I saw almost nothing positive in this game other than Tulane getting a much-needed victory. The good news is teams do not play the same way every week because that performance will not get it done in the AAC. Some of the problems, like the lack of a pass rush or the ability to finish sacks when there is pressure, have been there all year, but there is still time to correct some of them. Right now this is not a very good team. Maybe next Saturday I will feel differently. Makhi Hughes played well while under the weather, and they are using Ty Thompson effectively as a short-yardage wildcat QB (except for the time he lined up as a running back and looked like he had no idea how to find the hole).

Jon Sumrall, Jack Tchienchou, Rayshawn Pleasant and Makhi Hughes talked after the game.

SUMRALL

"We won. It didn't look pretty at times. I saw a lot of good things and saw a whole lot of bad things. We've got to get better in a lot of areas or we're going to get our ass beat next week. It was a good team today. I'm glad we won the state championship. Goal No. 1 for our team was win the state. We played Southeastern Louisiana and we played Louisiana-Lafayette, and goal No. 1 for the coaching staff when we went over it this summer was win the state. We got that done and we're going to celebrate that tonight. Goal No. 2 for us was win the conference, If we don't get better real fast, we've got no shot. Like no shot, so we have a lot of work to do. I'm very disappointed in our defense in a lot of ways. I'm a little sick over it. We've got a long way to go. I'm proud of some of the individual efforts. I'm proud of the team for fighting, but I'm just not pleased with maybe how clean we're playing on defense at times. I'm not accustomed to that and we're going to get it fixed. Kickoff return, interception return (for touchdowns), you do those two things, you should never lose, and we still made it interesting because of self-inflicting, too many DPIs. We had five on the day. That's atrocious. A couple of them were good calls. A couple of them were awful on our end. One or two I don't know, but some of them we were too handsy and we've got to clean that up, and it's gotta happen fast. We have to play better in the throw game on offense. We ran the ball really well. Some of the things they were doing dictated to us to run the ball. If you're going to play one safety in single high at 15 yards (deep) or both safeties at 12 or 14, you should run it. Makhi Hughes had a good day. Not surprised. He's a little under the weather. He would have probably gone for more, but he was a little under the weather today. He wasn't quite 100 percent health wise, wasn't feeling his best, but still, he's a grown man and he plays like it. We did a good job of getting Ty Thompson involved in the offense in different ways, and I think he's going to continue to grow."

On defensive collapse in third quarter:

"They did a really good job of scheming up some things and getting some holes in a certain coverage we were in a couple of times. Familiarity. Our staff has played these guys the last three years now, so they've seen our defense as much as anybody and we have to adapt a little on when we play teams that have seen us this much and maybe tweak some things. We also weren't quite as clean as we need to be on communication in the back end on whether we were matching some stuff with some over routes or waiving their deep crossers, dropping it off, so we have to clean some of that up. They did a good job of holding some stuff. I felt like they held some pass concepts they didn't run in the first half, more in the second. We're just not playing clean, man, back end wise, and at times we're in the quarterback's face and not getting him down, too. We had two or three where we were right there to get a sack and just didn't finish the play. The long run right after the kickoff return was just a misfit defensively, a first-level guy not getting as far as we would like him to get and a second-level guy not falling back off the action as fast as we like, so that long run was just us not fitting right. I'm going to watch the tape probably tonight on the ride back, and we've got like 500 things to fix on defense and we only played 62 plays. I can think of a lot of things we have to fix."

On heat being a factor:

"Conditions were most certainly a factor. It was hot today. Really hot. This was very similar to our Tuesday practice, except we were off the field by 10:30 so it wasn't quite this hot. It was probably about the same. It affects you a great deal. Our plan going in was run the ball, control the clock and try to tire them out. If you can control the line of scrimmage in a game like this, you want to have explosive plays, but being able to run the ball and grind out the run game and make them stay on the field really plays to your advantage on both sides of the ball. It helps your defense, so without question our game plan, we have three keys to win every week and it's not always the same, but key No. 1 this week was win the run game. Like we had to win the run game to win the game, and we did. I felt like it was going to fit the environment for sure with the heat."

On working the officials:

"A couple of the DPIs I thought were right. A couple of them, I had questions, and then there were a couple of no calls on the other side that I thought were pretty obvious, like the grounding they weren't going to call until they went to the review. I could see the ball mark. Little black pebbles flew up a half yard behind the line of scrimmage. I didn't want to use a timeout to review it, but I was telling them y'all need to look at that, that's pretty glaring, and they got the message. But there were just a number of things. Look, officiating is not perfect and never is going to be. There were some things i wanted clarity on, and I know those guys. Thats a Sun Belt crew, a very good crew. Those guys have had me a few times, so they know how to deal with me. If you work a game as an official that I'm coaching, they know I'm going to talk to them because I just want information."

On Pleasant's kickoff return for TD:

"It was huge. You go into the halftime and we're up 4, and it makes it a two-score game. It's momentum. You talk about wanting to get points on the first drive. Well, there you go, you get it on the opening kickoff, how about that? Rayshawn has worked so hard. He's such a tremendous worker. He gives great effort. He's a great teammate. He has a really bright future. This was really his first week being a full-time kickoff returner because of injury to Shaadie (Clayton-Jonnson). I think Shaadie will be back, but I'm not going to call Shaadie tonight and tell him that he lost his job by being out, but we'll see because that was a pretty impressive return. It was definitely a game-changing, momentum-changing play for sure. Now we go back and give them a long run right after it, which was just dumb by us on the fit, but we'll get better. Big-time play by Rayshawn. I say all the time the guys that work really hard, they play pretty good. Well he's been working really hard. He's had a great summer and he gets everything he deserves because he works really hard at it."

On Tchienchou interception return for TD making it three interceptions for the team on the year and all of them being touchdowns:

"How about that? That one and then the hit that he had, that was a grown-man hit. He laid the wood there. Jack's got to be a little cleaner in some areas. He got a little too nosey a couple of times. He's got a really bright future, too. Smart kid. Talented kid. Big-time upside. That was a huge play right there going into the half to get that pick-six for sure."

On tough game against rested team while coming off losses to two ranked opponents:

"To me, our team's been tested. I don't worry about getting a test. Right now, it's are we playing detailed enough, disciplined enough to win the next one. That's where my mind's at. We're a tough group. I like the culture in the locker room. We just have to start playing with better detail and better discipline or we're going to give a game away here that we shouldn't. I'm proud of the fight and I think we have.a culture that's gritty and tough and blue collar, but we just have to play better football at times and it's got to happen fast."

On Ethan Head:

"There No. 21, the running back, is a dude returner. He was one of the best in the country last year. Touchbacks are huge when you're playing that kind of return guy, and then field goals and extra points he's been handling well. If he makes that at the end, he probably puts the game on ice. He's a true freshman. We brought the two true freshmen in, him and (Patrick) Durkin to see which could go win the kickoff job. Well Durkin's been down a little with a slight injury, and then Barnes goes down. I think Jacob will be back next week. There's a chance Durkin could be back, too, but both of them were out today, and we knew that for sure on Thursday, and so he (Head) had to kick both roles. Last week his first extra point was less than desired. When he came off I told him the good news is it can't get any worse, and he responded pretty well. He made a big field goal. Missed that one at the end. It was definitely long enough. It was just a little left. He kicked it solid. He'll bounce back. He's resilient. He performed well today."

On any trouble with cramps:

"We had four IVs at halftime, which is not outrageous on a day like this. Fourth quarter several cramps. Second quarter one or two. We had two or three guys lock up at different times. Rishi (Rattan) on a kickoff. He doesn't play a lot of snaps, but that kickoff, he wasn't sure if he'd pulled a muscle or cramped right there."

Tulane: The Tulane Green Wave lost to Kansas State and Oklahoma, and they play South Florida next. The Tulane Green Wave have won 5 of their last 6 road games

Winwave continues his roll while I dropped off a bit. Tulane refusing to give up cost all of us the cover when Oklahoma tacked on the final field goal after a fourth-and-long turnover.

WEEK 3 RESULTS

7

tacklethemanwiththefootball
wavetime

6

winwave

5

roll wave
charlamange8
LSU Law Greenie
DrBox
money.max

4

GretnaGreen
MNAlum
Guerry
WaveON


3

p8kpev
paliii
chigoyboy

2

diverdo

Played at Texas A&M for two years...2022: Appeared in six games ... Scored a touchdown on his first career reception, bringing in a 66-yard pass against Sam Houston ... Made two catches against App State ... Registered one catch for 15 yards at South Carolina...2021: Appeared in five games ... Made his collegiate debut against New Mexico ... Broke away for a 45-yard run against Prairie View A&M, adding a 21-yard kickoff return to set season highs.

2023: Appeared in 9 games, totaling 16 tackles (7 solo and 1 tackle for loss), 0.5 sack, and 1 forced fumble; High School: Selected to play in the Alabama-Mississippi All-Star Game representing Corinth High School … Rated as a three-star, No. 25 player in Mississippi and No. 103 linebacker in the country per 247Sports Composite … No. 19 player in Mississippi and No. 86 linebacker nationally plus a three-star per On3 … Earned first team all-state honors and was named the MAC Region 1-4A Defensive MVP … Recorded 109 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, three sacks, six pass break ups and five forced fumbles as a senior … Helped lead the Warriors to a 14-1 record as a senior after winning a combined eight games the previous two years … Also rushed for 653 yards and 13 touchdowns and caught a pair of touchdown passes … Also ran track for the Warriors, named most outstanding sprinter

Played in 12 games and placed third on the team in rushing with 333 yards...Also scored a pair of rushing touchdowns...Additionally hauled in seven passes for 29 yards...Ran for a season-high 106 yards on 14 carries against Tulsa (11/5).

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

UL-Lafayette (+3) Tulane
Oklahoma (+7) Tennessee
South Florida (+16.5) Miami
Michigan (+6.5) USC
Navy (+9.5) Memphis
Oklahoma State (+2) Utah
LSU (-24.5) UCLA
Louisville (-10.5) Georgia Tech

Winwave continues his roll while I dropped off a bit. Tulane refusing to give up cost all of us the cover when Oklahoma tacked on the final field goal after a fourth-and-long turnover.

WEEK 3 RESULTS

7

tacklethemanwiththefootball
wavetime

6

winwave

5

roll wave
charlamange8
LSU Law Greenie
DrBox
money.max

4

GretnaGreen
MNAlum
Guerry
WaveON


3

p8kpev
paliii
chigoyboy

2

diverdo


OVERALL STANDINGS

21

winwave

20

wavetime

19

charlamange8
Guerry

18

LSU Law Greenie
money.max

17

tacklethemanwiththefootball

16

GretnaGreen
MNAlum
WaveON

14

diverdo

13

roll wave
DrBox

12

paliii
chigoyboy

11

p8kpev
greeenwave1997 (missed 1 week)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Oklahoma over Tulane 0 of 16
Memphis over FSU 6
South Carolina over LSU 12
Alabama over Wisconsin 12
Texas A&M over Florida 8
Boston College over Missouri 12
Houston over Rice 16
Washington State over Washington 6

For work (all of the news breaking away from the game) and away-from-work reasons, I've been slow to transcribe interviews this week.

Here are two I conducted Wednesday. I expected Sam Howard to make the single biggest contribution of any of the after-spring transfers with the long-term absence of Jesus Machado at LB. Howard's consistent production at Austin Peay, including a 12-tackle game against Tennessee, and the reports I heard about him made me believe he could step in right away and be a big contributor, and that's exactly what happened. After watching the Oklahoma game on DVR, he is my defensive MVP (Grubbs made one incredible play, and Despanie did not get to play more than half of the game).

SAM HOWARD

On defense maybe turning corner in second half against Oklahoma:

"Absolutely. The biggest emphasis week to week has just been getting better each week, and the way we played in the second half of the Kansas State game was not very good, and just improving the following week showed signs that we can be a really great defense. We are moving in the right direction to be an elite defense. We've just gotta keep trying to move there every day."

On being battle tested:

"That's exactly what I was going to stay. We've been on both ends of the stick. We won from a large margin and then we came up short. Guys know the expectations, that we can be a really great team. They trust that now, so now we can just go play, have fun and be free. Guys in the beginning of the season, you've got a new team, were playing tentative and a little tight, but now everybody is going out there and playing free and having fun."

On Despanie:

"Slim is awesome. He's a true teammate, a true captain and leads by example. He plays really hard. He's always leading out there on the field. I love playing next to that man every single day because I know if I'm messing up, he's going to make me right behind me, so just having him is awesome."

On Despanie'e energy after being ejected:

"He was very vocal. You would think he was one of the assistant coaches. He was telling me, hey, they are about to run this play, be ready for that play. He was very vocal and guys were responding the way we should. He was always leading whether he was on the field or not."

On UL's strengths:

"They run the ball well. They have great backs and a great quarterback. It's going to be a great challenge this week."

On ready for third straight big game:

"Yes sir. Guys are ready to respond and get a win. We've been out of the win column two weeks in a row and we just want to get a win. Guys have that intent. We're just working towards that."

On guys going back home:

"It's definitely personal for those guys. They just want to make their family proud. It means more to them, so it means more to us. Like coach says, it's the state championship. We're just battling for that."

On UL QB Woolbridge:

"He's a really great player. We are just trying to figure out how we can get him off schedule and fit the run well and get off the field on third downs."


GASPARATO

On Despanie's experience:

"He's a leader. He's done it on the field, so guys look up to him, they respect him. He puts the work in that has showed as a leader, so they can follow him by example, too, so he's somebody when you're on the field as a coach, especially in the back end, there's one guy you know no matter what is going to solve problems. If there's something we haven't seen, he knows the rules and all the adjustments and he can move guys around and gets guys set. That's what Slim does. He's so smart and understands the game. He can finish plays, but he's been in a lot of positions to make tackles, and a lot of them have been make or break. If you make them, it's a very short game. If you miss it, it's a long one and might be still running. He's been a really sure tackler. He's been unbelievable this year."

On his production:

"It goes to show that when you know what you're looking at and you see your keys, your keys take you to your job, so that's what he's done a really good job. Every play he's made, he was supposed to make that play. When you do what you're supposed to do, that's when things happen. You don't have to be Superman. You don't have to do things outside of the defense. You just have to do your job and the production will come with it."

On defense playing better in second half with Kevin Adams on the field:

"Kevin's been unbelievable. He's one of the most improved players since we got here in spring practice. He's unbelievably coachable, great athlete, physical player, good ball skills. I can't say enough about him. His upside is through the roof, and he's continued to progress every week, every practice, his attention in meetings. When you have somebody like Slim in the room, it just rubs off on a lot of guys. He's been a true professional, and he's productive as can be."

On Despanie coaching after being ejected:

"He was on the sideline talking to the guys, watching the I Pads with them and keeping everybody's energy up. That's what you need from a leader. His role changed because of what happened during the game, but he still had a positive effect on the team."

On positives with the way D played in second half:

"Absolutely, and that's what we've talked about. We've seen spurts this whole season these first three games of good, bad and ugly, and we've just got to eliminate the bad and ugly and keep it on good and continue to progress. Every play these guys have, they become a little more comfortable with each other and trust each other to do their jobs. When we've played to our standard, we've seen what we can be."

On difference in second half pass rush:

"We were able to get them in situations where we could. Early on it was a lot of third-and 2s and third-and 3s when it can be a lot of either ors. When you get to third-and-5, 6, 7, 8 and 9 it becomes a little easier to call. Our guys know exactly what's coming and they can just play fast. That's the challenge for us this week. We've got to do a good job of keeping Lafayette off schedule and making sure we can get to third-and-medium and third-and-long so we can go do what we do."

On veteran QB:

"He sees the field as good or better than anybody that we've played this year. He's got a great arm. He's got great touch. He can throw the deep ball down the field. He can throw the deep outs, and the whole field is in play, which you can't always say with quarterbacks for the most part. He knows exactly where he wants to go with the ball. He gets it out on time. He's very efficient and he never gets flustered. I would say that about both of their quarterbacks. We played against 18 (Chandler Fields) last year and was very similar. They can pull down and run when they need to, but they do a good job of not beating themselves, so we're going to have to do a good job of being disciplined and sound with our techniques, our detail, our coverage, our eyes, and we're going to have to go beat them because they are not going to give it to us."

On Grubbs pick six:

"I was happy for him. He is a worker. Every day he comes and brings his lunch pail and is a hard-nosed kid who puts as much time as anybody. He lives in this building. He's always walking around trying to get extra stuff in, watching tape on his own, meeting with his own guys. He loves this game, and to see him make that play when he has the opportunity is special."

On Grubbs no longer free lancing as he did at times last year:

"There have been times everybody has, and when you see somebody else do it or you do it yourself, you see if you just did your job, you would have made the play. When you try to do too much, you don't, taking your eyes off of man coverage or going too far in a zone or whatever that is. We've really harped on just doing your job and being very detail oriented this week, and they've all embraced it."

Tulane made it official today that the planned site for the bubble on the field next to the Reily Center is dead.

"After site inspections for the indoor practice facility, we determined that Brown field wasn't a suitable location due to several factors," AD David Harris tweeted. "We are committed to completing the project. When details are finalized, we will share more information. Thanks for your support & patience."

The overwhelming frontrunner for the IPF now is the Claiborne parking lot. It would create logistical parking issues on campus but is the most logical spot (and maybe only possibility) remaining and would allow them to do more than just a half-ass bubble. This one would allow them to have a roof, although the cost and length of time to construct it could be an issue. I was never thrilled with the plans for the bubble by Reily, but it beat having nothing. They definitely need to finalize plans and proceed with an IPF ASAP.

When Angelo Anderson registered his first sack since 2022 against Oklahoma on an inside move when no one picked him up until he hit the quarterback, I thought he might be ready to make a real contribution to the team this year. It turns out it was the last play he would ever make for the team. I noticed he was not there today, so I asked Jon Sumrall what happened to him. His answer:

"He left the team for personal reasons. That's my statement on it. He made a personal decision. I talked to him, gave him information and he decided to leave for personal reasons."

Anderson was one of the highest-rated New Orleans recruit Willie Fritz signed in his eight classes (he had offers from Arkansas, Tennessee and Houston among others) --and Anderson talked at the time about leading a new breed of top players who wanted to stay in New Orleans and play big-time college football. He never lived up to those ratings, though, playing sparingly as a true freshman before starting in the Idaho Potato Bowl against Nevada because starting rush end Patrick Johnson opted out. His stats were decent in that game (four tackles, one for loss), but he did not play particularly well, and he did not progress in 2021, playing in 10 games with four tackles and a sack. His best year was 2022, when he started eight games, but he was not a difference-maker, finishing with 17 tackles. He went back to the bench last year, starting zero games and making 14 tackles with no sacks, and he was not starting this season, playing behind Adin Huntington and Gerrod Henderson at end. That sack on Saturday was his only tackle of the year.

Sumrall said Jacob Barnes was doubtful to play against UL and Patrick Durkin was questionable, so Ethan Head likely will handle all of the kickoffs and placekicks against the Cajuns. He was not consistent in the preseason, but he never did anything like the extra point that went under the cross bar against Oklahoma on his first attempt. Fingers will be crossed if he has to kick a significant field goal, but he is capable and has a strong leg.

Lu Tillery has moved up the depth chart at cornerback. I would not be shocked if he starts Saturday. He has received some first-team reps this week, although I still expect Micah Robinson and Johnathan Edwards to start with Rayshawn Pleasant right behind them. It's a four-player rotation at the moment. It's also possible Jack Tchienchou will start at free safety instead of Jalen Geiger. The starting bandit likely will remain Terrell Allen, but that is a wide-open spot with Allen, Javion Carter and Michael Lunz getting the most time there.

I will add quotes from yesterday later.

Game date and Time: Saturday, September 21, 2024, at 12:00 PM ET

Tulane: The Tulane Green Wave lost to Kansas State and Oklahoma, and they play South Florida next. The Tulane Green Wave have won 5 of their last 6 road games. Darian Mensah is completing 58.9 percent of his passes for 713 yards, 5 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Mario Williams and Dontae Fleming have combined for 444 receiving yards on 21 catches, while Yulkeith Brown has 6 receptions.

Louisiana: The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns beat Grambling and Kennesaw State, and they play Wake Forest next. The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns look for their first 3-0 start since the 2020 season. Ben Wooldridge is completing 76.9 percent of his passes for 497 yards, 4 touchdowns and 1 interception. Jacob Bernard and Robert Williams have combined for 195 receiving yards and 1 touchdown, while Harvey Broussard has 5 receptions.

Played three seasons at Louisiana...2022: Caught 58 passes for 680 yards and six touchdowns in three seasons at Louisiana … Also averaged 24.5 yards on six kick returns and 25.5 yards on four punt returns…High School: Attended East St. John High School where he earned all-district honors twice, posting 34 catches for 645 yards and 11 TDs as a senior … Also an all-district high school honoree in baseball.

Everyone Game Preview

The Green Wave and Bulls square off against each other at 11 a.m. on Sept. 28 at Yulman Stadium.

Jack Tchienchou, who played well off the bench againt Oklahoma, made a really nice interception against the scout team today. I thought he outplayed Jalen Geiger in spring drills and was a little surprised Geiger won the starting job in preseason camp, but I believe Tchienchou has a good shot to start this Saturday.

Shaadie Clayton-Johnson has a concussion, but keep that here because Sumrall did not say what his injury was when I asked him today. He is extremely doubtful for Saturday.

They have not ruled out Jacob Barnes for Saturday, but he did not kick today and is bothered by a groin injury. Look for Ethan Head to kick vs. ULL.

It was really hot and humid this morning. One of the freshman offensive linemen was struggling to get off the ground with what looked like full-body cramps at the end of the workout.

Sumrall, UL transfer Dontae Fleming and Carencro native Bailey Despanie talked after practice.

SUMRALL

"Disapointed with the loss last week. We started way too slow to give ourselves an opportunity against an opponent like Oklahoma to win that game. You can't spot at team like that 21 points and expect to win. I was really proud of our guys' mental toughness and resiliency in regards to just fighting back at the end of the game to be down 24-19 in the fourth quarter and have two possessions to give ourselves an opportunity to maybe go ahead there late. It was really hard to even believe to be quite honest. We've got to be a lot better. That's coaches, it's players, it's all of us. I told the team after the game we've got to look in the mirror. A man we define in our program is somebody that's accountable for their actions. Well, that includes me, so it starts with me. I looked in the mirror and figured out what I could do better to serve our team and help our players develop and make our team get better. We've got a real test this week, in-state game. Always good to play in-state opponents, and a lot of familiarity. A lot of our staff's coached against Louisiana-Lafayette the last two years. They've been really good. They're really big. They're really physical, and they're really athletic. They've got three great running backs. Going on the road will not be easy over there. They've had a really good run of going to bowl games for a bunch of years in a row now, so the success they've had is impressive and it will be a great challenge for us."

On game being as much about mindset as anything else coming off two games against ranked opponents:

"They kind of all are. Kansas State, to let that get away the way we did, I was probably worried about the mindset getting ready for the next one, picking yourself up off of a crushing loss just the way it went down. I think they're always about mindset. In college football, every game's about your mindset. We're dealing with young men who are learning to become grown men, and your mental approach to everything matters, so the mindset of this game is critical. They are coming off of a bye week. We're battle tested pretty rugged the last few weeks, and that's good. We've got some bumps and bruises, but we've played really good competition, so we just have to be prepared to play. I've talked to our team about there's three things it takes to win a game--you have to be focused on what you're doing, you have to have the right amount of passion and emotion to play the game the right way and you have to be mentally tough, so all three of those components matter. So are you focused on doing your job, are you passionate about doing your job, are you mentally tough about the ebbs and flows of the game. We've got to be prepared because this is a really good team. This team's got talent. You look across the board. In '22 when we (Troy) played against them, I walked out on the field pregame and was like, all right, who are we playing today? These guys don't look like a Sun Belt team. They just didn't. They had big dudes, especially on the front, and they still do, so we've go to be really ready for a physical battle because they are really good physically."

On balancing emotion of being close against two top-25 teams with losing:

"Look, I told our team Monday, losing's not OK. Anybody that tells you it is, they're a loser and get away from them. It's not OK. I'm not a big believer in a moral victory. That doesn't fly with me, but also I did remind them, one of the opponents was 13th now or maybe the other was 15th and you were right there in position to win both games in the fourth quarter, but I can pull up 20 plays where Tulane beat Tulane. We didn't have to have the other opponent beat us, and so if we'll just eliminate the procedure penalties where we don't line up with a receiver on the line of scrimmage or just the silly little things that have come up, then we'll probably start to get the outcomes we want over time, but the margins are not that big. You can't continue to make simple errors that cost yourself as a team, so there's some encouragement there, like, hey, we're close. Close isn't what we're hunting, but there are some signs of we have a shot here. We just have to fix some things and re-calibrate some things and make sure guys understand how to do things maybe a little more efficiently and cleaner."

On Ben Wooldridge (ULL starting quarterback) being very effective against Troy in 2022 (Troy won 23-17) and how he has grown over the past few years:

"Yeah, he has a really big arm. He can make all the throws. He makes 15-yard outs, sail throws and puts it on the money. He's a big-time thrower. He's a good runner. He's probably a better runner than he gets credit for, so he can make plays with his feet, extend plays with his feet. He's got good athletic ability. He's a smart player. You can tell he's well versed in the system. He's been running the same offense now since really when Billy (Napier) was there and now with Des (Michael Desormeaux), so the offensive structure is still very similar and he's been there the last three years in that system and really understands where they want to go with the ball.He's efficient. He distributes the ball really well. They run the ball well. They take great shots off of it. They are similar to us. I watch their offense and I feel like I'm watching our offense a little bit. He's a good player. In 22, he made us pay earlier in the game. He had our number for quite a bit in that game."

On Mensah:

"The positives have been really obvious and the negatives have, too. I can think of a bunch of big-time throws and plays he's made through three games. There's been three or four really costly errors. A couple of them were good plays by the opponent and a couple of them were just knowing when the play's over and not forcing something in there. he's flashed some high-level stuff, and he's also shown his youth at times. Last week was an interesting week for him. We weren't just going on the road in an SEC environment, We were doing it against what I think is a really quality defensive team, and so your first road start is with 83,000 fans against a high-caliber defense. That defense has got some really good players on it. They are extremely well coached, so it presents some issues structurally with their players and with the environment, so he was thrown into the fire a little bit. I was more nervous for him going into that game than I was for his first start against Southeastern because this was a different beast. He's done some things. He's got to grow quickly. The maturation process is not friendly or kind in this game. You have to grow fast, and I think he will. He's got a short memory on negative things. He's able to bounce back positively. He's got a great demeanor in practice. Other guys gravitate towards how he carries himself. I think he'll respond well to where he's going and where he needs to go next."

14 games on the defensive line...Second Team All-AAC...Totaled 39 tackles (22 unassisted, 17 assisted), nine tackles for loss, three sacks, a forced fumble, four quarterback hurries and a safety

Whenever there is a coaching change, transfers follow, and that is even more true in the NIL/transfer portal era.

Here is how the multiple transfers from Tulane who went to FBS schools are faring at their new schools, including a few who left two years ago.

Chris Brazzell: 10 catches for 140 yards and a TD at Tennessee

Comment: He was gone even if Fritz had stayed. As talented as the loaded Vols are, I still thought his numbers would be even better.

Kentrell Webb: 13 tackles for Houston.

Comment: Webb had a lot of promise, but if you had told me he would have the most tackles this season of any of the transfers, I would have doubted you.

Keith Cooper: 10 tackles, 4 for loss, 2 sacks for Houston

Comment: He's just a really good player.

DJ Douglas: 10 tackles for Florida

Comment: I'm guessing he got a good NIL deal. Otherwise, he can't be happier there as the Billy Napier era turns into a car crash.

Devean Deal: 8 tackles, 2.5 for loss. 0.5 sacks for TCU

Comment: TCU blew an 11-point fourth-quarter lead and lost to UCF 35-34 Saturday. Deal appears to be playing pretty well.

Jadon Canady: 9 tackles, 2 passes defensed at Ole Miss

Comment: When I wrote he was a big loss before 2023, Wes Fritz texted me that he would be out for the year with the knee injury he sustained against Memphis in 2022. He was almost right. Canady had two tackles last year but is healthy this season.

Hunter Summers: 4 catches for 50 yards at Arkansas State

Comment: Summers was not ready to play last year but I liked his potential.

Iverson Celestine: 2 carries, 5 yards; 2 catches, 18 yards at South Alabama

Comment: he was buried on the depth chart at Tulane and would not have gotten on the field this year

Terez Traynor: 1 catch for 12 yards at Charlotte

Comment: We barely knew him after the Idaho's transfer's stop-over in the spring. Tulane will face him on Halloween.

Jared Small: no stats at Arizona

Comment: Not sure how he won an appeal for an eighth year of eligiblity, but he has yet to play for the Wildcats.

Other transfers with no stats:

Cam Carroll in his second and final year at Florida. He suffered a knee injury in the preseason last year.

Maxie Baudoin, who was deep down on the depth chart, is a reserve DT at UL-Lafayette but has not played yet.

UCF spring stop-over Jaylon Griffin has zero catches for Texas State.

Jai Eugene, who was not happy about being behind Rishi Rattan, has not played for Western Kentucky.

Corey Platt tore his Achilles again at Houston.

After losing one it probably should have won against Kansas State last week, Tulane lost one it could have stolen against Oklahoma today. The Wave was fortunate to be close, but once Tyler Grubbs had the pick-six early in the fourth quarter, the momentum clearly was in Tulane's favor. It all turned on Darian Mensah's interception on third-and-1. That call will be criticized, but the coaches were trying to take a chunk when they thought Oklahoma would sell out to stop the run. Didn't work. Don't think it was a bad call.

Sumrall is 1-2 for the third consecutive year. Tulane has a whole lot to work on to make Sumrall a conference champion for the third consecutive year as well, but all is not lost. Beating UL is essential next aturday and then the AAC schedule begins.

Sumrall, Mensah and Grubbs talked after the game:

SUMRALL

Disappointing loss. Against a team like that it's almost impossible to dig yourself a 21-0 hole and think you've got any chance to come back to win. That falls on me. I didn't get us ready to play the game early the right way. Very proud of the resilience our guys showed to come back in a 21-0 game against an opponent like that to make it 24-19 and have some opportunities to come back and win the thing, and just didn't quite get it done. Everybody in the locker room, I just told them we have to look in the mirror and own what just happened. It starts with me. We've got to be men. In our program we definite a man as someone who is accountable for their own actions. I've got to own what I've got to do better to help this team be their best, and everybody on the team has gotta do the same. We'll get back to work. We've got to respond quickly. We've got another good opponent coming up, but very disappointed with the outcome today. Frustrated with a lot of things I think we could have done better. Hats off to a good opponent. They are a quality team. They are very talented at a lot of spots and they're well coached, and we'll get back to work and get going."

On third-and-1 pass decision that ended in interception:

"Yeah, they'd been really aggressive. They'd shown some things that maybe we felt like maybe a run action with a shot was in our best interest there because they'd knocked us back a couple of times. We were trying to hit a dagger, and it backfired."

On if hurricane-altered prep work was factor in dismal first 27 minutes:

"I can't blame that. It would be real easy to sit here and go we didn't have our normal week. Well, who cares? Like, nobody is looking for excuses. I'm not going to allow that to be an excuse. Was our schedule abnormal? Sure. Was it really goofy and funky for everybody? Yeah. Does the scoreboard care? No. I'm not going to sit here for one second and act like that (was the. reason). We clearly started slow. I don't know if it was first road trip, if it was the movement of the week that was not normal from a schedule standpoint. I'll look at all of it and see if there's stuff I can do better to help us address that. but while we ha n abnormal week, the scoreboard doesn't care."

On what changed defensively in second half:

"It's weird. Slim Despanie is one of our best players, and he went out for targeting, and in a weird way, we got better after he left the game. It's almost like it sorted of jolted our guys. We sent Kevin Adams and Jack Tchienchou in the rotation a lot more there. At halftime we came in and our guys just responded. We probably called some things a little differently, too, to maybe help them pin their ears back. I felt like there was a different sense of urgency. I don't know that we've played out best as a D-line or even close to it all year, but for the first time in the second half you started to feel the front turn it on, so that affected the way the game went there in the second half. We stepped it up defensively quite a bit. We've got to start faster to do that, but I did think we finally showed a little bit of life in some areas that I don't that we had."

On if Oklahoma looked like SEC-level defense:

"SEC, Big 12, whatever, Oklahoma looked like one of the best defenses I've seen. Dan Roushar, our O-line coach, was with the Saints forever and he was with the staff here last year and he's still here. This week I was picking his brain about what he thought about this defense, and he was like it's the best one we've played since I've been at Tulane. We played SMU last year, Virginia Tech, some good teams. I think it's a very legitimate SEC outfit defensively, and really offensively there's weapons. You can tell they are finding themselves in some areas. The quarterback's talented. No. 6 (slot receiver Deion Burks) is a real guy. The tight end (Bauer Sharp) is a special player. They've got good players and their defense is really good. The interior D-line and their linebacker group is elite, just watching them. I recruited 28 (linebacker Danny Stutsman) when I was at Kentucky, and he's a dude. He plays like a grown man."

On what happened to Jacob Barnes on 50-yard field miss (he did not play again):

"He had a little tweak. He actually had it last week, a little tweak, and was good to go today, and then on that field goal, that swing irritated himself, so you saw (Ethan) Head. Obviously his first extra point didn't go real well. Look, the worst thing you can do on a kid like that on his first shot is go over and give him an earful. I said, hey, that went as planned, didn't it? He looked at me like I was crazy. I said I know the second one can't be worse than that; you'll be fine. He'll be fine. He's a good dude. He's worked hard. He's done a good job kicking off since the first game. But Jacob Barnes definitely had something bothering him and couldn't go."

On giving up pressure in fourth quarter:

"When we got (in) predictable pass (situations), they were pinning their ears back, and I felt 32 (end Mason Thomas) a lot today, their edge guy, a lot there at the end of the game. When you get yourself in situations that are obvious pass, good pass rushers can pin their ears back and it 's hard to block them. Those guys did a nice job of presenting some six-up pictures and some looks that maybe make your protectors question who's coming and who's dropping and how you want to target it and ID it. A really good scheme with really good players makes it hard to protect."

On what Oklahoma did differently on offense than he had seen on film:

"They operated on first down better. What made them more successful on third downs early in the game than what they had been was they were in third-and-2 and third-and-3 and not third-and-8 and third-and-9. They were more first and second down efficient, which makes it harder on defense. I don't have a lot of great third-and-2 and third-and-3 calls for our defensive staff. Third-and-9, I can call a lot of good defenses. They just stayed on schedule better. They ran the ball better. Some of that had to do with us, but they committed to stay on schedule."

On clinching TD run by Oklahoma QB on third-and-11:

"We really should have had him. I don't want to speak until I catch it again, but I think we had a bad rush leverage there. We probably could have had an opportunity to get him down. He's athletic. His two long runs, that was one, and then the other one down our sideline (for 43 yards), a zone-read keep, we didn't leverage the football properly and have to coach it better, but he burned us on the last one. That was kind of the one that broke us."

On third-quarter defensive adjustments:

"It was more about us. We didn't necessarily come in and go, hey, they're doing this. The plays that were beating us was one guy not doing his job the right way, so it was like, guys, let's all play together and execute. We improved there. It wasn't necessarily a thing that we thought we had them. We just maybe did our job better."

On his being 1-2 for the third straight year:

"I'm not proud of it, but I'm pretty good at going 1-2. I've done that a couple of times now. It's not my highlight, but our response has usually been pretty good. We'll see how we respond now. I think we'll be fine. We have to show up quick. I'm not going to sit around and mope. I've been 1-2 before. We have a lot of work to do getting where we need to go."

On Mensah's performance:

"Up and down. He probably did some good things. One time I saw ball security that we've got to keep harping on. He was a little bit loose on one scrambling. Timing, he did a couple of things really well of seeing some things on time. A couple of times he didn't really realize that the shot clock was going to be faster because of the pressure. He did some good things. He's a third-game college player. He still has a lot of things he can get better at."

On struggling to get the ball to Mario Williams (three catches, 36 yards):

"One of them we took a shot. He had three catches. He had eight targets. He had a drop on the first play of the game, and then a couple of others they played well. One was a contested 50-50 ball on their sideline that was deep. There was another time we took a shot on a post to Dontae (Fleming) and we had Mario probably open on the over, which would have been a big play. It wasn't all Mario and it wasn't all the quarterback. There are just some things you've got to maybe a better look. That's a really veteran secondary. It's like senior, junior, senior, junior, senior, guys that have played a lot of football. They did a great job of identifying what was coming. I watched their defensive backs pre-snap communicate at an elite level. I was very impressed on them recognizing splits. spacing and what routes. They are well coached. I have a lot of respect for their team and their staff, and I think Mario's lack of production was them doing a really good job of knowing where he was and how to stop him."

Collectively it was a good week, with six of us getting at least six games right and seven more getting five games right.

WEEK 2 RESULTS

8

charlamange8

7

p8kpev
diverdo
LSU Law Greenie
winwave
Guerry

6

MNAlum
greenwave1997
GretnaGreen
wavetime
money.max
tacklethemanwiththefootball
WaveON

4

chigoyboy
roll wave
greeniegent
paliii
DrBox


OVERALL STANDINGS

15

winwave
Guerry

14

charlamange8

13

money.max
wavetime
LSU Law Greenie

12

GretnaGreen
MNAlum
WaveON
diverdo

11

greenwave1997

10

tacklethemanwiththefootball

9

chigoyboy
paliii

8

roll wave
DrBox
p8kpev

6

2DatWuzAGoodDay2 (missed 1 week)

4

greeniegent (missed 1 week)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane over Kansas State 18 out of 18
Texas over Michigan 13
Iowa State over Iowa 4
South Florida over Alabama 7
Tennessee over NC State 14
Nebraska over Colorado 16
Boise State over Oregon 9
Texas State over UTSA 6

Good article. When are you going to post your answers?

As always, the Tulane game counts double, home teams are listed first and the point spreads come from VegasInsider.com. Weak slate of games this week nationally.

Oklahoma (-14) Tulane
Florida State (-6.5) Memphis
South Carolina (+7) LSU
Wisconsin (+15.5) Alabama
Florida (+4.5) Texas A&M
Missouri (-17) Boston College
Houston (-4) Rice
Washington (-4.5) Washington State

Tulane practiced at the Saints indoor facility today when an on-campus bubble sure would have been nice. It turns out the Wave could have practiced at Yulman Stadium, but last night's forecast indicated lightning in the area during the morning instead of the light rain with no lightning that actually happened.

Jon Sumrall, former Oklahoma receiver Mario Williams (2021) and DE Adin Huntington, who chose Tulane in a two-way battle with Oklahoma when he transferred from Louisiana-Monroe this summer, talked when the team got back to campus. I am not sure if there will be a media availability tomorrow with Francine approaching, and if there is, it probably will be just Sumrall. I already am working on getting an Engaging the Enemy. My flight to Oklahoma City leaves early Friday afternoon, which is supposed to be a beautiful day in New Orleans. Fingers crossed that nothing severe happens Wednesday or Thursday.

SUMRALL

"Just got back from practice. Getting ready for a lot of things weather related. Obviously a big game, full speed ahead. Didn't get much sleep last night and probably won't get much the next couple of nights. Trying to do as much as we can to help keep things going for our guys while being safe and being where they need to be and that sort of thing."

On plans for Wednesday:

"We were able to practice at the Saints today. Very grateful to those guys. We got a normal Tuesday practice in for the most part. Had to cut a few things just for time with travel over and travel back. Tonight we'll stay together as a team. We'll go to our team hotel the like we would the night before our home game. We'll do that the next couple of nights it looks like. Our team hotel has generators and those sort of things to keep things online for our guys hopefully. I've told them pack like you're going on a couple-days road trip, bring all your school supplies. We'll have some academic time tomorrow at the hotel and tonight, do our normal football activities as much as we can. Tomorrow's practice is going to be very dependent upon the timeline with the weather getting here. Practice isn't the No. 1 focus. Health and safety is, but we'd like to get into as much of a normal practice routine as we can, so if we can we'll try to find a location. We're working through logistics of could that be the Superdome or could that be the Saints or could it be here. I don't mind practicing in the rain. I would have practiced here today if I'd have known it was just going to rain, but yesterday the forecast had lightning at this time, so it changes. We'll try to go about an hour tomorrow if we can, which is a touch shorter than normal, but we'll trying to get something. I'm untrained meteorologist at this point in life. I think it looks like mid-dayish (for the effects of Francine to be felt heavily), so we'll try to make sure we're all in place a couple hours ahead of time."

On dealing with this before:

The first game here (as as assistant coach under Curtis Johnson in 2012) was Ike, so were in Birmingham (I heard some horror stories about the disorganized nature of that evacuation under CJ). This one's a little more unique because it's in the middle of a game week. We knew that one a little bit earlier. We knew there was the potential, but it really heightened yesterday. Normal evacuation is Birmingham, which we did that year. With the charter flight for the game (at Oklahoma), there were three or four different options talked through with our administration. I told them first and foremost healthy and safety and then what makes the most sense for the well-being of our team. As we kind of evaluated things, we felt like this was probably the best decision."

On Brett Venables' defense at Oklahoma:

"They're well coached. Brent does a great job with defense. The defensive staff's really good. They've got really good players. Good scheme and good players usually make for good football, and they're really well coached with great players. They're multiple. They keep you really guessing, keep you off balance, do a lot of different things schematically. They present a lot of challenges with what they do, and the guys they're doing it with make it even tougher. We've got our work cut out for us. People have not put up points on them this season (Houston had 12 and Temple had 3 despite Oklahoma's struggling on offense in both games)."

On Oklahoma forcing nation's best eight turnovers:

"They attack the ball carrier. They swarm. They run with great energy to the ball, and they've got guys that can make plays. They put you in a bind with what they do schematically. They put you in some pressure situations and they've gotten people into obvious pass, but they're really an attacking group. The multiplicity they present also presents problems for your offense, and playing there--this is game 3 in a row for them at home and it's a hostile environment. It's loud. I've had texts with other coaches in the league and I've texted with Chris Klieman, who we played this past week, and Chris texted this morning it's one of the loudest places you'll ever go. I've played most places in the SEC as a coach or a player, but I haven't been to Oklahoma, but by all accounts it's loud."

On message to Mensah about taking care of the ball with pass rush:

"One of his strengths is his poise and calmness and confidence in the pocket. He's got to know when the journey's over. Sometimes the show's over, just go down or get it out, and we learned the hard way on a couple of those. We had the grounding. That's a new thing for him. Everything's new for him, and then understanding hey, a 6-yard sack, while maybe not desired, is better than getting careless for the football and turning it over and giving them a touchdown. He's learning. Today at practice he had one that we were all screaming at him to hey, put the ball away. He's gonna get it. He's going to learn it. It's like being a kid and you touch a hot stove and you learn it's hot, don't touch it anymore. Hopefully he learns, hey, if I'm in traffic, put the ball away. I think he will. He's smart, he's conscientious and he's thoughtful, but there's a lot of lessons to be learned. A lot of positives, but there's some things he' needs to get better at and grow from, and I'm confident he will. I've liked his approach. The best thing about it is he's been harder on himself than I could ever be on him. That usually bodes well for being a good player when you care that much. He's gotta bounce back. He's gotta do some things better. We all do. The coaches do, too."

On having guys who played for Power 4 programs and are used to hostile environments:

"Yeah, maybe individuals have had that exposure. It's our first time as a team to handle that atmosphere, and there are a lot of individuals that haven't, so it's a new experience for everybody involved. We're a team that's never gone and done it together, and it's a place that's traditionally loud and hostile and hard to play in. We've got to be really poised with how we handle it. I think you can get over-excited about it, like you almost have to just ignore it to some degree. and control what's right in front of you. We worked today with the crowd noise in practice. I don't know if the offense could really communicate very well verbally, so we're making them have to work through some of that right now. It's a challenge for sure. It will be new for some our guys, and I don't care how many times you've been in those environments, there's still a challenge. Even as a coach, I'm like, all right, it's nice to be able to communicate at home, and when you go on the road in that kind of environment, it gets loud."

On Mario Williams having back-to-back 100-plus-yard receiving games:

"He's been extremely impactful. What, 10 catches and 250 yards (252) roughly is a pretty good two-game start. I've said this. He's worked incredibly hard. Watching him in our offseason training, I've got no doubt he's going to have the kind of success he's having because he brings it every day. He works his tail off, he's extremely competitive. The biggest thing for him as we move into this game is don't worry about the him-going-back-to-Oklahoma piece. That doesn't have any impact on you playing well. What helps you play well is do your job at a high level, focus on the details of what your job is and go execute and be the best you can be individually and help support your teammates. I'm excited for him to have that opportunity to go back to the place he started his career, but what gets you the results he's gotten, you can't focus on the logo of who we're playing. You just have to do your job to the best of your ability."

If I am Tulane, I am practicing today. I’m even practicing early tomorrow before I get on a plane or doing walk-throughs. I recall you mentioning, Guerry, that they like to use there legs and run around a little on Fridays.

When their teams play Thursday or Friday games, football coaches tend to change the day of the week when they are talking, referring to Monday as Wednesday and so forth to keep everyone on track as if it were a Saturday game. This week I have had to work a day in advance for The Advocate because of weather concerns, and I fell victim to that thought process when I talked to Jon Sumrall on the phone after practice and asked him what time the team was flying to Oklahoma "tomorrow." My brain already thought it was Thursday. Oops. He explained they weren't leaving until Friday, and I had to explain to him why I had made the mistake.

But enough rambling minutia on my part. Tulane practiced early this morning at the Saints indoor facility because the Saints were practicing later this morning at the same site, so the length had to be reduced to about an hour. I did not see a single second of practice this week--Mondays never are open and the last two days were indoors because of approaching Francine--which is also true of the last time Tulane traveled to Oklahoma in 2021, when the team practiced in Birmingham the whole week. Something about Oklahoma being on the schedule produces the worst in Mother Nature.

Here is what Sumrall said when he called me:

"They (the Saints) moved their practice up, but in turn we moved ours up, too and sort of frontloaded our day. We met yesterday on what we were going to do in today's practice. Now we're at the hotel and the guys are doing some academic work for the next couple of hours, so we were able to get to the Saints and get not a full practice. We probably cut our practice down by about half, but we at least got something done."

On if he is comfortable with what happened with practice time the last two days:

"Yeah, ideally you'd like to get everything you'd normally get, but if you get told you have from 7:45 to 8:45 to practice in here, then you figure out instead of an hour and 20 or an hour and a half or whatever, we get 55 minutes and what's mandatory after warming up, which takes about 10 minutes, and then after that, we pared it down to what's most needed. Look, we got enough work in to be sharp and be prepared."

On potential for upper 90s temperature for Oklahoma game:

"From a mental standpoint our guys are a little bit used to that. There is a physical piece where we haven't got that heat this week. Usually we're the ones that are probably most used to that climate, where the last few days here we have not gotten that kind of conditioning. That is maybe a slight concern, but the biggest thing is making sure our guys are hydrated and ready to go. A week ago yesterday was the hottest practice we had all training camp, so it's not like we haven't had one in a while, so we've had some of that. Hopefully it shouldn't be too much of a factor."

On Dontae Fleming locking up Kansas State DB the entire time while Alex Bauman ran about 20 yards for a touchdown:

"Every Monday we do a not our standard tape and a setting the standard tape on the review of the game. and that Monday setting-the-standard reel had that play for a reason. We showed it to the whole team and said, hey, look, this is what team football looks like. If you don't have the ball in your hand, you go make a block and you go sustain a block. I'm very proud of Dontae. Obviously week 1 he didn't have the performance he wanted. I was very proud of his response week 2 and I have a lot of faith in him and trust in him because of how he's wired and cares. It's important to him, and to see him make that sort of a selfless contribution to the success of somebody else's effort and to the team effort, we highlighted that in front of our entire team on the set-the-standard tape and made sure the whole team recognized that it doesn't matter what position you play, you can do something maybe sometimes outside your normal job description that is extra effort to help the team have success."

On schedule for Thursday:

"I'm currently crossing Canal Street to the Sheraton figuring out where can we walk through tomorrow maybe. We'll probably stay on the hotel premises tomorrow depending on how this thing hits and how many of our guys have and don't have power, we may stay in the hotel through Friday, which we're kind of working through. We've got contingency planning of what if everything goes great and what if everything doesn't go great the next 12 hours. We were in the hotel last night. We'll be in the hotel tonight. Nobody will be in their rooms when the main part of the storm is hitting. We're going to have everybody downstairs. We're going to watch a movie as a team and kind of just hang out and relax."