Because I had no computer over the weekend while it was being fixed (successfully, thank goodness, by a friend who charged me $200 to replace the keyboard after the Apple Store told me it would cost $1,000 and advised me to buy a new one), I forgot to post Sam Scofield's academic honor.

Better late than never.

Link

The win over Houston was probably the best played game we've delivered this year. Since most of us thought the chance of winning was remote and some were predicting a devastating defeat, it feels particularly good this morning-especially against Houston, one of the better teams in our conference.

Our special teams had their best game for sure. Kickoffs, punts, FG/Xtra Points were all good to excellent. Coverage was good, though we did allow a 16 yard punt return. Our return game still lags and I had my heart in my mouth when Veal fielded that punt at our ten yard line, but all was well. I think our coaches and players were well prepared for the exotic "on side" kick by Houston. We shifted with them and CJ made an excellent time out call. That Doss failed to wrap up the kick right at him was unfortunate (OK, bad!), but it wasn't on the coaches as some have suggested elsewhere. Good effort all around for this unit, which, by the way, played seven "walk-ons" against Houston.

Our offense also had its best game. Our running attack was inconsistent in that we gained two or fewer yards on 20 of our 35 rushes (not counting the sack) for a total of only 9 yards. Six plays accounted for 90 of our rushing yards but they seemed to come at very opportune moments. The line is still a "work in progress" but they are clearly improving. Progress is being made but "work" still needs to be done. At least we didn't have any offensive penalties in the game-- a clear sign of improvement.

Our passing game would have been excellent but for the many "drops." I counted six balls that "should have" been caught and two others that "could have" been caught. Considering that Lee went 24 for 35 passing, not too many balls hit the ground. But, Lee wasn't perfect by a long shot. His overthrow for an INT was simply a bad pass. He also threw several poor passes that were caught but eliminated any chance for yards after the catch. I can think specifically of ones to Butler and Marfisi (their only catches of the day).

Pass protection was generally very good (another positive for the OLine) and, whether it was the coverage or simply Lee holding the ball too long, the OLine was not at fault on the one sack we gave up. And kudos to the staff who I thought mixed up the passing attack very well. 23 passes were thrown to wideouts, 5 to Tight Ends, and 7 to running backs. But based on pre-season hype, I'm very surprised that Breaux (no targets) and Encalade (4 targets but no catches) are virtually absent from the passing game, even with the loss of Rush and Shakleford's injury. Veal continues his inconsistent play. He made a great move to get wide open for our first TD but then fumbles a pass deep in our side of the field to surrender a TD to them. Getting Hilliard into the passing game is a real positive and the TD to James was a thing of beauty on both ends of the pass. If we can hold on to more passes, we can still do some damage the rest of this year.

On defense, we did a good job of containing their offense, even though they got 437 total yards. Four turnovers were clearly the key. And the five personal foul penalties (64 yards) really hurt, though I thought the Monroe penalty was BS. Nonetheless, the improvement overall from the Cincinnati game was stark. We still took a couple of bad angles and missed some tackles but the difference was significant. Houston had more playmakers than Cincinnati and their sophomore QB is really elusive. And even the 437 yards is kind of misleading in that 124 of their yards came in the last 3:24 of the game when we were in a "prevent." Of course, they took advantage of that to almost tie the game. Fortunately, for us this time, "almost" doesn't count, whether it's us or them.

All in all it was a very encouraging game which still left the coaches plenty to "get on" the kids about. I hope they can come down to earth and really focus on Memphis. It's a winnable game.

Roll Wave!!!

Nice reward for one tremendously talented redshirt freshman.

This post was edited on 11/10 5:44 PM by Guerry Smith

Link

I've relooked at the Monroe play several times now and I just don't see the rationale for either a penalty or the "targeting" disqualification. The announcers claimed "by rule" if the helmets touch, it's "targeting." If so, the rule needs to be changed. From what I saw, Monroe and the receiver were both essentially vertical when they came together and the collision at the chest and shoulder area forced their heads towards each other. I couldn't tell for sure, even in slow motion, whether the heads actually contacted, so even if the announcers' definition is correct, I'm not convinced the evidence was conclusive for a "targeting" penalty.

Last week when Gilbert was ejected, some of our fans protested the call. In that case, I thought it was clear. Gilbert hit the guy directly in the chin and face mask with the top of his helmet. No doubt in my mind. But this case was much different. It will be interesting to see if CJ asks for an opinion from the league and what the response is. The replay booth obviously agreed with the officials on the field, but I still disagree.

Here is the story:

This post was edited on 11/10 5:00 PM by Guerry Smith

This post was edited on 11/10 5:04 PM by Guerry Smith

link

Anyone else watch that game last night?

Teams don't play the same way every week, but if either plays like that at Yulman, Tulane should beat both of them. That was an awful game and neither team had any playmakers on offense.

Kameron Eloph just committed to Louisiana Tech. He's a OG/DT who is highly regarded by all the services ("top 40" consensus in Louisiana) and had a Tulane offer along with many offers from P5 schools. I guess he chose Tech because of proximity (he lives in Bossier City). Anyway, Jimmy Smith commented on him being a possible Tulane "get" a few weeks ago. It just didn't happen.

Although CJ would not confirm it today at practice, saying "write what you want to write," don't look for Badie or Thompson to make the trip to Houston, at least not in uniform. They did not practice again today, and Tulane will go with the four-headed group of Dontrell Hilliard, Dante Butler, Marshall Wadleigh and Sergio Medina.

You can see the picture at Nola.com, but offensive tackle Sean Donnelly and defensive tackle Tanzel Smart got in a fight at practice today (before I arrived). When I arrived, the two of them were walking around the field holding hands, the punishment CJ meted out in exasperation. He said they held hands for about 20 minutes as the circumnavigated the practice field until coaches needed them.

"We had a little bit of an altercation, and it kind of wasted some of my practice time," CJ said. "I took a different approach in disciplining them. If they want to act like kindergarten kids, I just wanted to treat them like kindergarten kids.

Donnelly needed a bandage for his right hand after connecting with something that skin doesn't appreciate.

"If you are going to fight, sometimes you are going to hit the wrong thing," CJ said. "So that's what happens. Now you have to hold hands with it."

CJ admitted he had never forced players to hold hands after a fight, but it is his repertoire of discipline for family members.

"I've done it with my daughters," he said. "It was pretty effective."

Tulane's kicking issues returned at practice today. During a 2-minute drill, they simulated a last-second kick from 40 yards. When the count reached 1 second left, the ball was snapped, the hold was fine and Andrew DiRocco still hooked it well right. It had more height and was more straight than Trevor Simms' 51-yard effort against Cincinnati, but it was not close.

As always, the spreads are from VegasInsider.com, home teams are listed first and the Tulane game counts double. It's a good week of games.

NOTE: THE MEMPHIS-TEMPLE GAME IS ON FRIDAY. MAKE SURE TO GET YOUR PICKS IN BEFORE THEN

Houston (-18) Tulane
Temple (+7.5) Memphis
LSU (+6.5) Alabama
Oklahoma (-5.5) Baylor
Michigan State (-3.5) Ohio State
Arizona State (-2.5) Notre Dame
TCU (-6) Kansas State
Utah (+8) Oregon

First off, what a horrible opening on ESPN2. Announcers Dave Flemming and Danny Kanell started by discussing the college football playoff, which had nothing to do with Tulane-Cincy but furthers the ESPN hype machine for an event it has the TV rights to, and then Kanell said he had never seen anything like the "quarterback carousel" at Tulane and Cincinnati.

Huh? Gunner Kiel hurt his ribs for Cincy in his previous game and was replaced by Munchy Legaux. Crazy! Tanner Lee suffered a shoulder injury against Rutgers and was replaced by Devin Powell, who then lost his job to last year's starter, Nick Montana. Wild, wacky stuff? Well, not really. It was just two teams having injuries to starting QBs, and one of the two teams going back to its starter from 2013 after that injury. Pretty normal.

I will look at the seven big plays Tulane's defense gave up against the Bearcats--six plays of 20 yards or more plus the 18-yard back-breaking touchdown that gave Cincinnati a 31-14 lead after Tulane had scored TDs on its first two second half possessions.

Last year, Tulane gave up 7 big plays (20 or more yards) to East Carolina, then did not give up more than four in the last six games or more than three in the last five. The defense has been a lot more prone to killer gains this season, as evidenced by Halloween night.

PLAY NO 1: Rod Moore 20-yard gain on Cincinnati's first play after sacking Tanner Lee on fourth-and-goal from the 2.

--Sean Wilson got engulfed, allowing Moore to run right up the middle when end Tyler Gilbert could not get to him near the line of scrimmage. Sam Scofield made a heck of a shoestring tackle as Moore was accelerating to trip him up. Otherwise, it would have been a footrace between Moore and Lorenzo Doss to the end zone for what might have been an 87-yard touchdown. It looks like Doss would have gotten him, but it's no sure thing. Nico Marley ran into the wrong gap, taking himself out of the play immediately as he went wide while the play went up the middle.

ANALYSIS: There has been too much of this year with the Tulane D. Wilson is a true freshman, so he is going to get blocked on some plays, but Marley needed to be more disciplined on that play and the rest of the defense, except for Scofield, appeared slow to react.

Quick aside: Tyler Gilbert's targeting call was legit two plays later. He did nothing malicious, but that's the rule. He hit Legeau with his helmet.He could have been called for unsportsmanlike conduct for taking his helmet off after the call, but the officials showed some discretion there.

PLAY NO. 2: Middle screen to wide receiver Johnny Holton for 30 yards.

--Holton lined up wide left, ran toward the middle of the field to catch the ball and benefited from a good block on Doss from a receiver and a so-so block on Brandon LeBeau by a guard that still kept him out of the play. Once again, Marley got out of position without being blocked. He looked like he wanted to run around the outside of an offensive lineman, and by the time he realized the play was going by him to the middle, it was too late. Scofield took a bad angle and let Holton get by him, too, before the speedy Taurean Nixon wrestled him to the ground with a nice tackle from behind.

ANALYSIS: This was a well-executed play. Darion Monroe blitzed and had no chance to get to the quarterback or get to the receiver. Not sure Doss would have had a chance without the block, but Marley and Scofield could have kept it from being a 30-yard gain. Nixon kept it from being a likely touchdown. Parry Nickerson would have gotten his hands on Holton, but tackling is not his forte. Marley, by the way, made an outstanding tackle on the next play after lining up to blitz, reacting quickly to stop a runner from getting downfield.

PLAY NO. 3: Rod Moore breaks five tackles on a 61-yard run to the 5.

--Moore took a handoff in the shotgun and immediately cut to his left, getting past tackle Tanzel Smart, who was lined up as a right end in a 3-man front. He ran through an arm tackle by linebacker Eric Thomas, then broke a weak tackle attempt by Doss, who had the leverage to bring him to the ground. It was off to the races from there, Scofield and Darion Monroe tried to bring him down at the Cincy 45, Scofield did not have a clean shot at him, but Monroe did, and Moore bounced off his hit like it was nothing and kept going. He cut around Taurean Nixon at the 30, bounced off lame tackle attempts by LeBeau and Nickerson around the 10 and finally was dragged down by Monroe, who showed good second-effort, at the 5.

ANALYSIS: this might have been the nadir for the Tulane D this year. Check out Doss' effort to tackle him at the end of the play after already missing once near the line. He caught up to him near the 10, then jumped out of the way of LeBeau and Monroe instead of taking a shot and ran with his back to the play while Monroe struggled to bring Moore down. Awful. Doss is a stand-up, full-effort guy, but not on that play. You could make a case that seven tackles were missed on one play. Wow. They have to play harder than that.

Tulane played well to force Cincy into a third-and-goal after the long run, but LeBeau got beaten on a simple flag route for a touchdown. With the exception of one terrific game, he has struggled in coverage this year.

PLAY NO. 4: An improvised pitch pass from Legaux to receiver Max Morrison for 22 yards to the Cincy 39.

--LeGaux faked a handoff, ran to his left and threw a long shovel pass to Morrison near the sideline. Morrison ran 22 yards before getting pushed out of bounds by Scofield.

Analysis: Legaux ran right around LeBeau, who could have tackled him in the backfield, before flipping the ball to Morrison. Marley again took himself out of position by running too far inside, giving up the free lane down the sideline to Morrison. No one was there or should have been there. LeBeau needed to blow up that play before it started. Legaux' shovel pass was perfect because it led Morrison into running forward, giving him a head start on the Tulane defense.

PLAY NO. 5: Screen pass to Chase Gladney for a 54-yard TD.

--Cincy lined up with two wide receivers on each side of the field and a running back. Gladney, who was behind the line of scrimmage to the far left, ran a shallow cross behind and past Marley, who was beaten easily in zone coverage, then slowed down to point to a teammate, taking himself out of any chance to make a play downfield. Scofield took a bad angle coming up to stop Morrison as he headed to the Tulane sideline, underestimating his speed. Morrison got by him untouched near the 35, raced to the 10, then cut inside of Nickerson with the help of a blocker in front of him. Scofield tackled him as he crossed the goal line for a touchdown.

Analysis: Too easy. It was nice play that took advantage of Marley's coverage weakness while none of Tulane's pass rusher got any penetration. Scofield, who did not have one of his better games (though still making seven tackles), got caught flat-footed. Nickerson was the last line of defense, but as good as he is in coverage, he is Tulane's worst tackler in the secondary.

So in three possessions with Legaux at QB, Cincinnati had five gains of 20 yards of more to take a quick 17-0 lead.

PLAY NO. 6: Bonne 33-yard run to the Tulane 33.

--After Tulane scored back to back TDs at the start of the second half to cut the deficit to 24-14, this play was a killer. On third-and-1 at the start of Cincy's next drive, Boone took a handoff and ran right around left tackle with nobody there. Royce LaFrance, who spent almost the entire first half on the sideline, got pinned inside along with Williams, who lined up outside of him. LeBeau, who had a rough night, ran up the middle and took himself out of the play. Moore then made a nifty cut outside of Doss, who could have held him to a 12-yard gain, and took off down the field. Nixon, who clearly is the fastest defender on the roster, caught him from behind and tackled him.

Analysis: Nothing terrible here, just Tulane selling out to stop what it thought would be a run up the middle and getting burned by a very good running back. Doss, who had a forgettable night, could have helped out by making his tackle, but Boone was pretty good in the open field. Williams had a rough night as well, getting pushed backward two plays later as Boone gained 8 yards on second-and-10. Williams needs to play hard every down. He's not even close to that yet. Corey Redwine, a name we haven't mentioned much this year in a positive light, made an outstanding play on third down to force Cincy into fourth-and-2, penetrating from his spot at left end to get Boone down on the opposite side of the line. It may have been his best play of the year, but Nixon got beaten on an inside move by a receiver to convert the first down.

PLAY NO. 7: 18-yard TD pass to

--One play after LeBeau made the tackle of the year, lifting Rod Moore up in the air and slamming him to the ground with a perfect form tackle, Lagaux threw a pass to the corner of the end zone that receiver Shaq Washington hauled in with his left hand as he fell down with his back to the back line as Nixon caught up to him and made a nice effortto break up the play.

Analysis: This was an awesome catch. The ball moved a little bit as he rolled out of bounds, but he never lost control of the ball. The call could have gone either way, but I actually agree with Kanell that it deserved to stand. If guys get credit for TDs by sticking the ball a centimeter over the goal line on running plays as they go out of bounds, they should get a TD for making a ridiculous catch in the back of the end zone when the ball moves slightly as they roll out the back of the end zone. Regardless, Tulane's chance to win ended when the replay official refused to overrule the call.

OVERALL ANALYSIS: Cincinnati is a very good offensive team, and Tulane struggles against opponents like that because the offense is not consistent enough to score a lot on bad defenses, which Cincy also has. After two outstanding efforts against UConn and UCF, the Wave played its third worst defensive game of the year behind Rutgers and Tulsa. Too many missed tackles not enough effort on certain plays and the inability of the line to get off blocks were fatal. Obviously, losing Tyler Gilbert hurt because the three-man line of all tackles did not work very well. Ive still not gotten a clear answer as to why LaFrance sat out almost all of the first half, but he didn't play that well anyway when he was on the field.

Tulane matches up better with Houston, which is primarily a running team without the dynamism of Cincy, but the Cougars are better offensively than UCF. Since it's a road game, I'm not that confident Tulane will rebound, but it's possible.

Guerry-- Any word yet from your source on who visited last week? Thanks.

38-14. Despite "winning" the turnover battle, we lost by 24 to a very average (for FBS purposes) football team at home. We were outplayed in every phase of the game-offense, defense, and special teams. Is it talent? A lot of people say, "no." Is it youth? A lot of people say, "yes." Is it coaching? A lot of people say "yes" to certain coaches, and "no" to others. And some people say it's the officials who, for some reason, every week, treat the Wave unfairly. Everyone has an opinion. Whatever...

On offense, we were pretty successful and balanced on first down. We ran the ball 17 times and gained at least 4 yards on 12 occasions. We also passed the ball 14 times on 1st down with 11 completions, nine of which were for 4 or more yards. That sets up 2nd down pretty well most of the time. Cincinnati, on the other hand gained at least 4 yards on 1st down only 17 of 29 opportunities, not quite as good. But when we "really needed it," we were 3 for 13 on 3rd down and 0 for 2 on 4th down. Cinci was 6 for 12 and 1 for 1 on those plays. Big difference!!


Our offensive line may have had its best game in my view. Lee generally had good time and was sacked "only" twice. CJ essentially "threw the QB under the bus" discussing those sacks, so maybe the line wasn't at fault. Some nice holes were opened with eight rushes for over ten yards, seven of which were on 1st down. But we failed badly on short yardage plays, failing to make a 1st down rushing on our two 3rd and less than 2 efforts. The failure on those short yardage and 3rd down play greatly detracts from an otherwise solid outing. We've simply got to make those plays!! It's a big reason why we only scored 14.


Lee looked the best I've seen him. He looked under control most of the time, and kept the ball in "safe" locations throughout the night. During the second quarter, for some reason, he started throwing high-very high-over the receivers. Had safeties been in position for them, this could be dangerous. It turned out not to be and he was much better later. He took two sacks that CJ thought were his fault, and probably so. Yet, he didn't throw it into coverage, so I'm not THAT upset. It's a learning process for Lee and it appears to me that he's slowly "getting it." But, for this game (and it's just my opinion), had we swapped QB's with Cincinnati, the result might have been very different.


I thought the receivers also looked pretty good. Except for the one really bad "drop" (and resulting near interception) by Veal, I don't recall any others. And, with Rush out, we've gone to a freshman- dominated receiving corps, including tight ends. Of the 35 passes last night, 28 were targeted at freshmen (80%). 21 of the 24 completions (87.5%) went to freshmen. And 191 of 205 yards (93%) were logged by freshmen. I'm sure there is miscommunication at times between our rookie QB and our receivers due to inexperience, but those numbers give me some hope for the future. It simply isn't enough for the present.


And, once again, our RB's looked good. With Badie hobbled, Hilliard stepped in and played a great game. We know he doesn't quite have Badie's speed, but he sure looked like it at times. Thompson didn't have as good a game, however. Except for his 19 yard TD run (a great effort), he was held to 4 or fewer yards on every other carry, averaging just 2.5 yards/carry. Running back is not our problem and shouldn't be for at least three more years.


On special teams, it's hard to overstate how bad we are. The Veal play was even worse than when DJ Banks did essentially the same thing a few years ago. Our FG attempt to use a baseball metaphor (how appropriate) looked like a foul ball into the 3rd base dugout; probably the worst miss I've seen in my 70 years on earth. We still can't return punts or kickoffs and, although it was the right "no call," we did come very close to being hit in the back by our own punt in the second half. We've simply got to be more aware.


On defense, we truly stunk. We gave up 31 points but they also dropped one in the end zone (got 3 points out of it) and two more long passes that resulted in no points. Their 479 yards would have been closer to 550-600 had those been caught. And our tackling?!? At one point, LeBeau made the most picture perfect tackle I have ever seen: head up, shoulder into the runner's midsection, arms firmly around the ball carried, lifted him, and drove him backwards into the ground. It should be a training film! But other than that one play, we couldn't tackle anyone. They sliced through our line at times like it wasn't there. Linebackers were caught running in the wrong direction; and DB's? Our safeties looked slow and made more missed tackles than successful ones. Monroe and Nickerson did pull down interceptions and Nickerson may be our best defender at this point. Nixon played more than in recent weeks but generally was chasing receivers/ball carriers towards the end zone. He, at least, looked fast, but how these guys kept getting behind him with the ball in hand was a big problem.


And, of course, Gilbert got tossed early in the game. Was it the right call? I thought it was a helmet to the head but not necessarily "spearing." But, the replay official disagreed. So what! Last year, CJ would have said, "next man up." Now, he's talking about how tough it was not practicing a three man line without Gilbert.


Right now, we're a bad football team, whatever the reason or rationale. We've lost eight of our last ten games to FBS teams, and none of them were named Alabama, Ohio State, or any such "true power." Is there hope? Always. Win the next four and we're going to a bowl. But, I wouldn't bet on it. Of course, UConn beat UCF today and Temple beat ECU, so who know?

Roll Wave!!!
This post was edited on 11/1 2:55 PM by WaveON

If Ole Miss's best receiver had not broken his leg and fumbled inside the 1-yard line, winwave and I would have won the week with 5 points. It was another tough week for most of us.

MNAlum 5
WaveON 5
Ressinge 5
dew99 5

LSU Law Greenie 4
winwave 4
OUG 4
GretnaGreen 4
St. Amant Wave 4
Guerry Smith 4
Dr.Box 4

jjstock2005 3
Rcnut 3
Golfer81 3

ny oscar 2
p8kpev 2

captcrown1 1
Wavetime 1


OVERALL STANDINGS

dew99 43
DrBox 39
GretnaGreen 38
LSU Law Greenie 35
Golfer81 34
captcrown1 33
p8kpev 33
jjstock2005 33
WaveON 33
MNAlum 31
winwave 29
buck2481 29 (missed 1 week)
St. Amant Wave 28
Guerry Smith 27 (missed 1 week)
Wavetime 25
ny oscar 24 (missed 1 week)
Rcnut 22
OUG 20 (missed 2 weeks)
Ressinge 19 (missed 3 weeks)

Why not take the redshirt off Rounds. He's not likely to make an impact at that position group next year and then we'd have one more scholarship to give this year.

Tammy had this earlier today:

Link

Just as I promised, 10 days after the game. OK, maybe I promised it a day after the game, but who's counting.

Sorry for the delay. Still have no idea why it took so long, but here's the full list. It was not a star-studded group. In fact, only one of the visiting seniors had two stars from Rivals.com, although big-time John Curtis junior prospect Willie Allen was there.

First, the guys in the Rvals.com database

Kevin Dotson, a two-star, 6-5, 294-pound OG from Plaquemine with offers from La Tech, USM and Tulane
Marcus Martin, a 6-0, 259-pound DT from Bonnabel
Jabari Tyler, a 5-8, 165-pound senior ATH who plays QB for Newman
Willie Allen, a 4-star junior 6-7, 300-pound OT from John Curtis with offers from everyone

Now the rest:

Thaddeus Andry, a 6-3, 260-pound junior DT from Riverside Academy
Raul Aranda, a 6-0, 172-pount WR from West Jefferson
JaJuan Bell, a junior RB from Riverside
Kardarius Bryant, a 5-9, 170-pound senior CB from Bonnabel
Joseph Boyd, a 5-10, 170-pound junior RB from Warren Easton
Kenneth Boyd, a 5-7, 140-pound junior CB from Warren Easton
Mike Corcoran, a 6-0, 210-pound LB from John Curtis
Kenny Dotson, a 6-3, 227-pound OG from Plaquemine and Kevin Dotson's twin
Nate Evans, cannot find
Von Julien, a 5-11, 155-pound WR from Riverside who is being recruited more in basketball than football
Alfred Richardson, a 6-3, 180-pound WR from Bonnabel
Elijah Rogers, a 6-3, 215-pound TE from East Jefferson
Efrem Spooner, a 6-0, 280-pound senior OG from Bonnabel
Jamian Rush, a 6-2, 265-pound DT from Terry, Miss. and the brother of Tulane WR Xavier Rush

And one previous commitment:

Louis Wings, a 6-0, 280-pound DT from West Jefferson

As always, the point spreads are from VegasInsider.com, home teams are listed first and the Tulane game counts double. And remember, of course, the picks have to be in by Friday night, when Tulane plays Cincy and Memphis plays Tulsa.

Tulane (+4) Cincinnati
Memphis (-24) Tulsa
Temple (+7) East Carolina
Connecticut (+11.5) Central Florida
Ole Miss (-2.5) Auburn
Oregon (-7.5) Stanford
West Virginia (+5.5) TCU
Arizona State (-5.5) Utah

Torn ACL.

Tulane has been playing the young receivers more and more. Now there is no choice.

This story out of Huntington, WV newspaper seems to be frothing up the realignment discussion again.

I recall several years ago ESPN posted a story that the Big 12 was interested in Tulane... do you think Tulane gets into the discussion if Big 12 does add 2-6 teams as I believe they will in next year or so?... are you hearing anything Guerry?

Tulane may have received some bad news today when senior wide receiver Xavier Rush went down with an apparent knee injury during practice.

Rush, who is third on the team in receptions (15), second in receiving yards (295) and first in touchdown catches (three), was helped to the training room by two trainers while walking very gingerly. CJ played down the injury, but we'll have to see what develops.

"It just looked like he tweaked his leg a little bit," CJ said. "He should be fine."

If Rush is not fine, Tulane will have to count even more on its kiddie corps at receiver. Other than Justyn Shackleford, who has a team-best 24 catches for 342 yards, the rest of the top targets are true freshmen, with Teddy Veal (15 catches, 183 yards), Leondre James (seven catches, 87 yards) and Terren Encalade (six catches, 54 yards) in the mix. Counting Sherman Badie, Charles Jones and Dontrell Hilliard, seven of Tulane's top nine targets are freshmen.

With or without Rush, look for the game plan against Cincinnati to be heavily run-oriented. The Bearcats are second-to-last in the American Athletic Conference in run defense, allowing 213.7 yards a game.

"We like to run the ball," CJ said. "The one thing we're going to do first is run the ball. If we can run the ball, we'll have a chance to win it. If we can't run it I think we'll be in trouble. With these quarterbacks that they have, I don't want to get in one of those throwing games. I just want to work the time of possession and run the ball some."

CJ said something similar before Tulane played Tulsa and the Green Wave came out throwing, but he has developed more confidence in the offensive line's run-blocking ability since then and Cincinnati possesses an explosive offense. This time, I don't think he's blowing smoke.

James, though, should be a significant factor in the passing game. He was targeted a bunch against UCF and has become more comfortable in the offense.

"He's one of those kids that really made some strides," CJ said. "We didn't have him much in the summer and he's one of the guys that's really starting to come on. He is very fast, he has great hands and he just has great athleticism. All three of these kids are athletes and they can run (Encalade and Veal, too)."

James admitted he was not sure what he was doing during the preseason, when Veal and Encalade looked more polished than he did. That has changed.

"At the beginning I wasn't so comfortable, but now that I've learned all the plays I feel better," he said. "I have good catching ability and quickness. I'm definitely feeling more comfortable."

James is soft-spoken but very confident. He has been Tulane's best option as a kickoff returner all year, and the coaches finally went to him against UCF with the Wave mired in dead last nationally in that category. The difference was evident right away, as he brought back a kick inside the UCF 10 only to have it wiped out by a questionable holding call on Sydie Lnndon.

"I had a lot of fun doing that," James said. "We were last in the nation in kickoff returns, so I can pick that up until we're about No. 2 or 1 in the nation. It will happen eventually."

With Tanner Lee back from injury, James expects the passing game to pick up, too. The Wave has not thrown for more than 160 yards in its last four games, with Lee missing about one quarter and one series of the past three.

"Tanner is more precise with his throwing," James said. "I feel better about the passing game (this week).



This post was edited on 10/29 12:37 PM by Guerry Smith

Guerry-- When you get a chance, could you check on those players who have been injured for a long time and not playing.
Will they make it back this year? Next year? What's the story?

In this group I would include Jarod Franklin who I believe is expected to return next year, Calvin Thomas, who most people thought would be back this year, Marc Edwards, who I believe had an appendectomy, and Todd Jaquet and Alex Paul whose status I have no information on. There may be others.

Thanks



Thanks

WaveON and Dr. Box led the way in a week when picking Tulane was very helpful. I dropped farther since I forgot to pick in my own contest. Everyone who enters every week gets to drop the lowest-scoring week of the year. Those of us who miss a week don't get that luxury.

WaveON 7
Dr.Box 7

MNAlum 6
OUG 6
p8kpev 6
captcrown1 6

jjstock2005 5
buck2481 5
LSU Law Greenie 5
GretnaGreen 5
Golfer81 5

winwave 4
ny oscar 4
dew99 4
Rcnut 4

Wavetime 3

St. Amant Wave 2

OVERALL STANDINGS

dew99 38
DrBox 35
GretnaGreen 34
captcrown1 32
LSU Law Greenie 31
Golfer81 31 (missed 1 week)
p8kpev 31
jjstock2005 30
buck2481 29
WaveON 28
MNAlum 26 (missed 1 week)
winwave 25
St. Amant Wave 24
wavetime 24
Guerry Smith 23 (missed 1 week)
ny oscar 22 (missed 1 week)
Rcnut 19
OUG 16 (missed 2 weeks)
Ressinge 14 (missed 3 weeks)





This post was edited on 11/4 10:00 PM by Guerry Smith

Tulane changed its practice schedule this week because of the Friday game against Cincinnati, taking Sunday off and working out Monday at Yulman Stadium. The Green Wave will continue preparing for Cincy Tuesday and Wednesday before having a walkthrough Thursday.

Here's what CJ said about Lionel Washington interviewing with Nicholls State:

"I heard Nicholls State called him. They'd be crazy not to offer him the job. He'll do just what we did. He'll get local kids. He'll get down in the River Parishes, where's there's great talent and great players. He can turn any program around. If I was the, I'd offer him the job right now."

If Nicholls State offers the job to Washington and he accepts it, it sounds like he will remain Tulane's co-defensive coordinator for the rest of the season.

"I did it with the Saints," CJ said. "I had to coach the Saints and here."

Asked if he knew of a timetable for Nicholls State's decision, CJ said no.

"No, no one ever said anything, but I'd love for him to get the opportunity to be a head coach," CJ said. "We all want to, and he deserves it."

Washington left practice when it was over and did not submit to an interview request.

In other news, Tanner Lee took all of his normal reps with the first-team offense and definitely will start against Cincinnati, something that became clear during Tulane's two open-date practices last week. It was hard for CJ to contain his excitement about getting Lee back after he missed the last two games with a right-shoulder injury he sustained in the second quarter at Rutgers.

"He had a good practice today, a very good practice," CJ said. "He's watched and you can tell because he's checking down to the backs, throws I could never get him to make (before the injury). He's doing all those things, he's using the field, his progressions are much better, he's doing very well."

CJ said the shoulder would be no factor at all. He has been more concerned with getting Lee to cut down his mistakes rather than worrying about his arm strength coming back from the injury.

"It's progression reads," CJ said. "We'll set it up where he has to thrown to a certain guy. Today I would say about 75 to 80 percent of the time he was exactly right. A couple of times he didn't, whereas as before it would be 50-50. He's making great throws."

Tulane has a different test this week against Cincinnati's high-powered offense. The Bearcats (4-3) are third in the American Athletic Conference with 34.3 points per game and second in total offense with 464.0 yards per game. They scored 34 points in a loss at Miami and 28 in a loss at Ohio State. That's a lot different that what Tulane faced while holding UConn to 3 points and UCF to 20.

"I'd like to slow it down a little bit," CJ said. "If we can run the ball on them, we'll have a better chance of winning this thing. I'd like to see us just run it and keep it away from them a little bit more. If we get out here and just turn it over and have a bunch of negative yardage plays, it will give them more opportunities."

One change Tulane made against UCF that paid off was inserting Leondre James at kickoff returner in place of Dontrell Hilliards. CJ said it was going to happen a few weeks earlier, but for some reason the coaches hesitated. James returned a kickoff inside the UCF 10 that was called back by a questionable holding call on freshman Terren Encalade.

"I loved (Leondre)," CJ said. "That holding penalty, I'm still looking for it. Actually, that kid got blown up and kind of moved out the way, and they called holding. I couldn't believe it. Leondre is one of those explosive young kids like (Teddy) Veal and Encalade we're happy to have."

Freshman kicker Andrew DiRocco has improved immeasurably in practice. Every kick, even the ones from extra point distance, used to be an adventure. Today, with the help of good snaps from Mike Lizanich, he connected from 20 yards, 28 yards, 35 yards and even from 50 yards on an attempt that sneaked over the crossbar. His only miss was from 45 yards, wide right. Kickoff specialist Trevor Simms, who has a ridiculously strong leg, duck hooked a 20-yarder wide left and had a 35-yarder blocked by Royce LaFrance, but he also hit one easily from 50 yards. The Wave cannot use him on normal kicks, but he has range up to 60 yards for kicks at the end of the half or game. He sent a 28-yarder over the net that keeps the ball out of the stands and has even done that on 20-yarders.

"He can hit it," CJ said. "When he boots it, it sounds different."

Reserve defensive back Richard Allen, who sprained an ankle in practice last week, will not by ready for the Cincinnati game, CJ said.

"I don't see him playing this game from watching him limp around," CJ said. "But he's a good team player.

"This team is starting to come together pretty good, but it's kind of late," CJ said. "We have to keep on growing, but we're starting to see stuff out of a lot of guys."

I got on the scout-team receivers a couple of weeks ago, and since then they've made a few more plays. Today, Larry Dace beat Leonard Davis to haul in a long touchdown pass from Jordy Joseph, drawing hollers from the offensive players on the sideline.

Enjoyed your article on the impact players mentioned. I do have a problem with players who report WAY out of shape. They should have more determination to report in better condition. How long does Tulane give these players to lose weight and help us to better complete. Keep up the good work.

This post was edited on 10/26 5:59 PM by Guerry Smith

As everyone knows, Coach Bill Snyder has had great success at Kansas State. I think most also know that he takes a lot of Junior College transfers. I haven't watched one of their games in years but I watched today as they beat Texas, 23-0. Some interesting points came out:

Among K State's 44 man "two deep," 12 came from junior colleges. Another 12 of the 44 came to the school as Scholarship Freshmen. More "draw dropping," 20 are "walk-ons." That's incredible!

Another interesting point brought out was that Kansas, along with California and Mississippi, has the largest junior college system playing football in the country. More interesting, each team is allowed 65 players, but at least 40 MUST come from Kansas High Schools. Thus, K State and, of course, Kansas, has the potential of scouting "local" talent throughout high school, counseling them to go to a local JC for "seasoning," then monitor them closely for two years, "redshirt" them, and still get two years out of them.

Obviously, this is not a system that would work for Tulane. We can't track JC's to the level that K State's coaches can within their own state. And, though I think we have gotten a lot from "walk ons," the school is simply too expensive for many kids to pay their own way.

But, of course, the real "K State System" is the coach, Snyder.