to go in the first half when Notre Dame kicked 52 yard field goal to take the lead for good. When Navy’s QB, Keenan Reynolds, went out for good early in the second half, it was all over. Two Navy fumbles deep in their own territory provided 14 points for the Irish who eventually outgained the Midshipmen 459-340. When he went out, Reynolds had carried the ball 15 times for 110 yards but had failed to score a TD. He’s currently 7 short of the all-time career record for rushing TD’s. He is very illusive.

Tulsa (3-2) beat ULM of the Sunbelt 34-24 with a big fourth quarter comeback. Tulsa racked up 31 first downs and 563 yards to ULM’s 404 in a game in which Tulsa won the turnover battle 3-0—a big factor in their victory.

Memphis (5-0) had a bye

As always, the home teams are listed first (except for last week, when I messed up on one), the Tulane game counts double and the point spreads are from VegasInsider.com consensus. I'm including the UCF-UConn stinker because I'm interested to see who people will pick in that one.

Temple (-16) Tulane
BYU (-8) East Carolina
UCF (-2.5) Connecticut
Michigan (-7.5) Northwestern
Notre Dame (-14.5) Navy
Utah (-7) California
FSU (-9) Miami
LSU (-18.5) South Carolina

1) Tulane matches up well with Temple on offense and defense, but it can't win if its punting game has another debacle. Never mind Picerelli dropping that ball. That was one player making an inexplicable mistake, and he isn't even slated to play. But the blocked point in the fourth quarter was scary. Picerelli was slow to get it off, but also Eric Bowie touched no one, letting a guy run in unimpeded. How does that happen? But stuff like that has been happening with regularity in the past two years.

Temple has scored on special teams three straight weeks. If Tulane stops that streak and does not gift wrap any other points on special teams, I like the Wave's chances.

2) Tanner Lee had a terrific third quarter, throwing two pretty touchdown passes. On the first one, he rolled to his right and waited, waited and waited before firing to Devon Breaux for a TD the second he came open. That's a play we have not seen from Lee in a game and more evidence of his maturing. On the second TD, he placed the ball exactly in the right spot for Rob Kelley to grab it in the corner. The next step for Lee is translating that performance on the road against a good defense.

3) Roderic Teamer needs to work on his return game after interceptions. That's the ultimate nitpick--the guy was terrific and should be a starter the rest of his carer beginning tomorrow-but a wall was setting up for him after his first career INT v. UCF and he let a guy get him to the ground with an arm tackle. Nico Marley, who loves Teamer, got on his case about it, but when I talked to Teamer this week, he said he wasn't worried about the return because he was so happy to get the interception. In a close game, an interception return can make the difference in winning and losing. Here's hoping he makes the most of his second INT, which he almost got against UCF by playing a floater to the end zone perfectly.

4) That was one sweet spin move Royce LaFrance for his first of three sacks in four plays. The other two came on busted assignments, but on the first one, he lined up at right end instead of his normal left end spot and used that spin move to get to the quarterback incredibly quickly. The offensive lineman had no chance. With Tanzel Smart getting the best consistent push for a Tulane tackle in like, forever, and LaFrance and Ade Aruna on the edge, Tulane should continue to rack up sacks on a regular basis, making up for the slow start in the first three games. LaFrance wasn't kidding when he said Smart's pressure was the primary reason for Tulane's seven sacks even though he was not credited with any himself.

5) Speaking of beautiful plays, Teddy Veal's touchdown reception after Parry Nickerson's incredible forced fumble was right up there. He ran a wheel route, timing his acceleration perfectly as he turned upfield. UCF's tackling was lousy after the reception, but Tulane has not had many receivers in recent years who could have made those guys miss. An all-around outstanding effort by a guy who looks ticketed for stardom.

This is one of the categories I have to write for The Advocate's preseason preview page, and I'm interested to see what you guys think?

Obviously, wide receiver is Tulane's area of tremendous need this fall and Block certainly will get a shot at placekicker, but which three players do you see making the biggest impact?

Richard Allen may not play Saturday against Temple. He has been bothered by an ankle injury he sustained against UCF and did not practice at all today, spending some time in the training room and some time on the exercise bike.

CJ said Allen still had time to get better and had not been ruled out, but usually guys who don't practice at all on Thursday are not ready to go on Saturday. If Allen cannot play, either redshirt freshman Donnie Lewis Jr. or true freshman Taris Shenall will start in his place. I should have realized something was up when CJ said Lewis had moved back to cornerback on Tuesday, but I assumed it was simply because of Roderick Teamer's development at free safety.

Allen was the clear winner of the cornerback job opposite Parry Nickerson in the preseason, but he has not played particularly well in the first four games. His misplay could have given UCF a touchdown and a 14-10 lead in the second quarter on Saturday if not for Nickerson's herculean effort to catch the receiver and strip him, with the ball popping right into Alllen's hands.

Allen has 12 tackles and a team-high four breakups (opponents have targeted him a lot) with no interceptions. Shenall has two tackles and an interception. Lewis, a weak link at safety, is much more natural at cornerback. It will be interesting to see who gets the call Saturday.

CJ said he did not expect running back Lazedrick Thompson, who sprained the opposite ankle from the one that was bothering him entering the UCF game, to play Saturday, although he did not rule him out, either.

Sean Wilson practiced with the second-team unit at defensive end again today. He played a little bit against UCF before limping off the field, but Johnson said it was not the same MCL problem that sidelined him two games earlier this year. End appears to be his new position, but I'll believe it when he's totally healthy and still playing there. A healthy Wilson appears more suited for the tackle position next to Tanzel Smart.

If you haven't read it, check out my By The Numbers story on the front page. Temple's defensive statistics are not as good as the team's reputation, but then again, the Owls did return 10 starters from the unit that held Tulane to 3 points last year.

We had by far our best week collectively, and not just because Tulane won and covered. All 14 of us picked Houston to cover against Tulsa and all but one picked Navy to cover against Air Force.

Week 4 Results

8

LSU Law Greenie

7

WaveON
Rcnut
Wavetime
Dew99

6

winwave
Guerry
Kettrade1
MNAlum

5

ny oscar
p8kpev
DrBox
jjstock2005

4

Golfer81

OVERALL STANDINGS

23.5

Guerry

19.5

Kettrade1
Rcnut
Wavetime
Dew99

18.5

DrBox

17.5

winwave
MNAlum

15.5

ny oscar
p8kpev

14.5

jjstock2005
WaveON

13.5

LSU Law Greenie
Golfer81

10.5

Charlamange (missed two weeks)

WEEK 4 PICKS RESULTS

Tulane 11
Houston 14
Navy 13
Alabama 9
Florida 3
Clemson 6
Texas A&M 8
Oklahoma 9

From The Advocate:

http://www.theneworleansadvocate.co...695-128/southern-labs-jonard-robinson-commits

From The Advocate:

http://www.theneworleansadvocate.co...3/catholic-new-iberia-tackle-wyatt-richthofen

Hey guys,

I'm not the guy who started this board but it seems like the guy that did genuinely wants good discussion without letting trolls like quovadis and Bearcats#1 go unchecked.
If you visit the other AAC board, I used to go by the handle Big East Homer. Maybe we can do something good with this new board. Who knows.

http://www.aacmessageboard.com/viewforum.php?f=5

Wide receiver Rickey Preston will miss the Temple game for an unspecified violation of team policy, leaving Tulane incredibly thin at the position. Preston joins linebacker Rene Fleury on the suspended list, but unlike Fleury will be back for the Houston game.

This is the fourth consecutive week at least one Tulane player has been suspended.

"It will be probably be one game, but I can't let kids not do what they're told to do," CJ said after practice today. "We can't just let them do whatever."

Preston's absence leaves Tulane with four scholarship wideouts--Teddy Veal, whom CJ said dropped too many passes in practies today, Devon Breaux, Larry Dace and Andrew Hicks. Preston caught a touchdown pass against UCF and has looked better and better each week, but he won't get a chance to show his skills against Temple's tough defense.

Also, CJ said running back Lazedrick Thompson sprained his other ankle against UCF and has not been cleared to play this Saturday.

He's no longer a Tulane commitment, and he also no longer is playing for Bradenton Manatee.

http://www.bradenton.com/sports/high-school/article36414336.html

I talked to him after practice today. It was not a planned interview, but he was waiting to talk to a local TV station and the guy I requested already had left for class.

Roderic Teamer really had an impressive game against UCF and made a huge impact on his first play with that bone-jarring hit. What did you think of his performance?

"That set the tone for the defense the rest of the game. When he came in we all knew he was a big hitter, but when he came in the game and played with that type of physicality, it made a difference for our defense. He's a smart kid. He understands what we're doing, and Jason Rollins has done a great job with that kid. He's going to play, and he's going to play a lot."

The defense forced five turnovers against UCF, which has been your trademark since you arrived. How much did that help?

"It was good to see that. That's something we've focused on all year and something we've talked about as coaches all year, creating takeaways. Any time you get a chance to make a big play, when it's time for you to make a play, you have to make the play. That's what this defense is starting to do right now."

How happy were you with the overall aggressiveness with the defense?

"I think that's what we did--we played aggressive and physical up front, the linebackers played aggressive, downhill football and the safeties did well and the corners covered. But we have to do a better job overall. We are still not really hitting it the way we want to, so hopefully this week we can have a good week of practice and get it going."

What did you think of Parry Nickerson's incredible strip to make up for Richard Allen's mistake?

"That was one of the better plays I've seen on any level. For a while we all thought it was a touchdown, and then Parry comes in a blur and the next thing you know Richard was right there and it's like, OK, we're going to get him down, and the next thing you know Richard is coming back the other way. We didn't see the ball hit the ground. He caught it out of the air. It was like, wow, excellent play. That's one of the better plays I've seen in a long time."

What is the biggest challenge facing Temple?

"The challenge every week is stopping the run. If you can make most teams one-dimensional, then you have a chance to win, and that's what we did this past weekend. We have to continue to do the same thing this weekend and make them one-dimensional, whatever it is. We have to take away something they do and play hard and play smart and play with leverage and technique, and that should take care of the rest of it."

The Georgia Tech game was awful defensively. How did you get the defense to recover as quickly as it did instead of getting down on itself?

"The guys showed resiliency. We have a resilient bunch of kids that come out here and play hard. That's the thing we as coaches always say--the next play is always the most important play. Forget about that play or that game and move on, and that's what we do. We have to have a short memory defensively and continue to work hard and try to make every play count for us."

Why did the backups struggle as much as they did in the fourth quarter?

"Guys first time out playing really a significant amount of time, and I guess for a lot of guys it was nerves in their first time getting a chance to play. We just have to work on the technical part of the game with our young guys, using their hands, staying in their gaps and things like that. We do it in practice, but we're not really consistent enough with the second group. We worked hard this morning. That's something we are going to get corrected."

How much easier was it for the DBs when you were getting seven sacks?

"You and I could go back there and cover when we're getting that kind of pressure. It's a lot easier when we're getting pressure, we've got tight coverage and we're getting interceptions. That's what happened this week. Everything works together. If our defensive line gets pressure, we cover tight, we get sacks and we get interceptions. We just have to get better at what we're doing, and if that happens we'll win more games."

Zach Harris is out, but how well has Rae Juan Marbley played?

"Rae Juan has played well, (Eric) Bowie has played well and guys are stepping up. C.J. always says next man up, and that's what those guys are doing. They are coming out competing, and everybody wants to play now. When you're winning, everybody wants to play and play well, so that's what's happening right now."