We’ve now completed one-third of the regular season. A conference championship game and/or bowl game could extend that of course. So far, we’re 2-2 and have played four games against teams with a combined record of 7-14. While our recent two wins provide a positive trend, we all recognize it was not against the best competition. Maine was an average, at best, FCS team and UCF was a battered, injury-riddled, team with so many problems that one is hard-pressed to identify the most significant. And our two one-sided losses to Duke and Georgia Tech look even worse considering how those teams (particularly Georgia Tech) have fared since.

All that said, we seem to be coming into our own from a confidence aspect if nothing else. We’ve shown a lack of depth when our reserves faced reserves from each team we’ve played. But, at least against Maine and UCF, our starters clearly outplayed the opposition.

Our statistical rankings across the NCAA FBS are interesting if not “illuminating.” Of the 127 teams listed in the NCAA rankings, we stand #102 in total offense and #100 in total defense. Of note, we’re #54 in passing offense while #104 in passing defense. Our rushing offense is #115 and our rushing defense, even after holding UCF to -35 yards, is #80. We’re #88 on 3rd down conversions and #99 defending on 3rd down. Most surprising to me, there are four teams worse than us (we’re #123) in net punting. Considering we’ve played teams with net losing records, none of these stats appear to be very good.

Frankly, however, I think the statistics underestimate our performance on the field and, more importantly, the direction we seem to be heading. After all, we are 2-2. We don't have a losing record. Our QB seems to be maturing. We have two wide receivers that appear to be coming into their own. Our line is blocking better, particularly in pass protection. And our defensive line has ranged from very bad to spectacular, depending on the game. We’ve got some playmakers on the offensive side of the ball and some good players on defense as well. We’re not devoid of talent. But we are at a crossroad in the season.

In the previous ten years, we’ve come to our fifth game on six occasions with a 2-2 record. In 2005, we were 2-2, lost to UTEP, and went 2-9 on the season. In 2008, we lost to Army and went 2-10. In 2009, we lost to Marshall and went 3-9. In 2010, we lost to Army and went 4-8. The next year, 2011, we again lost to Army and went 2-11. Finally, in 2013, we broke the streak, beat ULM, and went 7-6 in our most recent bowl season. In those years we've lost that fifth game, we've gone 3-32 the rest of the year. Essentially, we "fell apart." The one year we got to 3-2, we went on to go 4-4 the rest of the season, including our bowl game. Based on this recent history, the Temple game could be a significant turning point in the Wave season. This is a BIG game for our guys.

Roll Wave!!!!

Good evening Guerry, over the weekend Tulane picked up a couple of commitments:
Jonard Robinson - DB SU Lab & Wyatt Richthofen - OL New Iberia Catholic
What, if anything, might you be able to tell us about them?
With these two commitments are we done for 2016?
I would've expected an additional WR in this class, I think so far only one true WR is committed J. Price of Crowley, unless you count D. Williams of McD 35 whose supposed to enroll in January. Which would give us 8 not counting L. James (suspended).

UCF has been awful this year, but here's how the two teams' starters stack up in the Rivals.com recruiting rankings.

QUARTERBACK

UCF: Bo Schneider, a true freshman, was the 25th-rated pro-style QB in 2015. Justin Holman, a junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

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

RUNNING BACK

UCF: Dontravious Wilson, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4. Taj McGowan, a freshman, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5. C.J. Jones, a redshirt 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. Lazedrick Thompson, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

LEFT TACKLE

UCF: Aaron Evans, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

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

LEFT GUARD

UCF: Luke Palmer, 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

UCF: Jason Rae, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3

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

RIGHT GUARD

UCF: Tarik Cook, a redshirt senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the No. 12 center nationally

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

RIGHT TACKLE

UCF: Chavis Dickey, a sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

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

TIGHT END

UCF: Michael Campbell, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star offensive tackle rated 5.5, Cal Bloom, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2.

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.

ANALYSIS: not much difference. If Schneider starts, UCF has one more 3-star player, but he's a true freshman. The other starters are even in stars and sub-rankings.


DEFENSE

LEFT END

UCF: Luke Adams, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

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

LEFT TACKLE

UCF: Jamiyus Pittman, a sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the No. 34 DT nationally

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

RIGHT TACKLE

UCF: Lance McDowdell, a senior, was a 3-star JC transfer rated 5.6. Unrated out of high school.

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

RIGHT END

UCF: Thomas Niles, a redshirt senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

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

MIDDLE LINEBACKER

UCF: Domenic Spencer, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

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

WEAKSIDE LINEBACKER

UCF: Chequan Burkett, a redshirt sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

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

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER/NICKELBACK

UCF: Pat Jasinski, a freshman, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

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

CORNERBACKS

UCF: Kyle Gibson, a redshirt freshman, was a 4-star recruit rated 5.8 and the No. 16 CB nationally
Jeremy Boykins, a junior, was unrated.

Tulane: Parry Nickerson, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.
Richard Allen, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

STRONG SAFETY

UCF: Tre Neal, a redshirt freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

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

STRONG SAFETY

UCF: Drico Johnson, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the No. 88 WR nationally.

Tulane: Donnie Lewis, a redshirt freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2 as a CB.

ANALYSIS: UCF gets the recruiting edge, with eight starters rated higher than Tulane, one even and only two lower. But each team has only one 4-star starter. UCF has eight 3-star guys to Tulane's two. The Green Wave has lived off under-the-radar defensive recruits like Nico Marley and Parry Nickerson and Sean Wilson and Jarrod Franklin.

To me, the key to the game will be how Tulane's offensive line handles UCF's talented front seven. If the Wave is overwhelmed up front, it spells trouble. The other key is Tanner Lee, who needs to be sharp. I can't see Tulane running consistently well today, so he needs to make clutch throws and big plays in the passing game.

Our opponents went 5-7 this week though the four undefeated teams on our schedule, Temple, Houston, Navy, and Memphis, all won, going to 17-0 overall. This portends a very tough next four weeks for the Wave, with three of those games on the road.

Duke (4-1) outlasted Boston College 9-7 in a game that featured 16 punts and little offense from either team with BC outgaining the “Blue Devils” 305 to 228. Duke only netted 33 yards on 35 rushing attempts and, even taking out the two eight yard sacks, only gained 51 yards on 31 tries (1.6 yards/carry). They are now 4-1 but don’t look like the same team that annihilated us.

Georgia Tech (2-3) lost their third straight since pounding the Wave, this time to North Carolina, 38-31. After taking a 21-0 lead on three long (at least 10 play) drives, the Yellow Jackets were completely outplayed the rest of the game. Our loss to them is looking worse and worse. Their coach’s job is now probably less secure than ours.

Maine (1-3) was beaten soundly by a good FCS Richmond team, 48-17.

UCF (0-5) UCF looked like a team with a lot of their better players out with injuries. Even though their young reserves pretty much had their way with the Wave’s reserves in the fourth quarter, their starters were dominated by Tulane’s starters. The final score was not indicative of the beating.

Temple (4-0) crushed UNC Charlotte of CUSA 37-3 to go 4-0 for the first time in over 40 years. That each of the last three wins were on the road makes the results more impressive. The Owl defense was particularly impressive holding Charlotte to 4 for 17 on third down.

Houston (4-0) beat Tulsa (2-2) 38-24 in another “track meet” as Houston gained 638 yards to Tulsa’s 456. Houston pretty much controlled the game between Tulsa’s initial FG and final TD, by outscoring the “Golden Hurricanes” 38-14.

Navy (4-0) beat Air Force 33-11 in a game which saw the “Middies” win the turnover battle 4-0. The “Mids” outgained the “Falcons” 370 yards to 204, so it wasn’t all about turnovers. The Navy QB, Keenan Reynolds, was 4-10 passing for 117 yards (29.3 yards per completion) and rushed 24 times for 183 yards (7.6 yds/carry), including a 67 yard run. As I’ve noted before, stopping him is key to beating Navy.

Memphis (5-0) beat conference mate South Florida, 24-17. After falling behind 10-0, Memphis scored 24 unanswered points before allowing a 4th quarter TD.

SMU (1-4) last to East Carolina 49-23 after holding a 23-7 in the second quarter. At that point, ECU changed QB’s and it was all over. SMU’s offense was held to 329 yards and allowed 555, and even though they were previously blown out by powerhouse teams, Baylor and TCU, this was probably their worst performance of the year in my view. (BTW: just noting Baylor and TCU as “powerhouses” makes me sick)

Army (1-4) lost to Penn State 20-14. In truth, they probably outplayed the Lions but fumbled seven times, losing three. They also outgained Penn State 293-264, had more first downs 17-12, and controlled the clock 31-29. During the game, Army only threw one pass, but it was complete for 32 yards. They seem to be playing better than when they lost to Fordham.

UCONN (2-3) was mauled by BYU 30-13. They were outgained 530 to 230 overall and were outclassed throughout.

As most everyone expected even preseason, the next four games will be key. Our final four games of the year are clearly winnable, but I think we need to win one of two of the next four to give the confidence and optimism necessary for the “stretch run.” If we go into the UCONN game 2-6, our chances of “winning out” are probably poor. This was a good win, but I’m still sticking with 5-7 for the season.

Excellent win and Roll Damn Wave!

I’ve watched a lot of film on Jack Abraham, our QB commit for 2016 from Oxford Mississippi, and have been very impressed. In his only game I saw in its entirety, however, earlier this year on national TV against Starkville, he didn’t look too good. He was 13 for 26 for 113 yards and an INT with no TD’s. Of course, he suffered through several drops that would have greatly improved his stats.

But, on the year, through now five games, he has unbelievable statistics. He’s 120 for 208 passing (59.6%) for 1,878 yards (15.7 yds/complete) for 19 TD’s and 3 INT’s. That he plans to enroll at mid-term and be ready for Spring practice is really good news. After a redshirt year next year, he should be competing with Cuielette for the back-up spot to Tanner Lee. If we can hold on to him, it should be interesting.

Roll Wave!!!

With Justin Holman cleared to participate (though he's still listed as day-to-day coming off a fractured right index finger), the line is finally up on the Tulane-UCF game, moving from even to the Knights as a 3-point favorite.

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

Tulane (+3) UCF
Tulsa (+7) Houston
Navy (-5.5) Air Force
Georgia (-2) Alabama
Ole Miss (-7.5) Florida
Clemson (even) Notre Dame
Texas A&M (-6.5) Mississippi State
Oklahoma (-7) West Virginia

Guerry-
I know Tulane hasn't been responsive on this question, but could you see if you can find out what recruits attend this game? I now think it likely that we can sign 2-3 more in 2016 and have a near full class in 2017. Some of those kids are coming to these games.

Thanks

Here is an article from Orlando Sentinel. Reading between the lines it seems like Holman will not play.

Tulane is now a 2 point favorite.http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ucf-knights/os-ucf-football-1002-20151001-story.html

The position where Tulane possesses the least depth has taken a hit.

After practice today, CJ said Terren Encalade might be done for the year with a shoulder injury he sustained against Georgia Tech. He is nowhere close to being ready to play this week, and it will be determined soon whether he needs to sit out the rest of the season.

"I don't know what he's going to do," CJ said. "I don't see it getting much better right now. He could be done. I'm not going to say it for sure, but he hasn't improved enough."

Encalade, who started the first two games and had four catches, was one of only three returning scholarship wideouts on the roster along with Teddy Veal and Devon Breaux. Redshirt junior Larry Dace, a former walk-on, received a scholarship before the start of the semester, and true freshmen Rickey Preston and Andrew Hicks round out of the list of available scholarship wideouts.

Preston had two catches on consecutive plays against Maine, accounting for his season total of 16 yards. Hicks has played sparingly in the last two games.

In other words, look for even more throws to be directed toward the running backs and tight ends against UCF this Saturday. Trey Scott, who is not quite matching his preseason expectation of 50 receptions or more, is confident he will be one of the players who steps up this Saturday after he served a one-game suspension against Maine. He enters with three catches for 33 yards but was one of quarterback Tanner Lee's favorite targets in preseason practice.

"I'm hungry for this game," Scott said. "I'm trying to get in that end zone this week, so I'm excited. My breakout game would have been last game if I had played, so I am trying to transfer that into this game."

Scott, a true sophomore, is looking for his first career scoring reception. In fact, Tulane's active career leader in that category is fourth-string running back Rob Kelley with five (four came in 2012), Next is Devon Breaux with four, followed by starting tight end Charles Jones with three, Veal with two and Dontrell Hilliard and Sherman Badie with one.

Look for Badie and Hilliard to be very active in the passing game Saturday, although it will be interesting to see if they can get as open as they were against Maine.

Taking advantage of their skills in space should be a pivotal part of the game plan, making UCF's defenders confused about whom to key on among the running backs, Scott and Jones and Veal, Breaux and Preston.

Scott, for one, is supremely confident Tulane will win its conference opener for only the fourth time this century. In two of the other three years (2002 and 2013, but not 2005), the Green Wave went to a bowl game.

"It's all on a new level right now, and we're trying to increase it," Scott said. "This is going to be one of our signature wins to take us through the rest of the season."

Sean Wilson continued to play primarily at defensive end during practice today. Keep that under your hat because I'm not sure CJ wants that revealed publicly, but he's getting a lot more reps there than inside. It is interesting that he would get that opportunity coming off a sprained MCL that limits his mobility.

"I really don't feel a hundred percent, but I'm about 90 percent and I'll be ready for Saturday," Wilson said. "Like last year, I can play anywhere. My coach thinks I can do it, and I believe I can do it, too."

At the end of practice today he received reps with the first unit along with Ade Aruna at the end of practice while Royce LaFrance watched from the sideline. I assume LaFrance got plenty of reps with the top unit during the rest of practice since he has been a starter from day 1 in the preseason. I'll double check tomorrow to make sure what's going on there after a scheduling conflict forced me to arrive late today and yesterday.

It's also an interesting move because Tulane is supposed to have more depth at end than tackle. Production-wise, though, that has not been the case. Reserve ends Daren Williams, Luke Jackson and Robert Kennedy all have three tackles, while Peter Woullard and Quinlan Carroll have none. At tackle, Corey Redwine has six stops, with Eldrick Washington adding five and Calvin Thomas contributing three. If Wilson actually plays end against UCF, look for Washington and Thomas on the second unit.

Wilson is happy to be available at all.

"I thought it was worse when it happened," he said. "It really scared me. I'm excited to come back this soon. I feel good right now."

For the second straight day, Tulane freshman offensive lineman Keeyon Smart was involved in a fight. Yesterday it was with Aruna (I missed it), and today it was with linebacker Rae Juan Marbley. They both went down to the ground wrestling each other, and it took about 10 players to get in there and separate them while the scout-team offense was working against the defense.

"All of a sudden the young offensive linemen are getting better, and they're pretty talented, so now they are not just getting whipped around," CJ said. "It's making the defense get mad."

Running back Lazedrick Thompson practiced a little bit today after being held out of team drills yesterday. CJ said he was surprised by Thompson's progress but still was not sure he would be ready to play Saturday.

Offensive line coach John McDonell has been on the war path this week. Yesterday, he pulled guard Brandon Godfrey out of a drill and screamed at him that he would get the quarterback hurt if he made the same mistake in a game (I did not see what happened), then said he would be less upset if he had not just told him to avoid doing what he did. It was about five minutes before Godfrey went back in. Today, McDonell was on his guys again. To win Saturday, Tulane absolutely, positively needs better blocking up front than it had against Duke and Georgia Tech.

I still have not received confirmation on Justin Holman starting for UCF at quarterback (he is listed on top of the depth chart this week after missing the last two games), but in a strange coincidence, New Orleans sports talk show host Scott Alexander did radio play-by-play of the UCF-Stanford game when Holman hurt his finger. Alexander insists the injury was gruesome and says Holman will have a hard time being effective if he plays unless he has made a miraculous recovery.

These are just people who I've heard are lobbying hard to be considered for the job. It's not sourced from within Tulane so I have no idea if they're wasting their time or if they're being seriously considered. I still think Burke will either get the job outright or at a minimum will continue in her current role while the figurehead/fund raising role goes to someone more prominent. Anyway, here's what I know:

Scott Sidwell, not Steve as I incorrectly said before, is desperate for this job. Whether he's the right guy or not, who knows. But he's doing everything he can to be included in the search.

Arnie Fielkow is putting the full court press to get this job, and I hear that he wants this job as much as he wants his next breath. He's trying to line up a lunch with Avi and Jill Glazer on Thursday, which is a smart move because you need the big check writers on your side. He's calling everyone in the media trying to get them to push him name publicly, both in radio and tv. Supposedly said that this is his dream job.

Warde Manuel, who is the AD at UConn, is a "hot" name from what I've been told. He's a native New Orleanian and a Brother Martin alum. 47 years old. He has a pretty significant job at the moment so that might give him gravitas that the others lack.

And Barbara Burke, as well all know.

That's all I have for now. And I have no idea what Tulane is thinking.

The big news at practice today was the return of sophomore defensive lineman Sean Wlson, who missed the past two games with a leg injury he sustained against Duke in the season opener. Wilson did not work with the first team while I was there for the final 30 minutes, rotating in with the second unit, but he moved well.

Tulane needs Wilson to be available Saturday against UCF. Although the coaches have been pleasantly surprised with Corey Redwine's play in Wilson's absence, Wilson is clearly one of the most talented linemen on the team, and Tulane's depth is shaky. The fewer plays the backups have to be on the field, the better.

"It's about time," CJ said. "I feel really good about him. He ran around well. He looks faster. He had a little scar tissue, but he looks good."

Wilson actually lined up at end in the portion I saw, with Redwine remaining on the first unit at tackle along with Tanzel Smart. We'll see if that comes to pass Saturday.

"They are big and physical, so we have to try to match their physicality," CJ said.

The news was not as positive for running back Lazedrick Thompson, who dressed but never left the sideline in the last 30 minutes. He has been bothered by a chronic sprained ankle, and it may not be good enough for him to play Saturday.

"He didn't do much," CJ said. "He did early practice and then they rested him. Hopefully he's available, but I don't know right now. I'd have to wait and see until tomorrow to tell you better."

Quarterbacks Tanner Lee and Devin Powell returned to practice as promised. Lee was rested last week after emerging from the Maine game with a few bumps and bruises. Powell, who got hurt trying to recover his own fumbled shotgun snap against Maine, looked a little gimpy today but apparently has been cleared to play. He short-hopped more throws than he usually does in the team portion of practice.

"Powell was good and Tanner was good, all those guys were good," CJ said.

In one other note, reserve linebacker Rene Fleury has been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules, marking the third straight week at least one Tulane player will be unavailable It was Darion Monroe and Eric Bowie for Georgia Tech, Trey Scott for Maine and now Fleury, but the difference is Fleury's suspension could last longer. He played in the opener against Duke but has not gotten on the field since then.

Tulane's depth at linebacker is shaky, but since Fleury was not playing anyway, his loss is not significant. Nico Marley (team-high 25), Eric Thomas (15), Zach Harris (13) and Rae Juan Marbley (11) are the only linebacker getting meaningful playing time.

Here's one disturbing stat after three games. Tulane does not have a lineman or a linebacker with a sack. Nickelback Jarrod Franklin registered the only one on a blitz. The Wave has forced only one fumble, too, and it came on the first possession of the season when end Ade Aruna stripped a Duke runner. The defense needs to be more physical and make more plays.

UCF has made no announcement on the status of starting quarterback Justin Holman, who has missed the past two games with a hand injury. He is listed on top of the weekly depth chart, but most Las Vegas oddsmakers are waiting for confirmation that he will play before posting a line on the game. It's listed as pick 'em on VegasInsiders.com, but none of the individual casinos have a number on it. Holman had a horrible game against Tulane last year and played the entire way in the Knights' shocking loss to FIU this year, but he is light years better than the freshman tandem of Bo Schneider and Tyler Harris that replaced him after he got hurt early in game No. 2 against Stanford. Holman, a junior, completed 23 of 36 yards for 249 yards with two TDs and zero interceptions against FIU, so he was not the reason the Knights lost. Schneider and Harris have combined for six interceptions.

The Knights will get running back Dontravious Wilson back after he missed the last three games with an injury. Wilson had a team-high 51 yards on 13 carries in UCF's 20-13 victory against Tulane last year, but his overall numbers were mediocre--347 yards and a 3.7 average. He has 12 carries for 34 yards this season.

SMU lost at home to FCS James Madison, giving up 440 rushing yards and 729 yards overall. So much for any idea the Mustangs are better in year 1 than Tulane has been at almost any point under CJ. For some reason, teams with horrible offenses are viewed as more poorly coached than teams with horrible defenses.

UCF led South Carolina at the half, but only because of a muffed punt it recovered for a TD. The Gamecocks dominated the second half, and if Justin Holman is not ready next week, Tulane will be facing a quarterback similar to the ones it faces in 2013. Advantage, Tulane.

Navy beat UConn by almost the exact score I predicted. It really didn't reveal much we didn't know about either team. UConn's D is pretty good but its offense is terrible.

ECU beat Virginia Tech for the second straight year. I think that's more a commentary on Virginia Tech being perpetually overrated for the last decade than ECU being strong, but I did not see any of the game. Tulane does not face the Pirates anyway. It was a good win for the AAC, though, which is faring much better out of conference this year than last (Tulane excepted).

http://www.underdogdynasty.com/2015...e-tulane-green-wave-after-three-games-in-2015

Strong opinions create more conversation, but it does amuse me how most people assume a team will continue playing exactly like it has in the first three games instead of getting better or worse. Last year around this time, here's what would have been written about East Carolina

--The Pirates are the prime candidate for a major bowl game outside the power five conferences after losing close to South Carolina, winning at Ohio State conqueror Virginia Tech and hanging 70 on North Carolina. The ECU offense will be completely unstoppable in the weak AAC, with only Cincinnati on the road having any chance to stop this machine. Beat the Bearcats, and they'll be playing UCF at home in their finale with a big bowl game in their grasp.

ECU struggled with hapless USF and UConn, then lost 20-10 to Temple the week before it played Cincy, giving up 54 points in a shootout loss to the Bearcats. The Pirates wound up 8-5, concluding a disappointing season by losing to coach-less, disinterested Florida in the Birmingham Bowl.

It's certainly possible that Tulane's offense will stink the rest of the year, but the sample size of Duke and Georgia Tech, which have more highly rated players on defense than anyone Tulane will face the rest of the year, is not enough evidence.

As I've posted elsewhere, I still believe Tulane is capable of going to a bowl game this year … or finishing 2-10. The pitiful performances against Duke and Georgia Tech and solid performance against Maine have not given me enough information as to where this team is headed, but I do believe the Green Wave will have the five best skill position players on offense in its matchup with UCF next Saturday even though UCF's players were rated higher than Tulane's in recruiting rankings almost across the board. I'll take Tanner Lee, Dontrell Hilliard, Sherman Badie, Lazedrick Thompson and Teddy Veal over anyone UCF has. But since Tulane has beaten only one FBS opponent in its last eight tries and three in its last 18 tries, a loss to the Knights likely would spell doom for the rest of the season.

From what I've seen so far, the back-to-back road games against Navy and Memphis are the remaining games Tulane is least likely to win. Navy's QB is better than Georgia Tech's, and I don't think the Wave is physical enough at the edge to slow down a top-notch option team. Memphis's defense, which lost eight starters last year, is beyond horrible, but Paxton Lynch is becoming a superstar. I don't see any way Tulane can match Memphis' scoring.

The rest of the games are in play, for now.

Houston, my preseason pick to win the AAC (I was one of only two media members to tab the Cougars in the AAC voting), is playing well, but I don't trust that QB. Greg Ward had an awful day against Tulane last year, and while the revenge angle will be played up before the rematch, it doesn't really apply. Houston has a new coach and likely will be talking about running the table and getting an access bowl bid and could be overconfident. Tulane's players should play with confidence because they remember having their best collective effort of the season a year ago in Houston. I'd put that game in the category of unlikely but possible win.

Temple, I've addressed briefly in another thread. Tulane matches up better with teams that have good defenses and questionable offensives than with teams that have good offenses and questionable defenses, in my opinion. Temple LB Tyler Matakevich is the best player in the AAC, but if Tulane goes to Philly off a win against UCF, it can hang with the Owls, who struggle to throw consistently well and tend to grind it out on offense. RB Jahad Thomas is averaging 4.9 yards per carry, which is nothing special. I'd give Tulane more than an outside chance of pulling the upset if it were 2-2 entering the game.

The Wave gets Connecticut at home after the trips to Navy and Memphis and should beat the Huskies, but a lot will depend on how banged up the team is and where its confidence level is. The Huskies struggle to score against everyone, and Tulane has better playmakers.

The result against Army on the road almost certainly will hinge on Tulane's record at that point. If the Wave is 2-7, it could be a long day against a bad option team. If the Wave is 4-5 or better, that should be a win, although probably not easy. When has Tulane ever had an easy win against an option team? The last comfortable win was 42-28 against Army in 2006 in the dome.

The SMU and Tulsa games are the true unknowns. Both teams have been much better than a year ago with explosive offenses under first-year coaches known for their offensive creativity, but both are lousy defensively. Tulsa, in particular, appears incapable of stopping anyone. SMU played Baylor and TCU, which are hard for even good defenses to slow down. The opportunities will be there for Tulane to score a lot of points, but that's something we've almost never seen in Curtis Johnson's tenure. I have no feel for what will happen in either of those games.

At this point, I will stick with my 5-7 prediction from before the season started. It could be better. It could be worse. But in addition to the must-win against UCF next Saturday, I think Tulane really has to beat Temple, too, to give itself a realistic chance for bowl eligibility or more.

AAC Picks weekend of Sept. 26

1) Memphis over Cincinnati 53-46

It's almost as if I've already seen this one.

2) South Carolina 31, UCF 13

The Gamecocks are really weak this season. This is a chance for UCF to show some life, but I don't think it will happen with a pair of freshman QBs trying to learn how to play. See Tanner Lee from last year.

3) Virginia Tech 28, East Carolina 24

I'm not a believer in Virginia Tech. The Pirates beat the Hokies last year and could do it again at home, but they are not good enough to warrant picking them.

4) Navy 31, UConn 17

UConn held Missouri to nine points last week, but Navy is a much different challenge. If the Huskies slow down the Middies' ground attack, it will be time to start taking them seriously.

5) Houston whatever, Texas State whatever

Texas State lost to USM 56-50 last week. Houston will surpass USM's 56.

6) SMU whatever, James Madison whatever

James Madison is ranked eighth in the FCS. This game will tell us something about SMU. Decent FBS teams always win easily over good FCS teams. If the Mustangs crush James Madison, they might be legit. If they struggle, they're not.

My commentary is on the front page.

Any thoughts?

Just looked at a thread on the Gotula.net site where someone wrote he canceled his subscription to The Advocate because of its lack of Tulane coverage.

It's a strange world we live in. Anyone who thinks the Advocate has a lack of Tulane coverage is nuts. They've been running most of my stories on the front page of the sports section, and in August and during game weeks I've been writing almost every day. That's why I started doing my practice updates at the end of preseason camp for this site DURING practice while sitting in the press box or the upper deck. I had to budget my time to get it all done.

OK, vent over.

First, an apology for being a dumb-bell.

When I asked CJ about Richard Carthon yesterday (and I re-checked the tape to make sure I said Carthon, which I did), he mistook it for Richard Allen. That would be OK if the conversation ended there and I had written what he said, but he then stopped Richard Allen to ask him if he had played. I was looking around for Teddy Veal because I had requested him for an interview and thought he might have slipped past me, so I was not paying attention when Allen, not Carthon, said he had played special teams against Maine.

That long preamble is necessary because Carthon no longer is even on the team. He decided over the weekend to concentrate on baseball to prepare for his senior year, which makes sense because he did not play at all in the first three football games and he is a starter in baseball. Carthon was a gunner on special teams the past three years and had six tackles in each of them, excelling at the role, but he was not healthy at the beginning of preseason drills this August and lost the job to Allen.

A second departure for another sport is offensive lineman Anthony Taylor, who was last on the depth chart at tackle. Taylor, a John Curtis product, joined Tulane's track team in the fall of 2013 with the promise he could join the football team as a scholarship player in 2014. He did exactly that, but he never made any impact, getting hurt early last year. He left the team this week to concentrate on track, where he has not competed in a meet since he arrived. He specialized the shot put and the discus at Curtis, but Tulane had no competitors in either event last year even though Taylor and Eldrick Washington were listed on the roster.

By my count, Tulane has 75 eligible scholarship players this fall. It was 81, but Braynon Edwards, Kenneth Santa Marina, Leonard Davis and Edward Williams are sitting out for academic reasons, with Carthon and Edwards leaving. I'm counting former walk-ons Jordy Joseph and Larry Dace.

Today's practice was as lively as any I've seen under CJ, going from 9:45 to 12:10. The competition elements he injected into practice at the beginning of last week have really caught on, with the offensive and defensive starters talking trash from the sideline (good-naturedly, I add; there's no dissension) while the younger players and backups get after it on the field. When tight end Sydie London alligator armed a pass from Glen Cuillette that could have been a touchdown in the middle of the field, Royce LaFrance hollered out, "that's what happens when you go to your fifth option." When Rickey Preston dropped a short pass, a defensive player screamed, "he has the hands of a snake."

With the defensive starters making an appearance on the field during a red zone drill, LaFrance batted a Jordy Joseph pass right to tackle Tanzel Smart, who began lumbering toward the end zone with plenty of company. He stopped around the 20, and wide receivers coach Carter Sheridan grabbed the ball from him.

On the next play, Joseph hit Dave for a nice touchdown in the back of the end zone, and Tre Scott made a terrific catch for a score right after that. Scott had a chance to make it two in a row, but he dropped a hard Joseph throw in the corner of the end zone after Joseph scrambled toward the sideline and launched it before stepping out of bounds.

The day ended on a Roderic Teamer interception, but everyone appeared engaged from start to finish.

"I enjoy it," CJ said. "I can sit back and laugh about it a little bit when those guys are going at it. It's a big lift for our team for our emotion and confidence."

Andrew Hicks had some good catches today as the young players took center stage. I have not seen much out of him all fall, but he is starting to develop a little bit. Dace was the best of the receivers who got much action, but he seems to be a guy who can excel against backups in practice but not get the job done against top competition. After looking like Tulane's third-best wideout in the preseason, he has zero catches through three games. The freshman secondary of Taris Shenall, Dedrick Shy, Malik Eugene and Teamer plays like it is much more experienced. All of those guys can help Tulane this year.

"Those young DBs are really going to be good players for us," CJ said. "It's good to hold Tanner and Powell out and let those other quarterbacks operate. The two things that we wanted to do this week were get to the basics with individual work and the fundamental stuff and just see who can play and who can help us down the stretch."

Zach Harris was not in uniform today and spent time on the exercise bike with a wrap around his right knee. CJ said Harris experienced some swelling after leading the team in tackles against Maine Jarrod Franklin also was held out of the practice with swelling in the knee he had major reconstructive surgery on in the spring of 2014. CJ said both players would be fine next week and holding them out was precautionary.

Devin Powell and Lee sat out the entire practice again as planned, giving all of the work to Joseph and Cuillette. If Powell is not ready for the UCF game after getting banged up against Maine, CJ said he was not sure who would be the top backup to Lee. My comment: Cuillette has the athletic ability, but Joseph has total knowledge of the offense.

Terren Encalade ran sprints along the sideline during practice. His status for UCF remains up in the air. He missed the Maine game with a sprained shoulder he sustained against Georgia Tech.

"He's going to the doctors tomorrow, so we'll see," CJ said.

Sean Wilson ran springs across the field during practice and also spent time on the exercise bike CJ said yesterday Wilson was scheduled to play against UCF, and although he did not run at total full speed, he ran hard enough to support CJ's contention.

Tulane will return to the practice field tomorrow morning, but not for long.

"We'll introduce UCF tomorrow," CJ said. "We'll be out here for about an hour. It may not even be an hour, just an introduction, a little bit of a glorified walkthrough, then we'll come back Sunday (for normal game-week preparation)."

We did better collectively, with nine of 15 people picking Tulane to cover and the majority taking Navy and LSU, too. Memphis-Bowling Green was a push (Memphis won by 3 and was favored by 3), so everyone gets a half point for that one. Ten of us lucked out with Nebraska, which rallied from a 23-point fourth-quarter deficit against Miami, then lost in OT but covered the 3.5 spread.

Winwave was the only one to pick Notre Dame over Georgia Tech. I still write monthly college football column for my old magazine in Florida, and I picked ND to make the 4-team playoff at the end of the year but still picked Georgia Tech last week.

Week 3 results:

6.5

Guerry
Charlamange
jjstock2005
Rcnut

5.5

winwave
kettrade1
p8kpev
Dew99

4.5

nyoscar
DrBox
wavetime

3.5

Golfer81
WaveON

2.5

LSU Law Greenie


OVERALL STANDINGS

17.5

Guerry

13.5

Kettrade1
DrBox

12.5

Rcnut
wavetime
Dew99

11.5

winwave
MNAlum


10.5

nyoscar
p8kpev
Charlamange8 (missed 1 week)

9.5

Golfer81
Jjstock2005

7.5

WaveON

5.5

LSU Law Greenie

Correct picks for week 3

Tulane 9
Navy 12
LSU 11
Ole Miss 7
Notre Dame 1
Northwestern 7
Nebraska 10

Here's what Eric Price said when I talked to him after practice Tuesday. I had not re-watched the Maine game yet when I talked to him or I would have asked a couple of different questions.

How helpful was the performance against Maine to give a lot of guys on offense some confidence?

“It makes a world of difference. We made big plays. We didn’t necessarily play great every snap, but we did make big plays and that was our goal going into the game in trying to get our fast guys in space and have them just make a play. They really responded, and once one kid made a play, it just caught on and then we got a second one and it was like, OK, we’re good.”

It did not look like the offensive line dominated, so how important were the huge chunks of yardage?

“We tried to get them out in space a little bit. Maine’s defensive front was pretty strong and they were playing real hard, so we had to do some things on the perimeter to try to get the ball down the field.”

Sherman Badie had his first breakout performance as a receiver. He dropped a couple of passes, but how important was it for him to prove he could use his open-field ability as a receiver, too?

“Very important. We did have some dropped passes. We were a little sloppy at times. When we graded the film it wasn’t as good as you would think it was, but they did make the plays when they needed to make them, and Sherman is real good out in space and he’s hard to tackle one-on-one, so just finding the plays that he feels comfortable catching it at receiver is what we’re trying to figure out, but he’s doing a really good job with that.”

Dontrell Hilliard looked a little sluggish to me in the first two games. How did he grade out in those first two games as opposed to his performance against Maine?

“He probably didn’t have as much room. He played real well this game. It’s just like everyone else. He got some confidence going, and the whole hesitation was gone because they felt like this play’s going to work, and they made it work.”

You used the word “hesitation.” We saw a lot of that in the first two games. Do you feel like that should be gone now?

“Well, yeah, we still have a lot of improvement to do because it wasn’t as great as (it looked). We made some big plays, and that’s really the key. That’s what you have to do. You have to make plays because you’re not always going to be perfect, but we did leave some meat on the bone there. We had some opportunities to even get more points and didn’t get it. We had a few drops. The mental errors were down. We didn’t have a lot of mental errors, but we just had some things that need to be cleaned up. We need to keep getting better as we go into conference play because it’s going to get tougher.”

Tanner Lee has two interceptions after three games. Last year at this time he had six. How much better is his decision-making?

“He’s doing a great job. I was just disappointed that in the fourth quarter when we subbed in, we had a couple of sloppy plays there that don’t look good. We need to finish better than that, but everyone got to play, which is good. Tanner’s done a good job of taking care of the ball and understanding what he needs to do with the ball. So far, so good.”

I'm not going to go too in-depth here because the opponent was Maine, which did not have the depth of talent to hang with Tulane, but here are a few observations about an overall solid performance that had a few issues.

1) The most concerning part of the game was the play of the offensive line. Lazedrick Thompson did not have much room to run in the first half, gaining 44 yards on 11 carries, well below his average from last year, and Tulane rarely blew Maine off the line of scrimmage with the exception of Dontrell Hilliard's 85-yard TD run. A first-and-5 run on Tulane's opening possession illustrated a recurring problem. Left tackle Arturis Uzdavinis blocked no one, going inside while a blitzed ran right around the edge and hit Thompson before he got back to the line of scrimmage. On Tulane's last series of the first half, two linebackers blitzed. One of them went in untouched to sack Lee. The other beat a late block by Sherman Badie to get in, too.In the second half, another blitzed got to Lee after Badie made a diving block attempt trying to get in the way of him. Either there's confusion or the plays weren't schemed right.

Every team the Wave faces the rest of the way should be tougher up front than Maine. Will Lee and the running backs have enough room to execute?

2) Dontrell Hilliard was back to his old self after two mediocre games. What I like the best about him is his explosive first step after he catches a pass, which he exhibited on Tulane's first touchdown drive to get by a defender and turn a short completion into a medium gain. He also made a beautiful 21-yard run for a touchdown right after that catch, but it was nullified by a holding penalty, so he could have had three scores, not two. He's not as fast or as elusive as Badie and not as powerful as Thompson, but his all-around ability is impressive. He always gets overlooked by announcers, with the color commentator calling for a steady diet of Badie and Thompson at the start of the second half. Badie was awesome, but he needs to do it against better defenses than Maine.

3) With the exception of a couple of plays, Lee played excellent. He threw a horrible pass at the end of Tulane's second series, never seeing a linebacker as he tried to hit Devon Breaux in the middle of the field. The linebacker dropped the interception. Lee also saw a phantom pass rush on one play, running forward and into a sack when no one has broken through to touch him. Other than that, though, he was sharp. I loved his third down completion to Rickey Preson on a drag route, setting up Tulane's second TD. As the color commentator said, if he had been a tad off, it could have been a pick six. Instead, he led Preston perfectly. The deep throw Veal dropped also was perfect. If Lee had under thrown it , it would have been a touchdown, but he did not know Veal would be that open, so he hit him in stride where he needed to make a nice grab, something a receiver of Veal's caliber should be able to do and will do in the future.

4) Veal is easily Tulane's best wide receiver, as he showed all throughout preseason camp. He can go over the middle, run a streak, run a good out, and he sold the Maine DB beautifully on his down and out and up for Tulane's third TD. The chemistry between Lee and Veal is excellent. The next step for Veal is becoming a little more fundamentally solid, and he will have a huge year.

5) Tulane's best defenders were at fault for the Maine's opening TD drive. On the first three plays alone, Parry Nickerson missed a tackle on the edge, Nico Marley overran a play and Darion Monroe looked out of position. But the D settled down the rest of the way, containing a very good running back. Since Maine was weaponless other than the RB, I don't put much stock in the defensive performance, but I have to take issue with the color commentator who said Maine would have scored a TD o a pass when a receiver was open if the QB had made an accurate throw. It would have been a 20 or 25-yard gain, but nothing more. Tulane's front four took control of the game after the opening possession, but again, that doesn't prove a whole lot. Tanzel Smart, Royce LaFrance and Ade Aruna need to be playmakers against UCF to prove they can do it against a team with a pulse.

6) I know I'm in the minority, but I don't see any way the ref could have overruled the call for a TD on Maine's opening possession. There was no camera at the goal line, and although one of the angles made it look clear the QB did not score, camera angles can be very deceiving. Watching it live from the press box, I thought the QB stuck the ball over the plane just before he got hit. The replays made it look like I was probably wrong, but they were in no way conclusive. I also don't think they should have overruled the call that the punt returner did not touch the ball on the "muff" Tulane recovered right before the half. In this case, it sure looked like the ball glanced off the returner's left hand, and his initial reaction was to go back and get the ball. He stopped himself pretty quickly and acted like he had not touched it, which was a good acting job, but the first reaction was telling. Regardless, the replay was inconclusive. When the official missed the call on the field, it could not be overturned.

7) My favorite announcer moment was when Lee almost connected with Breaux deep, and the play-by-play guy said he was covered by linebacker Nico Marley. It took him nearly a minute to correct himself, seeing as how Marley plays for the wrong team and there's no scheme anywhere that would put a linebacker on Breaux running a streak pattern. That mistake topped "Tanner Hill."

Anyone have any idea of the status of our injured?

Is Sean Wilson on track to return against UCF?

What happened to Lazedrick Thompson on Saturday? Is he going to be OK?

Devin Powell was also injured on Saturday. He’s apparently our #1 backup at QB. Is he OK?

How’s Terren Encalade doing? Will he be back soon?

Tristen Cooper did not play at all on Saturday. Is he injured? What’s his story?

Neither Richard Carthan nor Sergio Medina have played this year. Is Carthon hurt? Since he's on a football scholarship, I wouldn't think he's been released t play fall baseball. What about Medina?

On a slightly different subject, is Trevor Simms working out with the baseball team in between practicing kickoffs and long field goals? As a pitcher, I’d think that certainly possible.

Tulane 38 Maine 7

After allowing an opening drive TD of 75 yards and stumbling to a 7-3 first quarter deficit, Tulane dominated an undermanned Maine team until reserves from both squads made the fourth quarter another clown show.

The much maligned offensive line, though allowing three sacks of Tanner Lee (or Tanner Hill if you watched the game on ESPN3), generally provided good pass protection. Lee helped a great deal by getting the ball off quickly to “check offs” when otherwise pressured. Badie’s long run was pretty much all on him as he was hit right at the line of scrimmage and logged about 55 yards after contact on that one play alone. Hilliard’s long TD, on the other hand, was very well blocked. Taking away those two plays and not counting the three sacks, we still ran the ball 33 times for 112 yards (3.4 yds/carry). That’s actually not bad because you can’t take away the best plays and still expect great stats. Can we do that again when we face tougher competition? That’s the question of the day but the performance was encouraging nonetheless. In Badie, and to a lesser extent, Hilliard, we have some speed at running back that most teams (even P5 teams) do not. That doesn’t necessarily make them better running backs than some others, but it means they can do significant damage in the open field. My major concern is Lazedrick Thompson. When he went out (for good), he looked in pain and was shaking his head. I haven’t seen anything about his injury, but he did not return to the game.

With time to throw, Lee looked really good. By my count, Badie dropped one pass and Ricky Preston dropped two, but receivers generally helped him out. His potential TD pass to Veal was a beautifully thrown ball that also should have been caught. Going 16-27 for 277 yards is a really good passing line, regardless. I thought he missed a couple of passes, but so do Tom Brady, Drew Brees, Aaron Rodgers, etc. Powell and Joseph both looked bad and bringing Ciuellette in to take two “Victory formation” snaps didn’t tell us or the coaches anything about that young man. I'd have put him in for some meaningful time. Hopefully, Powell is OK after getting injured on his ill-advised effort to pick up his fumble. I, for one, didn’t think Dias’ snap was that bad; a little high, but certainly “catchable.”

As for the receivers, this is the first time in quite a while that I saw a lot of legitimate separation (more than a yard). Of course, ten of our 18 completions were to backs on swing passes, screen passes, and “check offs,” but they were well executed and proved very successful. I was surprised that Breaux wasn’t targeted more, but, as it turned out, he wasn’t needed. We also didn’t throw much to the tight end. Best I can recall, the one completion to Charles Jones was the only one that targeted a tight end. Again, it wasn’t necessary.

On defense, our line dominated the Bears. I don’t believe they made hardly anything between the tackles all night. However, on several occasions, we bottled up the play in the middle and they were able to outrun our ends, linebackers, and backs to the corner. We looked slow on several of those plays, but were able to make tackles that eliminated really “big” plays.

I didn’t think our pass coverage was very good and that’s disappointing. Maine was only 18 for 38 passing for 203 yards but that is very deceiving. Their QB missed several really wide open receivers and those same receivers dropped several passes. I lost track of the number and the “play by play” on our official website obviously wasn’t watching the same game I was, but I’d have sworn they dropped at least six.

Special teams weren’t that “special” but they were probably average or better, which is a long way from what we have come to expect. LeGlue didn’t roll back any snaps or fire any over everybody and into the end zone, so that’s a quantum leap forward. Picerrelli had punts of 34, 56, 48, and 44 and only one was returned and it for no yards. That’s excellent! Logan Hilton got a chance to punt late in the game, for his first career appearance, and, thanks to the roll, got off a 52 yarder to inside the 20. He’s a redshirt junior and probably won’t see any more action. So, that’s a pretty good career statistics- 52 yard punting average. DiRocco again made a short field goal and all five extra points, so, hopefully (and not prematurely), I don’t have my heart in my mouth on kicks of less than 30 yards. On kickoffs, Simms kicked three for touchbacks and didn’t hook any out of bounds, so that was also pretty good. Except for the one 44 yard return, our coverage was also fine. Our own return game continues to underperform. I suppose we don’t have anyone faster the Monroe who can actually be trusted to catch a punt, but, at least he has done that well. Anyway, special teams didn’t hurt, and the punting actually helped against Maine.

The other positive about the game is that a lot of kids got to play. On the offensive line, LeGlue, Godfrey, and Dias played the entire fourth quarter and some in the third. Devon Johnson also got some time late and may have played as much as the other three. Ricky Preston played a lot and Andrew Hicks also got a few snaps on offense. Ardoin also played a little more, but with Scott out, I was surprised Sydie London didn’t make an appearance. He hasn’t played since opening game and is probably either hurt or relegated to the Scout team as he was the last half of last season.

Obviously, all four QB’s got credit for appearing and, during the 4th quarter, Rounds and Wadleigh were in for several series. At that point, I thought CJ had made up his mind to redshirt “Jet” Glenn, but then he came in to run twice and catch a short pass in a “three and out.” I’m not sure I understood the rationale for “burning his redshirt” for that appearance. Of course, it’s only the third game and he may play a lot more, or, if he plays no more, have one of those “mysterious” injuries that allow a medical redshirt.

On defense, Eric Bell, Dedrick Shy, and Peter Woullard made their first appearances of the year. And several others like Taris Shenall, Malik Eugene, Roderick Teamer, Eldrick Washington, Luke Jackson, Quinlan Carroll, and Jason Stewart got to play more on defense than they have ever done before at Tulane.

Before the wholesale substitutions in the fourth quarter, Zach Harris and Ray Juan Marbley came in for Marley and Eric Thomas sometime in the third quarter. In fact, Harris led the team in tackles with five and Marbley added three more. Good experience for all of those guys. You never know when they might be needed.

Tristan Cooper apparently did not play and I don’t know why. Also, according to the official site, freshman DT, John Washington, played against Georgia Tech but not against Maine. That’s also odd unless he’s injured and will be taking a medical redshirt. But, that’s just conjecture on my part with no facts to back it up.

Two special team’s stalwarts the last couple of years, Sergio Medina, a junior, and Richard Carthon, a senior, have not seen the field this year. What’s up with that? I have no idea.

Anyway, even if it was against an FCS team, it’s a lot more pleasant to “nitpick” small mistakes that were meaningless to the outcome than to weigh which of the glaring problems were in the forefront of an embarrassing disaster. Let’s hope for continued success starting in two weeks against UCF.


Roll Wave!!!

Our opponents went 3-8 this week though, as a group, are still probably doing better than many expected prior to the season.

Duke- After taking a week off following the victory over Tulane, Duke lost to Northwestern of the Big 10, 19-10. They won the yardage battle, 327-258, but lost the turnover battle, 3-2.

Georgia Tech- Like Duke, Georgia Tech came back to earth against a legitimate opponent, Notre Dame, losing 30-22. The game wasn’t really that close as Georgia Tech scored two TD’s in the last 48 seconds of the game after trailing 30-7 into the final minute. Forced to pass, they only completed 8 of 24, though they completed passes for the two TD’s in the last minute of the game.

Maine- This week, Maine looked like the FCS team they are, giving up 497 yards to the Green Wave, losing 38-7.

Bye-

UCF – UCF continued its “freefall” this week with a 16-15 loss to FCS‘ Furman. Neither team moved the ball much with UCF gaining 269 yards and Furman gaining 270 yards. But, UCF had four turnovers to Furman’s one and were beaten by a field goal in the fourth quarter. It won’t get any easier facing South Carolina this weekend.

Temple- Following the return of a blocked extra point to pull within one point, Temple kicked a 32 yard field goal with 2 seconds to go in the game to defeat Massachusetts 25-23. It was a very close game in which Temple gained 458 yards to UMASS’s 438. Temple remains undefeated at 3-0.

Houston- Bye

Navy- Navy went to 2-0 after mashing East Carolina 45-21. Not surprisingly, Navy pounded out 415 yards on the ground and added 4 for 7 passing for a total of 456 yards. ECU gained 405 yards, mostly passing (325), but fell behind by two TD’s in the first half and never really threatened.

Memphis- Memphis went to 3-0 on the season by defeating a tough Bowling Green team, who beat Maryland last week 48-27. As the score would suggest, this was a wild one in which Memphis rolled up 541 yards to Bowling Green’s 583.

UCONN- Connecticut lost a tough defensive battle with Missouri of the SEC, 9-6. Bryant Shirreffs, the UCONN QB, was held in check, gaining only 29 yards on the ground in 14 rushes (including three sacks). He was 17 for 26 passing but for only 156 yards and no TDs or INTs. In the last minute of the game with a 4th and 4 at the Missouri 25 when a 42 yard field goal opportunity could tie the game, UCONN faked the field goal. A backup QB threw an interception to seal the defeat.

Army- Army lost on a last second field goal to P5 Wake Forest. Army only threw three passes in the game and were held in check on the ground all game (54 rushes for 176 yards, 3.3 yds/carry) but stayed alive thanks to three Wake turnovers.

SMU- SMU battled TCU, only trailing 42-37 late in the 4th quarter, before falling 56-37 on two late TCU TD’s. The “Ponies” ran up 508 yards against the #3 team in the nation, but could not slow down the TCU offense which amassed 720 yards.

Tulsa – Tulsa was run over by Oklahoma, 52-38, but Tulsa can move the ball. They were down 31-24 at half and 38-31 with a minute to go in the 3rd quarter before succumbing to a much more talented team. Tulsa showed a lot of offense with 597 yards (421 passing) but allowed a near unbelievable 764 yards.

Obviously our opponents had a pretty tough week with only three wins. Those wins, however, left Memphis, Temple, and Navy undefeated and in contention for the G5 slot for a major bowl. Duke and Georgia Tech came back down to earth and while losing to very strong P5 programs, both SMU and Tulsa, with their new coaches, showed an ability to score against very good teams.

During our recent stretch of futility, most people have focused on our unbelievably awful special teams and our unimaginative, impotent offense—with good reason!

But, somehow, people seem to be giving our defense a pass. I don’t understand it. Since CJ came to Tulane he has insisted on two co-defensive coordinators. Of the 32 NFL teams and 128 BCS College teams, are there any others choosing to organize their defensive staff in this manner? It would take more research than I’m willing to conduct, but I don’t think many if any. It may be my Air Force background or years in business, but I think someone (one person) needs to be in charge, responsible and accountable for the defense. That said, let’s take a look at what we have.

In the Duke game, the excuse for allowing all those points was that we were tired in the second half. There’s certainly a ring of truth to that since Duke ran 93 plays to our 65. We were only down 16-0 early in the 4th quarter when our snapper pulled a “Lizinich” and gave them the ball on the 19 yard line. After their TD, we scored one and the special teams then immediately allowed a Kickoff return for a TD. Although our defense stiffened to force a punt on Duke’s next possession, they drove 75 yards in 11 plays for the game’s final TD before “sitting on the ball” to close out the contest.

All in all, that doesn’t sound too bad for the defense. We allowed a 19 yard and 75 yard drive for TD’s in the fourth quarter when we were “tired.” But, on further review, we allowed 268 yards in the first half and 262 in the second half. Duke averaged 5.5 yds/snap in the first half and 4.6 yds/snap in the second, so “tired” may not have been the big problem on defense. We held them to a TD and two field goals in the first half and without the special teams breakdowns in the second half, might have held them to a similar number. But they still gained 530 yards despite losing an offensive series to a Kickoff return for a TD and having a very short field after the bad snap. Our defense did not excel by any stretch of the imagination. And, as many have noted, our tackling was terrible.

In the Georgia Tech game, it is said that our “young players” got discouraged in the second half and some even suggest they “quit.” Having played a lot of sports, I don’t like to make that latter judgement about others, but, there is no doubt, after pouring through us for 28 points in the first half, they really unloaded in the second half for 37 more. Had we only allowed 28 points in each half, I doubt anyone would be very thrilled.

And, “tired” shouldn’t have been an issue as each team ran 66 plays during the game. They scored TD’s on four of six drives in the first half, fumbling away a pitch and being forced to punt on the other one. They then scored TD’s on five straight drives in the second half before running out the clock on the final drive. All of their scoring was accomplished by half-way through the fourth quarter. Very little of it was against our “scrubs,” though much of the damage was done by Georgia Tech reserves. They gained 365 yards of their 571 yards after half-time. Other than the fumbled pitch out in the first quarter, we only stopped Georgia Tech once the entire game.

Overall, 1100 yards in two games is a tremendous number and, even with improvements in our offense and special teams, our defense also needs “tightening up.”

Maine had less than 100 yards against Boston College, so our chance to shine on “D” could be just around the corner. Let’s hope so.

Roll Wave!!