No way am I ever going to have eight bad picking weeks in a row. No sir.

By going against Tulane and the points, I was one of only two people to get the Rice game right, and I went 6-2 for the week to win by two points. About dang time. Still in last place among people who have entered every week.


WEEK 8 RESULTS

7

Guerry

5

WaveON
LSU Law Greenie
2DatWuzAGoodDay2
Wavetime
DrBox
Kettrade1

4

MNAlum
chigoyboy
winwave

3

p8kpev
charlamange8
tacklethemanwiththefootball
paliii

2

roll wave
diverdo
ForeverTU


OVERALL STANDINGS

41

chigoyboy

40

winwave

39

2DatWuzAGoodDay2

37

Wavetime
paliii

36

LSU Law Greenie

35

charlamange8
ForeverTU
Kettrade1

34

WaveOn
MNAlum
p8kpev
tacklethemanwiththefootball

33

DrBox

32

roll wave

31

Guerry

24

diverdo (missed 2 weeks)

23

Gretna Green (missed 1 week)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane 2 out of 17
Georgia 13
Louisville 11
Kansas 8
Oregon 12
Tennessee 13
Wisconsin 2
North Texas 4

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

East Carolina (+17) Tulane
Alabama (-3) LSU
Ole Miss (-3) Texas A&M
Clemson (+3) Notre Dame
Texas (-4) Kansas State
Oklahoma State (+6) Oklahoma
Georgia (-15.5) Missouri
USC (+3) Washington

It was not quite as cold this morning, but Jesus Machado switched to the full sweatpants while Jarius Monroe joined Devean Deal as a holdout from that look.

Jha'Quan Jackson returned punts in practice and is cleared to play Saturday, Willie Fritz confirmed.

Josh Remetich is out, but they are hoping he will be back for the Tulsa game. Trey Tuggle will start in his place, getting his first start since his true freshman year in 2020.

Monroe and Patrick Jenkins had to leave practice about 20 minutes before it was over to take a test for a class. God forbid if they had to leave a game 20 minutes before it was over because they are the two most indispensable players on defense. Without them, the first team had Parker Peterson and A.J. Hampton along with the usual suspects. The second team had Elijah Champaigne at tackle and Shi'Keem Laister at cornerback. I don't recall Laister playing cornerback before, but he actually got some reps with the first unit after Monroe's departure. Rayshawn Pleasant and Kiland Harrison rotated in on the second team. Matthew Fobbs-White got some reps with the second team at rush end. Tahir Annoor was the second-team nickelback. Dickson Agu got some reps as the fourth linebacker on the second team with Jared Small. Kentrell Webb and Darius Swanson were the backup safeties.

Something odd: Lawrence Keys fielded kickoffs without his helmet on. He looked fine, but he had a doo rag on his head with no helmet for the entire 40 minutes I was there.

Tulane is favored by 17 points, its biggest advantage on the road this century and its biggest since being favored by 18.5 against Rutgers midway through 1998.

The list of games in which Tulane was the biggest road favorite since 1998:

"-16 at Army in 2003
-13 at ULM in 2002
-13 at FIU in 2017 (lost 23-10)
-12.5 at Southern Miss this year
-12 at South Florida last year
-10 at South Alabama in 2020

I talked to Shiel Wood after practice today.

SHIEL WOOD

On pass defense

"Not great. The stats reflect just kind of average play from that standpoint. It's collective. Just like when you have the successful stuff, it's collective when you're maybe struggling in certain areas. We've got to coach better. I've got to coach better. At times our coverage has not been great either from a schematic standpoint or a fundamental standpoint--technique. The pass rush ties into that sometimes. It's just something we've not been as good at. Now there have been times where we've played really well in fundamentals, techniques, pass rush, all those kinds of things. That's what we talked about today, is being consistent. That's something we definitely recognize we need to improve."

On underneath success of opponents:

"With the long one (against Rice), that was kind of an assignment/technique bust, but in general we have not played as confident in our technique at times as we can, and that's impacted the ability to give up some stuff underneath that we would like to be able to take away. Sometimes it's maybe a linebacker on an underneath drop who has to break better. Sometimes it's playing a little bit tighter coverage on the edges with whatever we're doing, but it's very valid and something we recognize is important we try to improve on for sure."

On Jarius Monroe importance:

"He's very important. We played really well in the first half, and North Texas is a really good offense. We had a shutout at halftime and then it just flipped. When he was in the game in the first half and playign well, he took away their access throws to the boundary, and in the second half we struggled with who we had in there and some of the calls we were making. They took advantage of us some, and those guys could have played technique better. For whatever reason, we didn't, and I have to do a better job of recognizing that and trying to get us in some different calls if that's the case. But Jarius does a great job. He's big, He's physical. He loves to press, and what he's been able to do for our defense has been very significant. Sometimes he's not getting targeted over there because they can't throw the underneath stuff. He's up there pressing. He does a great job disrupting the release. They can't run by him. We're doing a good job on the run game and they can't throw the ball over there to his side of the boundary, so that starts to limit what you can do and you can make some calls that put some stress on him and help alleviate some stress from other guys from a coverage standpoint because he can take a guy away a little bit. He's been huge."

On wanting more than one sack against Rice:

"That was one thing we actually spent a lot of time on this week. There were some things in the game that we did not do very well fundamentally up front. Our guys recognized that. We've worked really hard to make some corrections. Now the other part of it we did go into that game plan intending to drop eight, which we really haven't done hardly at all this year. They go to so much five-out, empty sets that you almost need to drop eight or bring the house, so part of it was game plan, but certainly our guys would tell you they were disappointed in how they rushed the quarterback, and just like a lot of things, we are trying to keep coaching them better, and our guys are into it. They crave coaching and are working hard, so hopefully we will come back this week and clean up some of those things.

On third quarter issues:

"It's just been inconsistent play, and some of it has happened at the beginning of the second half. We're looking at things we can do to get our guys fired up more for the start of the second half better, but at the same time it's just missed tackled. Like the North Texas game, maybe some of it was who was in the game a little bit and how we were playing, so there's a lot of different factors. We're trying to continue to get better consistent play. We've strung it together some in the first half and it's deteriorated a little bit at times. And then there were some times in the first halves of games when the play wasn't that great but maybe we didn't get hurt on something."

On run defense:

"We're playing really good fundamentals and techniques and they like playing the run. We put a lot of emphasis on that. Sometimes I could make some calls that might not be as good in the run game that might help us more in the passing game, so some of what you call impacts that certainly, but once you do well against the run, then they have to throw the ball and that's when we have to do a better job being consistent in coverage and pass rush. From a statistical standpoint, can we do better against the pass once we make them have to throw. If you can't stop the run, then maybe they're not throwing it. We just have to keep working and get better."

On potential to be better:

"Yes. I do not think that we have coached our best or played our best yet on defense. I think the best is yet to come. This is year 1 of doing this together, and there are challenges faced every week. We continue to grow, but I'm excited to go 1-0 each week. We're just trying to make sure that we're peaking at the end of the season."

Guerry, i was surprised by Advocate/nola.com story about Cook’s immediate eligibility issues.

I know it’s not your beat but any insights here?

The cynical part of me says there are significant NIL bucks involved after reading all the recent Dunne and Reese pub but that may just be ancillary stuff.

The big news actually occurred last night, when Tulane was one spot ahead of Air Force in the first college football playoff ranking at No. 24. I actually thought there was a decent chance that would happen, but I said nothing because I didn't want to look stupid if I was wrong when everyone else in the free world was predicting Air Force as the clear New Year's Six bowl team if the season ended today. I also don't think it will come into play because I expect Air Force to lose a game before the end of the regular season, but certainly if both teams win five in a row, Tulane being ahead of Air Force right now is a big deal. Their schedules are pretty even the rest of the way, and it could come down to who they play in their conference championship games. It's possible Air Force could face 11-1 Fresno State and Tulane could face 9-3 SMU, but it's also possible both teams could face a two-loss team, which would be advantage, Tulane. And if both Tulane and Air Force lose another game but still win their conference titles, Tulane still has a path to the New Year's Six invitation just like last year. The difference between playing in a New Year's Six bowl and the garbage that serves as all of the AAC's tie-ins is monstrous. It would be a massive letdown if Tulane went 12-1 (or even 11-2) and won the AAC title, only to face dreck like 6-6 Auburn or 6-6 Syracuse in some crap bowl. As far as the postseason goes, it's New Year's Six or bust, and Tulane is in better shape there today than most people expected.

The other big news: Jha'Quan Jackson was in uniform today and practiced. Barring a setback, he will play Saturday, although the first thing I saw him do today was drop a long pass from Michael Pratt in the end zone pretty close to the spot where he went down at Rice.

It was straight-up cold this morning, although Fritz, born in Minnesota, begged to differ. I had a warm fleece on (the one I bought in Cincinnati last November when my luggage didn't arrive) but withstood only about two minutes in the shade before walking to the end zone where the sun was not blocked by the stands. Can't remember doing that before. Devean Deal and Jesus Machado are tough guys and were not wearing sweats that covered their entire legs. Everyone else on the starting defense is soft like I am and had the full sweats on.

Tulane tends to use 10 or 11 guys on the defensive line in games. Matthew Fobbs-White has crept into the rotation on the outside along with Parker Peterson inside, replacing the injured Adonis Friloux and Elijah Champaigne. Noah Taliancich is getting some snaps, too, but I don't feel like Tulane is getting the same production defensively when Patrick Jenkins rests. I meant to write about that in my film study but forgot to check while I was reviewing the game.

Fritz, Deal and the always entertaining Jarius Monroe talked after practice.

WILLIE FRITZ

"I was born in Bemidje, MInnesota on April 2 and there was a foot of snow on the ground. This is warm."

On being ranked 24th in first college football playoff poll:

"We're proud of all those things. There's no doubt about it. It's a goal of every program in the country, but we've got a long way to go, so we've just to concentrate on the task at hand."

On multi-year build helping team block this stuff out:

"I think that's what we have done. I don't get too high and I don't get too high and I'm very consistent with my message. Like today, I said the locker room was getting a little too messy and old Sincere Haynesworth got after everybody and the O-line is going to clean up the locker room today. He said that's not up to our standard, and he's correct. That's kind of their sanctuary in there, and we need to take care of it. We've got a goddang $3 or $4 million dollar locker room, let's take care of it. It would be like having a messy $3 or $4 million house."

On pass defense:

"It ties in with everything. It's just like if the running back gets a big gain, everybody is oh, man, what a great job by the back. Well if the offensive doesn't do what they're supposed to do and the receivers don't block downfield, you don't have the right call, you weren't able to throw the ball effectively, everything ties in. We just need to do a good job of compressing the pocket, providing pressure, tight coverage. When we're playing zone, we have to play zone correctly. That's sometimes getting on spots. There were a few times the other day where we were just opening it up for them to throw the ball. We have to get in the right landmark on the field. If we're playing man, we've got to use the proper technique. We've done some good things against the pass. Obviously our goal this week, and they've got great running backs, they really do, is we've got to stop the run. We have to do a great job of putting them in passing situations, and if we do, we'll feel good about it."

On run defense:

"Very important. When you make a team one-dimensional, it's tough. That's one of our goals. Some people have kind of gotten away from that. We want to stop the run."

On touchdown against Pedescleaux and if there should have been safety help:

"Well we lined up incorrectly. I'll leave it at that. I like some of these coaches who blame players. I screwed up."

On Makhi Hughes:

"It's meant a bunch. He's a really good overall back. He can run inside, he can run outside, he can catch the ball. He'll block. He's assignment sound. I don't know how many plays Tyjae played last year, but he had one assignment bust the whole year, and that was it. He played a lot for us, and that's one of the reasons why he is successful in the NFL. He's not a bust guy, and he's not a rep guy. You tell him to do something, he does it. He was a smart player, and Makhi has got that as well. You can't put how important that is to be able to do that, and then also as a coaching staff, we're just happy for him. He had this adversity with the injury and he came back from it. Some people would have had difficulties being able to come back from that. I can't take credit for that. That's his 18 years."

On Shaadie Clayton-Johnson:

"He did a great job. I'm proud of the fact that he's kept fighting. Sometimes people want instant gratification and they only are engaged if things are going well for them. Fighting through adversity is sometimes a little unique, and he did a great job. He was sick the week before and really didn't practice. Then he came back, had a good week of practice and got thrown out there. That play before halftime before half was huge. He had a nice run as well. He had a nice blitz pickup, and then he chased that guy down. A lot of guys wouldn't have done that. Actually we have a lot of guys who would have done it, but some guys would have liked to but coudn't have done it. I'm proud of Shaadie for fighting through adversity and not being a baby and a pouter and understanding when his number's called, get out there and do it to the best of his ability.. That's something we try to teach our guys, and a lot of guys have learned that long before they got here."

I have already mentioned how the Tulane-Rice game was close only because of one play--the 72-yard interception return for Rice that would have been a Tulane touchdown if Michael Pratt had made the right read--but there was a second potentially critical play, too. On to the report. This time I will go chronologically rather than first offense and then defense.

1) Rice Series 1

The Tulane defense started the second half just as it had the first half with two good plays. Good pressure on first down led to an incomplete pass, and Jesus Machado made a sure tackle on an underneath route on third down to create a third-and-5. A stop there, and Tulane was probably off to a rout. Instead, when cornerback Jarius Monroe came up to tackler receiver Boden Groen 3 yards shy of the first down, he slipped slightly after wrapping up his leg and Groen did what Makhi Hughes does all the time and Yulkeith Brown did in the fourth quarter, making a tremendous effort to stretch and fall forward for a first down. Rice coach Mike Bloomgren is pretty conservative, so if it had been fourth-and-3, he probably would have punted. If it had been fourth-and-less-than-2, Rice would have gone for it but might have been stuffed.

Instead, with new life, Rice went down the field for a touchdown. Using an unusual three-back alignment on a third-and-1, they had a guy dive over the top like it was the goal line for another first down. Using the same alignment on the next third-and-1, they ran wide and Machado missed what was a tough tackle attempt in what turned into an 11-yard gain. On the only real bad play by the defense on that drive, Tyler Grubbs and Bailey Despanie missed tackles they should have made on a 21-yard run to the 3. setting up a second-effort TD run when the carrier stuck the ball over the goal line before being knocked back.

2) Tulane series 1

--Lawrence Keys did not have a big day, but he was open on a square in for 18 yards to kickstart the drive. Pratt then had a great scramble on third-and-8 when he jumped over a defender's tackle (that move has not typically worked for him) to get the first down. On the next play, though, he made his big error. Dontae Fleming ran behind everyone on a post pattern, but Fleming has only four catches this season and Pratt locked in on Keys's curl route, never seeing the safety who doubled him perfectly. Usually a bad read results in an incomplete pass and second-and-10. This time it turned into a 72-yard interception return to the Tulane 3, with Shaadie Clayton-Johnson making an excellent effort to keep it from being a pick six. My guess is if it had been Jha'Quan Jackson running that post, Pratt would have throw it to him, but that's just speculation. Keys, though, was never open on his route. It was just a poor decision, which happens. Pratt played very well overall.

3) Rice Series 2

Tulane's defense did its best to get out of a very difficult situation. Devean Deal broke through to tackle a runner for a 1-yard loss on first-and-goal, and D.J. Douglas has almost perfect coverage on a receiver running to the sideline in the end zone on second down, but J.T. Daniels made a beautiful throw to the diving receiver for an almost indefensible touchdown. That's why Daniels was a 5-star recruit coming out of high school. He has not lived up to that billing for the most part, but he did on that throw. Suddenly, Tulane led only 27-21.

4) Tulane series 2

For the first time all game, Rice forced a punt. Pratt could not find anyone open on second down and took a coverage sack, which was the Owls' first tackle for a loss in the game. Rashad Green did get pushed back close to Pratt, disrupting the play a bit, but he was not beaten. Trey Tuggle's man got the sack, but the ball would have been out before then if anyone had been open. Pratt checked to Hughes in the flat on third down, and Hughes came up 2 yards shy of the 14 he needed with another outstanding individual effort. Will Karoll's punt was a low line drive, but Shi'Keem Laister was down there fast anyway and snapper Ethan Hudak made the tackle after only a 5-yard return. That's another example of how good Tulane's special teams are.

5) Rice series 3

Unlike in the North Texas game, when Tulane's defense was helpless in the second half, these guys came up with a three-and-out stop when they needed it. Rice gained 8 yards on first down and went back to its three-back power formation, but Tyler Grubbs stuffed the run for a 1-yard loss. Lance Robinson then had picture-perfect execution on third down, slapping a ball to the ground on a slant and not going through the back of a receiver. The Saints, who get called for a ton of defensive holding, illegal contact and interference penalties, could learn from watching Robinson's technique on that play.

6) Tulane series 3

Pratt started the next possession by throwing behind Chris Brazzell. Even though Pratt is third in the nation in pass efficiency rating, he has room for improvement and likely will make it as he becomes more comfortable on his knee. Green and tight end Chris Carter had good blocks to spring Hughes for a 12-yard run, Brown showed his speed again on a jet sweep shovel pass to pick up a first down (he is a weapon on that play) before Pratt took another coverage sack. I didn't see anyone at fault on the offensive line. Pratt just held on to the ball too long. On the next play, Clayton-Johnson was not as effective picking up a blitz as he was in the first half, but Pratt made a great improvisational throw to Alex Bauman after being hit, averting a third-and-forever as Bauman gained 3 yards. Pratt then picked up 6 yards on a designed run to put Valentino Ambrosio in his comfort range--a conservative call and the right call in that situation--and Ambrosio made a 43-yard easily to give Tulane a 9-point cushion.

7) Rice series 4

This was the one and only really bad series for the defense, in my opinion. Cam Pedescleaux in particular had a rough time, messing up his angle on a short pass to Luke McCaffrey that turned into a 16-yard gain--Rice's longest completion to that point--to start the drive. Robinson had soft coverage on an out route, and finally, Rice got McCaffrey lined up in the slot against Pedescleaux. That's not a good matchup for Tulane, and I noticed it live before the snap. Pedescleaux compounded matters by not being ready at the snap, looking at the quarterback, and he slipped as McCaffrey scooted by him. I believe Despanie should have picked up McCaffrey, and it looked like Pedescleaux was expecting help, but Despanie double-covered the receiver lined up wide right. Daniels did not make the same mistake Pratt made, hitting McCaffree for a touchdown. Pedescleaux recovered enough to grab McCaffrey's face mask after the catch, resulting in a penalty assessed on the kickoff. Fritz refuses to throw anyone under the bus, but he did say Tulane was not aligned properly.

8) Tulane series 4

Tulane needed a long drive desperately while protecting its 2-point lead, and that's exactly what it got. Rice made a bonehead decision to squib kick from the 50, and Bryce Bohnanon grabbed it at the 14 and got to the 32. The drive started with 8:10 left. After two Hughes runs netted 7 yards, Pratt threw a strike to Brazzell for 24 yards on a look-in. Excellent execution there to convert third down No. 1. After Pratt fell forward for about 3 extra yards to create a manageable third down No. 2, Yulkeith Brown made an outstanding play, catching a quick screen with 4 yards to go and slithering through two defenders to pick up 5 yards. He credited a block by Cam Wire, but he did a lot of it himself. After a false start by Wire created a second-and-9 at the Rice 25, Pratt threw to Bauman for a first down. Bauman has become the factor in the passing game I thought he would be at the beginning of the year, which is huge. Hughes gained 6 yards out of the wild cat formation to the 9, and after two more runs left Tulane a yard shy of the first down, Pratt lined up in the shotgun with no one in the backfield at first. Hughes, who was in the slot, went in motion and served as the lead blocker as Pratt followed him, picking up the first down without much space. That effectively ended the game, but I would have preferred to see Tulane go ahead and score a touchdown to make it 37-28 since I had predicted a final of 38-28. Instead, Fritz took no chances, having Pratt take three straight knees.

I have heard some griping, including from Fritz, that the clock operator did a poor job on those plays, but I don't agree. Pratt delayed taking a knee on those plays, but not for more than 2 seconds, which is how much time ran off. Pratt did an excellent job on fourth down of throwing a sky ball out of bounds because the clock does not stop until the ball lands regardless of how far out of bounds it is. Rice was left with 4 seconds and the hopeless situation of being at its 14-yard line, and Deal absolutely blew up McCaffrey after he took a hook and lateral to save us the multiple lateral finale we often see.

Game over. Tulane held Rice to is second-lowest offensive output of the year, although that comes with a caveat that the Owls had only 48 snaps and averaged 5.6 yards, more than Tulane's season average defensively of 5.2.

Tulane needs to tighten up its coverage on underneath routes and get more consistent pressure on quarterbacks, but I don't see the huge pass defense weakness others see. Jarius Monroe and Lance Robinson are a very good cornerback tandem. DJ Douglas have been better than I ever imagined at one safety spot. Pedescleau is a solid nickel even if he had a tough possession. Despanie has dropped off a bit, and the linebackers are not great in coverage, but all teams have areas they need to improve. The quarterbacks Tualne will face in the next two weeks are not as good as the first four.

There was great news about Jha'Quan Jackson today at Tulane's practice. Although he is in concussion protocol, he attended practice in uniform with a no-contact jersey (though he did not participate) and appears to be fine after taking a blow to the head while trying to catch a fade in the corner of the end zone against Rice and appearing to be knocked senseless for a little while on Saturday. The doctors still have to clear him for a game, but the signs are positive.

"He seems great right now," Willie Fritz said. "We've put him in concussion protocol, but he seems to be doing pretty well. The doctors (put in the protocol) if there are any type of symptoms and the guy does't play anymore. He felt really good. Some guys it's a week process, two-week process. Some guys it's a couple days. He feels much, much better, and we anticipate he's going to be able to play Saturday, but we have to wait for the whole protocol. I stay out of it. I'm not a doctor, and I didn't start doing this 10 years ago. Ever since I've been coaching, I stay out of it. I'm not a doctor and I never played one in a movie. I don't let them coach, either. I let those doctors call zero plays. I just let them do their job, and 'Quan is certainly a guy that has played a lot of football for us. I think he's going to be fine. We'll see."

Josh Remetich was not at practice and likely will not play against East Carolina. His injury is unspecified, but look for Trey Tuggle to start Saturday for the first time since he had eight starts as a true freshman in 2020.

In other injury news, Darius Swanson returned to practice today. He has not started, but he can supply valuable depth at safety, where Tulane has struggled outside of DJ Douglas recently.

The biggest difference between 7-1 Tulane and 1-7 East Carolina (other than the records) is pass efficiency. Even though Michael Pratt has missed a few throws he normally makes, he ranks third nationally in pass efficiency. As a team, ECU ranks second-to-last. The current quarterback, Alex Flinn, was not the starter at the beginning of the year and has completed 51.1 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and seven interceptions. ECU actually has the 50th -ranked defense in the FBS, but the Prates have been anemic offensively, ranking 126th out of 130 FBS teams in yards and 121st in scoring (18.6).

The temperature was in the low 50s with an overcast sky and wind, so it was the first chilly practice of the season.

Fritz, Lance Robinson, Yulkeith Brown and Pratt talked after practice today:

WILLIE FRITZ

"You have coats on. God Almighty. Valentino Ambrosio told me, you know what they call this is Jersey, coach? I said, what's that? He said, 'summer.' It's all your perspective."

"To recap the game from Saturday, we played a good first half. Rice has a good team. They are well coached. We came out and didn't play as well as we need to to start the second half. The last three games we've been outscored 42-14 in the third quarter, so we're looking at doing some things differently coming out of halftime, some things I've done in the past at other places. More of a real warm-up like we do before the game. I was talking to the guys about John Wooden. You know who John Wooden is, right? One of the greatest coaches in the history of coaching, regardless of the sport, but he'd come out in the second half and do a real warm-up when they came out of the locker room and he was the only coach who did that for decades, and they (UCLA hoops) would always jump on everybody at the beginning of the second half. We're looking at doing a few different things.

"We're turning our attention to East Carolina. A really talented bunch. A really good defense. They've been in a bunch of games. Got a lot of respect for coach (Mike) Houston and his staff. He's kind of come up the same way as me with some of the different places he's coached (Lenior Rhyne, The Citadel and James Madison. It's another road trip back-to-back, so we need to just work on us and improve."

On if they will come out of the locker room earlier for the second half:

"Really not earlier. It's just more of a warm-up, and I'm going to have the coaches involved instead of just the strength staff. Obviously the guys going up to the (press) box will go up to the box, and maybe running a few plays, kind of like we do before the game. We've done a nice job starting. We need to do a good job starting in the third quarter."

On if teams have adjusted at halftime on what Tulane was doing in first half:

"I don't know. I don't think so. I think it's been a little bit of execution. It was disappointing. We came out for the first series offensively and you talk about a play for two minutes and a couple guys lined up incorrectly and we had to get them lined up right. That shouldn't happen. We all have to stay locked in--coaches, players, managers, trainers, everybody."

On chance for Tulane to win its 20th game in two years for the first time ever:

"When you get in the middle of it, you're just worried about the upcoming opponent and playing well. The thing we're trying to do is we haven't played a great game this season. In bits and pieces we've played really well, and we just have to improve on offense, defense, kicking game. There have been some times when I've looked out there and said, wow, we've got a chance to be pretty darn good. There have been some other times when we've had to fight, scratch and claw to get the outcome we want."

On if that is normal:

"I don't know. Everybody always says you're going to get everybody's best effort now that we won the conference last year. We've got to give our best effort. That's what I'm worried about--execution."

On matching intensity of last two teams:

"I don't know. Both of those teams have won a bunch of games and are going to be bowl teams. I saw North Texas last week took Memphis to the wire, and Rice has a good team. There are a lot of good teams in this league."

On grading pass defense:

"There's so much involved with the defensive line, too--how much pressure we get from the linebackers, the second level guys blitzing, rushing the passer. We had some issues early in the game and then we started playing better in the second quarter certainly. We didn't give up many pass plays. You've got to mix it up and be able to play both zone and man. I don't think anybody's good enough to just sit there and play man coverage every single snap or sit there and play zone and rush three. Kind of like everything, there have been some times we've been pretty good and some times we haven't been very good."

On how he rated the quarterback pressure against Rice (one sack):

"OK. A couple of times we let him get out of the pocket and extend plays. As I've said before, in the college game you want to keep them hemmed up in the pocket. We do a deal where we (check) completion percentage with pressure and then completion percentage without pressure and then completion percentage in the pocket. Usually there's a difference."

On if can get on a roll like did at this time last year:

"We just want to play better this week. We gotta be single-minded in our approach each and every week. It's got to be with East Carolina. What we did against Rice doesn't carry over to this week good or bad, and in order for us to play the best we are capable of playing, we have to prepare for East Carolina. They have a lot of good players, and they are a good team. I thought we played really well last year out here and we beat them 24-9. It's a good team."

On challenges of preparing for one-win team:

"A big part is just us taking care of ourselves and improving each facet, each guy getting a little bit better. There are two components to playing great--preparation and then turn it loose for three-and-a-half hours after the ball's been kicked off. For the most part we've done a pretty good job with the preparation. It's being able to play well for three-and-a-half hours. We haven't done that."

On ECU treating this as their Cotton Bowl:

"I think you're getting everybody's best every time you play. I would hope so. It's why they're playing. We just have to play better."

On if getting hammered at ECU two years ago discouraged him:

"That's probably the worst game we've played since I've been here. It was awful. But I talked about the game we played up there (in 2017) and won in overtime early in my career here at Tulane, and we fought back and won the game. It was probably about 20 degrees out, and there guys came out with no shirts on and they were ready to play and we had nothing to play for, some people would assume (Tulane was 3-6), and we played our tails off. No. If you get discouraged for too long during the season, it's going to compound into the next week."

This worked well from the North Texas game, so I am going to divide in two again, with the second-half review later in the week. I will handle all of the offensive possessions first and then all of the defensive possessions.


SERIES 1

--Tulane had a terrific first half against Rice offensively, starting with the first play when Sincere Haynesworth cleared a huge hole for Makhi Hughes and he exploded through it, cutting to the outside at the perfect time, too. His lack of top-end speed prevented it from being a 75-yard touchdown, but the 43-yard gain set the tone. Only a bad throw by Michael Pratt on third down, when he threw behind an open Lawrence Keys, prevented a likely touchdown, forcing the Wave to settle for a 44-yard field goal.

--Although Valentino Ambrosio missed a 29-yarder, his three makes had good distance, which is a good sign if Tulane ever needs a long field goal. The 44-yarder he hit for the point points made it with plenty of room to spare and would have been good from 50, a weakness of his in the past.

SERIES 2

--When some receivers go backwards or sideways trying to get extra yards, it is a mistake. Not so with Jha'Quan Jackson, who is outstanding in the open field. He would have had a 78-yard touchdown on the first play of this series if Pratt had not thrown the deep ball a little short under duress, allowing the DB to catch up with Jackson, but his two moves after that almost allowed him to get free for an even bigger gain. As the color commentator pointed out, the play design was excellent, with Chris Brazzell going into motion on that side of the field and flooding the zone along with Jackson, who lined up in the slot. The DB had to choose one, and Jackson was seven yards behind him when the ball went up.

--Yulkeith Brown is incredibly fast on jet sweeps or jet shovel passes as in the case of the Rice game. I'll take him in any race that involves turning the corner. He then got his first touchdown reception in a Tulane uniform by running across the field, beating one-one-one coverage easily and streaking to grab a perfect Pratt throw in the end zone. It did not need to be that good because Brown had a sizable cushion, but it would have been complete if the DB had been running a half-step behind him. That was a long-developing route that required solid protection, so every part was working. The play-by-play announcer twice said it was Brown's first touchdown at Tulane, forgetting he has scored twice on jet sweeps.

SERIES 3

--It's time for announcers to figure out how to pronounce Chris Brazzell's name. The pressbox P.A. announcer called him BRAZZEEL for the entire first half before getting it right. The ESPN play-by-play guy called him Bruhzell. It's pronounced Brazz-el, with the emphasis on the first syllable. Anyway, after Pratt overshot Jackson on a short out route and Shadre Hurst was called for a false start (both announcers thought Haynesworth forgot the snap count, causing everyone to move early, but Hurst moved before anyone else), Pratt threw a missle to Brazzell for a first down over the middle. Hughes stoned a blitzer coming right up the middle, proving again what a complete back he has become.

--Pratt then threw out of bounds for Keys, who was slightly open, getting his bad passes out of the way early on a day when he was sharper than against North Te despite winning AAC Player of the Week honors a week ago. Tulane got a little fortunate on fourth down when Pratt tried to hit Brazzell on a stop-and-go route and the defender just grabbed Brazzell to block him. Maybe it would have been complete without the grab, but it was a low-percentage play. It was clear penalty, though.

--Pratt is a tough hombre. After taking a shot to the leg and coming up gimpy on the last play of the third quarter, he scrambled past traffic for 13 yards to set up Tulane's second TD and scored on a sneak, getting his usual push from Alex Bauman. I need to ask why Bauman became the designated pusher. He does a good job.

SERIES 4

--Rice is not strong defensively, but the blocking on several running plays was outstanding, as it was on 12-and-14-yard runs here. He also has great instincts.

--Brown had by far his best game as a receiver, making a man miss to pick up extra yards on another catch.

--After Hurst got called for a second false start, the injury to Jha'Quan Jackson happened. I watched it live and replayed it about 20 times today and still have no idea what the heck happened. At the time, it appeared he fell on the ball and lost his breath, but no one is motionless after losing their breath. You writhe around in pain trying to get air. I guess he may have taken a blow to the head from the defender that the camera angle did not pick up as they fell to the ground in the back of the end zone. The ball definitely ended up under him, but he reacted like he had been knocked out and looked woozy when he walked off the field a few minutes later without his helmet. I would expect him to be under concussion protocol, but we'll find out (or not) tomorrow. Clearly, the reaction of a few players initially was something serious had happened, but I can't figure out what caused him to end up motionless. Strange. But it definitely was a good sign that he walked off the field pretty much under his own power.

--The snap was high on Ambrosio's missed 29-yard field goal, and I don't think Casey Glover got the laces down the right way, but he still should have made the kick. It went exactly straight when it needed to be hooked a little bit.

SERIES 5

--This was the Slade Nagle drive. I loved two of his calls on this series. The first one was the fourth-and short after Pratt had been stuffed on a third-down sneak, and when he lined up in the shotgun with no one in the backfield on fourth down, it did not look promising. But Hughes, lined up in the slot, went in motion and the ball was snapped just as he got in perfect position to make a lead block, which he did well as Pratt gained 11 yards instead of the 1 or 2 he would have gotten on a successful sneak. Beautiful execution on that play.

--The second one came after Brazzell eluded a defender to get extra yards--he's a really good athlete in addition to being 6-foot-5--and Hughes broke a tackle to get about 7 extra yards to the 2. Bauman lined up as the fullback in the I formation in what looked like it would be a power run. Instead he went out on pattern and beat a defender to the corner of the end zone for a 2-yard touchdown reception. That is an incredibly tough play to defend.

SERIES 6

--Given the ball at its own 42 with 16 seconds left after a DJ Douglas interception and return, Tulane executed perfectly again. A sideline pass to Brazzell picked up 6 yards before Shaadie Clayton-Johnson, Tulane's best receiving running back, released after blocking, caught a short pass from Pratt and streaked down the field before stepping out of bounds for a 25-yard gain to the 23 with two seconds left. Ambrosio then hit a 41-yard field goal to make the score 27-7.

So on six series, Tulane had a field goal, a touchdown, a missed field goal, a touchdown, a touchdown and a quick drive for another field goal. Outstanding regardless of the caliber of defense.

When Valentino Ambrosio was named AAC special teams player of the week today, I was curious if any Tulane player had won that honor before, so I went through the entire history on the conference website and was surprised to find out it happened three earlier times. Andrew DiRocco got it for kicking the winning field goal against Army in 2015 and again in 2016 for kicking four field goals against ULL in a quadruple-OT victory, including what still is a Fritz-era long 48-yarder in one of the overtimes. Merek Glover got it in 2018 for making three field goals and a bunch of extra points against USF.

Here is the full list of Tulane offense, defense and special teams players who have gotten the honor: The breakdown goes 11 defense, 8 offense, 4 special teams with 16 different players being honored. Michael Pratt has gotten it four times. No one else has won it more than twice.

Valentino Ambrosio, Oct. 30, 2023 (special teams)

Michael Pratt, Oct. 23, 2023 (offense)

Michael Pratt, Sept. 4, 2023 (offense)

Tyjae Spears, Nov. 28, 2022 (offense)

Michael Pratt, Nov. 21, 2022 (offense)

Dorian Williams, Nov. 7, 2022 (defense)

Macon Clark, Oct. 10, 2022 (defense)

Nick Anderson, Oct. 3, 2022 (defense)

Nick Anderson, Sept. 19, 2022 (defense)

Macon Clark, Sept. 5, 2022 (defense)

Michael Pratt, Dec. 7, 2020 (offense)

Patrick Johnson Nov. 9, 2020 (defense)

Cam Sample, Sept. 14, 2020 (defense)

P.J. Hall, Nov. 4, 2019 (defense)

J.J. McCleskey, Sept 23, 2019 (offense)

Justin McMillan, Sept. 2 2019 (offense)

Justin McMillan, Nov. 26, 2018 (offense)

Rod Teamer, Nov. 12, 2018 (defense)

Merek Glover, Nov. 5, 2018 (special teams)

Rae Juan Marbley, Nov. 13, 2017 (defense)

Andrew DiRocco, Sept. 26, 2016 (special teams)

Andrew DiRocco, Nov. 16, 2015 (special teams)

Parry Nickerson, Nov. 10, 2014 (defense)

No Duda, Swanson, Friloux or Pines this past week.
Jackson and Remetich went out. Anderson did come back and play which is good.

I know it is impossible to get a straight answer about injuries but it will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Although the pattern was similar, I don't see a parallel between last week's much closer than expected win against North Texas and today's closer than expected win against Rice. This game was tight because of one play--the 72-yard interception return off of Pratt in the third quarter when the Wave was driving for a 34-14 lead. Rice could not really stop this team, and it would have been a comfortable victory without that turnover and long return. Tulane's statistical domination was obscene in the first half, and it did not lose control of this game like it did against North Texas even though it may have been one failed conversion away from losing.

The legitimate concerns are a diminishing pass rush, a spate of missed tackles and Jha'Quan Jackson's injury, which Willie Fritz refused to shed light on after the game. But this team continues to stuff the run, continues to get huge games from Makhi Hughes and has by far its best group of receivers in the Fritz era, with our without Jackson. Plus, Michael Pratt is Mr. Clutch down the stretch.

I feel better about this team's chance to run the table tonight than I did last week at this time. We will see if I am right. The last two games of the regular season (FAU, UTSA) could be tough and might be must wins to even reach the championship game.

Fritz, Makhi Hughes, DJ Douglas and Pratt talked after the game.

WILLIE FRITZ

"We played really well in the first half. Huge field goal for us at the end of the first half. Shaadie Clayton-Johnson did a great job of getting everything that he could and getting out of bounds. Val had missed a 29-yarder earlier in the game and them came back and hit that one and hit another one in the second half. You know, there were a lot of decisions to be made in the second half, and I hate those kind of games. I'd rather just let it kind of good smooth, but our guys when we needed to make some tough calls, they came through with them. A real big run at the end on fourth-and-1 by Michael Pratt. Good execution Makhi runs the ball most of the time, but on that one he had to kick out and hit a man on the line of scrimmage, and he did a nice job on that one. We played well in the first half and didn't play good in the third quarter, not very good at all. But when we had to answer, we did."

On decision not to go for touchdown at the end and try to run out the clock instead:

"We just wanted to run it out. I don't know what was going on with the clock. It should have been over with the pass we ran at the end. It's one where we can run seven or eight seconds with the ball, and there should have been six seconds left, but for some reason there was 11, so I don't know what was going on. In four seconds they had to go 90 yards, so it's pretty good to have guys finish it out well."

On Pratt's interception:

"It was big. The post I think was open, but you know, it's tough playing quarterback. The quarterback is involved in every single play on offense.Not every other play. Every play, and for the most part Michael played outstanding."

On long drive at end:

"How many minutes was that (more than eight)? Great job with some conversions. There were a bunch of plays in there. Slade (Nagle) did an excellent job of play-calling and understanding we could still run the ball in those situations. We don't have to throw it on third downs. We already knew we were going for it as well, so excellent job."

On Jha'Quan Jackson status and what his injury was:

"I don't know. I really just heard he was out. I let the doctors do the doctoring and I try to coach."

On Makhi Hughes:

"How many did he have? (Finds out it is 153). Oh, that is pretty good. He just runs so hard. He runs behind his pads. He's just a really good player, smart, a hard worker and gets a lot of yards. That's helped us offensively and it's helped us defensively being able to run the ball. The best defense there at the end was we didn't have to go out on the field. They kept converting, running the ball and running the clock. We weren't really going in a four-minute offense until we got down to about four minutes in the game, and then we started doing it. Michael did a good job of running the clock. Look, right there, it's a sign you were going to play good, Makhi, right up there (a sticker with the name Hughes was affixed to a wall in the interview room). It's a goddang sign, man."

On defense in first half:

"They really played well in the first half. We were dropping into zones and they were doing a good job finding the spots in the zone, and then we started tightening up the coverage. I think we had three first downs where we had good, tight coverage, knocked the ball away and made them punt. That's a good quarterback. They've got a good offense and receivers. It's really a nice offensive line. Besides about three or four plays where we let him get out of the pocket, we did a good job of keeping him in the pocket. You play such good defense when you're able to do that."

On four close conference games and four wins:

"I'd rather win by a whole bunch and play a bunch of dudes, but we'll take it how we can get it. I'm just glad we played to the bitter end and came out with the W."

On Josh Remetich status:

'I don't know."

Winwave won for the second week in a row with 6 points. No one else got more than 4 in a rough week for us overall, with all 17 contestants picking Tulane to cover. Meanwhile, I avoided my first ever winless week when Alabama came up huge in the second half against Tennessee.

WEEK 7 RESULTS

6

winwave

4

roll wave
p8kpev
Ketttrade1
paliii

3

LSU Law Greenie
charlamange8
2DatWuzAGoodDay2
chigoyboy
ForeverTU
WaveON
tacklethemanwiththefootball
Wavetime

2

MNAlum
GretnaGreen

1

DrBox
Guerry


OVERALL STANDINGS

37

chigoyboy

36

winwave

34

2DatWuzAGoodDay2
pallii

33

ForeverTU

32

charlamange8
Wavetime

31

LSU Law Greenie
tacklethemanwiththefootball
p8kpev

30

roll wave
Kettrade1
MNAlum

29

WaveON

28

DrBox

24

Guerry

23

Gretna Green

22

diverdo (missed 2 weeks)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

North Texas 0 of 17
Ohio State 8
FSU 11
Alabama 8
Utah 6
Miami 4
Air Force 1
Memphis 14

​

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

Rice (+10.5) Tulane
Georgia (-14.5) Florida (Jacksonville)
Louisville (-4) Duke
Kansas (+10) Oklahoma
Utah (+6.5) Oregon
Kentucky (+3.5) Tennessee
Wisconsin (+14.5) Ohio State
North Texas (+7.5) Memphis

Tulane has had a few injuries this year, but by my count, there are only four guys are on the defensive two-deep depth chart at the start of the year and no one on the two-deep depth chart for the offense who definitely will be unavailable Saturday against Rice, so the Wave remains pretty healthy. Obviously the big loss was Corey Platt. Adonis Friloux and Angelo Anderson are second-teamers who will not play, but although Friloux is solid, he was not at the same level as before his knee injury, and Tulane has really good depth at defensive end, Anderson's spot. Safety Darius Swanson is out, too, and that could hurt a little bit, but he was not starting.

Prince Pines has been replaced by Shadre Hurst as the starting left guard. Pines worked all practice today with the second team. Whether that's simply him not being 100 percent yet or the coaches believing Hurst is the better player is not clear. There might be one significant backup skill position player unavailable Saturday (I did not get clearance to release that info), but otherwise every relevant player is healthy on offense.

At the end of practice today, director of football operations Shane Meyer, who has been with Fritz since his Georgia Southern days and was an excellent Division II kicker for him at Central Missouri, leaving that school as its all-tie leading scorer, performed an annual ritual. He attempted a 47-yard field goal to commemorate his 47th birthday, which was yesterday. Valentino Ambrosio retrieved the ball from the end zone, and the players surrounded Meyer on each side as he lined up to kick. His first attempt was brutal, a duck hook that went far left and low. Given a second chance, he hit it solid but it went less than a yard wide of the left upright. The team then sang Happy Birthday to him."

A year ago, Meyer hit the upright from 46 yards.

"We do it every year," Fritz said. "He used to make them every year until the last two years. So if someone asks you when you're old, 45."

With Tulane heading to Houston tomorrow, Meyer may let the misses linger--Fritz predicted he would be in a bad mood--but he was a heck of a kicker in his day and is in the Central Missouri Hall of Fame.

"One season I think he was 21 of 23 for me," Fritz said. "He was great. He was either a two-or-three-time Academic All-American."

I talked to Derrick Sherman today for a feature I'm doing on the wide receivers. He spent a long time after practice talking to Jalen Rogers, the speedster from Miami who has had a hard time getting on the field in his first two years. Rogers, nicknamed Speedy, probably is as fast as the guys who are playing, but it's a tough rotation to crack at the moment.

SHERMAN

On speed helping his group:

"That always helps. You can't coach speed. It helps tremendously."

On four main guys doing different things:

"They all do different things, but they can all do it and do it well. One of the things that we pride ourselves on is guys being able to line up in different spots and get it done, so it keeps us away from any tendencies or anything like that."

On Jha'Quan Jackson:

"His approach to this whole thing is impeccable. The way he comes in, the way he studies, the way he takes care of his body, the way he understands, the way he leads is on a whole different level. It's hard to believe he's a college kid."

On Lawrence Keys:

"Y'all are seeing it now, but I saw it the first day I came in last year. I used to mess with him. I told him if had 20 more pounds, he'd be our best running back. That's the kind of player he is. He's the same. There's no detail too small. There's no surprises when it comes to what he does because he puts his all into this now. He puts his all. It's crazy how much time he spends doing it. He really doesn't have to spend that much time doing it. He does because he loves it, but he's efficient when it comes to learning it and putting it in. When I pull up, Keys is probably already here, getting out the car going into the training room ready to go at 5:30."

On Yulkeith Brown:

"He had to learn the way we do things, but that guy gives me new life every single day. He's been playing college football for a long time, but about a month ago he was still 19 years old in his third year of college football, so he was still very young. He puts everything that he has into it. His instinct and football-playing-ability is like on a whole another level. Now being able to apply the approach and seeing the way our older guys approach it, not only Keys and 'Quan but Sincere and Pratt, you see how much they put into it and now he's putting that into it. I have no idea how fast he is. He has no idea how fast he is.Nobody knows how good he'll be because who knows what's still inside there."

On Chris Brazzell:

"He's developed a lot. It's scary because he has a long way to go. There's a lot more in there, but he's good. He keeps coming back. The thing I love about him is he lets me coach him. He lets me push him. He enjoys playing football. He loves competing, and who knows what that one can do. I'm not putting a ceiling on anybody."

Jarius Monroe practiced today, which is key for Tulane heading into its game against pass-happy Rice. Monroe's value to the team became clear on Saturday when North Texas picked apart the defense following his departure due to injury. Rice quarterback J.T, Daniels will be looking to do the same thing.

Reserve defensive tackle Elijah Champaigne, who got the first significant action of his career against Memphis in the fourth quarter, is out with an arm injury.

Willie Fritz has been very vocal in practice the past two days. He tries to be the exact same no matter what the game looks like on Saturdays, but the poor tackling the defense exhibited against North Texas in the second half and the team's general issues in the second half did not go over too well with him.

Prince Pines is in uniform. Shadre Hurst continues to practice with the first team at left guard.

Fritz and Lawrence Keys spoke after practice.

FRITZ

On Keys making some key blocks on Makhi Hughes runs:

"He was a real blocker on the perimeter big time. Out there on the perimeter if a receiver will get in the way and get in the middle of the guy, he's going to occupy him and most of the time the guy's not going ot make the tackle. If you have some toughness to you and move your feet, you can really establish position, and he does that. He's a tough kid."

On receivers as a group blocking:

"They are really unselfish. A lot of times everybody wants the ball. That's kind of our society now, right? These guys are very unselfish. It's like Pratt's touchdown run there at the end. Makai was doing a checkdown, he saw Michael start to run and he got just enough on the open defender for Michael to run past him for a touchdown, so that's when the big plays occur is when the running backs, most of the time in pass protection, and the receivers downfield block somebody. Then you get big plays."

On Army joining the league:

"It's a national brand, and having both Army and Navy is unique. They've kind of changed what they are doing now. They are not doing the under-center triple option like they did forever, and Navy's not doing that exclusively either, but it's good to have those guys in the league."

On blocking changes making it harder for triple option teams:

"That's what they feel like. I notice that Air Force is doing quite a bit of it still, but sometimes it's just hard to recruit guys. You know, when I came here we were spread option, and it was hard for me to get a quarterback. I couldn't get one. It was difficult, so we had to change a couple years later. That's probably the toughest part of it."

KEYS

On if he is faster than Jha'Quan Jackson:

"Nah, Quan's the fastest. I don't know. We never thought of racing or anything like that, but I'd say Quan's the fastest."

On speed helping the receivers as a whole:

"It helps us a lot. It also opens a lot of opportunities to get guys open on the field. Just having depth and a group of fast guys is very rare, and to have those opportunities and to get guys open in space is a big deal."

On best quality of this receiver room:

"Just being there for each other, pushing each other every day. We also help each other's game. If we have something the other person is better in, we sit down with them and ask them how can we put those type of skills that you have into our game and can you show me how to do those things. We all just work with each other to make each other better, and that's what I really like about this group."

On specific instance:

I forgot what game it was this year, but it was a blocking technique and at first I couldn't do it and I was like, Yulkeith (Brown), what did you do on this and what did you see? He was like what I did was this, I got lower in my stance and I flipped this way because the defender kept trying to lower his shoulder when we aimed to go block him. I went back out there the next time and actually did it was like man, this is the type stuff you like. And also with routes, we are like, bro, how do you do that? With us being fast, there's a lot of things that some of us can do and some of us need to work more on it, and we work with each other to fix those things and to help our game."

On his blocking on Hughes runs:

"It's just like you said, just wanting to do it. It's part of being a team player and not being a selfish player. There's always a question going around at that stage, what are you going to do if the ball is not in your hands and what type of player are you going to be? This group we have here, we have a group of guys that want to block. We are willing to do anything for this team, so just making those blocks for my borhter, I know for sure I want him to do the same for me. it's just part of not being selfish and being a team player."

On Rice defense:

"They are a great group of guys. They are a great team. We know what we are going into this week. We know what we have to get ourselves prepared for and we are just getting better each and every day working on their defense."

On offense close to clicking:

"Yes, I feel like it's right there. We're getting real close to it, but I feel the same way also. We haven't played our best game yet, and I know it's coming soon. When it comes, it's going to be amazing."

On speed of receivers at Notre Dame compared to this group:

"They had a great group up at Notre Dame also. I'm not sure how the recruitment goes. Schools are very different in what type of receivers they want based off their offense. When I was at Notre Dame, it was more of a bigger receiver type guy. They tried to bring a little bit of speed there also, and here it's a lot of speed."

On different types of speed among Tulane receiver:

"It's crazy. It's like a 4 X 100 track team. We've got two guys that can go vertical. You got two guys that can run an angle. It's just guys that can do it all. That's how I look at it."

On Chris Brazzell being much more than just a big receiver:

"Brazzell is fast. Brazzell is fast."

On where they can be better:

"Just staying focused. Playing four quarters. That's part of us saying we haven't played our best game yet. We haven't really seen ourselves play our best game, and just being able to play four quartrs just giving it all and dominating each and every rep."

On if he knew how good this team would be when he transferred from Notre Dame:

"Honestly yeah, and I'm speaking from a whole team perspective. When I got here, we had a team meeting, and I asked a couple of guys after the team meeting, did y'all do this last year, and they were like, we didn't. I loved what it was doing. Us as players saw the potential we had, and just hearing that from those guys made me buy in and others that came in also buy in to the team program and put a great team together."

The first play for each offense set the tone for a complete tunaround after Tulane entered halftime with a 21-0 lead.

With a chance to put the hammer done and win in a rout by scoring on its opening series, Tulane started with a false start penalty on Chris Carter, who lined up as a H-back in the backfield and flinched, creating a first-and-15. It's certainly possible to get a first down against a bad defense in that situation, but Tulane did not, electing to run a bubble screen on third-and-6 (that's a good call only on third-and-3 or shorter in my opinion) and not coming close to moving the chains.

North Texas's first play was an 11-yard run right up the gut with excellent blocking. Darius Hodges, Eric HIcks, Tyler Grubbs and Jesus Machado were stonewalled in an uncharacteristic play for both teams, setting the tone for an abysmal second half by the Tulane defense, although it continued to get good pressure on the quarterback throughout the third quarter, with Devean Deal hitting him as he threw on the next play and causing the ball to flutter out of bounds. If it had remained in play, it could have been intercepted. Credit North Texas for the next play, a deep pass that beat DJ Douglas. Good offenses are going to connect at times, and Douglas made sure to tackle the guy immediately after the catch on what could have been an even bigger play or a touchdown if he had missed. But then the real problems started as North Texas began picking on A.J. Hampton, and he was not up to the task while replacing an injured Jarius Monroe. He gave up two straight completions while giving up too much cushion and then got toasted by an inside release move for a touchdown that resembled an easy score Houston had on Lance Robinson last year. Robinson has improved immensely in coverage since then, so North Texas largely avoided him while Monroe was out.

--Tulane's second possession was good after Fritz gambled on a fourth-and-1 from his own 34, getting a tush push from Alex Bauman (who had his best game of the year) after Michael Pratt sneaked to his left to find a little crease. Lawerence Keys showed what a complete player he is by springing Makhi Hughes for a 13-yard run with a block on the edge on one play and catching an 18-yard pass on a flag pattern on the next snap. Bauman finished off the drive, running unimpeded down the middle of the field and making sure to keep his route skinny enough not to draw the coverage from the other side all the way to him for an easy 21-yard touchdown.

--It was then that the defense completely fell apart and suddenly began missing tackles left and right. Jared Small and Bailey Despanie missed tackles on a swing pass on the first play of North Texas's second series, Despanie took a terrible angle on the next play, turning a decent completion into a 42-yard gain when the receiver cut past him. Two plays later, Jesus Machado ran himself out of play with a poor run fit as North Texas scored an 18-yard TD against a defense that normally is impregnable against the run. Just like that, the score was 28-14. It was easily the worst defensive series of the year.

--The onside kick came next, and Tulane was completely unprepared for it, lining up two players at its own 45 and four at midfield. North Texas executed the kick perfectly, and Shi'Keem Laister and Kiland Harrison, the two guys closest to the ball, did not come up fast enough to make a play as North Texas recovered it easily right after it went 10 yards. On the next kickoff, six guys lined up at the 50 to make sure there was no repeat. Frits admitted Tuesday Tulane had not practiced onside kick defense enough even though this team spends a ton of time on special teams, and it showed with that lack of alertness.

--North Texas continued to capitalize on the backup cornerbacks after the onside kick, only this time it was Rayshawn Pleasant, who came in to replace the ineffective Hampton. Pleasant was called for holding on the first play, and that's exactly what he did all the way down the field. Robinson then missed a tackle on second-and-10, turning what would have been a third-and-7 or so into a third-and-short. Patrick Jenkins and Devean Deal had a chance to make that third-down stop but both missed tackles on a run. Kam Hamilton almost made a play in the backfield on the next snap but could not get get to the runner, who gained 8 yards. Pleasant, playing soft coverage, then missed a tackle on a 12-yard catch-and-run. Tulane got good pressure on the next play and Robinson had perfect coverage in the end zone, but if had kept running on a hurried throw instead of stopping, he might have had an easy interception. He was trying to be physical and make sure he was breaking up the play, so it's hard to fault him there. Despanie made a touchdown-saving tackle on the next play that was initially ruled a fumble and a Tulane recovery in the end zone, but the replay clearly showed the receiver's elbow hit the ground before the ball came out and it was overturned, and North Texas scored on a leap over the top on the next play (I never saw an angle showing the ball crossed the plain of the goal line, but no one argued).

--Suddenly leading just 28-21, Tulane had a 3 and out offensively. On third down, North Texas dropped eight and no one was open initially, Pratt felt pressure after Cam Wire let one of the three pass rushers push him back into the pocket, prompting Pratt to run forward. He might have gotten the first down, but Carter was standing a few yards downfield and the guy covering him quickly ran over to tackle Pratt well short of the first down. If Carter had not been there, I don't think the linebacker would have made the play.

--North Texas's next drive was aided by a lack of pressure on the quarterback. Jarius Monroe was back on the field but was a little gimpy and was slow to react on a third-and-3 sideline pass that converted the first down by a yard. The North Texas quarterback made a great throw in between Small and Grubbs to convert another third-and-3 before Grubbs was called for interference. He was not looking for the ball and did make contact earlier, but the pass appeared uncatchable to me. Very borderline call. There was zero penetration on a 15-yard pass to the 5, and even a false start call on North Texas on second-and-goal from the 1 did not bail out the defense. Small blitzed and was held (no call) and Douglas was beaten for a 6-yard touchdown.

--With the score tied, Pratt showed his calm confidence on a drive that absolutely had to end in a touchdown. He started by slipping for the second time on a scramble, turning what might have been a first down into a 3-yard gain, but there was good blocking across the middle of the line as Hughes converted a third-and-1. When Tulane faced another third-and-1 three plays later, Hughes did it on his own with second effort after being hit short of the marker. That's where he is at his best. Huge play, which kept Tulane from having to convert a do-or-die fourth-and-short. Pratt's big 19-yard pass to Keys through a tight window came with picture-perfect protection. Josh Remetich missed a block on the next play, resulting in a rare 1-yard loss for Hughes, but Pratt hit Keys underneath to create a third-and-3 that Hughes converted easily with a beautiful cut. Keys, once again, made a significant block on that play. I'm not crazy about the second-and-10 handoff to Arnold Barnes two plays later. He is going to be a really good back, but every important carry has to go to Hughes, and Barnes was stuffed for a 2-yard loss. In danger of losing the game if it did not convert a third-and-12, Tulane scored on Pratt's scramble. North Texas rushed five uncharacteristically, leaving fewer defenders to account for Pratt downfield, and he took full advantage with a clutch play, getting 19 yards to the end zone with ease.

--The defense, which had not come up with a stop all half, benefited from an oustanding tackle by Laister on the kickoff. I have no idea why North Texas decided to run the kickoff out of the end zone, but it cost them 12 yards when Laister tackled the guy at the 13. Hampton was back in for the final series because Monroe could not go and Pleasant is too inexperienced. Tyler Grubbs had his improvised sack early in the series--he said he was not supposed to come up but did it because he needed to make a play--but the sack was rendered irrelevant by a 16-yard completion for a first down. Tulane then got fortunate when back-to-back passes were off target for what would have been first downs. The color commentator on ESPN2 blamed the receiver for not stopping his route when he was open on the second one, but either way, those were plays the Mean Green had been making all second half. On third-and-10, Deal got good pressure to force a hurried throw that still resulted in a 9-yard completion, but Pedescleaux kept it from being a first down by not missing the tackle, setting up a fourth-and-1. The North Texas receiver then tripped on his sideline route, but Douglas was all over the play and would have broken it up regardless. I go back to Laister's kickoff stop because North Texas would have had a much easier time going 75 yards than 87, which allowed more time for the offense to make some mistakes, which it did.

It was a bad second half for the defense without question, but as much as coaches preach consistency, teams do not play the same way every week or even within games. Tulane relaxed at halftime, and the absence of Monroe also exposed a weakness that Rice can exploit, too, if Monroe is not back. Regardless, the uncharacteristic missed tackles and the lack of pressure in the fourth quarter could be one-off issues because they had not been evident before Saturday.

Tulane will not be at full strength defensively against Rice on Saturday, but key cornerback Jarius Monroe is expected to be ready for that game. He was in uniform today, and although he did not participatein 7-on-7 drills or 11-on-11 work in the latter half of practice, Willie Fritz said he would be fine. It is unclear exactly what happened to him against North Texas, but he was wearing a strap on one of his legs in the second half, when he played sparingly and not at full speed. He did not have anything on his leg today.

Backups Darius Swanson, Angelo Anderson and Adonis Friloux will not be available Saturday, hurting depth. Swanson's absence due to an injury (unspecified) he sustained against Memphis forced Kentrell Webb to play a lot more than normal against North Texas, and Rayshawn Pleasant got more much time than usual at cornerback in Jarius Monroe's absence after A.J. Hampton struggled. Hampton and Lance Robinson were the starting corners today. The secondary and the pass rush will be critical against Rice, which does not run much in normal weeks and almost certainly will stick to the air against Tulane's dominant run defense, which ranks sixth nationally (78.4 yards per game) in yards allowed and fifth in average per carry allowed (2.68). Rice QB J.T. Daniels, who had stints at USC, Georgia and West Vriginia, is putting up the best numbers of his career with 17 touchdown passes and five interceptions, four 300-yard passing games and two 400-yard outings, including 401 in the AAC's only victory against a Power Five conference opponent (Houston).

Rice gave up 597 yards in a 42-29 loss to South Florida and even lost to UConn two weeks ago when it lost the turnover battle 4-0, so this is not a strong team, but its strength matches up with Tulane's biggest weakness at the moment. It will be interesting to see what Tulane does defensively after giving up four touchdowns in four possessions to North Texas to start the second half. Daniels is not mobile, so the pass rushers will not have to worry about him scrambling much (he has eight carries that are not sacks and minus-58 rushing yards for the year.

On offense, Shadre Hurst continued to practice with the first team while Prince Pines recovers from a knee injury. Pines dressed out against North Texas but did not play, and the coaches appear to believe a healthy Hurst is better than a compromised Pines. There's definitely nothing wrong with Shaadie Clayton-Johnson, who did not play Saturday. He took his normal reps today.

Fritz, Michael Pratt, Jha'Quan Jackson and Devean Deal talked after practice.

FRITZ

"Good workout today. We're having fantastic weather. I thought we played good in spots, particularly in the first half. Other than the turnover in the end zone, we played a great first half. We didn't come out of the blocks real fast the second half. We were receiving the second-half kickoff and had a chance to really gain unbelievable control of the game and we didn't do it, let them back in the game, but I'm very proud of the offense with that last drive. You work like crazy on two-minute situations and you don't get a chance to do them very often, and they ran it to perfection and they also had a great two-minute drive at the end of the first half that was very important. And then also the defense getting the stop. It all started with that kickoff and Shi'Keem Laister getting the tackle at the 13-yard line. It made them go the the long field. They got a couple of first downs, but they had to go the full field and we got a stop on them, so that was big.

"Rice has an outstanding offense. Their quarterback has started at a lot of big schools--USC, Georgia were a couple. He's really a good, accurate passer. They run a pro-style type offense. They throw the ball very effectively. Defense they are very complex, don't make many mistakes. They are 4-3 right now, and I heard a comment from one of their coaches they had a chance to be 6-1, and they're right. They were within a whisker. At UConn they were minus-4 takeaway and they gave up a couple of big plays against USF or they would have had a chance to win that game, so a really quality opponent that we have Saturday in Houston."

On J.T. Daniels:

"He's a big guy, very accurate. He can make that hash to far numbers throw. We had two of those guys in the game last week. Michael can make that throw, and that kid from North Texas made about four of them wide side of the field, and I don't think we'd seen that this season so far. There's really nothing he hasn't seen before. Very experienced quarterback."

On if there is a benefit from having a scare and still winning:

"I don't know. I do like the fact that we finished and were put in a bad situation and we came out with a win, so that's good, but you just never know how these games are going to play out. You have to play the very best you can and finish the best you can."

On downward defensive trend:

"We're playing some good offenses. That's the first thing. This was a team (North Texas) that was averaging quite a bit over 400. I think we held them below what their average is, but they are starting to get a little more film on you. That's one thing that happens. It seems like offenses start taking charge the longer the season goes on, but we need to play better on defense throughout the whole game. We played really well the first half. We just have to continue it the whole game."

On Jarius Monroe's health:

"Good. He's fine."

On being good tackling team all year but not in second half against North Texas:

"I don't know. We work on it, we pride ourselves on being great tacklers. Sometimes I watch all these games and it's almost a lost art. D.J. Douglas really tackled well. I was really impressed with him and how he tackled on Saturday. I call it pulling the trigger. When the ball is thrown in front of you, go get it with your leverage. It's either your left shoulder or your right shoulder, that's all there is, and he does a nice job of doing that. Cam (Pedescleaux) really tackled well also in the game. We have a bunch of guys that tackle well, but you need the whole team to do it because sooner or later everybody is going to have to tackle."

On Pratt acting like the veteran he is on final drive:

"It's very important. Just like we talked about with J.T. Daniels, there's not much that Michael hasn't seen on numerous occasions. That's good to have an experienced quarterback like that. You can say a quick sentence to him, and he understands what you're talking about in those situations. You don't have to give him a dissertation in what we need to do with a two-minute offense. He understands it."

On onside kick:

"It was great execution by them. There was a little bubble in that area, and then we just have to go attack it, and to be quite frank with you, we hadn't worked it enough in practice. We practiced the heck out of it yesterday. It's something you see occasionally, but we always talk about you're never surprised by a surprise onside kick. We were surprised by it. We didn't go attack it, but I'm going to give them credit with the execution. They hit it in that bubble and if that's the line for 10 yards, it was 10 yards and an inch. I thought there was a chance it was early touched, but it wasn't."

On Makhi Hughes:

"For a guy to come back from a big injury like he had and have the season he's having right now is spectacular. He's the type of guy you root for anyway. I would think all his teammates would tell you that. He's a very humble, quiet guy. He's always listening. You ask him to repeat something and he knows exactly what was being said, but we're very happy for the great play he's had these last few games. He deserves it with all the hard work he's put in."

On playing 3 of last 5 on road:

"We try to be very consistent in our preparation throughout the week, and then for games we're very consistent with how we do things. The guys who've played for me for four years could probably do the itinerary for you. They know how we do stuff. I try to keep it as much the same as possible whether we're on the road or at home. We're playing on a 120-by 53 1/2-yard surface. That's what we're worried about, and not all the other stuff going on. If you lock in and do that, you've got a chance to play great. It's guys that are worried about all the other stuff that sometimes have problems."

Tulane looked like it would rout North Texas in the first two quarters, covering the point spread of 20 in the first half despite Michael Pratt losing a fumble inches from the goal line that prevented a sure touchdown, I will have a film study on the vastly different second half later.

--I remember saying to the writers next to me in the press box that Tulane might be the best tackling team in the country after the opening series (famous last words), when Lance Robinson raced up to tackle a receiver short of a first down and Cam Pedescleaux was there to clock a receiver short of the marker on third down if necessary, which it wasn't because Darius Hodges pressured the quarterback into a hurried, bad throw (the only stat Hodges recorded all day). Tackling is a lost art in football, but for the most part this season, the Green Wave has been really good in that department, wrapping up properly and bringing the wood, too.

--Makhi Hughes showed his special skills on Tulane's first offensive snap. At the time I thought he had a huge hole, and Shadre Hurst did have a nice clear-out block, but Hodges found the hole on his own, going left when a defender overran the play, then cutting to his right and gaining 31 yards. Tulane faced only one third down on its opening drive, and that was a third-and-goal from the 2 when tight end Alex Bauman lined up wide left, went in motion to his right with the defensive back with man coverage on him trailing him all the way and catching an easy touchdown. Good play design against a shaky defense, and it was a good sign for Tulane that Bauman, who I believe was hampered by a nagging injury in the first half of the year, looked like the guy I thought he would be this season.

--Tulane definitely was getting pressure early with its front four, forcing North Texas into back-to-back throwaways on a three-and-out on the the Mean Green's second series. I'm not sure why the pressure petered out in the second half weaq they substituted about as much as usual up front despite missing Angelo Anderson and Adonis Friloux in the rotation.

--Tulane was able to get Jha'Quan Jackson into the open field twice on its next possession, which is where he is truly elite. He gained 17 yards on a reverse, taking a pitch from Hughes, and 18 yards on a shrt pass when he made two defenders miss. In between, Michael Pratt stumbled for the first of two times on a scramble. His knee still is not 100 percent, but it is much better than a few weeks ago.

--Fans are going to be fans, at Tulane and everywhere else, but the mentions I've gotten on twitter about Pratt's fumble being a terrible call blows my mind. It was certainly close, and the replay angles are not great, but it looks to me like the ball clearly started coming out before he crossed the plain of the goal line. He did not really argue the call, which says a lot. If it had been ruled a touchdown, I actually think there was enough on one angle to overturn it, but it definitely was not going to be overturned the other way. Pratt was not secure enough with the ball. That's rarely a problem for him and likely will not be in the future now that he has this mistake on his mind.

--Jared Small is a big hitter. He clobbered the quarterback on a scramble to start North Texas's third series and then made a nice open-field stop on the next play. Fellow linebacker Tyler Grubbs is a big hitter, too, and he clocked a guy for a 4-yard loss to stymie the drive a little later.

--Chris Brazzell did not have a huge game, but his 22-yard catch near the sideline to start Tulane's third series was another indication of his future stardom. He's tall, knows how to use his size and is plenty fast enough to get open, something Tulane's big receivers in the past under Fritz have totally lacked. Alex Bauman pushed Pratt for a first down on the tush push to keep the drive alive before Pratt was stopped on a fourth-down scramble. He was hesitant to release the ball for most of the day, but it looked like his receivers were covered well on most of those plays as North Texas dropped eight and bottled them up.

--Devean Deal is a playmaker. Someone came up to me in the opener and mocked the staff for starting him ahead of Hodges, but they are different types of playmakers. Deal's strip for the fumble on North Texas's fourth drive was picture perfect, as he avoided a lame block attempt by the tight end to get his hand on the ball. Patrick Jenkins, a surefire first-team All-AAC pick, fell on it alertly and immediately.

--Rashad Green and Josh Remetich has nice blocks on a 10-yard run by Arnold Barnes, who was the second running back in. The coaches clearly believe Barnes is close to breaking a big one, and although I have been less impressed with him than others, they probably are on to something. He made a nice cut. Shedro Louis came in next and had back-to-back 6-yard runs. it's going to be hard to keep the backup running backs happy considering how much time Hughes gets, but two of them contributed on that series.

--Credit the offensive line for Hughes'10-yard TD run on third-and-8, and credit Slade Nagle for the call. North Texas, the nation's worst run defense statistically, was playing for the pass, and Hughes had plenty of space on the surprise run.

--I liked Matthew Fobbs-White in the preseason, and he showed why by racing in to to cause another fumble. He has a fast first step. I'm sure Keith Cooper took some ribbing when they watched the video and saw the quarterback outfight him for the recovery.

--Tulane preserved its shutout in the first half thanks to a dropped pass on fourth-and-short. The Wave was pretty close in coverage, but the receiver dropped the ball before he was touched as he tried to cut upfield. It would have been first down inside the 35.

--Pratt's interception on the next play came when he finally could not resist going deep. Yulkeith Brown was never open against double coverage, but Pratt was hoping he would get free when he released the ball. I guarantee you that was the play the staff was the most unhappy with. Both of Pratt's two interceptions this year (a very low total) have come when he decided where to throw pre-snap.

--Coooper made up for not recovering the fumble with a tackle for a 4-yard loss to start the next series. That was the last play for negative yardage until Grubbs' sack on North Texas's final series of the game.

--Sincere Haynesworth, after a slow start to the year, is really coming on. He made a fantastic block on Hughes' 13-yard run on the drive right before halftime, dominating a defender.

--Lawrence Keys is Tulane's most polished receiver. He ran a good route on the touchdown pass, and Pratt made a nice throw, although he could have led him a little more. I certainly had no sense this would end up being a tight game when the teams went into the locker room. In fact, I told someone I had toyed with the idea of picking a shutout but had decided not to to avoid being embarrassed if something totally different happened. Something totally different did indeed happen.

There were some cracks today. What started in the first half against UAB and continued on three straight possessions by Memphis developed into a full-blown problem today when North Texas torched the Tulane defense with four touchdowns drives in a row to start the second half while Jarius Monroe largely was on the sideline with an injury. Every season has ebbs and flows, but the Wave needs to figure out what the problem is or an opponent will beat it in the air. The run defense remains outstanding. The pass defense has stretches where it can't stop anything.

It did not cost Tulane today, but that season finale against UTSA, which might be a must-win game to reach the championship game depending on what SMU does down the stretch, is a concern.

Fritz, Tyler Grubbs, Michael Pratt and Lawrence Keys talked after the game.

FRITZ

"It's now how you draw it up, but we scored more than them and that's all that matters. There have been games like this we haven't won in the past, so I"m excited about being 1-0 this week. We ran the ball really effectively throughout the game. Makhi (Hughes) went over 100 yards again. Michael (Pratt) had some good runs. We had some clutch drives when things weren't looking good. When the defense isn't playing good, the offense has got to make some things happen. When the offense is not playing good, the defense has to get some stops. We played pretty good complementary football throughout the game. That was a huge play by Tyler (Grubbs on the sack on North Texas's final series). I call it pulling the trigger. Boom, he came out of the box and made the tackle and didn't stop until he heard glass break.That was a huge play making it second-and-14 instead of them possibly having a big run on it. So we're happy about it. We've got a big stretch that are all going to be conference games. They all count as one. I'm glad we got that one behind us."

On Michael Pratt's poise when things are going wrong late in games:

"He does a great job. We're just really happy to have him. I think he's one of the top quarterbacks in the nation. There are a lot of great quarterbacks in the country this year, probably more in college football than maybe other years, but we feel like we have the best one. We're pumped about having him here. He makes a lot of clutch plays for us, and he certainly made a bunch of them today."

On Makhi Hughes:

"He just always is going forward. There were a couple of times we didn't block at the point of attack and he got it back to the line of scrimmage or maybe a gain of 1. We can live with second-and-9, but second-and-14 makes it a lot tougher on you. He just doesn't go down easy. He's always going forward. There were a couple plays in there we could have had some big rips and we just didn't quite read it the way we needed to, but he's getting better and better every week."

On North Texas getting onside kick:

"They got in a 6 and 4 alignment. I was disappointed we did not attack the ball. We talk all the time and work all the time on never being surprised by an onside kick. One of the clues is when they get into a different alignment. They are usually 5 and 5 with the kicker in the middle. This time they had six and four, and we talked about in the launch pad, that was a good time for a surprise onside kick. We just didn't move. We just kind of sat there, and that's something we're going to need to work on a bunch."

On defense issues in second half:

"We tackled horribly in the third quarter. It looked like were playing offense. We were trying to block people instead of using our arms, wrapping up and tackling. We had a few guys banged up. Guys were going in and out. We had some guys playing in the boundary who were playing in the field and vice versa. We didn't do a good job with our zone drops. They threw some balls over the middle of the field, and you have to stay in that drop and that spot. That's yours, and if they throw it there, you've got to get a pick. We wandered and got out of our spot. So a lot of things. We let the quarterback get out of the pocket. We talked all week about keeping him in the pocket. There's only a few guys that throw better in the pocket. Most college guys you want to keep in the pocket and not let them get out of the pocket. We let this guy get out of the pocket a bunch, and now you've got to cover forever and there's also an opportunity to run, so we just have to do a better job with our contain rush at times."

On Jarius Monroe not playing much in second half:

"He got a little banged up. He started cramping."

On what happened to turn 28-7 lead into 28-28:

"Well they got momentum on their side. They stole a possession with the onside kick, so that hurts you. There was a point in there where if we get a stop, the game's probably over. Big mo got on their sideline. We just weren't playing as well as we needed to in all three phases. All three phases have to take a little blame for how close it was, but they also have to take a lot of credit for how we won the game."

On Shi'Keem Laister's tackle at 13 on kickoff after Tulane went up 35-28:

"Huge. He's a great special teams player. He just gets better and better every single year. He's 6-1, 205 and runs a 4.3-something 40. He went down and tackled the guy at the 13, and now they have a long field to go. That was a huge play by Shi'Keem on the kickoff team."

On North Texas offense:

"They are an explosive team. They have a great run offense, and we held them to 80-something yards rushing, but they got it rolling throwing the ball and we just had too many mistakes in the pass defense."

On if Tulane subbed as much on defensive line while being banged up:

"We subbed quite a bit. I know nine guys played those four positions, so we played quite a few guys."

On being 6-1 and bowl eligible and no one talking about it:

"We have much bigger goals. We're proud of that. There's not many teams in America that are bowl eligible after seven weeks, but we'll keep going. Tyler talked about it. We have that 1-0 mindset and will start piling these things up. The only way to do that is to prepare the best we can all week. I thought we really prepared well Wednesday on. I wasn't quite sure about Monday and Tuesday, and I talked to the guys about that after practice on Tuesday. And then you have to pull the trigger when game time happens and play your tails off for three-and-a-half hours."

On Michael Pratt rushing for season high but protecting himself, too:

"He did a good job sliding. One of the spots I got upset about because he was sliding. I told the guy you don't spot it when he's thinking about sliding. It's when he begins to slide."

On if not going for field goal with 7-0 lead (Pratt was tackled well short of the first down trying to convert a fourth-and-3 from the 22) was based on analytics:

"Yeah it was. We follow the book. We're pretty aggressive. They follow the book and they were very aggressive as well. They are a client as well, and I thought we did a good job of that. We converted three quarterback sneaks for first downs. Those are big plays when we keep the chains moving."

"

Winwave won the week, missing only the Tennessee-Texas A&M game (Washington-Oregon was a push) while MNAlum was the only other person to get more than half of the games right.

WEEK 6 RESULTS

7.5

winwave

6.5

MNAlum

5.5

WaveOn
chigoyboy
2DatWuzAGoodDay2
Gretna Green
Guerry
DrBox
ForeverU

4.5

p8kpev
roll wave
diverdo
charlamange8
tacklethemanwiththefootball
paliii

3.5

Wavetime
kettrade1

2.5

LSU Law Greenie


OVERALL STANDINGS

34

chigoyboy

31

2DatWuzAGoodDay2

30

winwave
paliii
ForeverTU

29

charlamange8
Wavetime

28

MNAlum
LSU Law Greenie
tacklethemanwiththefootball

27

p8kpev
DrBox

26

WaveON
roll wave
Kettrade1

23

Guerry

22

diverdo (missed 1 week)

21

Gretna Green


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane 17 of 18
Washington-Oregon push
Notre Dame 4
Tennessee 10
LSU 11
Missouri 6
North Carolina 12
UTSA 3

Here's the list:

ALREADY COMMITTED TO TULANE

Armani Cargo
Tyler Mercer
Traville Frederick

COMMITTED ELSEWHERE

1) Jayce Mitchell, a 3-star, 6-2, 285-pound OT from Destrehan who committed to Cincinnati in June

Skinny: Also has offers from Memphis, SMU and Georgia Tech, which he visited in March. Destrehan is 8-0 and has won every game by at least 14 points.

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2) Tah'j Butler, a 3-star, 6-1, 200-pound LB from Karr who committed to Georgia Tech in April

Skinny: Karr is 7-0 and has won every game by double digits. Tulane never has gotten a player from Karr under Fritz.

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3) Rahji Dennis, a 3-star, 6-0, 167-pound WR from Karr who committed to Ole Miss in May

Skinny: Flipping a Rebels commitment would be quite the coup. He also had offers from Miami and Texas A&M among others.

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4) Elijah Garrick, a 3-star, 6-1, 170-pound WR from Lake Charles College Prep who committed to Memphis in August

Skinny: i have never heard of Lake Charles College Prep. So there's that. He also has an offer from Troy.

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5) KJ (Kevon) Merrell, a 2-star, 6-1, 190-pound LB from Crisp County High in Cordele, Ga. who committed to East Carolina in July

Skinny: Listed as athlete by Rivals. Tulane is recruiting his as a linebacker. Already visited Tulane in June.

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6) Elijah Baker, a 2-star, 6-2, 287-pound OG from Hattiesburg who committed to Southern Miss in June.

Skinny: I'm not sure what's going on at USM, but it ain't good. He has no listed offers but the Golden Eagles.

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7) Taron Francis, a 6-0, 200-pound 4-star WR from LSU

Skinny: As usual, Karr is loaded with top prospects.

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UNCOMMITTED

1) Kross Johnson, a 3-star, 5-9, 170-pound WR from Holy Cross

Skinny: Has offers from Texas Tech and Indiana. Visited Texas Tech last November.

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2) Roy Thomas Jenkins, a 3-star, 6-3, 195-pound QB from West Brook in Beaumont, TX

Skinny: It's so Texas to have a double first name of Roy Thomas. Has listed offers from Penn State, Pittsburgh and Houston. West Brook is 0-8 and has been clobbered in every game.

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3) Erick Franklin, Jr., a no-star, 5-11, 165-pound safety from Lake Charles College Prep

Skinny: He has listed offers from Memphis and Troy and a bunch of Louisiana schools.

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4) Colin Brazzell, a no-star, 6-2, 160-pound CB from Midland Legacy in Texas

Skinny: Pretty sure he's better than his rating. Fritz has had success with the Brazzell family, and he has offers from Memphis and Purdue. Listed as WR, but Tulane wants him at CB.

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5) Tylan McNichols, a no-star, 6-0, 205-pound LB from Newton County High in Decatur, Miss.

Skinny: Has offers from Arkansas and UAB.

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2025 RECRUITS

JT Lindsey, a 5-11, 180-pound RB from Alexandria

Joshua Lewis, a 6-5, 220-pound DE from Dutchtown

I do not see a weakness on this team. It has a good passing game, a good running game, an outstanding run defense, a good pass defense, it tackles well, it covers and returns kicks well, it has a good punter and a good placekicker.

That said, Michael Pratt was off in the first half against Memphis. He's a winner and as always he made some huge plays when it mattered most, but Makhi Hughes should have been on the AAC weekly honor roll instead of Pratt. I counted six off-target throws in the first half. He threw short of Yulkeith Brown on a deep out, missed Jha'Quan Jackson on a quick out, overshot Keys deep, threw a near interception on a short sideline pass to Brown when he threw it too far to the inside, overthrew an open Jackson in the corner of the end zone and hit defensive back Cameron Smith in the hands on third-and-goal. Fortunately, Smith dropped it, allowing Tulane to kick a field goal, but if Pratt had been sharp, the Wave would have been ahead at halftime.

Pratt being Pratt, he still made some big plays. His fourth-down bullet to Jackson for a first down threaded a needle with Smith looking like he surely would knock it down and another defender right on the other side of JJ, His scramble on third down on the field goal drive was excellent, with him breaking a tackle to get the first down. His back shoulder throw to Keys for the touchdown that put Tulane up 31-20 was perfectly placed, as was his pass to Chris Brazzell that would have been a 54-yard touchdown if not for an offensive pass interference call. He had one more shaky throw, but Chris Carter, who has been a lot better than his negligible numbers at South Florida suggested, made a nice catch backing up to the goal line of a pass that looked like it was going over his head.

Makhi Hughes is an outstanding running back. I'm still not sure why he did not start from the third game on, but he consistently makes something out of very little. Andre Ware described his big run on the opening drive accurately, saying he got skinny to get through a tiny hole and into the open field. You can win championships with a back like Hughes, who lacks Tyjae Spears' breakaway ability but has everything else you want in a bell cow back--vision, timing, toughness and physicality. He had some good blocking too, particularly on a big run in the second half when Shadre Hurst pulled and Alex Bauman shielded his man, but there were several plays when the other backs on the team would have been held to minor gains. He also has become really good at picking up blitzes, the one thing he did not do in the opener when Pratt got crushed and fumbled.

I'm not even going out on a limb by predicting Brazzell is going to be a superstar. He had three catches for 103 yards and it would have been four catches for 157 yards without the pass interference call. Although the replay was not clear, I think it probably was the right call because he achieved separation with the push from his off hand, but it definiitely was a move the officials often let go. The way he caught that first Pratt pass with his back to the goal line was impressive, and the way he shielded a defender from the ball with his tall frame for another big catch was picture perfect. Ware said more than once that Tulane could throw the ball on almost every down and be effective because of the talent and speed at receiver, and I agree, although the balanced approach is still the right one. Brazzell has a different skill set than the other three guys and will just get better and better as he matures and gains strength. I've said from day 1 of preseason camp that this was the best group of receivers in Fritz's tenure, and they have not even found a way to get Dontae Fleming, who looked good in August, comfortable and involved. Brown, though, looks like a different player than he was in the spring and preseason camp.

The Tulane defense had a rocky three-possession stretch spanning the end of the first half and the start of the second, but give credit where credit is due. Seth Henigan, who was inconsistent for most of the night, threw a pair of gorgeous touchdown passes for the first and third scores. Lance Robinson was beaten on the first one, but he recovered to clobber the receiver just after the ball got to him and he still held on. If that ball had been underthrown an inch, it would have been incomplete. And the third TD, which beat Robinson and DJ Douglas, was a thing of beauty, floating perfectly into the corner of the end zone. The second touchdown, which I thought was a busted coverage live, looked like a poor scheme on review, with linebacker Tyler Grubbs badly outmatched and fooled by a stutter step move. Fritz said afterward Tulane had played too much man coverage in the first half and was going to play more zone in the second half. I'm not sure he was totally pleased with Shiel Wood's decisions at the end of the second quarter.

Other nuggets:

--Jesus Machado came in untouched on a blitz when he lined up on the line of scrimmage. Nice wrinkle. In fact, Ware thought Machado was a defensive lineman on the play.

--I liked the I formation on the first TD, with Hughes lining up as the fullback and getting to the end zone before Memphis knew what had hit it.

--On the fourth-down conversion that failed, Josh Remetich elected not to block the guy lined up right in the middle, who came in untouched and forced Pratt to thrown earlier than he wanted. That was either a scheme or player failure. I know a lot of people, including Ware, think there should have been a flag for the interference on Brazzell, but I'm not a believer in bailing out a team for a busted play. Brazzell was not going to catch that pass anyway, but yes, there definitely was illegal contact.

--Tulane missed more tackles than usual, but they also were facing better players. I agree with Ware that Blankumsee is a big-time receiver. He reversed field on a dime twice, turning shorter gains into huge gains.

--Kam Pedescleaux is an upgrade on Andre Sam even though Sam is second on the team in tackles at LSU, one behind the leader. Pedescleaux's alertness on his interception was the most important play of the game, and his touchdown-saving tackle on the next series was huge, too, when he tripped up the guy about to run free in the open field. He then tipped the third-and-long pass to stop the drive.

--Darius Hodges was fresh at the end of the game because Tulane rotates constantly on the defensive line, allowing him to make two huge third-down sacks. A different guy steps up every week on the line.

--This looked like a game between a very confident team that could overcome some bad patches and a team coached by a guy who is below .500 in conference play since taking over the reigns of a team that made the AAC Championship Game three years in a row. Tulane did not flinch when it received the massive gut punch of three TDs in three series. Memphis definitely flinched when Tulane responded with its own run of three TDs in three series.

Friloux, Anderson, and Pines did not play yesterday which was not a surprise based on reports this past week.

I hope Jarius Monroe‘s injury isn’t all that serious. He got hurt early and came back to play sporadically the rest of the game but never for extended run.

Darius Swanson also did not play. I did not know he was injured. Guerry do you have any info?
He has given us snaps at safety so without him Webb got some safety snaps.

Taliancich got some DT snaps as did Parker Peterson. Matthew Fobbs White got some meaningful snaps on Dline. All of those guys haven’t really been in the rotation this year.

Shadie Clayton Johnson did not see the field. He was dressed with his helmet on so I assume he was healthy.

Guerry, shouldn’t this be a big week for on campus recruiting? If yes, any details?

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

Tulane (-20) North Texas
Ohio State (-4.5) Penn State
Florida State (-13.5) Duke
Alabama (-9) Tennessee
USC (-7) Utah
Miami (+3) Clemson
Navy (+10.5) Air Force
UAB (+6.5) Memphis