Wow!!! Our offense the first half realized the potential we’d seen in Fritz’s teams at Sam Houston and Georgia Southern. Recognizing that Tulsa has a woefully bad run defense (as well as overall), it was still impressive. As Banks and others have gotten more comfortable with the scheme, the coaches have opened up and expanded the playbook to make it much more difficult to defend and makes play calling much less predictable. Can we continue with yesterday’s offensive results? Probably not. But as the play book develops and players are recruited to run it, I think we can expect success to follow.

After a game against Army in which we were defeated at the point of attack more often than not (both lines), we saw a major turnaround. Two weeks ago, we had a couple of very long TD runs that inflated our rushing statistics. But, we only gained four or more yards on 47% of our plays(14 of 30). Against Tulsa, it was over 61% of the time (43 for 70), including two short TD’s that dropped the percentage. Despite those, it was over 70% in the first half. That’s how you move the chains.

Our starting five on the offensive line had their best game at Tulane and rivaled OLine performance I have witnessed in the past 50+ years. The tight ends blocked well for a change and the wide outs sprung five yard gains into long runs.

At running back, most everyone had good games and Hilliard was spectacular. Four TD’s and 175 yards rushing is beyond good. 93 yards for Banks, 71 for Bradwell, and 68 for Badie isn’t too shabby either. All of them moved the pile and broke tackles for yards after contact, something we’ve become used to. Brantley, with obvious instructions to keep the ball on the ground, added another long TD to his resume as a dangerous runner from the QB position. It was also good to see Strickland get his first playing time behind a makeshift line. He looked good.

Banks, of course, had a terrific game. He made good decisions, took care of the ball, kept plays alive with his feet, and ran the option to near perfection. He even slid when necessary to protect himself, probably the one guy we simply can’t afford to lose. The long TD pass to Encalade, in which Terren outfought the defender for the ball, served a dual purpose. Obviously the TD was important, but the ball traveled over 55 yards in the air. That tells future Defensive Coordinators they must defend the entire field.

Charles Jones only caught two passes but it seemed like the tight ends were much more involved in the passing attack than previous, even as decoys. Again, that threat makes us tougher to defend.

We only threw two passes in the second half but it was obvious, had we wished to, we’d have had continued success throwing the ball. The run threat simply took up their defense’s entire attention.

On defense, we dominated the line of scrimmage with our starters. Through the first 40 minutes, Tulsa had 13 carries with only 3 gaining at least 4 yards. Eleven of their final 15 rushes, frequently against reserves, gained at least 4. Of course, by then, we were also so burned by long passes, we were probably not concentrating much on the run.

I thought Sean Wilson had a particularly good game in the middle, and though the announcers commented on how well Braylon Edwards was playing, I don’t think he had a very good game. He still looks to be at least 20-30 pound overweight and it appears to be affecting his play. But, I will say this for the kid; he hustles. His one tackle was made 26 yards downfield in the last minute of the game as he chased down a ball carrier from behind. When the runner got “hemmed in” by others, Edwards was there to make a solo tackle. Good for him.

Our pass defense, however, was not good, as anyone could see. I thought both Donnie Lewis and Parry Nickerson played their positions well, though Lewis dropped a sure interception that the announcers said was the easiest one he’ll (Lewis) will ever see. Nickerson looked bad on the play where a miscommunication left him covering an “out” receiver while an uncovered “up” receiver ran right past everyone. He did chase the guy down but missed the tackle. On another play, he came from ten yards behind to tackle a receiver on the one yard line after our safeties were beaten for the “umpteenth” time. Nickerson is probably as fast as anyone on the team.

Our safeties were another issue. Our deep five of Nickerson, Lewis, Teamer, Kuerschen, and Franklin really consists of two cover corners and three strong safety types. Teamer, Kuerschen and Franklin are very good against the run but bite too hard, too often, and lose track of receivers. None of them have elite speed either to really “man up” against swift tight ends, running backs, or wide receivers. We allowed three long passes of 52, 59, and 74 yards and would have allowed another 70+ yarder had the Tulsa receiver not dropped a perfect pass some 10 yards behind our defenders. Future teams can’t fail to notice the problem and for the rest of the year we’ll see receivers drawing Lewis and Nickerson to the sidelines to take advantage of our safeties in the middle of the field.

Not to say there were not some good plays. Kuerschen was beaten fairly early in the game but he reacted perfectly to the receiver turning his head to intercept a pass thrown some five yards short. That was good coaching and good instinct. But he can’t get beaten like that against a good passer.

Our special teams were not very special. Our average starting field position on kickoffs was the 27 yard line, the same as theirs—a draw. Block had a couple of solid punts but a short punt that then retreated toward our scrimmage line for a net of 6 yards left him with a pitiable 31 yard average. Neither team had any return yards on punts. The only positive thing I can say about Glover’s missed extra point is that he did make 8 of them. It’s still a weak point on the team that needs to be addressed in recruiting.

I was pleased to see so many scout team guys and “walk-ons” get a chance to see some action. Kids work every day and deserve a shot when it’s possible. Good for morale. But, what’s up with the personal fouls and unsportsmanlike conduct penalties? Teamer, Mooney, and Graham each received one. That’s got to be corrected for a tighter game.

But our discipline on offense was excellent. Robinson had a false start but that’s the only one I can recall. And, very important, we didn’t turn the ball over. Winning at the line of scrimmage and limiting turnovers is a combination that generally leads to winning football.

Roll Wave!!

Guerry there was no mention by you about any prospects at game this Saturday?

This one was like few others in Tulane history. The Green Wave destroyed Tulsa, scoring touchdowns all seven times it had the ball in the first half en route to a 62-28 win that provided more evidence the program is turning the corner under second-year coach Willie Fritz, who notched his 200th career victory.

Here is what Fritz and his players said about the rout:

FRITZ

"I'm very happy with our administration and everybody involved in game day operations. To be able to get this game and play it. We had to change the time of the game a couple of times, and it takes a lot of people to coordinate that. I appreciate everybody doing a good job with getting that taken care of. We came out of the box and played extremely hard and well and smart. We wanted to have the wind in the very beginning, and it worked out well. We got a three and out and a short field for the offense. We score, and the same thing happened on the next series. Aside from that one bust in coverage, we played extremely well defensively in the first half against a very potent offense. It was a good job in all three phases. I think almost everybody on our squad who was eligible to play, played today, so I'm really excited about that."

Jonathan Banks looked like he exuded confidence off that game-winning drive against Army. What is your assessment of his play today?

"Yeah, he was kind of fired up. He had a look in his eye before the game that he was ready to go, and he played extremely well. He's a tough competitor. He enjoys it, and he saw how this thing can work. We obviously ran the ball a heck of a lot more in the second half and the second quarter so we could run clock, but he was 9 of 13 for 165 yards and a couple of them were improvising plays. He's a good quarterback."

Was this your earliest game?

"Yes it was."

Did your shorten your pre-game or move it back?

"We just backed everything up. We're fortunate we practice in the mornings, so our guys are used to getting up at 5;30 every morning. We eat breakfast at 6. We get into meetings at 7 and we start practicing at 8:15, so this game time was about like period number 20 for practice. I told the guys last night you get to sleep in an extra half hour. We'll get you up at 6 instead of 5:30."

Are you going to ask for more games to be moved up to 10 (joking)?

"Yeah, 10 or 11, right. We won't see that happen, but as a coach you hate sitting around all day. We play when we're scheduled to play."

Fans were leaving at halftime laughing in disbelief about how far you were up instead of being discouraged by another loss. Is that another step in the maturation of your program?

"Yeah, but when you start doing this, you have to do it every day. That's the thing we were really trying to emphasize to our guys on Monday. We are going to be very critical of the game tape and see the areas that we can improve on because there are a lot of mistakes we made today, and we need to keep getting better. It's tough to be mentally tough every day. A lot of guys get challenged by that and start fading away a little bit. We're trying to have that upward trajectory and improvement on a daily basis. You start doing that, you start getting really good."

Tulsa has an excellent running game. How happy were you with stopping the run?

"I thought we did a really good job with our run fits. Coach (Jack) Curtis and the defensive staff came up with a really good game plan. We tackled pretty well. It left us open because we were playing a lot of zero coverage, but we really fit the run well because that's an excellent running back. (Tulsa's D'Angelo Brewer had seven carries for 41 yards)."

Having an open date after a big win could lead to distractions. Were you pleased with the way the team reacted?

"Yeah, we just came out and played hard. We played well. They ought to get excited about this. Tulsa's kind of had their way with Tulane over the last 13 years. We played well against them. We did a good job."

What are your thoughts on Dontrell Hilliard's performance?

"He played great. He had 175 yards and four touchdowns and just did a nice job of seeing creases and seams. The play right before the half, we just ran the power and he hit it vertical. I know that sounds easy to do, but a lot of guys are looking to find stuff. All those guys played well. Sherman Badie had 68 yards. Darius Bradwell had 71. Banks had 93 yards, so a good job by all the guys."

There was that play in the first half where a defender had Banks wrapped up for a would-be sack, and he threw a pass into the flat to Bradwell even though the guy had two hands around him. How about that play?

"He's a strong guy. He's 22 pounds and has great lifting numbers. He did a good job. He led us well today."

What are your thoughts on getting your 200th win?

"I put it in perspective for our guys in the locker room. I've got 360 to go to catch (John Curtis coach) J.T. Curtis. If I win 10 games a year for the next 36 years and he quits coaching tomorrow, I'll catch him. Sometimes people around here lose sight of the fact there's a guy in town here with 560 wins. They had something the other day about all the winningest high school coaches in the country and I said wow, that's 10 wins a year for 56 years. God almighty. We're on to 201."

I caught up with Rick Jones on the phone Friday afternoon before he was inducted into the Tulane Hall of Fame. As always, he had plenty to say, although we stayed away from anything about the current team (at least on the record) because he admitted he does not know Travis Jewett well and is so close to Andy Cannizaro and Jake Gautreau at Mississippi State.

I've said several times that Jones is the greatest coach in Tulane history in any sport if you take his entire record into account. Here's what he had to say:

What is the feeling like to be going in the Tulane Hall of Fame?

“Obviously it’s a great honor, and it really reflects on the players and the support staff I had for all those years. Some of the great assistants I had, I was very fortunate to have a lot of support from the administration and the coaches and I had a lot of great players over the years. A lot of them already are in the Hall of Fame and some more will go in in the years to come. It’s an honor to be associated with them.”

You took over what had been a good program under Joe Brockhoff and turned it into a great program. What was the hardest part in the process?

“Well, the first club I had in ’94 had all coach Brockhoff’s guys, and they embraced us. I really thank coach Brockhoff and coach (Milt) Retief because they made that transition for me a lot easier with those players. We had 41 wins that year and went to the NCAA tournament when it was only a 48-team field. That sort of set the tone, and then I had Brian Cleary, who went on to be the head coach of Cincinnati, and Jim Schlossnagle, and we embarked on a national recruiting plan because obviously (LSU) coach (Skip) Bertman had a corner on the market in the state of Louisiana. We went national and signed 19 guys that year and it was the first ranked recruiting class that Tulane had ever had. That gave us a springboard to being good enough long enough where all of a sudden the guys like Michael Aubry or Nick Bourgeois would want to come to Tulane. Then we started getting some in-state players that were blue chip guys, but we had to be good enough long enough.”

You made two regionals in your first four years, then it was nine straight from 1998 to 2006. How much pride do you take in that?

“Obviously it’s something we look back on with a lot of pride, and we were able to again, I go back to I had Schlossnagle for eight years and Mark Kingston for seven, so that’s 15 years of two guys, one’s now the head coach at South Carolina and the other one has obviously one of the elite programs at TCU. We were able to do some things. When I came from Georgia Tech—I had been the recruiting coordinator there—and coach (Jim) Morris and I left within six weeks of each other. He went to Miami and I came to Tulane, but we left a school that was No. 1 in the preseason and national runner-up. I knew everybody in the country as far as having been the recruiting coordinator. I knew all the better players and also I knew who were really the good assistant coaches were, the guys that I really wanted to work with and work for me if I had a chance to be a head coach. It was nine years (of making regionals in a row), but tat one year we won the conference regular season and were left out (or it would have been 11 in a row).

“The point is that I had some really good people working for me and we were able to establish a consistent base that allowed us to attract some of the better players not only in the state of Louisiana but throughout the country and when you start talking about guys like a Brian Bogusevic or a Micah Owings, that allowed us to go from regional to national prominence.”

The Holy Grail in college baseball is getting to Omaha, and you did it twice. That 2001 year, beating LSU at Zephyr Field for the super regional, what did that mean? It was something that has not happened in any sport at Tulane very often.

“I’ll say this tonight in my address, and I’ve had time to write it down. I’ll go a little bit longer than they want me to because there are so many people I want to thank but we had so many teams that I’m really fond of, and I’m not going to single them out but if somebody asks me something that will really make me break out in a big smile, it would be when the ball settled in Matt Groth's glove on June 3 at Zephyr Field. I think that still ranks as one of the greater sports events in the state of Louisiana. When you think about all the storylines—playing LSU, coach Bertman’s last game, Zephyr Field had just been built and the crowds. We had to have the state police move the crowds just to get us off the buses. There were probably about 5,000 people sitting in the parking lot watching it on television, and it’s still the highest TV viewership for people who couldn’t watch who did watch it. It’s one of those things I’ll always remember.

“All I can think about is the night before, after we won game 2, we lost the first one in extra innings and won game 2, we were in the old Fairmont Hotel, now it’s the Roosevelt, and I’m in suite and I couldn’t sleep. I just kept pacing the floor thinking tomorrow will change forever or we go back to where we were. It was one of those things that really put our program in a different perspective.”

When you lost the opening game of the super regional in heartbreaking fashion, a lot of fans went into that here-we-go-again mode of coming up short against LSU. Did that make winning the next two games even sweeter?

“Actually, we hit for the cycle in game 2 with the first four guys. (Jon) Kaplan homered and then Andy (Cannizaro) hit a double and then (James) Jurries hit a triple and (Jake) Gautreau singled. But I’ve got to be honest with you. When the ball went up in the air and it’s 7-1 us and they’ve got runners on and Matt Groth looked like he sort of lost it in the sun a little bit. Schloss was sitting in the back seat, and he played for me at Elon so I’d known him since he was a high school senior, and he said, ‘We’re going to do this, coach.’ All of a sudden I’m watching Roth and thinking the sun’s in his eyes and the ball’s going to drop and they are going to have a comeback with two outs. It’s not supposed to be. It wasn’t the way it was written up I guess, but it was a very, very special moment.

“’05 was more relief than anything else because we were the No. 1 team and were supposed to be there. In ’01, with the breakthrough and everything that goes with that, I had people an hour and a half, two hours after the game still crying. When the game was over, coach Bertman talked to our team. He asked me, and I said coach, I was going to ask you if you would talk to the team, and he did that. So that took a while. We did the victory laps, all those things and then we go underneath and it was coach Bertman’s last game, so I sat outside for about an hour while he did his press conference, and then I go in and do my press conference and then Pete Finney wanted to do a 1-on-1 with me, so we’re talking about over three hours after the game. The team is long gone and I’m in uniform. I walk out the back in Zephyr Field and I don’t have a ride back to Tulane, and there are some Tulane guys still hanging out drinking a beer. They yelled, ‘Coach.’ I said, can you guys maybe take me back to campus? I sat in the back of a pickup truck in uniform, and it was probably the best ride of my life. Seriously.”

That 2005 year, when you were preseason No. 1, stayed there a long time and were the No. 1 seed in the College World Series, how special was that?

“I’ll be honest with you. Being ranked No. 1 in the preseason and staying there for 21 weeks and being the No. 1 seed, but you know what, the No. 1 seed has not won (the CWS) since 1999 (Miami), so I guess it was a curse. I was listening the other day and the No. 1 team in football hasn’t won in a number of years, so I don’t know if you want to be the No. 1 seed. But that was a great year, a special year. Both of those years, in ’01 and ’05, we won 56 games. That’s hard to do. And in ’05 we didn’t lose a game to an in-state opponent. That really is hard to do with how good baseball is in our state.”

Watching weather, and looking at the odds of this possibly being a Tropical depression of at Cat 1 by the time it nears the tip of Louisiana, can't see how this game doesn't get cancelled.

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

Tulane (-4.5) Tulsa
Houston (-6) SMU
FSU (+3) Miami
Florida (-3) LSU
South Carolina (+2) Arkansas
Oregon (+2) Washington State
Utah (+5.5) Stanford
TCU (-13.5) West Virginia

As you know by now, the Tulane-Tulsa game will kick off at 11 a.m. Saturday instead of 3 p.m. due to the potential arrival of Tropical Storm Nate. Tulane AD Troy Dannen told me they never were worried about not being able to play the game this weekend but decided changing the time to avoid any possible issue was the best decision.

"Even moving to 11 was an abundance of caution," Dannen said. "It's supposed to make landfall on Sunday, but there will (potentially) plenty of (bad) weather ahead of it. "This is a chance to get out in front of it."

The game most likely will not be televised over the air now but will be streamed live on ESPN3. ESPN U is showing the East Carolina-Temple game at 11, and ESPNews has a World Cup qualifier between Bosnia-Herzogovina and Belgium. ESPN Classic is a theoretical option, but it almost never shows live events. As one of the rare tennis fans left in the United State, I know it has shown live stuff occasionally when the beginning of matches gets bumped by live football or basketball and they shift the match there until the other games end, but Dannen said that scenario for the Tulane-Tulsa game was unlikely.

"I would guess it's going to be ESPN3," Dannen said. "The league is trying to come up with another option, but lacking that I guess it would be ESPN3. TV was very secondary in the discussion. For all three, the league and both schools, the last concern was whether there was going to be a television option or not. We knew at least we were going to have the streaming option at the very least."

Dannen added Tulane approached the conference Wednesday to start the process of a potential time change in motion in case Nate's predicted track moved West, which is exactly what happened.

Willie Fritz said the change would not be a distraction after practice ended on Thursday morning. The change was announced near the end of the workout.

"I just told them if you still have your internal clock going for 3 o'clock, the game's going to be over and you better switch it," Fritz said. "It's no big deal. If they had told us the night before, it might be a little hectic, but it's fine. I like the earlier starts. We're used to getting up early. The kids usually get up around 5:30, 5:45 (on a normal day) and now we're getting up at 6:30."

Although Nate is not supposed to arrive until Sunday, wherever it hits in the cone of uncertainty that extends from southeastern Louisiana to the Florida Panhandle, Tulane will be prepared for possible windy conditions and rain.

"We got lucky that Monday it rained on us when we came out here," Fritz said. "We worked a little wet ball on Monday. The thing you need to do is run some plays that are safer. I don't think we can exaggerate ball security any more than we do, so you just have to be smart with your play-calling."

Tulane has turned the ball over just twice this year, ranking in a three-way tie for third nationally. Both came against Oklahoma--the costly pick six Johnathan Brantley threw that changed the course of the game and a much less costly fumble by Darius Bradwell late in the fourth quarter.

"It's been good," Fritz said. "You're goal every game is to have zero. We've done a pretty good job and need to continue doing a good job with it. The kids have embraced (the philosophy). That's the only reason you have success. If they don't embrace it, it doesn't work."

Fritz said Ade Aruna would start Saturday after having his long streak stopped against Army, when he sat for almost the entire game due to an ankle sprain before playing the final three downs as a pass rusher. Triple-option teams do not fit his skill set, but the Wave is done with those type of opponents this year.

On the offensive line, definitely look for Tyler Johnson to start ahead of Keyshawn McLeod at left tackle, with both playing. That's what their practice reps told me this week. The rest of the line should remain unchanged, although Leeward Brown and Hunter Knighton got reps at right guard along with Dominique Briggs. Those are the eight linemen who will play, with center Junior Diaz, freshman left guard Corey Dublin and right tackle John Leglue likely going all the way barring injury. Brown also got some reps at right guard behind Dublin.

Former Tulane DB Derrick Strozier attended practice. He is trying to get Tanzel Smart, Rob Kelley and Orleans Darkwa active in alumni events in their areas, and all of them have been receptive, and he was there to talk to Fritz and his staff about their cooperation in promoting how their former stars in the NFL are still active in the Tulane community. I always really liked Strozier, who had a heck of a year at nickelback for the 2013 defense. He still knows plenty of guys who were redshirting freshmen on that team--Parry Nickerson, Aruna, Eldrick Washington, Quinlan Carroll, Luke Jackson and Sherman Badie.

Corey Dauphine, who has been out since the preseason with a knee injury and cannot play this season as a transfer from Texas Tech, dressed out today but did not practice in the 45 minutes I was there. He's getting very close to returning, though. I did not see Robert Kennedy out there, so it appears he has not been cleared to return yet.

Maybe I was imagining things, but watching freshman wideout Travis Tucker on the scout team offense, it looks like he has gained 10 or 15 pounds the wrong way. He looked a little pudgy. In fact, I checked my roster to make sure I had the right number for him.

I stopped by basketball practice for the first time yesterday. All of their workouts are closed to reporters, but I talked to Samir Sehic, a 6-foot-9 Vanderbilt transfer forward who put up terrific numbers (67 points, 36 rebounds) on Tulane's four-game exhibition trip to Spain in August.

Here's what he had to say:

How comfortable are you after practicing with the team for a year?

“I definitely feel real comfortable, especially with the year sitting out but yet still being able to practice with the guys every day. We were able to build a lot of chemistry, so I felt extremely comfortable, and at the end of the day I had a chip on my shoulder from sitting out a year.”

How frustrating was your one year at Vandy, when you played behind a heck of a frontcourt?

“It was frustrating, but at the end of the day I learned a lot. I maybe didn’t learn a lot physically, but I learned a lot mentally. I played behind two pros, one in Damian Jones (who earned a championship ring with Golden State last year) and one in Luke Kornet (who is on the New York Knicks preseason roster) that are both in the NBA now. They are at the level I want to be at one day.”

Why did you leave Vandy?

“The key factor was coach Stallings getting fired. He’s an unbelievable coach and a great offensive mind. I felt like I could have been a key part in his offense. I felt like Bryce Drew didn’t fit my style, and I felt to where if I could go somewhere to benefit myself better, I’d go find it. And I found it.”

What are you expectations individually this year?

“At the end of the day I’m going to do whatever I’ve got to do to get wins, similar to how it was in Spain. I did what I needed to do to get us some wins. As much as I can average from a points standpoint to a rebounds standpoint and all that, but as long as we’re getting wins, that’s what I definitely want to help the team.”

What do you bring to the table?

“I feel I can bring a lot of assets. Being able to pick and pop and post up, I definitely think I’ll be able to bring a presence inside as well as outside.”

How did you end up at Tulane?

“When I was transferring, I was really considering the same schools I was looking at coming out of high school—Wake Forest, Notre Dame—but really what sold me at the end of the day was coach Dunleavy. When I got the call from him, he was really open to me, and especially with how good the academics are here, I love it.”

What did you like about Dunleavy?

“At the end of the day he’s a walking book of knowledge. He’s spent 30-plus years at the level we all want to be one day, so every day you learn something new from him. We all respect him. I’ve played for a lot of coaches that are aggressive and yellers, but when he talks, everyone listens and respects him. When he talks, no one else speaks.”

Anything specific he told you that has helped you?

“The biggest thing I’ve learned from him is key details and certain ways of playing offense and certain ways of playing defense. He’s really taught me to offensively play to my comfort zone and use that as a big stick of mine. Really he’s been able to maximize my potential.”

Did going 4-0 on the Spain exhibition tour, regardless of the level of competition, help this team?

“Absolutely. In Spain it was just a whole different mindset in the way we looked at basketball, especially me and JC coming in this year, we come from two programs that had winning seasons our freshman year, so we’ll bring that element as well.”

Who would you compare your game to?

“If I could compare my game to anyone, it’s Kevin Love, a guy that can pick and pop but also is a hard worker who gets rebounds and also play inside.”

You have dual citizenship in Bosnia and the United States. What is your background?

“My parents were from Bosnia. I was born and raised here, but I tell everyone I was created over there and born here.”

Where have you lived in America?

“I was born in Atlanta and grew up most of my time in Dallas and Houston. I spent seven years in Dallas and the last eight or nine in Houston.”

How much higher are the expectations for the team this year after the 6-25 record of last season?

“A lot higher. The competition in Spain wasn’t huge, but we wanted to win every single game and we did. We’re bringing the same mindset into the season. We’re going to be able to surprise a lot of teams because we have a whole new element to us and a whole different mindet.”

How hard was not getting to play last year?

“Honestly I can’t even explain how bad it was just because you spend every day at practice working with these guys and playing really well in practice and then both me and Jordan were not able to help the guys out there. It was extremely painful, one, and two, it was tough.”

Will you play the 4 or the 5?

“Both. I played the 5 and the 4 in Spain and I expect to play 5 and 4 here.”

How much of an adrenaline rush will you get when the season starts and you get to play?

“It’s just really such a huge chip on my shoulder. As tough as the year was for me, it also was one of the best things that could have happened to me because it put me in a state to where I’m real grateful to be playing. A year ago it wasn’t the same feeling.”

After five weeks of the season, we’ve played four games and stand at 2-2. We’ve been there before, of course. In fact, over the past dozen years, we’ve been at 2-2 eight previous times. We won the next game twice and lost it on six occasions. Losses in this “crossroads” game resulted in disastrous seasons. After starting 2-3 in those years, we only won 4 of the remaining 42 games. In the two years we won (last season and in 2013) we fared a little better. In 2013, we went 4-4 the rest of the way. Last year we dropped the next six before hammering UCONN in the season finale. Thus, winning game #5 doesn’t necessarily ensure success, but losing it has, historically, led to embarrassing failure.

According to Massey’s composite ranking (https://www.masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm), we have a consensus rank of #72 from the 84 services who have contributed their inputs so far this week. In the past dozen years, through 190 weekly ratings, we’ve only been ranked higher on 3 occasions, all in 2013. Our highest weekly ranking since early 1999 according to Massey was #64 after the bowl win in 2002 against Hawaii. Could this be our best team since then? The game against Tulsa could be the start to answering that question.

We’ve played Tulsa for the past twelve straight years and only won once. Eleven times (all Tulane losses), they scored at least 30 points. Other than our one win (14-7 in 2013), we were rarely competitive. In fact, on nine occasions we lost by more than three TD’s. In the eleven defeats, we were outscored 479 to 191 (44 to 17 on average).

Of course, coming off of their loss to Navy, Tulsa is ranked #89 by the Massey composite. Thus, we are, at least according to the consensus of pollsters, somewhat better than them. And betters have us as a 4.5 point favorite. Regardless, it’s a game we can win and must win to retain a solid shot at a 6 win season.

Looking at our remaining schedule, ECU is rated at #114 by Massey and, even on the road, we should be favored. It’s a tough place to play, however. FIU is rated #97 and is another really solid opportunity for a win despite having to do so in Florida. Cincinnati is rated at #84 and “home field” advantage will be in our favor. Along with Tulsa, those appear to be our best chances at victory.

At this point, Memphis (#47), SMU (#45), Houston (#40), and USF (#23) would be solid to heavy favorites over the Wave. That doesn’t mean we have no chance, it simply means that pollsters and odds-makers don’t see our chances as very good— at least for now.

Going into the final seven regular season games at 3-2 would give us a good shot at a bowl. If they were played today, we’d be favored three times and underdogs in the other four. If odds hold to form and we sneak in an upset, we could go 7-5, though it could obviously go the other direction also. But, before we play those seven, we need to take down Tulsa. History suggests we need to REALLY be up for this game.

Roll Wave!!!

Hey Guys: Alex Morris is a guy that has had a relatively low-key recruitment out at Atascocita, but someone that provides pretty good 'steal' potential here at the end of fall. He's a bigger DB that has pretty good ball skills w/some pretty good athleticism. He said that Tulane has been a more recent player in his recruitment, but he seemed pretty interested in the communication he's had with the staff so far.

Thanks for having a look: STORY LINK

I'm swamped this week which is why it's the first time since preseason camp began that I have not put up daily practice reports. This should be a one-week issue only.

It looks like Tyler Johnson has beaten out Keyshawn McLeod at left tackle. McLeod is healthy and has practiced this week, but Johnson is getting the reps with the first unit when I've watched.

Willie Fritz revealed the name of the player who got hurt last week and was taken to the hospital briefly--it was wide receiver Chris Johnson. I was told in confidence it was Johnson but did not get clearance to release it until today, but the good news is he is fine. He may even be cleared to play against Tulsa. Teams have to be super cautious with injuries like that these days.

Willie Fritz has been on point in practice this week. Yesterday, he got on the case of a couple of defenders who were going through the motions in a tackling drill. That's his baby and he made sure they made the full tackle with the proper technique. Everyone understands how vital the Tulsa game is even if it does not benefit them to come off as over-emphasizing it.

Here is Fritz from today:

How have practices been coming off the open date?

"They've been OK. I think we're fresher and really the big deal is mentally getting out here and getting after it. I told these guys, Tulsa's kind of had their way with Tulane over the last 15 years. We've gotta come out and play great. Just like every game's a big one for us, this one's a big one."

Offensively, you've talked about using Banks to get more big plays. Do you see them buying into that in practice?

"I don't know why anybody wouldn't. He's going to have to do a great job of running the ball. It's funny. I watch college football. and I watch (Louisville's Lamar) Jackson and (Quinton Flowers from USF), and every one of these guys darn near are all running it 10, 15 times a game. That's what we do, too, so he's going to have to do a tough job running it and he's going to have to do a great job throwing the ball. He's got to be able to do both, plain and simple."

Do you want to see better play from the receivers?

"We have to improve in that area just like every other area. In order for us to score more points, which is what we've got to do, we have to play better in every single phase offensively. We've got to play better in every single phase offensively. We've got to do a better job with the offensive line, tight ends, running backs, quarterbacks and wide receivers, so everybody's got to pick it up for us to be able to score more points."

Terren Encalade had a chance to make a leaping catch on the winning drive against Army and did not hold on to the ball. Is that a play you expect him to make?

"You betcha. We tell all of our receivers, if you touch the ball our expectations are for you to catch the ball. He'll come back. He's got good hands and is a good receiver and has made some clutch plays for us and will do it again."

How much faith do you have in the defense against Tulsa's running attack after the Army game?

"It will be the same thing. They are a great running team. They've got a back who's probably going to be the all-time leading rusher in their school's history. (D'Angelo Brewer). We have to do a super job of tackling. Their quarterback is a two-way threat. He throws the ball well and runs the ball well. We have to do a great job of defending the run, and with our eyes whether we're playing zone or man-to-man, we talk all the time about hard man focus and really locking in on your guy and not trying to look back at the quarterback with all of our defensive backs."

Their quarterback, Chad President, had two huge runs against Navy early. He's a big guy, so what is the key to containing him?

"He's fast also. We have to do a good job of playing with leverage and tackling and wrapping up and using our arms and just not letting him get into space, and if he does, we have to make it a quick one."

Is the player who got hurt last week and was taken to the hospital for observation checking out OK?

"Chris (Johnson)? He's fine. I think he'll be available (against Tulsa).}

I have been participating in this since the start of the year but have not posted it anywhere. Each beat writer does a one-paragraph blurb on the team he covers, and all of us rank the teams 1-12.

I will publish the consensus each week and then list my own rankings at the bottom.

AAC POWER POLL

1. USF (5-0, 2-0 AAC): The No. 18 Bulls amassed a season-high 390 rushing yards in a 61-31 romp of East Carolina, extending their program-best win streak to 10 games. Only Oklahoma (14 games) owns a longer current streak in the Football Bowl Subdivision (Clemson also has won 10 in a row). After a bye week, the Bulls host Cincinnati on Oct. 14. If they score at least 30 in that one, it will be their 23rd consecutive game of 30 or more points, tying an FBS record set by Oregon in 2011-12.

-- Joey Knight, Tampa Bay Times


2. UCF (3-0, 1-0 AAC): Adrian Killins’ 96-yard touchdown run set the tone for the Knights, who amassed more than 600 yards of total yards for the first time since 2013 in a decisive 40-13 win over Memphis on Saturday night at Spectrum Stadium. The defense forced four turnovers while holding the Tigers to 25 percent completions on third downs. UCF ranks fourth in the nation in opponents’ third-down conversion rate, allowing just 21 percent on the season. The Knights travel to Cincinnati this Saturday looking to improve to 4-0 for the first time since 1988.

-- Matt Murschel, Orlando Sentinel


3. Navy (4-0, 3-0 AAC): A battle between teams picked third and fourth in the West division turned into a rout as the Midshipmen overcame an early two-touchdown deficit and pulled away to beat Tulsa, 31-21. Quarterback Zach Abey continued his impressive season by rushing for 185 yards and three touchdowns as the Mids took the early lead in the West with a 3-0 conference mark. Navy looks to start a season 5-0 for the first time since 2004 when it hosts service academy rival Air Force on Saturday.

-- Bill Wagner, Baltimore Sun Media Group


4. Memphis (3-1, 0-1 AAC): In arguably the most-ballyhooed game in the conference last week, the Tigers fell flat and were routed by UCF, 40-13. They committed five turnovers, allowed the Knights to accumulate more than 600 yards of offense and were, as coach Mike Norvell put it, “dominated … in every phase.” Memphis will try to get back on track Friday night against UConn.

-- Tom Schad, The Commercial Appeal


5. Houston (3-1, 1-0 AAC): In search of a spark on offense, the Cougars made a switch at quarterback with longtime backup Kyle Postma replacing Kyle Allen. Postma threw for 226 yards and a touchdown and ran for 81 yards as the offense continued to have its ups and downs in a 20-13 win over Temple. All eyes this week will be on the status of All-America defensive tackle Ed Oliver, who is dealing with an MCL sprain and is likely to be a game-time decision Saturday against SMU.

-- Joseph Duarte, Houston Chronicle


6. SMU (4-1, 1-0 AAC): It wasn't pretty at times, what with 11 penalties and some inconsistent offense, but SMU walked away with a 49-28 win over Connecticut on Saturday. Quarterback Ben Hicks completed 73 percent of his passes for 280 yards, four touchdowns and no interceptions, but coach Chad Morris grew frustrated with some of Hicks' overthrows. Morris tried to light a spark for the offense by having backup DJ Gillins run the offense to start the second half. Morris ultimately decided Hicks gave the team the best chance to win at the time but this position is one to keep an eye on moving forward, beginning Saturday against Houston.

-- Adam Grosbard, Dallas Morning News


7. Tulane (2-2, 0-1 AAC): The Green Wave had an open date to gear up for a home game against Tulsa, which has beaten Tulane in 11 of the past 12 years, winning nine of them by at least three touchdowns. For the first time in that stretch, though, Tulane is favored (by three points). This is a really important game for the Green Wave, which is 4-21 in league action since joining the AAC. Win and coach Willie Fritz will have the first tangible proof he is changing the culture of the program.

-- Guerry Smith, The New Orleans Advocate


8. Cincinnati (2-3, 0-1 AAC): A terrible start doomed the Bearcats in a 38-21 home loss to Marshall. UC trailed 24-0 by halftime, and three turnovers led to 21 Marshall points. The Bearcats touchdowns were scored by redshirt freshman running back Gerrid Doaks, true freshman running back Michael Warren II and true freshman wide receiver Javan Hawes. Next: Unbeaten UCF, at Nippert Stadium on Saturday.

-- Tom Groeschen, Cincinnati Enquirer


9. Tulsa (1-4, 0-1 AAC): For the third week in a row, the Hurricane lost a winnable game, falling 31-21 at home to Navy on Saturday. Tulsa built an impressive 14-0 lead in the first quarter before surrendering 31 unanswered points. Until the fourth quarter, Chad President had thrown for only 17 yards amid continued offensive struggles. With bowl eligibility slipping out of reach, Tulsa visits Tulane on Saturday to face a third consecutive option-based offense.

-- Kelly Hines, Tulsa World


10. Temple (2-3, 0-2 AAC): The Owls showed some fight in Saturday’s 20-13 home loss to Houston. Trailing 20-0 after Houston scored on the opening second-half drive, Temple finally got its running game in gear and ran for a season-high 142 yards, including 150 in the second half after minus-eight in the first. Logan Marchi threw three interceptions for the second straight game. With little realistic chance of defending their AAC title, Temple now has to concentrate on becoming bowl-eligible. Saturday the Owls visit East Carolina, a team the Owls beat, 37-10 in last year’s regular season finale to clinch the AAC East Division title.

-- Marc Narducci, Philadelphia Inquirer

11. East Carolina (1-4, 1-1 AAC): The Pirates fell to 1-4 thanks to a defense that still cannot find a 60-minute effort or enough stops to set the stage for wins. Quarterback Thomas Sirk turned in his most complete effort with 300 yards passing and 87 more on the ground, but South Florida posted four unanswered scoring marches in the second half to put the Pirates away, 61-31. The game happened in front of the smallest announced regular-season crowd since 2006, which does not bode well for this Saturday's noon kickoff against fellow AAC East struggler Temple.

-- Nathan Summers, The Daily Reflector


12. Connecticut (1-3, 0-2 AAC): The Huskies represented themselves well in coming back to tie SMU 28-28 on the first play of the first quarter but fizzled from there, losing 49-28. The positives: Bryant Shirreffs has set a career high for passing yards in consecutive games (406 vs. ECU, 408 vs. SMU) and the UConn offense is humming. Four players have had 100-plus receiving yards in a game this season for UConn, but the defense remains in shambles. The Huskies are home Friday night against Memphis.

-- Mike Anthony, The Hartford Courant

MY RANKINGS

1) USF
2) UCF
3) Navy
4) Houston
5) Memphis
6) SMU
7) Tulane (I've had Wave 7th the last 3 weeks. This is 1st time it has been that high in the consensus)
8) Tulsa
9) Temple
10) Cincinnati
11) East Carolina
12) UConn

I will keep adding to this as I have more time to watch. Here are some thoughts:

1) The blocking on Dontrell Hilliard's 75-yard touchdown run was excellent.

--Dominique Briggs and Junior Diaz double teamed Army's nose guard and pushed him out of the way, creating a seam right up the middle. Corey Dublin pulled and took care of the left end. Keyshawn McLeod blocked just well enough to keep the right end out of the play. Charles Jones lined up as an up back and made an outstanding block on a charging linebacker. Te other linebacker did not read the play well, got caught in traffic and watched as Hilliard ran by him. John Leglue didn't have to do anything, although he engaged the wide guy who did not have a chance to make the play. The deep safety blew any chance at making a play by running to his right and getting out of his gap. Hilliard outran everyone else, creating separation as he went.

2) The blocking on Sherman Badie's 72-yard TD run was good but not as good as on HIlliard's

--Leglue did his job on the right side, sealing his guy. The cornerback read the play, but Hilliard, who lined up to the left of Banks in a two-back set, took care of him, blocking him just long enough for Badie to scoot through the gap between him and the left end. Terren Encalade engaged the other DB on that side of the field long enough for Badie to get by him, and Badie did the rest, outrunning a safety who had the angle on him, and no one else was going to catch him. Briggs did just enough, too, engaging a linebacker to keep him from making the tackle. Charles Jones was in the backfield as an up back again but did not really have an effect this time.

3) Tulane's defense was terrific on the fourth-and-short stop near the end of the first half.

Cornerback Donnie Lewis came up to prevent a pitch to the pitch man. Eldrick Washington at right tackle (I guess it's really an end in Tulane's new aligment) held his own, and Quinlan Carroll diagnosed it perfectly at rush end, stepping in between blockers to stone the running back single-handedly, with Cameron Sample there to finish him off. Army was in fourth down because of back-to-back excellent plays by Rod Teamer, who came up to stuff a dive on first down and then made an ankle tackle on a pitch play that appeared destined for a first down. Carroll is a good player.

4) The penalty on Devin Glenn for interference on the muffed punt was justified.

--He did not give the returner enough space under the college rule. It was an easy call.

I'm hearing Tulane's next commitment likely will be Northwest Rankin High (Flowood, Miss) RB Cam Carroll, who is listed at 5-11, 220.

He is in the Rivals database but does not have any stars. His other D1 offers are from Southern Miss and South Alabama. MaxPreps has him with 806 yards on 101 carries through six games.

I expect Tulane to sign a maximum of 20 guys in February, but it could get one or two higher (or one or two lower) depending on what happens with returning players. The Wave has 14 commitments at the moment.

Very encouraging to read that one of his primary motivations is job security and being at a place where they trust him. This alleviates a big fear of mine that he'd be poached as soon as we had a good season or two. After reading this I think he'll be at Tulane long enough to make a lasting impact and to change the perception of our program.

Also very interesting to know that we only had to pay $100,000 to buy him out of his contract. What a stroke of luck!

http://savannahnow.com/local-colleg...-recording-suggests-ex-georgia-southern-coach

1) South Florida at East Carolina

Not that it matters in this game, but I don't have a good read on South Florida yet. The Bulls have started slowly in almost every game before turning it on, quarterback Quinton Flowers has not played as well as he did last year and the kicking team has allowed too many blocked kicks, a concerning feature of the Charlie Strong legacy. But they also still have Flowers, the most dynamic player in the AAC, and more talent player-for-player than any team in the league. East Carolina certainly can't play with USF, but I would not count out Tulane's chances to finally beat a ranked team when the Bulls come to Yulman Stadium in October. And if UCF can stay within one game of USF, their season finale in Orlando will be for the East division championship.

South Florida 48, East Carolina 10

2) Houston at Temple

Houston, which has a terrific defense and a terrible offense, is another mystery in the AAC. Will the Cougars contend in the West or will they disappoint just like last year, when they were better overall than they are this season. But in Temple, they are facing a team with a terrible offense AND defense. The Owls should not be this bad--they were ranked second, fourth and third in the AAC Rivals.com recruiting rankings from 2014-16-- but they are.

Houston 31, Temple 10

3) Navy at Tulsa

This is an interesting game. Tulsa, my preseason West division champion (Phil Steele was high on Tulsa, too), has been horrendous defensively and has struggled in the passing game, too while putting up some amazing rushing numbers in a disappointing 1-3 start. It's hard to imagine what Navy's No. 2-ranked rushing offense will do to Tulsa's No. 128 total defense, but Tulsa had its best defensive game in a 16-13 loss on Saturday to New Mexico, which runs the triple option out of the shotgun. This is a must-win game for Tulsa if it wants to be a factor this season. Navy, meanwhile, can improve to 3-0 in the AAC. It's a rematch of a West-deciding game Navy won 42-40 last year when the teams combined for 1,077 yards and Tulsa got hosed on a call by the officials (sound familiar?) when it recovered a fumble in Navy territory late that was ruled down. Navy picked up a first down seconds later and ran out the clock instead of Tulsa likely driving for the winning score.

Navy 34, Tulsa 27

4) Connecticut at SMU

UConn is fourth from the bottom nationally in total defense but third from the bottom the AAC since Tulsa and East Carolina occupy the bottom two spots. Losing to ECU at home is as bad a loss as possible, and it could get ugly in Dallas. SMU gave TCU a better game than Oklahoma State did before wearing down.

SMU 45, Connecticut 17

5) Memphis at Central Florida

Maybe I have a blind spot about Memphis, but I'm not sure what all the fuss is about yet. The Tigers gave the AAC a huge boost by beating UCLA, but the Bruins are one of the softest teams in the country and were burned for easy touchdown on not one, but two long screen passes in that game. I was not impressed by Memphis last year and am not convinced this team is top notch this season. UCF has played only two games due to Hurricane Irma, destroying FIU (which has won two in a row since then) and Maryland (which had beaten Texas, albeit with Ty Pigrome before he suffered a season-ending injury in that game). UCF, favored by 4 points even thought almost everyone appears to be picking Memphis, is the better team on a neutral field and certainly the better team at home. I think.

UCF 41, Memphis 31

Other thoughs:

---I'm bullish on USC to beat Washington State by at least two touchdowns. People are nitpicking the Trojans too much, particularly Sam Darnold, who is one of the most clutch quarterbacks I've ever seen. Yes, he's thrown seven interceptions, but people were down on Clemson because Deshaun Watson threw too many picks last year, and look how that turned out.

---Tanner Lee needs to have a big game for Nebraska against Illinois. He was booed by Cornhuskers fans after throwing yet another pick six on Saturday--his third in two weeks and a problem that plagued him at Tulane--but he recovered to play pretty well the rest of the way in an uninspiring win against Rutgers.

---Clemson will be too tough defensively for Virginia Tech. The Hokies almost never beat highly ranked teams in the Frank Beamer era, so it will be interesting to see what Justin Fuente can do in a similar situation. His presence gives them a shot. He's a big-time coach.

---If you're looking for an upset that will help the AAC, try Northern Illinois over San Diego State. For the third straight year, experts are talking about the Aztecs going undefeated. The last two seasons they inexplicably lost to South Alabama, and Northern Illinois, which upset Nebraska, fits that profile. It is so hard to go undefeated regardless of your schedule. San Diego State, which will get the Access Bowl berth that goes to the highest-ranked Group of Five team if it wins all of it games, won't get there.

I mean I'm just asking...

With a week off between games I thought it a good time to look at recruiting. We’re less than three months away from the “early signing” date and 4 ½ months from the February date.

How many Openings? We have ten players who will complete their eligibility this year. With only 80 of the allowed 85 kids on scholarship, we should have a minimum of 15 openings for this recruiting cycle. By my count, we have 13 additional players who will have completed their undergraduate curriculum but have a year of eligibility remaining. I suspect at least three of those will forego their fourth year of eligibility. Additionally, based on recent history, I think we can expect at least three more players to depart the program due to health issues, lack of playing time, or a variety of other reasons. It’s just what happens. Therefore, I think we could have at least 21 slots to fill during one of the two signing periods now available.

Quarterback. I’m assuming that Culliette will not return for another year of “clipboard duty” and holding for kicks. And with Ledford apparently moving to wide receiver, that leaves us with only three potentially returning QB’s. We have one QB commitment, Patrick Shegogg, a smallish kid from Mississippi who is very quick and has a strong throwing arm. Shegogg did not have a very good junior year, completing only 45.6% of his passes, but, through five games this season, is completing 59% of his passes with 11 TD’s and 5 INT’s. He’s also carried the ball 69 time for 356 yards for another three TD’s. I’m not sure he’s a “game changer,” but he looks like a good prospect. That said, I would not be surprised to see us sign a second QB; we’ve got (or at least had) offers out to several good ones still uncommitted.

Running Back. Clearly the departure of Hilliard and Badie is not a good thing. But with Bradwell, Huderson, and Dauphine (assuming all are healthy), we’ve got the start of a solid backfield for next year. Strickland is the wild card. Will he be healthy? Can he contribute? We’ve got one RB commitment this year, Amare Jones, from Texas. He’s played QB almost exclusively in high school and has some impressive stats in 4 games this year (55% completions (36 for 65) for 456 yards, 7 TD’s and no INT’s. He’s also 67 for 713 rushing with 4 TD’s. He may need a redshirt year to learn the running back position, but the kid is the most elusive back I’ve seen coming to Tulane in years. Regardless, and whether Strickland is ready, I’d like to see us sign a second RB this year, probably one a little bigger and more of a power runner. We need a couple of heavy duty “inside guys” and right now I see only one—Bradwell.

Tight End. I would expect all four of our current tight ends to return next season, so it is not an area of immediate need. Nonetheless we have a commitment from 6’4,” 220# Joshua Quiett and 6’2,” 232# Tyrick James. Quiett has played a lot of wideout and James has also played linebacker in high school so I’m not sure where either will end up. Regardless, I think we’re done at this position.

Wide Receiver. We currently have eleven scholarship wide receivers including Ledford and they all are eligible to return. So, like the tight ends, we’ve certainly got the numbers. That said, we’ve apparently decided on our top four and playing time for others may be at a premium. I wouldn’t be surprised if one or two moved on. Beyond all this, our wide outs are not that impressive and we don’t have any WR commits. I’d be happy to get another bigger receiver with speed. We’re recruiting a number of them.

Offensive Line. No Tulane fan can possibly fail to recognize our long-term problems on the O-Line. Of course, we’ve got 13 scholarship linemen on the roster who are all eligible to return. That said, I think at least two will not be back next year and who knows about Knighton, who is in graduate school already. We’ve got four incoming freshmen based on their current commitments and I really like two of them, Hogan and Swann. But, truthfully, though they are under the radar, Remondet and Lewerenz also appear to be more athletic than most of our recent linemen. We still might sign another. Couldn’t hurt.

Defensive Tackles. We’re losing both starting tackles next year, Sean Wilson and Eldrick Washington and their experience will be missed. I really like our commitment from De la Salle, Jamiran James and Devon Wright from Donaldonsville also looks like a potential player. But, I’d still like to see us get one, maybe two, more.

Defensive Ends. Like the tackle position, we’re losing two starters in Aruna and Carroll, though I don’t think either reached their potential at Tulane. We have three commitments in Monjarres, Ryan, and Hatcher, and that may be enough for this year. The question in my mind revolves around Robert Kennedy, who I think may be our best defensive end. How bad are his injuries? When will he return? As a redshirt junior, will he hang it up? If so, I’d like to see us sign another defensive end.

Linebacker. We’ll be losing Luke Jackson and Rae Juan Marbley as a minimum after this season and don’t have any commitments at the position thus far. I think we need at least two, preferably at least one who can play the OLB/DE position we are using more and more.

Defensive Back. Coming off of a game in which we didn’t allow any passing yards and had two interceptions, you’d think we have no concerns back there, especially since we may return 14 of our 16 defensive backs. Of course losing Franklin and Nickerson will leave some mighty big holes in the secondary. I’d guess we’ll lose a couple more due lack of playing time and we’ve only got one commitment so far. Of course, the one, Jamal Anderson, is probably our top rated recruit and looks capable of stepping into the starting lineup very early. That said, we need at least one more.

Special Teams. At least statistically, Block is not as bad a punter as many of us think, but he will be a senior next year. Is this the year to sign a replacement? I’d say yes if we can find a good one. At place kicker, Glover, the walk-on, is only a sophomore, and Neenan, the displaced kicker, is a redshirt freshman. Neither is very impressive and I can’t believe we’re going to depend on either of them for 2-3 more years. If we can’t find a “great” kicker, we need to sign at least a “pretty good” kicker. With our long term history of excellent field goal kickers, we can’t continue to accept this level of incompetence.

So, depending on how many openings we eventually have, I’d like to see 1 QB, 1 RB, 1 WR, 1 OL, 1 DT, 1DE, 2 LB’s, 1 DB, a placekicker and a punter—11 players, 25 total. We probably won’t be able to take that many so we’ll have to wait and see

Roll Wave!!!

Tulane had a serious injury at practice this morning, prompting Willie Fritz to call it off early. I do not know who got hurt, but when I arrived at Yulman Stadium, they had medical personnel gathered around a player on the ground who was then taken away in a stretcher.

Understandably, Fritz elected not to say who was hurt because the family had not been notified, but offensive coordinator Doug Ruse said it looked like the unnamed player would be OK as he left the field. I did not see whether it was an offensive or defensive player.

"I'd rather not do anything until we find out what's going on and I have a chance to talk to his mom," Fritz said. "It was an injury, but I think he's going to be OK. Actually I'd rather not jump the gun on anything and talk to the proper people and all that stuff."

The practice, which was scheduled to go until 10:30 a.m. before the team takes four days off during its bye week, was halted a little before 10 a.m.

"We ended it a little bit early, I think 18 plays, so it's no big deal," Fritz said. "This week obviously it's not as critical."

That was it on that topic, but hopefully whoever it is will turn to be fine. When anyone gets taken off a field on a stretcher, it's always scary.

Tulane has eight takeways through four games, ranking in a tie for 25th nationally in that category. Fritz, who preaches ball security endlessly, said the high rate of forced turnovers was not by accident.

"It's something we work on a bunch," he said. "A secret to how a lot of people get a lot of takeaways is film study, video study. Every time you push the ball carrier, it's a chance to get the ball out, and there are certain techniques we use based on the location of the ball and your angle of arriving to the ball. The good coaches are able to really talk to guys watching film with me, because that's all I do, is what you need to be doing: punching the pocket, fingertips over the table, rake, high point the ball, my elbows need to be above my eyes. Just everything. You have to coach that. They don't just fall out. They do sometimes, but usually they don't just throw it to you. You've got to do a good job of taking an interception path. Where should I break on the cut where I can intercept the ball rather than being an uphill, shoulder player. It's easy to say, hard to do, but we've done a pretty good job the last 20 years."

I asked Fritz how much he'd been able to judge his defense based on the unusual opponents in the first four games--FCS Grambling, national championship contender Oklahoma and two triple option teams in Navy and Army.

"It really has been a whole lot of different stuff," he said. "I was disappointed in the Oklahoma game because we gave up some easy ones. Three deep and we aren't playing three deep, just stuff like that. It's simple. You've got to make them work at it, and we had three big busts in that game and most of the games we had zero. We played with a lot of toughness last Saturday. They are a tough team to play. You've got to be on point every single play. You've got to have physicality on every single play. For the most part, we did that."

Tulsa isn't exactly the norm in Tulane's next game, either, running the Baylor offense that spreads the field but pounds the ball up the middle without the option element of Fritz' system. But it will be a good test for the defense.

"They are really unique, too," Fritz said. "They'll go three by ones, two by twos, they'll take big, gigantic splits, and everybody thinks they are a real big passing team, but they are a great running team and Baylor was a great running team whenever that was. They are really a good team. Big splits with the offensive line, but if you honor that too much out there, they are going to run it down your throat. If you pack the box, they feel like they have good match-ups and they'll take advantage of it. You've got to be multiple against them and not line up in just one front or one coverage or you'll get killed."

Fritz is relishing the opportunity to get another crack at Tulsa after Tulane's defense cracked a year ago against the Golden Hurricane. Tulsa ran for 330 yards on 58 carries and passed for another 236 yards, finishing with 556 yards after the Wave had not allowed 400 yards in its first six games.

"We played horribly," Fritz said. "We'll need to play a lot better than what we played. Last year they found some match-ups that were good for them and took advantage of it. We had a tough time defending some of the guys."

Tulane will lift weights Thursday but won't practice again until a light workout Monday. Fritz has become more conscious of not overworking his teams as he has gotten older.

"The older I've gotten, the more I've realized that rest and recovery is a lot more important," he said. "You don't have a lot of opportunities to do it. We need to get healed up and we are fairly healthy right now. It's a good time to let the kids unwind a little bit. We've got to be mature enough to get back to work on Monday."

Tulane has scored seven touchdowns in eight red zone possessions through four games, settling for a field goal on the other one, but Fritz did not appear overly impressed by that stat. The Wave is one of 17 teams that have scored on every red zone series, and its percentage of touchdowns is higher than all but UTEP, New Mexico State and Oregon State. Those teams are a combined 3-9, so maybe Fritz has a reason not to be impressed.

"We've done a good job of play calling, but we've got to score more points," Fritz said. "We've got to take advantage of every series. The good offenses don't have dropped passes. They don't miss open targets. They finish runs. They move the chains. We've got to do a better job of that. We're playing a bunch of teams that are high powered, and obviously it behooves us to score more points. We didn't do that."

Fritz pointed out the winning drive against Army was not exactly textbook.

"A lot of it was improvisation by Banks, and he did a great job of that and we're going to need more of that, too," Fritz said. "That's called taking advantage of your athletes, but everybody's got to do their one-eleventh and everybody's got to be on the same page. If we do that, I think we can have a high-scoring offense. But it sure helps you defensively. As I mentioned before, if we could have just gotten up 21-10. It was 14-10 all that time, and I really think it might have become a runaway, but we couldn't do it, and hats off to Army."

WILLIE FRITZ

"We had a couple of big runs. Otherwise I thought our run game was kind of average. There were about five or six times where we had a chance for a big play or a conversion and we got a penalty or we just missed a block, dropped the ball and we couldn't keep the sticks moving and we had to punt and get the defense back out there again.

"It was a sensational job by Jonathan Banks on the last series. He made a lot of plays on his own with his legs and with his arm. He gives you a dynamic that when you have that at quarterback, you've got a chance. We have to do a good job this off week of figuring out exactly how to use the guy. He's a unique player, and sometimes he doesn't always draw it between the lines, but that's OK. You've got to figure out how to use the guy.

"But we're excited about the win. I think our program needed a win like this. I don't think Tulane's had a win like this in a couple of decades, for a while. It's a big one. It's a big one."

Army controlled the time of possession. How tough was that to overcome?

"Yeah, you've got to move the sticks against these guys, give our defense a chance to recover and rest on the sideline. I was just hoping we could get up 21-10. If we get up 21-10, they are totally out of their game plan and they have to start changing what they are doing. We couldn't get that. We had the pass interference on Terren Encalade, got good field position on that and then we kind of petered out on that drive."

It was fourth-and-8 deep in your own territory on the game-winning drive and you didn't hesitate to go for it.

"We had to go for it. If we don't get it, then you have to hope you hold them to a field goal and you still have to score a touchdown anyway, so we knew before the series began that we were in four-down territory."

Was there any thought of trying a game-tying field goal before the last fourth-down conversion?

"No, we had fourth-and-short. It looked like it was only about a foot or two to me and shoot, let's go for it. If we can't make a foot, we don't deserve to win. To be honest with you, I didn't feel like playing an overtime."

Last year you lost close games and this year Navy. Does that build into the decision of going for the win in that situation?

"I hope so. One of the things I talked to our guys about in the locker room just a moment ago is I felt a lot of energy on the sideline on the last drive. We got across the 50-yard line, and we need to have that all the time. That's part of changing the culture and being tough and having grit and fighting through adversity. We're learning how to do that as a staff and as a team."

Did you think Banks would be able to come back in after he took that nasty pop on the final drive?

"I wasn't sure whether he'd be able to come back in or not. He's a tough kid, so one of the reasons I took him was he was playing junior college and one time he dove on about a fourth-and-6 one time and got seven. It was really a tough-guy play, and I know he's got that in him. We just have to get him understanding touchdowns, first downs, slide. He did a good job of that a couple of times when we had to get the first, and he sprinted to a crease and got the first."

When he was out for a play, you went to Khalil McClain. Was Johnathan Brantley not healthy?

"Well, we knew we were going to do a run play (actually it looked like a pass that McClain scrambled on). We thought we'd get Khalil in and give him an opportunity."

How about the defense coming up with big stops when Army reached the red zone or close to it?

"That was a huge play by Donnie Lewis with the interception. Any time they throw the ball, you've got to take advantage of it. Now it gets them behind the sticks. By and large our defense did a pretty nice job. They had 69 rushes and 371 yards rushing, but I'm going to guess that a pretty good chunk of those were in the fourth quarter."

What were you telling Banks on the sideline when you had limited possessions?

"You've got to play the next play, you've got to play every play to the best of your ability. He understood that, but we weren't out there long enough to get a whole lot going."

When you talk about changing the culture, how big was this win against a team you were expected to beat and for your chances of getting to a bowl game?

"I think it's big. That's an eight-win team last year that won a bowl game. That's where we want to be this season. Coach Monken has done a fabulous job there. I've known Jeff a long time. He does an excellent job and I knew it was going to be a fight to the end. We're fortunate to win, but we'll take it. We've had a few that we haven't been able to get done, so we'll take this one."

Defensively, were they loading the box on you?

"Yeah, they did a good job of slanting and twists. They didn't early and we creased them the first play of the game for 75 yards on a little counter play. Then they started twisting and looping and it makes it harder to run the inside zone. You've got to be able to move the sticks. We were interjecting some pass plays and not converting on those. Now we're behind the sticks and it's third-and-9 and they know what we're going to do."

For most of the game it looked like Banks was hesitant to run.

"He's been out a couple of weeks, and he'll get better at it. He ran when we needed him to run."

Ade Aruna didn't play until the last three plays. Was he hurt?

"He sprained his ankle against Oklahoma and didn't really practice all week. We got him in there at the end because we needed an edge pass rusher in that particular situation."

Was this a game you might not have won a year ago?

"I don't know. We didn't have Banks last year. We've just had a tough time. We've been competing and been close with some good teams. We just hadn't gotten it done. Getting one, now the guys start getting confidence. Every program I've been in, we've had a couple of games like this where you kind of look back on and see it. I hope this is one of them. It definitely is pointing us in the right direction. It's a whole lot better to go into this off week at 2-2 than it is 1-3."

Guerry- any updates on recruiting? Any of our previous visitors close to committing?

The good news is that we won. Banks played an incredibly courageous game, particularly on the last drive. And Army is probably a tougher team than most people who follow college football realize. All that said, I didn’t think we looked particularly good. But, as they say, the scoreboard is the only measure of the game that counts. Big win!!!

We had 253 yards rushing on 30 carries, but 170 of those were on 3 plays. We gained 83 yards on the other 27 rushes, not much more than 3 yards per carry. Of course, all the plays count and our blocking at the point of attack on Hilliard’s and Badie’s long TD runs was excellent. But Badie, in particular, simply outran everyone who had the angle on him or it would have been a 15 yard carry at best. Far too often, we were stuffed for very little yardage.

Banks was 10 for 22 passing which sound terrible, but he had at least two clear drops, a couple passes blocked at the line of scrimmage, and had to throw away two more. He clearly is our best thrower at this point and, when he gets healthy, could be a real threat. We’ll see. I’m optimistic.

Our tight ends were invisible and our wide receivers had trouble gaining separation against Army’s secondary. I’ll say that again. They had trouble gaining separation against Army’s secondary despite the threat of our running game. That’s not good, though it appears that Mooney, Clewis, and Robertson have now joined Encalade in our top four. We’ve got a number of others resigned to watching most of the game. Better wide receivers would help.

On defense, it’s hard to find much to like from our interior line other than they competed to the end. They were shredded all game long by the fullback up the middle. Yet, I thought Sample, the freshman, outplayed our more experienced guys. He could be a very good one. Of course, Army only scored 17 points but they kept the ball for far too long. If they had any passing game, we might never have stopped them. As it was, when they inexplicable passed on that one long drive, it ended in a turnover. In my opinion, their ineptitude passing was more important to their lack of scoring than our defense.

Our linebackers made a ton of tackles, but they tended to be 5-9 yards downfield and even then we missed a number of tackles. Can’t allow that.

When you don’t allow any completions and intercept two passes, it’s hard to complain about our defensive backfield no matter the opponent. Donnie Lewis, who I frequently criticize, made a truly great play on his interception. And Nickerson made at least three highlight plays- one when he ran down the Fullback at the one yard line (though they eventually scored), his play against the “trick” kickoff return in the last minute of the game, and his interception on the game’s final play. But, everyone has to take some blame for allowing Army to run so well.

On special teams, Banks made a terrific “pooch” punt to the 3 yard line but Block, who averaged over 40 yards per punt, had only a 34.5 yards net due to a touchback and 8 return yards on four punts. Their guy had two punts averaging 51 yards with no returns, so we lost that battle. We held them to the 24 yard line on average from our kickoffs, the exact same starting position we achieved. And Glover made all three extra points without trouble but probably hasn’t gained Coach Fritz’s confidence to try anything much longer.

Like coaches say forever, it’s good to win but have some things to work on. We’ve got two weeks to prepare for our next “must win”—Tulsa.

Roll Wave!!!

Tulane conducted its first of two bye-week practices on Tuesday morning at Yulman Stadium, doing the usual Willie Fritz stuff like a long tackling drill for the defense that had coaches rolling a donut and the guys having to bring them down with proper tecnique as Fritz offered commentary. There was no 11-on-11 work when I was there, with a seven-on-seven drill finishing the workout.

Terren Encalade turned in the play of the day, leaping in the back for a touchdown that drew cheers and high fives from his offensive mates. Jonathan Banks threw a nice fade to Jacob Robertson for a score near the goal line but missed tight end Charles Jones on a designed roll-out pass one play later. Parry Nickerson came up with an interception of Khalil McClain at the goal line. Jonathan Brantley, who was left on the sideline in favor of McClain for one play on the final drive when Banks got hurt, threw a ball to the corner of the end zone that traveled about 30 yards, so his shoulder appears better even though there has been no official confirmation he had a problem there. Jaetavian Toles dropped a pass, another indication the freshman receivers are not ready to contribute.

Larry Bryant and Eric Lewis dressed but did not participate in the tackling drill, and neither did Rod Teamer, who practiced in every other situation.

The Wave will be back to practice tomorrow morning before taking a long weekend off, getting needed rest in anticipation of an important conference game with Tulsa on Oct. 7.

We talked to three players and Fritz. Here's what they said:

TERREN ENCALADE

How much fun was that raucous locker room scene with players passing coach Fritz over their heads and he surfed the room after the Army win?

"Oh man, it's amazing. He's a real passionate guy. You can tell he loved football when he was playing and he still loves it as a coach, so for him to be excited just makes us even more excited."

When you have a coach that does that, can you relate to him?

"Oh yeah, we relate to him a lot. There's a lot of enthusiasm that goes on with football and he's a very enthusiastic coach."

Is that the first time it's happened here?

"No, we always have at little after-game (win) celebration. That's just something we like to do."

Can you talk about building on that last drive with Jonathan Banks?

"We preach about finishing in the fourth quarter, and the O-line did a great job, Banks came in and made unbelievable plays, unbelievable throws and everybody just played their part and we came out with the win."

What does he bring to the passing game?

"He can scramble. He has that ability to make somebody miss or make two people miss. He's real smart and he stays in the film room and he just wants everybody to be on the same page. It works out well."

You've been 2-2 before, but is this a more confident 2-2 the way it happened?

"It's a different 2-2. Last year we were 3-2 and went into the bye week, but this year it feels a whole lot different. We're on the right track. We've been ready for some big things."

Why is it different?

"It's a different culture. It's a different vibe that everybody's giving off. It's more positive things. Nobody has his head down. Nobody's pouting. It's just guys trying to be leaders. Guys are trying to make plays, guys want to make plays and it just works out at the end."


ROD TEAMER

You guys have been 2-2 quite a bit since you've been here, but does this feel like a different 2-2?

"Honestly, yes we do feel like we're ready for some big things, but we try not to dwell on the past too much. Everybody within our program knows how the past couple seasons have turned out below expectations for us, for our fans and everybody involved with Tulane. We try not to look at that, but it is exciting, the direction we feel like we're going."

The drive the offense had to win the Army game, how much does that help with confidence for the whole team?

"It's amazing for us. Around our program everybody always talks about defense and stuff like that and the years that we've had defensively, but it's exciting for the offense to score. That makes me more excited than us getting a stop. Jonathan coming over here has been huge for us, his leadership and he displayed all of that on that drive and did what he needed to do and those guys rallied around him and they made it happen."

Like you said, the offense has not had many big moments since you've been here. How much does that help unify the whole team to know the offense is capable of handling its end of the load?

"It helps a lot. That was part of the reason we had division in our team in the past even prior to coach Fritz being here. For them to be doing well, the defense loves that because the best defenses are the ones that get to sit on the side and watch. If you're not out there, you can't get scored on. We push those guys and they push us and we want them to be successful."

Is Coach Fritz always that excited in the locker room after a win?

"Absolutely. After every victory he's excited. Every win is important to him. There's always the next game. No win's bigger than another."

It's hard to get a gauge on the defense after two games against triple-option teams, Oklahoma and Grambling. Where do you feel like you guys are?

"I feel like we are getting better defensively. Our communication has to improve. Missed tackles, we have to get that down. We try to have zero missed tackles in a game but we'll accept single digits. We just try to focus on the little things--tackling, communication and our cover skills."

Army gashed the defense pretty good Saturday, but you got some key stops. How important was that and can you take positives out of that?

"It is very important. Army did a great job running the ball and they really did what they wanted to do against us, but luckily our offense hung in there and did what they had to do. We hung in there and we battled the whole game and a couple of things went our way. We got some stops. Donnie (Lewis) had the big turnover down here in the red zone, so would you call it luck, I don't know, but whatever it is, I hope we keep it."

The good news is Tulane covered, giving all 19 of us two points. The bad news is I didn't get any other game right, coming very close to the dreaded zero.

Most of the rest of you weren't that hot, either, with winwave and mono41 the notable exceptions.

WEEK 4 RESULTS

7

winwave

6

mono41

5

St Amant Wave
DrBox
bbos1025
MNAlum
buck2481

4

Wavetime
p8kpev
Charlamange8
LSU Law Greenie
Golfer81
GretnaGreen

3

diverdo
paliii
Kettrade1
highwave
WaveON

2

Guerry Smith

OVERALL STANDINGS

23

St Amant Wave
winwave

22

bbos1025

21

mono41
Guerry Smith
p8kpev

20

DrBox
Charlamange8

19

Kettrade1
paliii
buck2481
MNAlum
GretnaGreen
WaveON
Wavetime

18

LSU Law Greenie

17

diverdo
Golfer81

16

highwave

11

Harahan Wave (missed 1 week)

WEEK 4 GAME BY GAME

Tulane 19 out of 19
Georgia 5
TCU 7
Texas Tech 2
Kentucky 5
UCF 4
Notre Dame 10
Texas A&M 8

Here's the list, which predictably is not as large as for the night game against Grambling.

UNCOMMITTED

1) Sorrell Brown, WR, 6-3, 190, Arlington (TX) Martin, 3 stars

Comment: Has offers from Air Force, Purdue, UTEP and Tulane. Purdue is interesting because coach Jeff Brohm loves to throw the ball. Brown fits the size profile of the receivers Fritz wants. Martin High is 3-0, scored 50 or more points in its first two games and is rated the 21st best team in Texas by Maxpreps in any classification.

2) Tylan Driver, DT, 6-2, 300, Lakeshore High, 2 stars

Comment: Driver, who is not in the 247Sports database, has a sole offer from Arkansas State according to Rivals. Lakeshore is 3-0 and has held its first three opponents to a combined 40 points.

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/tylan-driver-204968

Here is an article on Driver by David Folse of The Advocate, who this summer listed South Alabama as a second offer.

http://www.theadvocate.com/new_orleans/article_943d4c08-4cb3-11e7-a1da-57ba26843812.html

3) Jared Miles, WR, 6-1, 185, McDonogh 35, 3 stars, No. 52 prospect in Louisiana

Comment: Reportedly has offers from TCU, West Virginia, Virginia and Houston among meany others. Pelican Preps rated him the 11th best WR/TE prospect in the state. Scroll down at the link below to see what they said about him. In March, he listed UTSA, Oregon State, UAB, Houston and TCU as the leaders in no particular order.

https://pelicanpreps.rivals.com/news/2018-louisiana-s-top-20-wr-te-20-11-

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/jared-miles-14406

4) Scooter Adams, ATH, 5-9. 185, Hallettsville, TX, no stars

Comment: His only offers are from FCS programs. Hallettsville is a tiny town of less than 3,000 in the middle of nowhere about two hours away from Houston, San Antonio and Austin. Hallettsville is a 3A Independent schools district and has scored 49 points in each of its first two games.

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/scooter-adams-171513

5) Jeff Marks, DE, Davidson High in Mobile, Alabama, no stars

Comment: He is not in the Rivals, Scout or 247Sports databases, but he has a Hudl video. Davidson High is 3-2 but has held its first five opponents to a total of 25 points.

https://www.hudl.com/profile/5335666/jeff-marks

6) Camerun Peoples, RB, 6-1, 193, Central of Clay County High in Lineville, Ala, no stars

Comment: Peoples is in the Rivals and 247Sports databases but with no rating. 247Sports says he has received interest from Illinois, Georgia State, Massachusetts and Troy. Lineville is a tiny town in Eastern Alabama about an hour-and-a-half from Birmingham. There's no info on him from Rivals other than his name, but here's his Hudl video.

http://www.hudl.com/profile/4285983/camerun-peoples

7) Adrian Bowie, LB, 6-2, 220, East Ascension High, no stars

Comment: Not in the Rivals or 247Sports databases. Has a Hudl video. East Ascension is 2-2 and has held three of its opponents to 13 or fewer points.

http://www.hudl.com/profile/8547449/adrian-bowie

COMMITTED ELSEWHERE FOR THE MOMENT

1) Josh Smith, DE, 6-4, 247, Landry-Walker, 3 stars, 17th best LA prospect, 29th best Strongside DE nationally.

Comment: committed to Kansas in June. Has offers from Houston, Missouri, Iowan State and Oregon State among others. Explained why he chose Kansas here. His Rivals rating of 5.7 is higher than anyone on the Tulane roster, for what that's worth.

https://kansas.rivals.com/news/josh-smith-talks-about-tony-hull-and-why-he-chose-kansas

2) Kyree Currington, DB, 5-11, 170, Holy Cross, 2 stars

Comment: Committed to Idaho in August. Plays safety at Holy Cross, which gave up a total of six points in its first two games before losing 23-21 to Chalmette last week. Reportedly has offer from SMU.

https://n.rivals.com/content/prospects/2018/kyree-currington-24605

2019 PROSPECT

Christian Harris, ATH, 6-1, 225, University High in Baton Rouge, no stars yet

Comment: Apparently has offer from Ole Miss and ULL.

ALREADY COMMITTED TO TULANE

1) Jamiran James
2) Juan Monjarres
3) Michael Remondet

---James and Monjarres also came for the Grambling game.