Tulane is fortunate Gerry Bohanon got injured in the first half, but those are the breaks teams sometimes get on their way to championships. The defense was sloppy, and the Wave made too many mistakes all the way around, but it still covered the point spread in a 45-31 win in Tampa as Michael Pratt threw for a career-high 329 yards (surpassing last week's career-high 326) and Tyjae Spears ripped off a tie-breaking 75-yard touchdown run. This team can win in a lot of different ways.

Willie Fritz, Nick Anderson, Pratt and Spears were available on Zoom after the game.

FRITZ

On making mistakes but still winning by 14:

"Well we didn't play clean the whole ball game. I was disappointed there at the very end. We've got a few (backup) guys in there and we've got to just execute. You want to try to play as many guys as you possibly can, but we ran and threw well. That hasn't been the case really a whole bunch this season where we've done both of them well. That was a huge run to begin the second half by Tyjae, a big takeaway by the defense to get another touchdown and then all of a sudden we're up 14. It was a great catch by Duece (Watts) at the end of the first half. It was a great goal line stand to hold them to a field goal and make it 17-17 instead of being down 21-17, so a very good job by them."

On it being earliest date Tulane has ever gotten to six wins:

"it's great. We're excited about bowl eligibility, but to be honest with you, I haven't talked to our guys about it at all. We slipped up a few weeks ago and we just told everybody, hey,, we need to focus on the task at hand. That's how we are going to win, by having excellent preparation, and if we do that every week, we have a chance to be successful. I thought we had a really good week of preparation. We were within a whisker of three or four really big plays in the first half running the ball, and we got those in the second half. Good overall team win today, fighting some adversity and overcoming it."

On Pratt having career high for second week in a row:

"We needed to be a little bit more consistent on protection or we might have had a few more huge plays, but overall we had some good schemed up pass plays where we had some wide open guys at times, and when that happens, we've got to have protection. Our offensive line did a really nice job with protection for the most part. Then when you're balancing it with the run game, they have to play balanced up on the line of scrimmage. They can't pin their ears back. I'm proud of Shaadie Clayton at the end of the game. He really came in and finished the game out there at the very end. He's been looking for that opportunity, and you never know when the opportunity is going to present itself. We presented it to him, and he did a good job of taking advantage of it."

On if any intentional grounding penalty in last two minutes of half is automatic 10-second run-off (unless team uses timeout to prevent it):

"Correct."

On Duece Watts TD catch with one second left in first half:

"Well, we were taking a little bit of a risk doing that, but we felt like we had enough time. We got the ball off. Really nice throw by Mike and catch by Duece. It was a good job by those guys."

On Gerry Bohanon hurting defense before getting hurt:

"He was playing well. He really can run it. I hope the young man's OK."

On defense giving up more big plays than normal:

"It's going to happen occasionally. When you play 70-something snaps. you've got to be really disciplined with all 11 guys. There's an infinite amount of situations and scenarios and motions and shifts and all those different things. We had a couple where we didn't get lined up properly or have our eyes on the right guy, but we made some big plays also on defense. That play after Tyjae's run was huge. A big kickoff cover tackle (at the 13) by Dorian Williams. We had the fumble recovery and took it down to the 3 or 4 (actually the 6) and we get a touchdown. Those were big, game-changing type plays. They've got some weapons, and their quarterback is a good player. Bohanon is a really nice player."

On Tylo Phillips causing fumble from QB:

"We're rolling some guys. It was pretty warm down here at the beginning of the game. We played quite a few guys on the defensive line. Tylo's been getting better and better every single week since he got here. He didn't have the benefit of spring ball like a lot of transfers, and he's been getting better every week. Angelo Anderson had a big snap. There was good pressure. There are a few things we need to get cleaned up. We'll get that done, but it was a big-time team win. I was glad we were able to put together a lot of good plays in all three phases throughout the game."

On possibly being ranked:

"I don't talk about all that stuff. I really don't. I didn't say one word to them about being bowl eligible. I never said anything about being ranked in the top 25. If we keep doing a good job being 1-0 every week, all those things will take care of themselves."

NICK ANDERSON

On defense's performance:

"It's tough to come on the road and get a victory, so I'm grateful for that, but just knowing the style of defense we want to play, today wasn't the type of defense we wanted to play. We gave up 30-something points. That's not the standard, so we definitely gotta get in on Sunday and make some corrections, but I'm just grateful we came on the road and beat a talented team. Their record doesn't say how talented they are as a team, and to come in here on their homecoming and get a win, that's a blessing."

On difference once Bohanon went out:

"Most definitely. He's a talented guy. Hopefully his injury wasn't serious, but when he went out, they had to be more of a one-dimensional offense, trying to get the ball to No. 21 on the edge, trying to run the ball and do different things, but they stuck to the RPO game, inside-zone game, so it was something we had seen regardless of who the quarterback was."

On Spears TD, stuffed kickoff return and big forced fumble right after it:

"It just shows the effort on all three phases, to see Tyjae have a huge run on offense and to see us handle business in the kicking game and then have Tylo step up and force a huge fumble, it just shows what happens when all three phases are able to execute. That's championship ball, and that's something we have to be consistent in going through the rest of the season."

On having Spears on his team:

"Tyjae, man, he's an amazing, humble guy. He works hard, and I love to just see him reaping his blessings every time he touches that field. It's good to see guys, especially Ashaad Clayton at the end of the game being able to run the ball and make a couple of plays. You know, his grandmother passed away a couple weeks ago, so to just see him have the opportunity to make some plays is really good, but I'm proud of Tyjae, I'm proud of the running backs, I'm proud of the offense."

On possible top 25 ranking:

"Beat Memphis. If we are in the top 25, that's cool, and if we're not, that's cool. The goal is to go 1-0 next week."

On position for conference championship game:

"I love our position. We just are keeping the small things, coming to work every day and are staying humble. If we keep having a 1-0 mentality each week, then we'll be playing in that conference championship."

Justin Ibieta talked yesterday, and credit to Ed Daniels for asking him to come in for interviews. I assumed they would not make him available, but I was wrong.

On how he feels:

"My shoulder is doing good. I'm starting the rehab process again, and it will go smoother."

On exact injury:

"It's my labrum again. I tore it. It's a little bit more severe. It will just take longer to recover, but I know what I'm doing this time."

On timetable for return:

"I'm not really sure. I don't think spring practice I will be able to throw again, but I'll be working back towards the beginning of it at that point."

On frustration:

"It's frustrating. Obviously I wanted to go out there and show what I could do, but the team was able to get the win anyway. That's all that really matters."

On not running out of bounds:

"I wish I would have run out of bounds to be honest, but next time I'm in that situation, hopefully I'll make a different decision. That's all I've got to say on that. So far I'm used to putting my shoulder down. I probably need to cut that out."

On knowing right away:

"It felt pretty similar, yeah. I dislocated it and had to go back in the X-ray room and get it checked out immediately, so I thought so."

On if he feels unlucky:

"It's just football. Stuff happens. You can say I'm unlucky, but it's the game we play."

Kanan Ray did not practice today, but no announcement has been made on his status for Saturday's homecoming game against Memphis. If he cannot play, it would mark the first time a Tulane starting offensive lineman missed a game since Corey Dublin sat out the 2020 finale against Memphis due to COVID.

Trey Tuggle and Josh Remetich, both former starters themselves, filled in admirably for Ray after he got hurt against South Florida, although Tuggle totally whiffed on his first play after replacing Ray on the opening drive. Ray appeared to injure his left leg after getting pushed backwards by a pass rusher. He did not get tangled up on anybody but must have taken a wrong step as he stumbled. I do not know what his status will be, but it is the spot where Tulane could most afford an injury up front. The competition between Ray and Tuggle was the only close one on the offensive line in preseason camp, and while Prince Pines has looked very solid at left guard, Ray has been up and down at right guard. I have no idea how he has graded out, but that has been my impression.

Today, the first-team line had Tuggle and the usual suspects. The second-team line was Sully Burns, Shadre Hurst, Caleb Thomas, Remetich and Matt Lombardi from left to right. The third-team line had Burns again, Hutson Lillibridge, Ethan Marcus, Jackson Fort and Nik Hogan from left to right. The scout-team line, when they broke up into those units, had Keanon McNally, Joseph Solomon, Marcus, Fort and Hogan from left to right.

Michael Pratt has looked sharp in practice again this week. Yesterday he threw a dart to Shae Wyatt in the back of the end zone. It certainly helps that he has seven receivers on pace to catch 20 passes this year (Jha'Quan Jackson, Shae Wyatt, Duece Watts, Dea Dea McDougle, Tyjae Spears, Lawrence Keyes and Tyrick James all have between 14 and 19 through seven games). Last year Tulane barely had three, with Duece Watts catching 21. behind Wyatt's 33 and Tyrick James' 31, and that matched the high in the Willie Fritz era. There were two in 2020 (Duece Watts and Jha'Quan Jackson), three in 2019 (Darnell Mooney, Jalen McCleskey, Amari Jones), two in 2018 (Mooney and Terren Encalade), two in 2017 (Encalade and Mooney) and two in 2016 (Encalade and Mooney). The last time Tulane had more than four receivers with 20 catches was six in 2014 under Curtis Johnson.

FRITZ

On having seven guys capable of catching 20 or more passes:

"It's big. You don't want people to be able to gang up on, in this personnel grouping or this formation, you're throwing it to this guy. Our offensive coaches have done a very nice job of spreading the ball around, but also not giving a tell to the defense about what we're running or who could possibly get the ball. They've done an excellent job of that."

On having success with motion into the backfield or having a tight end lined up in the backfield:

"It's real important. It is complicated, but the thing we've done an excellent job of is getting it installed and working on most of it on Monday and all of it on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday morning. I've been around coordinators or teams where I was always having to fight that. Don't be adding stuff on Thursday, and certainly don't be adding stuff on Friday, but people do. Coach Hampton does a great job of that defensively as well. We've got our game plan in quicker, but it's also multiple enough. We're changing pieces a little bit. Something that looked this way the week before looks a little bit different the next week, so they've done a good job of that."

On potential for getting full crowd:

"We'd love to. I say it all the time, if you come out here to a game, you'll enjoy it. It's a very intimate setting, and it's a lot better for football than people probably understand. We'd love to have a full crowd."

On what he means when he says servant-leader, one of his favorite phrases, when he talks about Pratt, Tyjae Spears, Sincere Haynesworth and others:

"Oh, the first thing that Mike is going to do or Tyjae, you know, Tyjae cleans up the locker room. Michael, any time I ask him to do anything, he'll do it. He works with all sorts of different things, a lot of stuff I don't even know about. He leads a Bible study. They are looking to help people. You see them helping people rather than telling them about how they are helping people. They are not looking for credit, either, and we've got a lot of guys like that. A servant-leader is what you're looking for."

TYRICK JAMES

On lining up in different spots (he scored TD against ECU after lining up in backfield):

"It's real fun. Getting a hold of coach Boda's offense has been a real fun deal since he's gotten here. It's not complicated at all. It's very easy. It's not many signals you have to memorize. It's just the plays and we have the wristband, which makes it that much easier."

On seven guys who can catch 20 passes:

"It's helped a lot. At times when we can't run the ball, we get what we've got to get with the passing game. Not to be selfish. Everybody eats here."

Slow start personally but has picked it up a lot:

"My brother, who's a head coach, he's always said don't rush the time. Your time is coming. Whenever you're not getting your passes or your touchdowns in a game, don't be down on yourself because God has a timing for everything."

On offense tough to stop:

"Very tough. We like everybody getting the ball. Whoever gets the ball it's just go be able to make plays."

On crowd Saturday:

"I'm hoping for a big crowd. It's homecoming and we're 6-1. We want New Orleans to come out."

On ECU crowd:

"We try not to worry about the crowd. Once we hit the field and once it's kickoff time, we're not worried about who's in the stands."

DEA DEA MCDOUGLE

On catch that was ruled incomplete before being overturned by replay:

"I was really shocked at the time, but I wasn't too shocked just because of the simple fact that I got up without handing the ball to the ref. The ref behind me was the one that actually made the call. I was shocked, but at the same time I have to stand up and give the ball to the ref, so that's on me."

On relationship with Pratt:

"Me and Pratt have always had a great relationship. Before here we were great friends. We grew up in the same neighborhood. We were both from Boca Raton, so that's where it all started. Obviously we played our senior year in high school together. That was a fun experience. We met actually at a 7 on 7. I was deciding where I was going to go in high school between Boca Raton, where he went to school, and Deerfield. I chose Deerfield, and Pratt was really upset about that, but that's kind of where we built that connection--that seven on seven and he's seen me make a lot of plays. I played offense and defense, and he saw I was a standout guy right away and just wanted to throw balls to me right away. That's where it all started."

On happy Pratt transferred to Deerfield Beach for senior year:

"Yeah, of course. While he was at Boca I was still watching the games. I was still paying attention to him. I wanted him over there bad and we were always talking all the time. He came his senior year and we made some magic.

On what makes Pratt good:

"His intellect for the game of football. He's a very smart player. He's just a natural born leader all around, a great guy that everyone wants to be around. Since the first day I met him he's just really funny, cool and just great to be around. He's an all-around good person."

On transferring to Tulane from Maryland:

"I'm not going to say it was very easy, but at the same time I made my mind up sooner than later. I made an easy decision just by talking to Pratt and communicating with him, and talking with my parents. It took off from there."

On motion a lot in this offense:

"It's very fun actually. I'm still getting adjusted to the playbook, but I feel like I became an instant impact player in this offense. It's really exciting, and I'm going to keep working."

On spring:

"Coming in just learning the new system and learning all the guys, it took me some time to get adjusted, and I'm still getting adjusted, but I've come a long way of course. It took some time."

On his best strength:

"Just awareness, just being aware of my surroundings on the field. I feel I'm a very smart player on the field and off the field. I have really strong hands and run really great routes. Man-to-man coverage, I win."

On seven guys who can catch 20 passes:

"It helps a lot because it takes a lot of pressure off the quarterback for one. I just feel like all the guys in the receiver room are great guys. No one's selfish or anything like that. Everyone wants to see everyone win. It's really a great receiver room."

On what happened at Maryland:

"I definitely keep up with those guys, even on social media and everything these days, we still talk. Just at Maryland I watched myself fall farther and farther down the depth chart. I made a business decision and took it from there."

On potential for big crowd Saturday:

"Oh my God, it would be great. I've been talking to my teammates and they've been telling me how last year not many people came to the games. This year everything is different all around. to look up and see people come and fill the stadium would be really great."

On being ranked:

"I don't really pay attention to the top 25, but to see us ranked, it's been such a long time, so it's a really great feeling."

Just finished transcribing him:

FRITZ

Opening statement:

"Our guys played pretty well last week, especially offensively. We had 564 yards and left a couple of scores out there. There's still a lot of room for improvement. Defensively they had the big play at the very end when we had a few other guys in, but overall it was a good effort. South Florida has got a good team. They had tough games with Cincinnati and Florida and we had to play extremely well to get that win. We're looking forward to this week against Memphis and homecoming. I've been here enough now that I have a lot former players wanting tickets, believe it or not. I said you've got to buy those. No, we'll have a good crowd here on Saturday. I'm just excited about the opportunity. Memphis has had a couple of tough games the last couple weeks, but they are very talented. We know that from playing them the last few years."

On reaction to ranking:

"We're proud of it, no doubt about that, but you just have to keep moving on. The thing we talk about is 1-0 every week and getting better. It's. nice to make adjustments and corrections after a win, but there are a lot of things we can do better offensively, defensively and on special teams. We had a couple of penalties on special teams. We need to get out of that business. It kills you in that phase more than offense and defense. We talked about finishing drives. There's a lot of room for improvement."

On sustaining success:

"It's being consistent day after day after day. If you come out here, you'd be hard pressed to see me different from one day to the next. I'm very consistent in how I coach and present information to the players and our coaches do a good job of that. I'm a schedule guy. If we have a great game, it doesn't carry over to the next one. We flush that one down the toilet and start again. We talk about that during preseason camp. Our kids know that's how we approach things."

On Svoboda:

"He's done an excellent job. We were a little disappointed two weeks ago about our rushing output, and this was the kind of balance that I like to see. The running game can really help the pass game out. Sometimes it doesn't really help the other way around. Some people think it does, but I don't think it does. Jim Svoboda's done an excellent job. Slade Nagel, John McMenamin, Naghavi, Derrick Sherman, we had quite a few additions to the offensive staff and they've really meshed well together."

On feedback on campus about how meaningful success is:

"One of the best thing that Troy Dannen's done is right over here is where everybody's housed and then right over there is the rest of the people in volleyball and basketball, and the Green Wave Grille is right around the corner, so I get to know all the student-athletes and all the coaches and we all root for each other. I've been around here long enough now that I get to know the players. I go watch a basketball game, I know those guys. The baseball guys I walk by every day. Their locker room is right next to our offices. It's not like that at other players that I've been in. The football program is sequestered in one part of campus and you don't ever see anybody else. We all work for each other. I don't have any hobbies. When I get time off, my wife and I go watch basketball games. I feel bad because I don't get to go to the volleyball games because I'm working so much, but I probably made almost every home baseball game last year. I enjoy supporting the other sports."

More on feedback he's gotten:

"They are fired up. They are all excited. After the game I get a text from probably seven or eight coaches of other sports. They are watching. I do the same thing after they have big wins. It's unique. It's not like this at other Division I places. Sometimes they don't know who the other coachers are. They're not around them. We're.a small university in a big city. We've got 8,000 students. What's good, too, is I get to know some of the students over the course of their career here."

On Spears as NFL prospect:

"Mark Sadowski was in here yesterday. He's the player personnel director for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and the general manager of the Steelers is Omar Khan, and he's a Tulane guy, also. He's behind a lot of our guys, but the one thing about those scouts is they make their own mind up. Just like when I go out and recruit in high school, I want to hear about what they think about the guy as a kid but I want to decide whether or not he can play at this level, but I certainly believe Tajae is a guy who can definitely play at the next level. He's a complete back, and that's a unique talent. Some guys have to play on third down. Some guys can only carry the ball. Some guys aren't assignment sound. Some guys can't catch.out of the backfield. Some guys aren't good in the kicking game. He can do all that stuff."

On getting crowd:

"As far as getting them out here on Saturday, come on out. I say it all the time. There's not a bad seat in the house. I really feel like if you come, you'll get hooked. It's a really neat thing to come watch a game. I know I sometimes sit there at the top when high school teams play and I really enjoy watching them up there. It's a great place to watch a game. It really is. If they come to watch, they'll see it's a really good product. This is good football. We're going to have I really believe over the course of the next four years 10 to 15 guys that will have an opportunity to play in the NFL, and Memphis will probably have the same thing."

On ball security against Memphis:

"I don't know if you saw the Jumbotron here at practice. That's all we had up there was talk about ball security. It's huge, and it's the No. 1 thing I coach. We were plus-1 last week and plus-2 the week before that. I think my winning percentage when we are plus in turnover/takeaway is 91 percent. That's the easiest path to victory. I've lost very few games plus-2 or better, like two. It's always important every game. Very important."

On Pratt difference:

It is everybody. It's the scout-team guys. It's the managers and the trainers and the coaches and the players obviously, but Mike's having a great year. He's a really smart player. He's another guy who is a great student, and it carries over to football from the classroom as well. He throws a pretty ball, runs it well and makes people have to defend both the run and pass. He's having an outstanding season. He's had a huge influence. He's a servant-leader, so he really helps out in that regard, too."

On having good leaders who are responsible for this year's turnaround:

"You hope that it happens. It's got to happen naturally. It can't be something that I force feed--hey listen to this guy, he's a leader. The four captains that we have (Pratt, Dorian Williams, Nick Anderson, Sincere Haynesworth) are all servant-leaders. Three of the four have already graduated. All of them are great students and all of them work extremely hard, so they are someone to emulate and listen to. Our players chose great captains. These guys have embraced being a captain. Any time you are player led, it helps you. But as I've said many times before, I was proud of our guys last year. I had very few problems or issues in a tough, tough season. That is indicative of the guys we recruit."

Fritz appeared on Jim Rome today.

Fritz on Jim Rome Show

Tyjae Spears practices hard every day, but he appeared to have an extra bounce in his step today as Tulane continued to prepare for Saturday's game against Memphis. Spears rushed for 264 yards in a transcendent performance against the Tigers last year and is coming off a career-long 75 touchdown against South Florida. Memphis has been pretty stout against the run this year, permitting only 3.4 yards per carry, but it will be tested against Spears.

Here is what Spears had to say after practice:

On Memphis game last year:

"It was the highlight of my career of course, but it doesn't matter any more. It's in the past. It's just another opportunity."

On difference offensively this year with Jim Svoboda as coordinator:

"Everybody is locked in. Everybody is being held accountable from every position group. A lot of moving parts, but it's all beneficial to the players."

On how new offense affected him:

"It made be more versatile. Credit to my coach (Derrick Sherman), he expanded my learning and my understanding about the game from pass protection to the running the ball to catching all these different things. He helped me gain this mindset that I didn't have coming into last year."

On preparing harder for Memphis no they will be gunning for him:

"I kind of told myself that earlier in the week, but this is an opportunity I'm willing to take. Not bragging, but I think they are gunning for me every week. It's not going to be anything different. They are a good team, though."

On how it feels to really be himself again:

"You think I'm myself. I don't think so, but it feels better to keep on progressing week by week. It feels better. I'm still striving to get some kinks I want to work out. I work by the week, by the day really."

On being too hard on himself:

"Yes. I hate that. Sometimes I just need to chill. I'm thinking about ways I could have made something better or broke a tackle or gotten the ball to the end zone, but I'm starting to learn everything isn't going to be perfect. You've got to work with you have and make the best of the opportunity when you get it."

On not being back to where he wants to be:

"It's not that. I'm way past where I was last year, but sometimes I beat myself in my mind overthinking. Once I shut that out, I'll be just fine. I'm still working on that."

On phrases Fritz uses that help him lock in:

"That might be the bets one--1-0. That means every day you go out there and work. Tomorrow doesn't matter. I was just telling my running backs that. Tomorrow doesn't matter. It's about what you can do today, how good of a person you can be today on and off the field and how you can motivate the man next to you. Pratt was just talking about it, but he doesn't know how much him and Sincere and all the other guys how much of a motivation it is every day to me because some days I'll be out there and be like, man. I'm blessed to be around those type of guys. 1-0 mean take it one day at a time, one step at a time and really one play at at time."

On back-to-back TD:

"I didn't do it by myself.I had some great blocks on that play. I'd be lying to you if I said I made that play by myself. I saw a lot of green grass and just ran as fast as I could. I didn't do it all by myself. Shoutout to the tight end and the wide receivers and everybody who was blocking on that play. And on the second touchdown, Iverson Celestine had a great block. I didn't do it by myself."

On if anything said about not letting ranking affect them:

"Yes, it has because those same people who support you just because you are ranked, if we didn't win that game last week, that would have been the same people that were talking about you. Those are the same people that were down talking us and now they're saying, oh, we're ranked. You can't feed into the hype. Outside factors don't really matter. If you're not within this program trying to help us go out there and win today and be 1-0 every day and not even worried about Saturday right now but be 1-0 Tuesday. That doesn't really matter. And 25 is just a number. They just put us in there because we're winning. That's how we're looking at it."

On Haynesworth motivation:

"Sincere came out and he pushed everybody today. He was like, I bet I'll be the hardest working person at Tulane today. I'm going to work harder than everybody on the field and on campus. No matter where he is, he said he's going to work harder than everybody. The teachers, the professors, the janitors, everybody. We do stuff like that, and today was really, really fun."

On feeling buzz on campus:

"We still can try to get more excitement on campus. We had a rough year last year, so we still are making people believers right now, but once we win a few more games, we are going to have that excitement. To have that stadium full would be a good feeling."

On being best team in state:

"I was telling myself like maybe they shouldn't have ranked us. No, man, we worked for that. The defense did an incredible job and the offense stepped up this last week. We only had two wins last year, so we deserve that, but like coach Fritz said, we aren't nowhere done yet, so we're going 1-0, win the day."

On Dorian Williams saying he could catch Spears in open field:

"You know I don't brag, but between me and you, he's lying."

DORIAN WILLIAMS

On Spears:

"Tyjae's a dog. He's been great since I've met him. It goes farther than just his play on the field. He's a great character. He's a great team guy. We love seeing him going out there and balling. Not too many people are going to catch him in the open field. I think I would catch him, but we're on the same team."

FRITZ

On Spears:

"He loves football. He's just a complete football player. We talk about that all the time. People probably don't notice it, but he is a great pass protector. He gets in the middle of linebackers, blitzing safeties from the edge. He had to do that five or six times. Sometimes running backs or receivers will take an angle to arrive late. They don't quite get there because there's some physical stuff going on when you get there. Tyjae takes the proper angle and gets right in the middle of them. He catches the ball well and runs well inside and out on the perimeter. He's an overall really good player."

On Spears being hard on himself:

"He's got great attention to detail. Last week he played 44 plays and was 44 of 44 on assignment. He's an outstanding student. I think he's 3.5 or something like that and he carries that over to football from the classroom, too."

I have a doctor's appointment today, so I will get all of the quotes up later. Justin Ibieta talked and said his torn labrum was worse than last year's, so he does not expect to be ready by next spring. He said the rehab process would be easier this time, though, since he knows what he is going to go through.

Looks like Memphis has had some significant injuries.

Hard to get any info though on their status for Tulane game. I guess we get spoiled with all the NFL injury reports.

Garland Gillen of Fox Sports 8 voted Tulane 20th. Leah Vann of my newspaper voted Tulane 25th and LSU 24th.

They are the two Louisiana voters in the AP poll.

Garland told me he has consistently put Tulane ahead of Kansas State since the Wave beat the Wildcats on the road.

Overall, Tulane got one 18th place vote, one 19th place vote, six 20th place votes, two 21st place votes, four 22nd place votes, five 23rd place votes, four 24th place votes, 15 25th place votes and was left off the ballot of 25 voters.

My overall impressions after re-watching Tulane's 24-9 win:

--Michael Pratt was sacked five times in the second half, but three of the five were on him or on good coverage downfield. On the first one, Joey Claybrook got overpowered. On the third one, Rashad Green got beaten, and Kanan Ray did not help out, either. The others were coverage sacks. On the fourth one, the Pirates rushed only three, and Pratt ran right into the sack. The sacks came on four drives. Three ended in punts. The other ended in a 42-yard field goal after Pratt was sacked at the 25. Tulane struggles to overcome long down and distances, so he needs to be better at throwing the ball away. He definitely wants to avoid interceptions, but you don't have to throw it up for grabs when getting rid of the ball.

--Tulane missed more tackles in this game than any other--I count five on ECU's early drive for a field goal--but it did not matter because of the way the Wave rallies to the ball. None of the misses resulted in huge gains, and some credit goes to ECU, which has good running backs and good wide receivers. The bottom line is Tulane held a pretty good offense to 9 points.

--It looked like Macon Clark messed up on ECU's lone touchdown because of a miscommunication, but he is having a first-team All-AAC caliber year. On the first series, Keaton Mitchell tried to bounce to the outside, which worked like a charm for him last year. This time, Clark nailed him for a 2-yard loss on third-and-5, forcing a punt. The next time ECU had the ball, Clark read a quick pass to the outside on third-and-7 from the 9 and dropped a receiver for a 1-yard loss, forcing a field goal. He leads the team in tackles for loss and interceptions and is just having a heck of a year, proving me totally wrong when I speculated in preseason camp he was more effective at free safety than at nickelback.

--I don't know how anyone could have been upset at the refs not throwing a flag for roughing on Tulane's first punt. As clear as day, Noah Taliancich shoved the rusher into Casey Glover. Tulane is fortunate Glovr did not get hurt.

--Tulane's run blocking has to get better. The Wave failed to rush for 100 yards against Houston or ECU. Typical of the struggles was a Tyjae Spears no gain on the opening series when Green and Ray missed blocks. giving him nowhere to run. A little later, Green blocked no one when Spears was cut down for a 2-yard loss on first-and-goal from the 1. I'd put run blocking as Tulane's biggest concern heading into the second half of the season, although the Wave could get well against USF's putrid run defense.

--Pratt missed more throws than I realized during the game, but I'm OK if he plays like this every week because he hit the ones that matters with gorgeous tosses to Jha'Quan Jackson down the sideline and the back-to-back big plays to Duece Watts on the TD drive in the second half. A quarterback does not need to be perfect, but he needs to be clutch, and that is what Pratt was Saturday. He'd love to have that early throw back to Lawrence Keys on the slant, though. Keys could have caught it, but if Pratt had led him, it likely would have been a 90-yard touchdown. Instead, he threw it high and slightly behind him, and Keys could not hold on. A couple of other throws, particularly the one after Kai Horton replaced him and threw a dart for a first down, looked like they slipped out of his hand. Still, I had to chuckle when someone told me the student section was calling for Horton to stay in the game. He definitely made some big plays against Houston, but Tulane managed a total of three first downs on six possessions in between its first-half touchdown and the one in the final minute.

--Darius Hodges and Devean Deal are an excellent combo at joker. Hodges probably would have about three or four sacks instead of one if he had not put on 15 pounds during the offseason, but he constantly pressures the quarterback. Deal is just a hustler. He deflected one pass while rushing the quarterback and nearly knocked down another one while dropping into coverage in a short zone, something Tulane's defense requires of jokers. That second one was almost intercepted by Jadon Canady, but Deal's presence likely influenced a bad throw. One play earlier, he was not fooled at all by a shovel pass to a receiver in motion, stuffing it for a 1-yard loss. There is a drop-off when Carlos Hatcher plays joker, but not when Deal is in there.

--Tulane credited Elijah Champaigne with the blocked field goal at the end of the second quarter. but it definitely was Patrick Jenkins. He's just an all-around excellent player, better than Jeffery Johnson, whose highs were really high but who's lows were considerably lower than Jenkins' consistency. If I had to pick the most important of the 10 transfer portal guys to this point--nine of whom are making a positive impact--I'd go with Jenkins. He forced a holding call on one play in the third quarter. His sack in the second half game on a bull rush when he just pushed a blocker back to the quarterback.

--Dorian Williams made a great tackle on Mitchell on ECU's first series of the second half. Again, Tulane is making some really good backs look average this year. The freshman backup, Gunn, from Baton Rouge had a lot more success than Mitchell on Saturday, although Lummie Young knocked him backwards on one run right before Larry Brooks' pivotal interception in the end zone.

--Brooks made a good break on the interception in the end zone, but if Holton Ahlers had thrown it earlier, it probably would have been a touchdown. Ahlers is by no means a great quarterback, getting a lot of his numbers because of the system and the skill players around him, but he is capable of making a quicker decision than he did there. He said in an article in Greenville that he felt pressured into trying to hit a big play because Tulane gave him few opportunities, saying he should have gone to a checkdown receiver. I don't agree. He just should have thrown that ball sooner.

--Pratt was given a lot of time before he found Bryce Bohanon for a 21-yard gain. Again, the offensive line did not play nearly as poorly in pass protection as the five second-half sacks would indicate. It gave Pratt time to let Watts get open on the crossing route for his first big gain and then again on this play.

--I love what Tulane's offensive staff is doing with extra players in the backfield. Tyrick James lined up as a fullback before catching the first touchdown, getting wide open on a simple pattern ECU did not appear ready to defend. The fly sweep Keys took on a shovel pass on Tulane's final field goal drive was well executed, too. As Fritz told me this week, defenders eyes go in the wrong place as they try to follow Tulane's motion, and the fact Keys and Dea Dea McDougle can do damage on sweeps or quick passes on the run is a huge difference from last year.

Small favorites Kansas State and North Carolina won outright but still didn't cover, changing the results of week 6 significantly. There was a third push, too, with Kansas and TCU.

WEEK 6 RESULTS

7.5

MNAlum
Gretna Green

6.5

winwave
charlamange8
diverdo
roll wave
LSU Law Greenie
Guerry

5.5

DrBox
chigoyboy
WaveON
wavetime
ny oscar
paliii

3.5

p8kpev
2DatWuzAGoodDay2

2.5

Kettrade1


OVERALL STANDINGS

35.5

DrBox

33.5

MNAlum
charlamange8

30.5

chigoyboy
WaveON
diverdo

29.5

winwave
Guerry

28.5

Gretna Green
ny oscar
roll wave

25

paliii (missed 1 week)

23.5

wavetime (missed 1 week)

22

tacklethemanwiththefootball (missed 1 week)

21.

LSU Law Greenie (missed 1 week)

20.5

p8kpev

18.5

Kettrade1
2DatWuzAGoodDay2 (missed 1 week)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane 16 of 17
Tennessee 16
Texas 14
Iowa State 4
Notre Dame 11
UCLA 6
FSU 5

As always, the Tulane game counts double, home teams are listed first, neutral games are designated as such (unless I don't realize they are neutral, as was the case with BYU-Notre Dame) and the point spreads come from VegasInsider.com consensus:

South Florida (+12) Tulane
Michigan (-7) Penn State
Tennessee (+7) Alabama
TCU (-4) Oklahoma State
Syracuse (-3.5) North Carolina State
Florida (-2.5) LSU
East Carolina (-5) Memphis
Utah (-3.5) USC

After two games I know I have seen Hampton, McMenamin and Discher on the sideline. I haven't seen Svoboda so unless I have missed him he must be in the booth. Our last few OC's liked being on the sideline but I always thought they would get a better view from the booth. I have to imagine Svoboda's comfort level with McMenamin has something to do with that arrangement.

Guerry, do you know the rest of the breakdown?

BullsInsider.com managing editor Russ Wood answered my questions about the Bulls.

It will be interesting to see who starts on the defensive line on Saturday. Patrick Jenkins and Eric Hicks are sure starters inside, but Tulane is deep enough that it can use a variety of guys on the outside. I was surprised when Angelo Anderson started against ECU, and he did not get credited with a tackle. I assume Darius Hodges will start again at joker. His numbers say he has not been very productive, but he has applied more pressure on quarterbacks than anyone, forcing difficult throws. Devean Deal has been the most productive statistically of the three guys who rotate at the position (also Carlos Hatcher), but there's no reason to change what's working. Keith Cooper and Tylo Phillips, who started the two previous games, are the other candidates at end. Cooper, Phillips and Anderson all have started at least once, and Phillips (nine tackes) has made the most plays.

The offensive line has started the same five guys in each of the first six games after the O-line used a set five for all 12 games a year ago. The injuries up front that hurt the Wave in the past have disappeared. Tulane used eight starting linemen in 2020, eight in 2019, seven in 2018, eight in 2017 and seven in 2016.

With Cameron Carroll and Makhi Hughes out for an extended period of time (Carroll) or the season (Hughes), Tulane is thin at scholarship running back, with converted defensive player Levi Williams the only other available scholarship back last week with Shaadie Clayton attending a funeral. The load has been manageable in practice because of four walk-ons (Josh Coltrlin, George Arata, Lucas Barisas and Charles Schibler) who help out. One of them, and I don't know which because he was not wearing a jersey number, got a little too aggressive in practice earlier this week and lowered his shoulder into safety Lummie Young with full force at the end of a scout-team rep. He got an earful from a livid defensive coach as a result and was forced to sit out for a while. Young was fine.

Clearly, though, Tyjae Spears and Iverson Celestine need to stay healthy. Fritz stopped to talk to Cam Carroll, who is still getting around on a scooter, as he walked off the field at the end of practice today to go to the interview room.

FRITZ

On Carroll's prognosis:

"We're hoping he's going to be able to come back later in the season. We're hoping. Unfortunately it's a non-weight-bearing injury, but he's starting to do some stuff over at the pool and things like that."

On managing the reps:

"We're very fortunate we've got some walk-on guys who are tough, hard-nose dudes who are good running backs in their own right, so they are getting a lot of reps in practice."

On Keys and McDougle going in motion a lot and sometimes taking handoffs on those plays:

"It gives you.a lot of flexibility because number one, it takes a little stress off the running backs out on the perimeter and they both have got great speed and great make-you-miss ability. And the other thing, too, is not giving it to them. Eyes are wandering going to other places they shouldn't be at. It's a good weapon for us."

On Tyrick James TD catch against ECU after lining up in backfield:

"It helps. Tyrick's really smart. He can put his hand in the dirt. He can be an attached tight end. He can be in the backfield as kind of a fullback type looking guy. He can line up on the line of scrimmage, wide on the perimeter. Ten years ago when you had 12 personnel (one running back, two tight ends, two receivers), it meant you were going to have two tight ends, two flankers and a back. Now it might look like you're in 10 personnel (one running back, four receivers), 20 personnel (two running backs, zero tight ends, three receivers). You can do a lot of different stuff, so the personnel grouping is not as big of an indicator of what the play is going to be like as years ago."

Looks like our first '23 - Hahnville's Dakota Williams - has decommitted from the class.

Not sure if this came from us or whether it was mutual, but his senior season has been pretty quiet. Anybody know if he's fully recovered from last year's knee injury?

LARRY BROOKS

On defense being in top 10 nationally:

"It just gives us a reason to go out there harder and harder each and every day just to try to stay a top defense. We know if we want to reach our goal of playing in the conference championship, the last couple of years the top two defenses in the American Conference have played in the conference championship game (Cincinnati and Houston last year, Cincinnati and Tulsa in 2020), so we have to try to be at least the top team in the American Conference."

On who made him aware of that stat and when:

"Coach Hampton last spring. We had a meeting all together, and we wanted to just erase last season out of our head and get ready for this season, and we did because we had a lot of guys coming back on defense. We're older. We have a lot of fifth years experience, and he wanted to make the best out of it."

On what has made this group successful:

"Just communication. Like I said, we've got a lot of older guys that played a lot of football. We know a lot of things from watching film and being a student of the game."

On interception against ECU:

"They got in a tight bunch and tried to run a double post. I saw the quarterback step up in the pocket, so I knew he was going to try to launch it downfield. I just went to go get it. It happened so fast. I just went to get the ball."

On that being turning point of the game:

"It was definitely a big play. It gave us some momentum and energy on defense. We started rolling after that and getting more takeaways."

On bend but not break:

"The first two series they got a couple of first downs, but then we came back and made some adjustments and we started playing tighter."

On keeping them from hitting big plays:

"We knew they like quick game stuff, but we didn't want to get too caught up to try to jump routes and stuff like that because we knew the big play was going to eventually come, so we just stayed disciplined and tried to tackle and have everybody do their job. Nobody got too greedy. Everybody just did their job."

On significance of getting in top 25:

"That would be huge, but the main goal is to win a conference championship. That's why we all came back. It's the biggest thing. If that would mean top 25, then top 25, but to win a conference championship, we'll just take it game by game."

On preseason goal to win championship:

"We don't need anybody outside of here to believe. The guys in the locker room, that's all that really matters. We have to come out in practice. I'm pretty sure when conference started everybody said let's go win the conference championship. Everybody was 0-0."

On four shutouts in second half:

"I give all the credit to the coaches, then the players. It's hard to do in-game adjustments and actually execute them. I give credit to all of the coaching staff, just seeing the things to adjust to, and we go out there and execute."

On tackling:

"Coach Fritz is on us about it every play to make sure we get our foot in the hoop. That means getting up close to a guy and making sure we're in range to tackle the guy and never letting the ball cross our face."

VALENTINO AMBROSIO

On when he got hurt and how frustrating it was:

"Just about one or two weeks in (to preseason camp). It was a quad injury. I hurt it pretty bad and sat out for as long as I did. I'm happy to be back, though."

On how hurt it:

"Just kicking. I've always had a little bit of a quad problem. It came back on me, but I'm feeling good now, so I'm happy."

On big kicks coming:

"Yeah, I'm excited. It's why I do it, so I'll be ready for whatever comes my way."

On having big-game experience:

"It's always good to have been in that situation before, so that's always going to help me in a big situation that presents itself to have a chance to win a game."

On process of healing:

"I just trusted the doctors. They did a great job helping me get back. They told me a timetable and we started applying it, and it was just about right. They told me about six weeks. It was six to eight weeks, and I got back just in time."

On how long the process felt:

"It was tough, especially it was a rough start coming down here from Jersey. It's pretty far away. I had to leave a lot of my family and friends, and then not being able to do what I came here to do was hard, but I just had to stick to a plan. Now it's worth it. I love kicking. That's why I came down here."

On adjusting to New Orleans:

"It's definitely different than up by me. I don't know if I fit in here, but it's good. The guys have been great people, so I'm enjoying it."

On why he is not sure he fits in here:

"Just being from Jersey, coming down here everything is a little bit slower. When you're up there in Jersey everything moves fast. It's a little bit of a chiller pace down here, so I'm not really used to that. It's all right. I'm adjusting. It's good to have that side, too, especially being a kicker. You've got to have that calmness, too."

On who he bonded with first:

"Casey Glover and Ethan Hudak were the main guys I met when I came down here and visited, but all the guys are great. Every guy in my room to all the guys in the team have been nothing but great and welcoming and I'm really glad that I'm here. I really love this team a lot. It's special."

On relationship with Glover and Hudak:

"They are great. Ethan Hudak is one of the best snappers I've been around and Casey does a great job of holding the ball, so that really gives me even more confidence to go out there and do my job with those guys out there with me."

On getting first field goal:

"It was great. I'm happy to be given the opportunity from my teammates and coach Fritz. It feels great to get the first one for Tulane."

On not missing kick in tryouts last week:

"I'm just feeling like myself again. I wasn't really feeling like myself when I first got here. It happened early on and I was fighting through it a little bit, and it just got to the point where I couldn't go and I was going to make it worse, so I had to take that time and really rehab it. Now I can say I'm really feeling like myself again, how I was back at Rutgers."

On whether he will use final year of eligibility:

"It's too early to say."

On what he considers his range;

"Whatever coach needs from me for the team. If he wants to send me out anywhere between 50 and 55 yards, that's fine. I'm going to do the best I can to do my job and put it through the uprights."

No practice report today because Fritz took the team to the Superdome expecting rain. It actually rained very lightly on me as I walked from my car to the Wilson Center for interviews--I had forgotten what rain was---but it was not the expected downpour the staff expected when it decided to move practice last night.

I talked to Fritz and Devean Deal, who is having a very good year as Darius Hodges' backup at joker. He also is an excellent talker. It is easy to see why he was playing as a true freshman last year before his ACL injury. PIcking up the system would have been no problem for him. I still have not transcribed the quotes from Ambrosio and Brooks from yesterday, but it will happen.

FRITZ

On going to Dome:

"I thought it was going to rain, number one. It didn't. Darned if I do, darned if I don't, but something that was good, I hadn't thought of it until we got out there, we had the NFL markings, and that's what we're going to play on this week (at Tampa's Raymond James Stadium), so they'll have NFL numbers. That was good for alignment purposes."

On USF:

"They have excellent players. I know all coaches say that, but they've done a really nice job recruiting. They've got some good transfer kids in from a lot of Power Five schools. Woulda, coulda, shoulda against two top 25 teams. They had a real opportunity to beat both of them."

On Deal:

"His dad and his mom were college athletes. HIs mom was a volleyball player at UTEP and his dad was a football player at UTEP, so he's been around competition all his life. He had a very significant injury last year, and he's come back from it. That says a lot about the kid. That's a hard thing for anybody, and for an 18, 19, 20-year old it's even more difficult, and he's done an excellent job with it."

On Deal's intelligence:

"He's a smart player and he's a hustler. He's made some really big-time hustle player for us."

On 8-yard gain by ECU that Deal stopped when it looked like it could pop:

"It was a very good play. If it wasn't a touchdown, it was a gain of 20, 25. He just plays with really good effort and good angles. He's got athletic ability and can run for a 250-pound guy."

On other schools recruiting him as a tight end:

"We liked him at the joker position. You've got to have a guy that's big enough to bang and squeeze blocks on the line of scrimmage but also athletic enough that he can play in space, so that's what we looked at him as. He just fits our profile. He's a good student and a really good person. We've got to have all those things for it to work here at Tulane."

On transfer portal working out rather than making a conscious decision to hit it harder:

"It just kind of worked out with a lot of New Orleans guys. Dea Dea (McDougle) came from the portal because of Pratt. They are buddies and high school teammates. Lummie (Young) came here because of Chris Hampton, and the other guys were from New Orleans. We were lucky. You've got to have a certain grade point average to get them in here regardless of whether they were a grad transfer or a regular guy. We're very selective on who we take out of there, too."

On not missing on any of the portal guys:

"Every one of them had a legit reason to come. When you're recruiting these guys, you want to make sure they are a good fit. You don't want them to come in here and rock the boat. We have a certain way of doing things here and we want guys that can fit in. They all have really well."

On Clayton missing last game:

"He had the funeral Saturday, so he's had some injuries and them obviously the tragic loss of his grandma. He lived with her, and it was very unexpected. It happened during the (Houston) game, and his mom told us. We brought him outside and he talked to the mom and she broke it to him. It was very difficult.

On Clayton's status this week:

"He's back."

Shaadie Clayton was at practice today for Tulane. I did not notice he was not on the sideline for East Carolina game, but I believe he was given a week off to mourn his grandmother, who died during the Houston game.

Tulane is favored by 12 points against South Florida --a 19-point swing from the spread the last time the Green Wave played in Tampa, when it beat the Bulls 41-15 as the beginning of a dramatic descent for that program. USF was 7-1 entering that game and 28-5 in its past 33 games. Since then, the Bulls have gone 7-33, but they have shown signs of life twice this year, leading in the fourth quarter at Florida and Cincinnati. They had the ball at the Florida 19 in the final minute while trailing by 3 before an errant shotgun snap knocked them backward and they ended up missing a 49-yard field. They had the ball and the lead last Saturday in the fourth quarter against Cincinnati, then after falling behind by 4, they failed to convert a fourth-and-1 from the Bearcats' 25 with about five minutes left.

In between those two very competitive defeats to ranked teams, USF lost 41-3 to Louisville and trailed ECU 41-7 at halftime of a 48-28 loss. Go figure. Unlike Temple, which is bereft of talent, the Bulls have good players. They just haven't figured it out under third-year coach Jeff Scott, who will not make it to a fourth unless they get on a serious run the rest of the way. I truly do not know what to expect Saturday. USF was a no-show at Yulman Stadium last year, but coming reasonably close to ending Cincinnati's 30-game home winning streak had to give the Bulls some belief. Quarterback Gerry Bohanon started for Baylor last year and led the Bears to the Sugar Bowl, where they beat Ole Miss. He has hit on some big pass plays this year but like the rest of the team has been inconsistent.

"They've probably had one of the toughest schedules in the country," Willie Fritz said. "Woulda, coulda shoulda with Cincinnati, woulda, shoulda, coulda with Florida. Both games were away, and people don't take that into consideration sometimes. They are very talented. The quarterback led Baylor and I watched them play Ole Miss in the Sugar Bowl. He's a darn good player and started 12, 13, 14 games at Baylor. There's not a lot you can throw at him that he hasn't seen before. They have really good backs. Brian Battle (74 carries, 472 yards, 6.4 average) has tremendous speed. They have a huge offensive line, good speed on the perimeter. Defensively they have an excellent secondary, and a linebacker (Dwayne Boyles) who is a really awesome player (46 tackles, 5.5 for loss). They've done a great job recruiting. We go up against them down there in Florida quite often, and I don't if we've ever gotten anyone (in a battle with USF). They've got a good squad."

This game will test Tulane's readiness. Unfounded rumors are spreading that ESPN GameDay is considering coming to New Orleans for the Memphis game if Tulane wins (I'm telling you right now, there is zero shot of that. Zero. Syracuse at Clemson, Texas and Oklahoma State, Mississippi State at Alabama, Minnesota at Penn State and Kansas State at TCU are all viable options, but not Tulane-Memphis). Everyone is talking about Tulane possibly climbing into the top 25. Fritz always stays on an even keel, and this is a senior-dominated team that should be able to listen to him, but you never know. I don't really subscribe to the theory that Tulane came out flat against Southern Miss--The Wave led 14-0 and was cruising early before getting done in by its kicking game and a horrible offensive performance in the second half--but the Wave needs to approach this game with the same intensity it exhibited at Kansas State and Houston. If it does that, it will be fine. USF is dead last in the AAC in total defense by a long way and in the bottom half of the league in every statistical category but rushing offense (third), kick returns (third), penalties (third), sacks allowed (third), fourth down conversions (fourth) and red zone offense (fifth).

With a win, Tulane will become bowl eligible and be 6-1 or better for only the fourth time since 1940. The Wave was 6-1 in 1948, 6-1 in 1973 and 7-0 in 1998. It has happened 10 times in school history. The others were 1908, 1919, 1924, 1925, 1931, 1934 and 1939.

On another note, here's a trivia question no one will be able to answer correctly. I know I would not have been able to do it if before researching it yesterday. Macon Clark and Nick Anderson are two-time AAC Defensive Players of the Week and the first Tulane players to get the honor twice in the same season since the Wave entered the league in 2014. Can you name the only other player to be an AAC Player of the Week twice in his career? Actually, I won't waste your time by giving you an opportunity to guess. It's Andrew DiRocco, who was special teams player of the week in the last year of CJ's tenure and again under Fritz. Go figure.

Fritz, Larry Brooks and Valentino Ambrosio spoke after practice. I will get their full quotes up later.

This is becoming a complete team. Michael Pratt threw the deep ball really well today, and the receivers took turns making plays, capped by Duece Watts' one-handed finish of a touchdown grab to give the Green Wave a two-score lead.

The defense is stout against the run every week and proved it could cover a spread passing team. Valentino Ambrosio looks like a reliable kicker. It's hard to find a weakness, and Tulane won comfortably on a day when Tyjae Spears did not do much. All good signs moving forward.

Fritz, Macon Clark, Watts and Pratt spoke after the game.

FRITZ

"A big win for us. I was just talking to the athletic director, and it seemed like that game lasted about six hours. It was really only three hours and 20 minutes, but it was a long game. These TV games, gosh almighty with all these media timeouts and everything. if you're tired, just hold on. They'll have a media timeout pretty quick.

"A sensational job by our defense. Excellent. Coach Hampton and the defensive staff (he proceeded to name everyone), they just really did a good job. Coach (Hampton) is calling out plays down there and doing an excellent job of getting our guys prepared for what they are going to see, and then the guys have to execute it obviously. Our safeties had a really good game. Macon Clark had a bunch of tackles. Larry Brooks a huge interception in the end zone. We did a good job out on the perimeter with our corners and got just enough pass rush. That guy's hard to get down. I think we had two, three or four sacks (actually one) and did a good job of getting pressure, particularly at the end of the game. When we needed some big plays offensively, we got them. That was a huge catch by Duece Watts down the sideline. That got us going and gave us a little breathing room. A good team win."

On confidence of defense:

"They're really confident. They believe in what we're doing and tackling pretty darn well. That No. 2 (Keaton Mitchell), he's a good back. They started running the stretch into the boundary a whole bunch, and we made some adjustments on that at halftime and it wasn't nearly as effective, but they have good backs and they have some big, physical receivers out there as well, so they are a potent offense, and to hold them to nine points is excellent."

On Pratt having no shoulder issue:

"He's fine. We wouldn't have played him if he weren't able to make all the throws. That was a big pass the one before (the TD) to Duece on the crossing route for about 25 yards. It got us out of hole and he came back and took a shot down the sideline to him. We've got to make some of those plays. We feel like Duece can win his share of 50-50 balls, and he won that one. That was a tough catch. He did a great job of catching it, staying inbounds and scoring."

On Pratt as a deep passer this year:

"I think good. There's probably a couple he wished he would have taken a shot at earlier in the game, but he's got tremendous arm strength, so that's never the issue. It's all tied in together. There were a couple of times he had guys deep open, and we just didn't protect very well. You have to have the protection, guys have to run the right route and the ball's got to be delivered accurately and on time. It's not just the quarterback. It's everybody."

On overcoming five sacks in second half:

"We did a good job of getting the ball out of our hands quickly a few times, too, and ran the ball just well enough to make them play honest. We didn't run the ball as well as we'd like to."

On Ambrosio:

"That was a huge kick. We needed that. It took it from 12 to 15 and gave us some breathing room, and then we had a good kickoff and they had to go the length of the field. We were bending a little bit, but we didn't break. So yeah, that was a big field goal for us. We need to feel good about kicks 45 and in that we have a real good chance of doing it, and he certainly did."

On teams combining for 13 penalties:

"We've done an excellent job until day on defense. We've had very few penalties. We had a few on defense and we have to stay away from those. Normally when you have one on defense, it's a big one--the 15-yard variety. We had a couple of holds that hurt us as well, a couple of flinches in some bad situations, so we've got to clean that up. I'm glad we didn't have that one at the end of the game (a personal foul) that they had. We have to do a better job of eliminating pre-snap and then also post-play penalties."

On complete team:

"I just got done telling those guys, that was good complementary football that we played--offense, defense, kicking game. Our defense was pretty hot. I probably kept us down a little bit offensively with a few things in the second half. I just thought it was going to be difficult for them to score on us."

On defensive backs:

"As we talked about before, right down the middle with our inside linebackers and our three secondary guys and we can bring in Corey Platt and Jesus Machado at linebacker--they played quite a few snaps for us--we're really good in there. What makes them good is they play with pretty darn good leverage and they tackle. That's a lost art in football nowadays. It really is."

On if he would have kicked a field goal on fourth-and-goal from 3 before first touchdown if ECU had not had penalty:

"It was a go for it. That was about six hours ago. It's hard to remember."

On if job gets harder with success to keep team focused:

"I don't think so. Obviously losing a game was very disappointing, but I think it got us centered again a little bit so we started talking about 1-0 (each week) and forgetting all this stuff happening down the line and all this other kind of stuff. Tomorrow we're just South Florida, and that's it."

On if top 25 talk could be distraction:

"No. The maturity of our senior leaders and coaches, and I'm a structured guy. I do the same thing over and over. If these guys can't figure out what we're doing on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday or Friday, then they're D.A. (not sure what that means, unless he meant DOA)."

On Macon Clark:

"He's really improved. He's really become a disciplined player, and he's a very good tackler. I watch these games, and I don't care if it's NFL, college or high school, and not very many guys can tackle. I used to the tackling coach for a few years there and I've kind of backed away from it because the coaches are doing a phenomenal job coaching it and teaching it. We sit in our staff meetings and that's all I talk about with our guys, particularly plays when guys approach the ball with incorrect leverage or they're not using their arms to tackle. We work on it a bunch, and the coaches believe in it and the players do, too."

MACON CLARK

On shutout in second half:

"We started off pretty slow. We made some adjustments after the first half. Coming into the third quarter our goal was third quarter shutout, and we got the third and the fourth quarter shutout, so we did pretty good in the second half."

On containing Keaton Mitchell:

"Last year he did pretty good against us. He's a very good back. We had to take pretty good angles to stop him, and I think we did."

On interception off deflection:

"When I saw that ball pop up, I said I've got to get it, it's mine. I wanted to score, but we got the takeaway, so I'm happy."

On containing Holton Ahlers:

"We played against a very good quarterback. He's a five-year starter. You know it's going to be pretty hard to stop him, but we executed our calls, put our trust in Hamp (coach Hampton) and called some pretty good calls and everything worked out fine."

On two interceptions:

"We hadn't gotten a pick in like two weeks, so we knew we needed takeaways to win the game. The defense had to step up and get the takeaways and win the game."

On Pratt:

"We go against him every day and at practice he was throwing that thing. His deep ball looked pretty good. He was looking accurate at practice. Michael Pratt had a great game today."

On team confidence:

"As of now I think we're doing pretty good. We've got to keep going, leave the wins behind us and just focus on the next team. I feel like we've got a very bright future. We've just got to keep pushing week by week."

On keeping eye on top 25 votes:

"I come across it sometimes on Twitter. Hopefully we will be in the top 25, but it is what it is. We've just got to keep balling and everything will fall into place."

On ceiling for DBs:

"The second half we made some adjustments. We made a couple of errors in the first half, but we knew we had to capitalize on the third and fourth quarter. I think we stepped it up. We got some PBUs. We had to come up and tackle pretty good and played pretty good in the back end."

On ECU TD pass:

"There was some miscommunication. That's one adjustment we made at halftime. We knew what the route we were expecting, so the next time they got in that formation, we just adjusted in the back end and shut it down the next time. They ran it again and they didn't complete it."

Collectively, we had our best week, with 15 of 18 picking Tulane, the majority right on three other games and Auburn-LSU split down the middle. Wavetime and roll wave each got six games right out of eight.

WEEK 5 RESULTS

7

wavetime
roll wave

6

DrBox
chigoyboy
WaveON
ny oscar
diverdo
Guerry
2DatWuzAGoodDay2
paliii

5

MNAlum
Gretna Green
charlamange8
LSU Law Greenie

4

tacklethemanwiththefootball

3

winwave

2

Kettrade1

1

p8kpev


OVERALL STANDINGS

30

DrBox

27

charlamange8

26

MNAlum

25

chigoyboy
WaveON

24

diverdo

23

winwave
ny oscar
Guerry

22

roll wave
tacklethemanwiththefootball

21

Gretna Green

19.5

paliii (missed 1 week)

18

wavetime (missed 1 week)

17

p8kpev

16

Kettrade1

15

LSU Law Greenie (missed 1 week)
2DatWuzAGoodDay2 (missed 1 week)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane 15 of 18
Kentucky 11
Alabama 5
Wake Forest 13
Oklahoma State 11
Mississippi State 5
Auburn 9
Clemson 8

I re-watched the Houston game. Here are some thoughts:

--Jha'Quan Jackson definitely stepped out of bounds on that punt return for a touchdown. Even if the ref had not made that bogus holding call on Jadon Canady, they almost certainly would have reviewed that play and overturned the touchdown.

--Kanan Ray was victimized when Kai Horton was sacked on his first sack, getting beaten easily.

--I've watched that TD pass from Horton to Duece Watts over and over. Maybe the best throw by a Tulane quarterback since I started covering the team in 2011. What an accurate pass on the run.

--Every time Tyjae Spears touches the ball, I expect something big to happen. He leads the Wave in receptions and turned two short receptions into long ones with his athletic ability before making that winning TD catch look easy. A lot of players would have let that ball slip through their hands. And he is more physical than many realize. He had a 3-yard run where he did more damage to the defender than the defender did to him.

--Fritz has been high on Devean Deal for a long time, and Deal showed why with his blocked field goal. The kick was low, but he his effort to get his hand in the way was outstanding. He also has 2.5 tackles for loss on running plays, the second on the team behind Patrick Jenkins, who has 3.

--I would have liked to see better balance from Lance Robinson when he had a chance to intercept a pass in the back of the end zone. He jumped off balance and tried to make a one-hand grab when he had time to run under it with two. He then gave up the Cougars' first touchdown, getting abused by Nathaniel Dell on an inside move. In fairness to Robinson, who has played well this year, not many corners are going to be able to cover Dell 1 on 1 at the goal line. He's really good.

--Another example of Tulane's excellent tackling this year: DJ Douglas hit Clayton Tune hard as he headed for the end zone, forcing Houston to go for the fourth-and-goal at the 1. Yes, Dell scored easily on the next play, but Douglas' play could have been a difference-maker in other circumstances.

--Kai Horton's pass to himself was amusing. The announcers said he shoud have batted it down, and I guess he should have, but it was third-and-4 and stranger things have happened than a quarterback picking up four yards on a pass battled right back to him.

--Dorian Williams is having a heck of a year, and his sack was nice when he got cut to the ground but still got up and tackled Tune, but a little too much was made of it. No one was between him and Tune when he went to the ground, so he had a very clear path to him. Kudos to the coverage guys for forcing Tune to hold the ball long enough for Williams to get to him.

--Watts should have had a second touchdown grab, but he could not hold on to the ball as he fell to the ground. Tulane's receivers are playing better this year, but those are the types of plays opponents always seem to make against Tulane but Tulane rarely makes against opponents. It's definitely an issue that has cost the Wave in the past.

--Rashad Green got beaten to the outside on the fourth-down sack of Horton on Tulane's first series of the second half. Horton had no chance.

--Larry Brooks did a really nice job coming up to fill against the run. I could say that about almost every member of the secondary at different times this year, but his 30 tackles are the most for the defensive backs. He's playing at a high level.

--That really was a terrible spot when Houston's Brandon Campbell picked up a first down on third-and-5 during the tying TD drive. He was at least a half-yard short at the Houston 38. The Cougars probably would have gone for it, and the way they were running the ball against a tiring defense, they probably would have picked up the first down anyway, but you never know. The officials cost Tulane a chance to come up huge.

--Houston's one big offensive play which came three downs later, was a fluke. Hodges got right in the face of Tune, who released a prayer just before getting popped, and it was answered. Robinson and Brooks played the ball very poorly in the air, somehow allowing KeSean Carter to catch the floater in between them and take off for a 41-yard gain. That's a pass that has to be broken up. Up until that point, Tulane's defense was dominant. It struggled for a while from there. Deal made an incredible effort to get all the way down field and trip up Carter, possibly preventing a 55-yard touchdown.

--Willie Fritz did not think the face mask penalty on Alfred Thomas needed to be called earlier in the game--he touched it but did not yank it--but I felt like he should have been yanked from the game on this particular series. Playing the nose and apparently gassed, he did not move on one 9-yard run up the middle when he had a chance to make the play, allowing the Cougars to get to the 5. He did not do a whole lot on the next play, either, as the ball went to the 1. The starters need to rest at times, but having a backup on the field hurt the Wave there.

--I have no idea what the official was looking at it when he called Houston for interference on a deep ball to Lawrence Keys. The flag correctly was picked up when another official went over to discuss the call. The DB did not touch Keys.

--I look Brooks, but like a lot of guys on defense, he did not play as well in the fourth quarter, getting blocked out of the way on a wide receiver screen that gained 15 yards during Houston's go-ahead TD drive.

--There was not much Lummie Young could do on the go-ahead touchdown pass. He got beaten by Dell, a terrific receiver, and Tune threw the fade on the money, hitting him in stride in the end zone. That would have been a tough play to defend for any safety.

--Spears tried to do too much early on Tulane's tying TD drive, but it is understandable the way the offense had been struggling. He cut outside when he could have gotten a first down on a second-down carry, getting stopped a. yard shot, then paid the price on the next play when he got clobbered right after catching a pass for a first down. He then made an excellent blitz pickup on Horton's pass to Watts 23 yards to the Houston 6. Without that block, Tulane probably would not have won.

--Williams, who might be the AAC Defensive Player of the Year, made the critical play in overtime, stopping a scrambling Tune 2 yards short of a first down on second-and-5. If the Cougars had picked up the first down, they likely would have scored a touchdown. Instead, they had a third-and-3 and Tune could not find anyone open despite having all day to throw, forcing the Cougars to settle for a field goal when he finally misfired on a pass to the sideline.

--I covered it in my story for The Advocate, but Horton's decision not to throw to a well-covered Watts in the end zone on the flea flicker to start Tulane's OT possession might have been his best decision of the day. Tanner Lee, for one, definitely would have chucked it up there and likely ended the game on an interception. Heck, most quarterbacks would have throw it deep, going for the home run because that's what you do on trick plays. But Horton sized up the situation, saw a DB had his back to the ball on the secondary route by Tyrick James and drew an interference penalty when he threw it to James. Very, very smart play.

--Iverson Celestine felt he should have scored on the next play, a run where he had a crease but got knocked off balance. I agree, but at least he picked up 5 yards, setting up the walk-off TD on the next play. Celestine is not Spears, but he is pretty good.

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

Tulane (-2.5) East Carolina
LSU (+3) Tennessee
Kansas (+7) TCU
Texas (-7) Oklahoma (Dallas)
Iowa State (+2) Kansas State
BYU (+3.5) Notre Dame
UCLA (+4.5) Utah
North Carolina State (-3.5) FSU

It's being said on yogwf forum that Pratt is out injured for tonight's game. The line has gone up to Houston by 4 from 2.

Tulane will have almost exclusively 2024 recruits at the game tomorrow and I did not obtain a list.

The big recruiting weekend for visitors will be the Memphis game for Homecoming.

Michael Pratt took reps with the first-team offense again today and will start against East Carolina unless he is not cleared by doctors to play when they examine his shoulder tomorrow. Willie Fritz did not utter those exact words when I talked to him after practice today, but there's no way a guy gets as many reps as Pratt did this week without the expectation he will play. The doctors definitely will look at him Friday before he can be cleared, but he was throwing out patterns with zip today, something I had not seen him from him earlier in the week.

If Pratt cannot go, Kai Horton will start and Carson Haggard will be the top backup.

I expect Tulane to have a new kicker Saturday. The writing was on the wall when Fritz said Tuesday a kicker cannot miss a gimme like Kriston Esnard did on the 21-yarder at the end of Tulane's first series against Houston, but someone needed to outperform him in practice to make it a done deal. Fritz said Valentino Ambrosio, who was the clear favorite to be the kicker before suffering a leg injury in the preseason, did not miss a kick on Tuesday or Thursday. I'm not sure about Ambrosio's range--his long field goal in two years at Rutgers was 42 yards--but he a proven reliable kicker from 40 yards and in and could make a big difference Saturday if he gets the call. Walk-on Graham Dable was the other kicker in the competition this week.

East Carolina has kicking issues of its own. Its kicker misses a game-winning field goal in the opener against North Carolina State and missed an extra point and a field goal that would have sent the Navy game to triple overtime two weeks ago. The extra point was one of four extra point misses on the year--Esnard, by contrast, is perfect on extra points, and sent the tying point through the middle of the uprights with 39 seconds left against Houston.

Tulane's defense will be tested in a different way Saturday than before, but I think it will be up the challenge of facing a prolific passing attack. The Green Wave is No. 1 in pass defense nationally, but that stat was build on the backs of some terrible passing games. UMass is 130th out of 131 FBS teams in passing and has not thrown for more than 105 yards in any game. Alcorn State is 119th in the FCS in passing and has not thrown for 200 yards in any game. Kansas State is 122nd in passing and has thrown for 200 yards only once, against Oklahoma. Southern Miss is 79th and would be considerably lower if it not has thrown for 400 yards against FCS opponent Northwestern State. Even Houston, which has an outstanding receiver in Nathaniel Dell and an experienced quarterback in Clayton Tune, is 75th and has yet to throw for 300 yards in a game.

ECU averages 314.2 passing yards. Holton Ahlers, who I do not believe is elite but is good in that system, is the all-time AAC passing leader and torched a sorry South Florida defense for 465 yards and six touchdowns. Receiver C.J. Johnson caught seven passes for 197 yards in that game, and he is not the Pirates' leading receiver. Isaiah Winstead is, and their top two tight ends have combined for 30 catches. The secondary definitely will be tested, but the way this team tackles, I don't see any bubble screens turning into long gains. And as fast as running back Keaton Mitchell is, I don't see him breaking off any long touchdown runs this time. ECU had four plays of more than 40 yards in last year's debacle and four more gains of at least 20 yards. Through five games this year, Tulane has given up five plays of 20 yards and only one run--a 26-yard gain by Kansas State's Deuce Vaughn.

If ECU has to work its way down the field, it will make some plays but also make some mistakes. Another key is pass rush. Tulane sacked Ahlers five times in each of its two wins against hm and had only two sacks in last year's debacle. Darius Hodges, who has only one sack for the year but has come close several other times, needs to have a big game because the rest of the defensive line has not applied much pressure.

One other practice note. Walk-on wideout Trevor Evans, who made a spectacular catch against Alcorn State, did it again today, hauling in a long pass down the sideline from Haggard with KIland Harrison right on him. Evans won't get on the field in a meaningful moment, but he's one of the most impressive walk-ons I've seen in recent years.