I made the 4 hour drive from Knoxville, TN to Auburn for the game, I was seated 6 rows up from the field on about the goal line. I sat next to two former Tulane players Debo Monroe and Eric Hicks, as well as 3 of Fritz's former Georgia Southern players who gave a unique perspective...Here are my observations:

• The defense played well enough to win the game.
• Defensively we were not over matched physically, in fact we kicked some arse until we got tired in the 4th qtr.
• The team is VERY well conditioned, it was soooooo hot out there, my sweat was sweating. We had I believe one player cramp up and Amare Jones needed an IV but that was it. Amare is a warrior!
  
• Our O-line was a bit over matched, and #5 for Auburn is a frickin' man-child. That kid looked every bit the 1st round draft pick.
• Our receivers struggled to get speration from their DB's...and we are trying to force it to Jalen McClesky.
• Our WR's, TE's and RB's let us down in the pass game, gotta make that catch Tyrick James, it is a different ballgame if he comes down with that. Bradwell also dropped a perfect throw on a swing pass which would have been a big gain.
• A lot of our rush offense is carried over from Georgia Southern including the calls in the run game.
• Refs bent us over with no Vaseline, not an excuse just stating facts.
• Very optimistic about the rest of the season though, we had a chance to win if we played our best, alas we didn't...
• I am hoping this game is like the Syracuse game in '97 was for us, there were a lot of frustrated players after the game. No one was happy with the performance, staying in the game wasn't the goal, winning was.

1) Those 10 of 34 passing numbers against Auburn were not a shock

Although I though Tulane would score more points against Auburn, the downfield passing game looked pretty much like it did throughout preseason drills. Going against a good defense throughout August, Justin McMillan and his receivers struggled to connect on those throws. There were weeks when I could count on one hand the number of long passes completed during 11-on-11 work. It's a combination of receivers not getting separation, McMillan not being consistently accurate on long throws and the receivers not making tough catches.

Depth at receiver remains a big concern. Darnell Mooney is good, and he made one terrific leaping grab Saturday to cancel out the ball he could not hold on to when he hit the ground in the end zone in the fourth quarter. Jalen McCleskey is fast but needs to be more productive. The other receivers struggle to get open against top-shelf DBs.

There is a reason McMlllan was only a 50-percent passer last year. He is capable of making every throw, but when he looks downfield, he is capable of missing all of those throws, too. His development as a passer will be critical to Tulane's AAC championship hopes. He already is an excellent runner and decision-maker. He needs to put the ball on the money more often.

2) This defensive line is every bit as good as advertised.

I know Auburn fans and media will be writing stories about how the Tigers' offensive line is not up to snuff and is a cause for huge concern down the road. They can't wrap their brains around how good Tulane's front is. I know this because I heard the skepticism when I did a couple of Alabama radio shows last week and told the hosts that Tulane would win the battle up front defensively.

The starting unit of Patrick Johnson, Jeffery Johnson, DeAndre Williams and Cameron Sample will be better than any offensive line Tulane faces this year. Jeffery Johnson, fully healthy now, was a beast against Auburn. There is a definite drop-off to the backups. but they are serviceable and aren't going to get blown off the ball. Even if the secondary continues to let people get behind it, AAC quarterbacks may not have enough time to find them.

3) Tulane's special teams will win at least one game this year.

Merek Glover showed off his improved leg against Auburn. He also took over for Sterling Stockwell on kickoffs. I'm not sure why, but two of his kicks produced touchbacks and the other was returned only 16 yards.

Amare Jones is going to take a punt or a kickoff to the house against Missouri State. Kick coverage and returns is usually the biggest mismatch when Tulane plays a team like Auburn, but Jones ripped off a 36-yard punt return. He is a big-time player.

Ryan Wright has one poor punt, but he also had three downed at the 9, the 3 and he 5. He didn't even have the pooch punt role last year--Zach Block did--but he was outstanding at it against Auburn.

4) The offensive issues were primarily about facing better defenders, not the play-calling.

Tulane struggled to run on Auburn, forcing it out of its comfort zone, and Auburn's secondary is better than Tulane's receivers. That was a tough combo platter for new OC Will Hall to handle. He opted for a lot of shots because it was going to be awfully tough for Tulane to sustain long drives, and I agree with that approach. For the Wave to win, it needed to connect on them, like the double pass that bounced off Tyrick James' hands (he has dropped a higher percentage of passes in practice than anyone else. I'm not talking about a ton because the Wave has been pretty good at holding on to the ball in practice, but it was enough to get my attention).

The one call I really did not like, and it may have been a McMillan decision rather than the design of the play, was the fade pass to Jorrien Vallien on third-and-3 from the Auburn 14 near the end of the first half. That was an incredibly low-percentage play, forcing the Wave to settle for a second field goal.

Two games is an awfully small sample size, but I still like Tulane's chances to win the West. The Wave needs to come out focused against Missouri State so the starters can rest in the second half and be fresh for the huge conference opener against Houston the following Thursday. Obviously, the Wave does not want to risk injury to any significant player.

The game ended at the worst possible time for my Advocate duties because I had to race back up to the press box after Fritz and Marvin Moody talked and did not have time to wait for an offensive player. Fritz had to do the post-game radio show first and I taped that, too.

WILLIE FRITZ

"I'm really proud or our effort. I thought our kids played extremely hard and left it all out there on the field. It was one of those games where in order to win it we were going to need a break or two and I don't know if we got one throughout the game. At halftime I was still feeling good. We had a couple plays in there that didn't go our way. That one right before the half was a big one. We thought we had an interception and they ended up getting the ball on the 1-yard line. When you play a team like Auburn at their place, you've got to play real good and be real sharp and we weren't."

Auburn struggled to run, especially early. What was your takeway?

"I thought we did a great job up front. They had a real difficult time until they got in there at the end and kind of wore us down. They got the big guy in at quarterback and had a different package there. We did an excellent job stopping their run game. Our guys up front were doing a nice job. We were fitting well and playing fast and physical. They kind of just kept chopping at us and we didn't get that score. If we had gotten that one big play in there, if we had caught that double pass maybe, something that would have given us a spark, we would have had an opportunity to be in the game and possibly win the game."

How much did the penalties hurt?

"Yeah, it's just disappointing. We had a bunch of unforced errors. Nobody wants to do that. They are all wanting to play hard and try as hard as they can, but sometimes they're not thinking exactly what they need to be doing as far as the snap count and getting off on the ball and stuff like that. We just can't have these type of penalties. We had 11 for 80 yards and they had five for 51. Just way too many for us. We just have to do a better job of that."

Justin McMillan's accuracy seemed to come and go tonight. How would you evaluate his performance?

"It was just like everybody. We just didn't play real good. If your quarterback plays great, sometimes he gets a ton of credit and when he doesn't he gets a lot of blame. Justin played his heart out. I don't know how great a job we did protecting him and getting open and all those other kinds of things. You (the receivers) have to make open spaces for yourself, and we weren't able to do that. It's a team deal."

Leading up this game, you talked about Oklahoma and Ohio State from the past couple of years. How did this one feel different?

"Our guys came out and competed and were getting after it and we were really delivering the blows. particularly in the first half. We just needed to get a score in there some place or a big stop or a takeaway. If we had gotten a touchdown, we were right in the game and it just didn't happen. As I said before, we didn't get any breaks almost throughout the whole game. When you play a team as quality as Auburn and it doesn't happen, you gotta play real smart and you gotta play real aggressive and we didn't do that."

You mentioned not getting any breaks. Auburn's a great team, but do you feel like you guys beat yourselves as much as Auburn beat you.

"No, I want to give them credit. I don't want to sit here and act like it was just us not playing so well. This is a good team. They might be 10th in the country for a reason, but there were times we shot ourselves in the foot without question. We knew coming in we had to be smart and disciplined. It was not because of lack of effort. Our guys played extremely hard."

McMillan hobbled off after his last play. Is he OK?

"I think he's going to be OK. To be honest with you I didn't notice that."

How big was the interception that turned into a completion down by the goal line?

"Yeah, we thought we had a pick and then it went the other way. Obviously it would have been our ball going the other direction and instead it was them on the 2 and scoring. It was a huge play. There were a bunch of big plays in the game."

What happened on McMillan's interception when you were down 14-6 and driving? Was he trying to throw it away or was it a miscommunication?

"It was a miscommunication."

When a play can go either way and goes against you, what does it do to a team's mindset?

"The momentum leaves your sideline and goes over to the other side. We had four or five plays that could have been sparks for us but we just didn't finish like we needed to. We had to settle for field goals. Merek Glover played a great game. He hit two long field goals and also did a tremendous job with his kickoffs. He really had a quality game for us, but we need touchdowns in those situations."


MARVIN MOODY (who had seven tackles and was all over the field)

They couldn't run in the first half. How well do you feel the front seven held up?

"We did great. I believe in the first half they had less than a hundred rushing yards (actually just 20), so we did a phenomenal job then. They got a few big plays in the second half and it didn't go in our favor."

How frustrating is it to lose 24-6 in a game where you felt you were right there?

"It's frustrating to lose any game, but this was a big stage and we wanted to win and it didn't go our way."

Can you take some confidence from this?

"Of course. Again, we were playing on a big stage and we held our own during the first half and did a decent job in the second half. We are going to come back ready to play next week and the week after and the week after."

Did you feel like physically you held your own?

"Oh yes. We have a great strength and conditioning program and we are just as strong as they are, big as they are and fast as they are."

The play before halftime when it looked like you might have gotten an interception and it turned into a catch, what was that swing in momentum like for you?

"It was frustrating, but hey, you have to have a short memory in this game and go on to the next play."

Did you feel good at halftime?

"Yes, of course. We still had a chance to win and were still in the game."

Were the Auburn players saying anything to you guys or getting frustrated early?

"No. They were a great team. They held their composure and did what they were supposed to do. No trash talking. Just two great football teams competing."

Here it is:

McCleskey
Hall
Mooney
Huderson
Sample
Bryant
Dauphine
Johnson
Langham
Howard
Monroe
Bradwell
Jones
McMillan
Daniels
Robertson
Hurst (relays the signals)
Vallien
Harrison
Holl
Carroll
Joyce
Spears
Do. Williams
W. Harper
Keyes
Booker
Moody
Brown
Brooks
Hamel
Barge
Graham
Kuerschen
Clark
Vault
Anderson
Hodges
Neenan
Monjarres
Harvey
Lawal
De. Williams
Dixon
T. Johnson
Lewerenz
Haynesworth
McLeod
Hatcher
Hinton
Hudak
Montano
Brucchaus
Eatherly
Glover
Jackel
Dublin
Knutson
Shafter
J. Johnson
Claybrook
James
Presley
Toles
Ledford
Wallace
LeDee
K. Williams
Richardson
Wright
Seiden
Stockwell
James
Hicks
R. Wright
Kubiet
A. Thomas

I predicted Auburn 31-22 for The Advocate but do not have a good read on this game.

Almost all of us have Tulane covering the spread, but do you think Tulane will win?

Tom Green of AL.com answers five questions about Auburn on the front page.

He's as knowledgable about the team he covers as anyone I've had. Definitely worth the read.

https://tulane.rivals.com/news/engaging-the-enemy-auburn

coach Malzahn stated that Tulane was probably the best non power 5 team they played since he has been there. However I recall them playing against a undefeated ucf a couple of years ago . Which made me ask the question how do we compare to that ucf team?

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

Auburn (-18) Tulane
Texas (+5.5) LSU
Ohio State (-16.5) Cincinnati
Clemson (-17.5) Texas A&M
Southern California (-1) Stanford
Michigan (-22.5) Army
Colorado (+3.5) Nebraska
Ole Miss (-6.5) Arkansas

Tulane practiced without quarterback Justin McMillan today because he was attending the funeral of his grandfather, who died unexpectedly last Wednesday as he prepared to travel from his home in Detroit.

Keon Howard took the first-team reps and Christian Daniels took the second-team reps today, but Tulane benefitted from being able to conduct a full practice Monday, something it never does after Saturday games, so McMillan will not be under-prepared as the Wave heads to Auburn. He returns tonight and will be at practice tomorrow.

Amare Jones has great hands, but he dropped a pass in the end zone from Daniels today. It was another very hot day, and that may be one of the reasons I have not noticed any difference in intensity this week than any other. The other reason, of course, is Willie Fritz wants his guys to be even keel all the time. He coaches with the same intensity every week and he expects them to practice the same way every week.

Freshman Trace Oldner has joined the list of backups not practicing due to injury. He and freshman safeties Ton'Quez Ball and Kanyon Walker watched practice without helmets.

They are continuing to experiment with different offensive line combinations as they look for the best group. Joey Claybrook received some reps at left tackle today, with Ben Knutson at right guard and Keyshawn McLeod at right tackle. The offensive line remains Tulane's biggest concern as it faces Auburn's big, talented defensive front, but at least the Wave has some options this season instead of having to stick with the same five regardless of the circumstances.

Willie Fritz said today he believes he has 20 defensive players he can trust. As I mentioned yesterday, that makes Tulane almost two deep across the board. Interestingly, for all the hype about the depth along the defensive front (some of it coming from me), they have more proven depth every where else on the defense than the line.

WILLIE FRITZ

How helpful was it to have that Monday practice with McMillan since he could not be here today?

"Oh, it was good. We got a couple days in. He's getting back tonight. It was an unfortunate circumstance. Life comes up unfortunately, sometimes positively and sometimes negatively."

What is your message to this team?

"We've got to do a better job of the Wave not beating the Wave. We just had way too many pre-snap penalties last week (six out of the 12). Going into this game we can't expect to get (the benefit of ) the flags. That's just the way it is, but we have to do a good job of not beating ourselves with a foolish turnover or penalty. We just have to play a little bit smarter. We were very aggressive last week but at times we weren't smart aggressiveness. Our guys know that. I think a lot of it was first-game jitters, too."

Gus Malzahn says he expects the biggest improvement in his team from the first to second game.

"Yeah, it's an old coaching adage. I said the same thing to our guys on Monday when we met, that we want to see the biggest improvement between week 1 to week 2 because we have a game under our belt now. We are going to play a better Auburn team and they are going to play a better Tulane team."

You complimented Gus Malzahn yesterday. Was it because of your interactions with him?

"No, I barely know him. They came over here and practiced a few years ago when they were at the Sugar Bowl and I talked to him for a minute. Some guys start on third base and think they hit a triple, and that's where they started. He had to go around the bases. I had to go around the bases. There are a lot of guys out there like that. I admire guys who have put in the work to get where they are."

How different is your team from the one that went to Oklahoma and Ohio State?

"We have better players. More talented. That's a big deal. The Xs and Os are very important, but the Jimmies and Joes are a lot more important. We've got better players."

How much will your depth on defense help?

"It will help a lot. We've got a bunch of guys that can play for us. We are going to have to roll them. It's still early in the year and guys are still getting used to playing. They'll go some pace, too. We didn't much pace last week. We'll see it this week."

When teams like yours play SEC programs, they tend to play close first halves and then the second half the depth starts taking affect. But you feel like you have the depth to prevent that?

"That's a big difference in our team right now. We've got more guys that can play at this level. We had a tough time years back where if you got a guy hurt, maybe the guy playing was outmanned. I think now we've got a bunch of guys. We have 20 guys who are capable of playing Division I football on defense. We've got quite a few guys on offense. I think Guerry put something out the other day that every guy that started for us last week had started a college game before (actually that was the projected starters; actual starters Amare Jones and Tyrick James started for the first time). That's 22 guys. That's pretty good."

CAM SAMPLE

How different is this team than the one that went up to Ohio State last year?

"Oh, we're much different. We have a lot of the same players coming back but they have another year under their belt. Everybody is more comfortable actually playing instead of thinking out there, so we're a much different team."

Do you have real belief you can win?

"You have to have that. It doesn't matter if you play FIU or Auburn. Football's football. You have to expect to win every week."

How much will your defensive depth come into play?

"That's a big help being able to keep guys fresh. Nobody is extra tired. You have a backup who's also fresh and capable of playing. It's just a big help that allows everybody to play to their top potential."

What will it take to win?

"Assignment football and doing what we do, getting off the field on third downs and causing turnovers and limiting turnovers on offense. Just the basics for every game."

Bo Nix started slowly last week but came on strong for Auburn. What are his biggest strengths?

"He's a dynamic athlete. He seems comfortable back there. We're just going to play our style of defense and get after him."

How impressed were you with your offense last week?

"It makes it way easier on the defense. I've seen what they could do in the fall camp so I already knew what they were capable of. You could see the potential and for it all to come together was a great thing."

DARNELL MOONEY

How different in the mindset going into the Auburn game than it was for the Ohio State game last year?

"We're more confident in ourselves than we were last year. We believe more in ourselves. That's mostly it."

How much are you looking forward to this opportunity?

"I'm really looking forward to it. To get to go against Auburn and go out there another Saturday with my boys and just able to go out there and execute again."

Everything you did offensively worked last week. How much does that help the confidence?

"It's extremely important. Coach Hall gives us the most confidence in the world just to go out there and execute. With him coming in every day being himself, it just gives us everything to work with and go out there and be ourselves."

You're from Alabama. Were you an Auburn fan?

"No I didn't. I didn't grow up an Alabama or an Auburn fan. I'm just living there. I lived about two-and-a-half hours from Auburn."

How much fun is it to into a stadium with the type of atmosphere of Jordan-Hare?

"It's very fun seeing how big it is. In the pregame I'll notice it, but during the game everything is the same old same old. I can't speak for other guys. I just know for myself, once the game starts, that (big-stadium atmosphere) clears."

Auburn is 23-2 out of conference since Gus Malzahn took over in 2013, with its only two losses to Clemson.

Here's the rundown:

2013 (finished 12-2)

d. Washington State 31-24
d. Arkansas State 38-9
d. Western Carolina 62-3
d. FAU 45-10

Comment: Auburn, which lost to FSU in national title game, intercepted a first-and-goal pass in the end zone to preserve 7-point win v. Washington State and held the Cougars on downs at the 27 with 2:09 left.

2014 (finished 8-5)

d. San Jose State 59-13
d. Kansas State 20-14
d. Louisiana Tech 45-17
d. Samford 31-7

Comment: Kansas State was a road game and he Wildcats were ranked 20th. The Wildcats scored a late TD and Auburn ran out the clock after the ensuing kickoff.

2015 (finished 7-6)

d. Louisville 31-24
d. Jacksonville State 27-20 (OT)
d. San Jose State 35-21
d. Idaho 56-34

Comment: I remember watching the end of that Jacksonville State game. It was crazy. This was a bad Auburn team. Incredibly, it was outgained by all four non-conference opponents.

2016: (finished 8-5)

l. to Clemson 19-13
d. Arkansas State 51-14
d. ULM 58-7
d. Alabama A&M 55-0

Comment: Auburn was outgained 399-262 at home by Clemson and trailed 19-6 in the fourth quarter but had Hail Mary passes broken up in the end zone on the final two plays. Clemson won the national championship.

2017: (finished 10-4)

d. Georgia Southern 41-7
l. to Clemson 14-6
d. Mercer 24-10
D. ULM 42-14

Comment: The game at Clemson was really ugly. Auburn led 6-0 early but managed only 117 total yards and crossed midfield only once in the second half. Feeling a hangover, the Tigers led Mercer 17-10 in the fourth quarter the following week before putting it away. They did outgain Mercer 51-246.

2018: (finished 8-5)

d. Washington 21-16 in Atlanta
d. Alabama State 63-9
d. Southern Miss 24-13
d. Liberty 53-0

Comment: Washington went ahead for the first time in the fourth quarter, and after Auburn retook he lead on JaTarvious Whitlow's scoring run, the Huskies reached the Tigers' 37 before stalling. Southern Miss was within one score for most of the fourth quarter, trailing 21-13, but could not get a first down on its next three series before Auburn kicked a field goal to put it away.

2019: ?

d. Oregon 27-21 in Arlington, TX

Comment: I did not like Malzahn's decision to throw for the end zone with no timeouts left, but it certainly paid off with the winning touchdown.

Last week was the perfect example of why I almost never bet on football. I would have been pulling my hair out when Oklahoma failed to cover against Houston after dominating the game, Auburn covered against Oregon after a risky decision to throw for the end zone with zero timeouts left while in field goal range (a field goal would not have covered the spread) and Memphis came up one point shy of covering against Ole Miss, winning by only 5 despite outgaining the Rebels 364-173.

Sheesh.

Still, it was a historic week. Highwave turned in the first perfect week since I took over this contest from Scott Kushner in 2011. Congrats, highwave.

9

highwave

8

p8kpev

7

Kettrade1
LSU Law Greenie
mono41
Golfer81
chigoyboy
winwave
Harahan Wave
WaveON

6

MNAlum
charlamange8
paliii
diverdo
DrBox

5

ny oscar
Guerry

4

St Amant Wave
buck2481
wavetime
ssscald

2

GretnaGreen

GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane 20 out of 22
Cincinnati 17
Ole Miss 13
Auburn 12
Boise State 12
Houston 11
Wisconsin 16
LSU 10

A Kansas Football coaching search article from last winter had Fritz’s salary at $1.6 million, through 2023. Does anyone have any information on the size of his buyout? The Wyoming coach has an $8 million buyout and Memphis’ coach has a $7.5 million buyout. I’d expect ours is around that number.

There’s a lot of season left but I’m pretty sure that everyone has already noticed how good we are. A decent showing against Auburn, or even an upset, would create a feeding frenzy for Fritz this winter. We’d be very lucky to keep him. But these are good problems

Tulane, which got a head start to Auburn week with a full practice yesterday, worked out again on a humid morning at Yulman Stadium. Sensing his guys dragging during the end of the workout in scout-team action, one of the defensive coaches yelled,"It's hot, your tired," sarcastically. adding they needed to be tougher if they wanted to beat Auburn.

Willie Fritz had noised piped in from start to finish during 11-on-11 work, with a mix tape that included crowd noise, fight songs and pop songs, including "Eye of the Tiger" by Survivor. I'm dating myself there. I see a lot of young writers reference the hip-hop songs at basketball games and I've never heard of the group or the song.

Tight end Tyrick James, who had a nice game against FIU, struggled to catch a few passes today. If I was surprised by anything on Thursday, it was his involvement in the passing game. I'd seen it in flashes during camp but not consistently. It will be interesting to see if he can build on that performance because it gives the offense another valuable weapon.

The running backs were terrific as always against FIU, gaining 288 yards on 34 carries while catching four passes for another 39 yards. I would expect them to have more receptions this week to take advantage of Auburn's aggressiveness, but regardless, this is a talented group. All seven scholarship running backs were productive against FIU, with Darius Bradwell the feature guy (13 rushes, 90 yards) as expected, Stephon Huderson more effective than last year (seven carries, 47 yards) and Corey Dauphine serving as the home-run hitter again. I field more questions from fans about Dauphine than any other player wondering why he does not play more. The answer is simple: Bradwell is the best, most consistent back on the team. Dauphine came in against a reeling defense and was outstanding on all three of his carries, including his 50-yard sprint, but he is not as consistent as Bradwell in games on in practice. His workload likely will increase, but man, what a weapon to have at your disposal as a fresh runner against a tired defense.

Amare Jones, a jack of all trades, is being used the right way by Will Hall. He started at slotback and had a nifty touchdown on a misdirection play. He is pumped for the Auburn game and I expect him to get more than the five touches (for 48 yards) he had against FIU.

"He can do a lot of things," Willie Fritz said. "He can catch the ball and he runs great routes. He could start for you at receiver. He could start for you at running back. He can start for you in the super back position (slotback) we've got now. He's a Swiss army knife. He does everything well. Catches punts, kickoffs. You could run him down on the kickoff team and he'd be good. He loves practicing. He's maybe the hardest practicing guy we've got. He's certainly in the top five, I know that."

Cameron Carroll, Tyjae Spears and Ygenio Booker were effective in garbage time. Carrroll ran eight times for 44 yards. Spears had a pair of 6-yard runs. Booker showed his speed, second to Dauphine's among this group, on a 19-yard run.

I'm not sure there will be a role for those three guys against Auburn, but Tulane is in wonderful shape for now and the future at running. Auburn's starting running back, JaTarvious Whitlow. likely would not be starting for Tulane at the position if he had signed with the Green Wave as expected in 2017. He probably would be at receiver, but if had moved to running back at Tulane, too, he would have faced serious competition.

"The best thing about it is they are an unselfish room," Fritz said. "In this day and age that doesn't happen very often where guys are rooting for other guys when they do things right, and these guys all do. I think it's led by Darius Bradwell. He's doing some things he hasn't had to do here his first few years such as blocking. He had a nice block on one of the plays, a pass play we slid the wrong way and he had to pick up a defensive end and it allowed Justin (McMillan) to have an extra count to throw the ball to (Darnell) Mooney in the corner. There's a lot of good players."

Look for Jeffery Johnson to start at nose tackle against Auburn. He did not start against FIU because he was limited last week in practice by an injury, but he looked good when he entered for the second series and rotated with Davon Wright the rest of the way. Wright still is not listed on the two-deep depth chart, but that's incorrect info. He will play a lot.

Tulane is two-deep just about everywhere on defense with the exception of the interior line, where Jeffery Johnson, Wright and DeAndre Williams, who was very active again versus FIU, are the main guys. Michael Hinton, Juan Monjarres and Carlos Hatcher can play on the outside, although Patrick Johnson and Cam Sample won't come off the field a ton. Malik Lawal and Nick Anderson are solid No. 2 linebackers. Tirise Barge at nickel, Chris Joyce and Willie Langham at cornerback and Macon Clark and Larry Brooks at safety all are capable of playing very well. Langham was victimized a couple of times Thursday, but he also had one of Tulane's two sacks on a blitz.

The second-team offensive line today was Timothy Shafter, Stephen Lewerenz, Sincere Haynesworth, Ben Knutson and Cameron Jackel, which is exactly what Tulane has listed.

I talked to Dauphine one-on-one after practice.

DAUPHINE

Your first carry came on Tulane's fourth possession, and you immediately ran 12 yards and then another 14 for a touchdown. Were those your first plays?

"Yes, that was my first series. When my number is called, I just wanted to make the best of it. That was in my mind, just making the best of every carry that I get."

You had a 50-yard touchdown on your next carry in the third quarter. What makes you so tough?

"Just me getting underlooked and knowing my situation and knowing that I have to give it my all every single play to make a name for myself is what drives me every time I get in a game."

There are so many good running backs on this roster. How much do you drive each other?

"We drive each other so much. We make sure we're on top of our game. That's the reason why I feel like I have to up my game to match theirs. That's pretty much good."

When did you know you were gone on the 50-yard TD run?

"Actually, I checked the defense out and noticed that I couldn't run on the side where the play was originally supposed to go, so I had to go backside. I knew my coaches weren't going to be cool with it, but I just noticed an opening, and when it happened I just knew I was going to hit it full speed and I knew nobody was going to catch me."

Coach Fritz says there are not many guys as fast as you in college football. Do you agree with him?

"Oh yeah. I run track when football season is over with during the spring. I make sure I maintain that speed and not get too much lazy."

Jaylon Monroe says you and he are the two fastest guys on the team. Are you faster?

"I think I've got him. If we go on the track, I think I've got them."

Coach Fritz says there are no egos in the running back room, which he added was rare to have it not become an issue?

"It's not an issue with me because I just want to win games. If they feel like that running back is helping us win, that's great with me. All I have on my mind is winning, and when my time has come, I'm going to do whatever I can to help the team win."

How much are you looking forward to this game at Auburn?

"I'm looking forward because actually my friend from back home, who I shared carries with, plays running back at Auburn. Cam Martin. That's my dog. We have been through so much together, and for us to play our last years against each other is great."

It didn't go well at Ohio State last year. How different is this Tulane team?

"I feel like we know what's at task and we know who we are going against and we know what we are going against and I feel like we are more mentally prepared and are getting there."

How smoothly did the offense run the other night?

"It was smooth. We still have some things to work on, but it was smooth."

And here's an interesting quote from Fritz on Dauphine:

"You watch him in practice, and I told Will (Hall) this a couple of weeks ago, you get in a game now and he's going to have a different gear. He's fast. 20.7 200 meters is fast. There are not many guys that can run that fast in the world, and he's one of them."

It’s been decades since Tulane beat a ranked team and this week may be one of, hopefully, 3-4 chances this year.

Auburn is a very good team, ranked #16 prior to beating #11 Oregon and moving up to #10 themselves in the latest AP poll. But, they were outplayed by Oregon for three quarters and don’t appear to be as good as the Oklahoma and Ohio State teams that routed Tulane in each of the last two years. At the same time, I think Tulane is much better this year than in the previous two years. That doesn’t guarantee a win, of course, but it suggests a much closer differential in talent than we saw against Oklahoma or Ohio State.

To the best of my knowledge, Tulane came out of the FIU game in good shape health wise-- a plus. Also, we have nine days to prepare for Auburn while they only have seven to get ready for us. This gives our coaches an extra two days to game plan. Almost all of our offensive starters only played, at most, three quarters against FIU and, thanks to a lot of substitutions, few of our defenders played much more than half of our defensive snaps. Auburn, of course, had to play their starters the entire game. For these reasons, we should be the “fresher” team, for whatever that is worth.

Still, we will need to play a near perfect game to win. That means we will need to cut back on the penalties that stalled a couple of our drives and extended theirs. Against Auburn we can’t afford another disastrous snap over the QB’s head. And we need to eliminate turnovers and force at least two from them.

Last Thursday, our offensive line may have had their best game in the past two decades but against what level of competition? Auburn’s defense will test that; they are big and very fast. And, though he had a great game throwing the ball, McMillan threw at least two very dangerous passes to the sidelines that, though incomplete, could have resulted in “pick sixes” against faster covers. He needs to protect the ball against a speedier group of defenders.

Getting Amari Jones and Tyrick James involved in the offense was important against FIU and we’ll need to continue that this weekend and for the rest of the year. But, we also need to get McCleskey involved. That we gained about 550 yards with him catching only one ball for 5 yards is amazing, but probably won’t ever happen again. He’s one of our true “game breakers” and needs touches.

While we pressured the FIU QB quite a bit, we blitzed a great deal to get that pressure and got, for the most part, excellent coverage from our defensive backfield. Still, we only had two sacks and probably need three or more against Auburn to stall their offense. We also can’t allow them to convert on 3rd and 19 like FIU did once this past game; that led to their second TD.

Anyway, we’re close to a three TD underdogs at Auburn and no-one except the Wave faithful expect us play them close, let alone win. But I think we’ve got a fighting chance to pull this off. It won’t be easy and playing Auburn close might impress some people but I don’t think Willy Fritz or this team is going to Auburn to play a close game. They’re going with every expectation of winning. We fans should expect nothing less.

Roll Wave!!!

If so, they had to be impressed.

Roll Wave!!!

That was a complete performance tonight, the best I have seen from Tulane since I returned to New Orleans in 2008. It wasn't perfect because of the penalties, but this team has a boatload of playmakers on both sides of the ball and the excellent schemes to go with them. It's been since 1998 that anyone could say that.

WILLIE FRITZ

"I'm just really impressed with our guys coming out of the box. It was a great first drive, but we didn't finish. We had some penalties and that was probably the only non-bright spot for us today. I think we had 12 penalties, which is 12 too many. We have to do a better job in that area, but we came right back on the next drive and scored. Really if we stayed away from the one turnover we had and just all the penalties, we might have scored every time up through the end of the third quarter. That's a good team (FIU). They are going to compete for the Conference USA championship. They've got good players and a great quarterback. He's a pro prospect. Defensively we really shut down the run. We made them pretty one-dimensional. Their quarterback was hard to sack, but we got a lot of pressure on him throughout the night. So it was good. That first game, you're always a little leery about just running on and off the field and being assignment sound and all those different kind of things. We are going to get a lot better from it. You try to replicate all this in practice but it's hard to do. It was an excellent job by the coaching staff but better by the players. They did a super job in all three phases."

You've said several times that you like the way Will Hall attacks the field vertically and horizontally. Was this the perfect example?

"Yeah, we ran the ball for 350 yards. That's hard to do. That's a good front. They've got a pretty good defensive line and linebackers. When they crowded the box, we were getting the ball out there on the perimeter. We need to improve in that area, too. Our perimeter blocking needs to improve. A couple of times they blew us up out there on the side, but Will did a great job of calling the plays and our offensive coaches were in synch. It's good for all of us to get this game under our belt to see how it really happens in a game."

This was supposed to be a close game. How impressed were you that you won soundly?

"As I said before, I think they've got a good squad. We went down there and played a couple of years ago and we have some different guys playing for us right now. We've got some good players. We're bigger on the offensive and defensive line. And they probably didn't know exactly what we were doing, either. We weren't quite sure what they were going to do, but they did do what we anticipated for the most part. I'm sure there was indecision on their part as to what we were going to do offensively."

Justin McMillan went 14 for 18 for 199 yards and ran well, too. How well did it work out tonight for him and this offense?

"It worked out great. I'm really proud of Justin. He fought through a lot of adversity. His grandpa passed away last night getting ready to come to the game, and he handled that as well as he could possibly handle it. The guys rallied around him and he played an excellent game. I just want to extend our well wishes to the McMillan family going through this tough time right now."

You had a long conversation with him on the field. Was that your message to him?

"Yeah, that was part of it. We just talked about it. It was a tough deal for him. He's kind of kept it inside the last 24 hours. It was pretty tough for him."

How big was the turnover you got right after Darius Bradwell's fumble near the end of the first half?

"That was big. We were on our way to go down and score, and they've got the type of offense they felt like they could get another touchdown, and we were able to get that takeaway with Cam Sample on the quarterback and then go in and score right before the half. That's a pretty big letdown for them."

played last night. Haynesworth and Spears.
Only a handful of RS freshman.
We certainly have a veteran team for once.

I meant to get this up over the weekend and forgot, so there's not much time to get your picks in.

As always, the Tulane game counts double, home teams are listed first, neutral sites are designated and the point spreads come from VegasInsider.com consensus. You will get to drop your lowest score, allowing you to miss a week without a big penalty.


Tulane (-2) Florida International
Cincinnati (-2.5) UCLA
Memphis (-6) Ole Miss
Auburn (-3.5) Oregon (Arlington, Texas)
FSU (-5.5) Boise State (Jacksonville, Fla.)
Oklahoma (-22.5) Houston
South Florida (+13) Wisconsin
LSU (-27.5) Georgia Southern

Here is my interview with Tulane basketball coach Ron Hunter, whose 13-player scholarship roster has only two guys who played a second for the Wave last year. Anyone who thought he would tone down his optimism as he settled into the job was very mistaken.

You went through all the offseason workouts with the team. What were your thoughts when they were done?

“It’s funny because I took 10 days off to kind of reflect and I told the story to my athletic director (Troy Dannen) the other day. My wife asked me the other day do I feel I made the right decision. It’s weird because she’s never asked me that on any job before, and so quickly I said yes because I really believe the way we were able to flip this roster has been nothing short of a miracle. And not only to flip it but not even lose one APR point. Tell me any place in the country that can bring nine new players in and not lose one APR point. So it just all worked together. It’s almost like this is the ultimate job for me. I have been trained for this position, what we did at IUPUI or Georgia State, and we’ve applied all that, too.

“I have really enjoyed these guys. If you thought I was excited for the press conference. Just to show you, we had 10 days off and I told my wife, listen, we didn’t have a vacation (after last season) because we went from the NCAA tournament here, and by the fifth day she said you’ve got to go back because I was so excited I couldn’t stop thinking about what we’re doing and that. I love this team, absolutely love this team. I still don’t even know how we did this. I don’t. Looking at some of the guys we have and the talent we’ve got, I’m really excited about it.”

I was just told a story about your meeting with a booster club, and you asked somebody when was the last time they’d been to a Tulane basketball game. They said they went to maybe two last year, and you responded by telling them to come to the opener against Southeastern Louisiana and you’d pay them $500 if they didn’t have a good time.

“Yeah, I’m dead serious. If he will come to a game and come to my office the next day and say he didn’t enjoy that game, I will give him $500. I was dead serious about that.”

And then another guy said he had not been to a Tulane basketball game since 1973, and you told him you would buy him dinner if he came to a game.

“I couldn’t even remember if I had been born then. You know, it’s fun. I have really enjoyed the city. I’ve been around speaking to different people and the biggest surprise is there are people in this town who really want Tulane basketball to take off. It’s been enjoyable, but more importantly we’ve got to win. When I talked (boldly) at my (opening) press conference, I believed it, but you don’t know what you’re getting into. Knowing what I know now, I’m going to probably be even a little bit more boisterous because I really like this team. I love this team.”

You have 14 scholarship players listed on the roster. Which guy won’t be there since 13 is the max?

“That’s going to be Bul (Ajang). His knees are just, he had surgery, and he can’t get it done. We’ll get a D.Q. by the NCAA. He’s on scholarship (with an injury hardship) and what he’s going to be is a coach. He’s going to stay on scholarship and be my personal assistant coach. I just don’t think you should run kids off because of an illness or something like that. He’s going to be with us until he graduates here and if he wants to stay with us after he graduates.”

Is Ibrahim Ali, the transfer from Arkansas, going to be eligible this year?

“He and Teshaun (Hightower, a Georgia transfer), we filed waivers for them. We’re waiting for the waivers. I’m hoping to here something any minute now. We finally got everything all cleared and we worked with the previous schools and so we’ll wait and see. I’m crossing my fingers. If both of those kids are playing for us, then my excitement continues to go up.”

With Ajang not playing, you have only two guys who played a second for this team last year in Kevin Zhang and Buay Koka.

“And that’s nothing discouraging about the previous team or the previous staff, but they went through a tough time, and one of the things the night after the press conference, the only thing I was concerned with is when things go bad, will those kids go back into that failure again. Well, I don’t have any of those kids anymore. I don’t have anyone on staff who did that. People talk to me about the things at Tulane, but I don’t know about it. My staff doesn’t know about it, and now the players don’t know about it. So for us this is just if you look at the success these players have had in their career, a lot of these kids just know about winning.

“Nic (Thomas, a transfer from Norfolk State) was talking about he was disappointed they won a championship (MEAC regular season) but they didn’t get to the NCAA tournament (when they lost in the MEAC tourney). But they won a championship. The same thing with K.J. (Lawson) at Kansas. These guys have won. Christion (Thompson) was at Rhode Island, and they went to the NCAA tournament his freshman year. So these guys know what it takes, and that’s what I really love. That’s the things we talked about. As a group, we will be disappointed if we don’t go to the NCAA tournament. My staff, we’ve been the last three of four years. What are we doing in March if we’re not in the tournament?

“We had a meeting yesterday and the associate AD Rob (Bernardi) was shocked we had the meeting. I brought him and talked about, hey, on championship Sunday, we’re playing in the (AAC) championship game, how are we going to get back? He’s like we never had that conversation. I’ll have to get back to you. But you have to prepare that way. We spent the entire day yesterday talking about selection Sunday and we’ll be in the championship game that’s played at 2 o’clock, where are they going to watch the (selection show) an how are the kids going to get back to New Orleans so we can make sure we can start preparing. I talked to the players about that. That’s our preparation, and so that’s not going to change. That’s what I love about these new guys. It wasn’t like, coach, what are you talking about? They all said, yeah, what are we doing coach, how is this going to work for us? So I’ve got to change the mentality in here (the athletic department) a little bit because it’s just never happened before.”

The non-conference schedule came out recently, and it’s pretty light. You had said right off the bat your guys needed to learn how to win.

“Learn how to win. That’s the key—learn how to win. It’s weird because I’ve never had a schedule where it was kind of part of what they put together in the past and then what we wanted to get done. Right now what we have to learn is not so much these guys have to learn how to win, they’ve got to learn how to win together. I’ve got a lot of winners here, but they’ve never played together and I’ve never coached them, so that’s what we have to be able to do. I wanted to play more home games if we could. Right now one of the things that we do, sometimes a guy will cut and he should have stayed there. I tease our guys because they really hadn’t seen me coach yet. I’ll say, K.J., I’m not the guy at Kansas. I don’t sit down with a pretty tie. I’m not going to do that. I coach a little differently, so they’ve got to get a feel for that a little. You’ve seen me more than probably what they have, and so just those type of things. Shootarounds, normal kind of things, those are the kind of things we have to catch up with, but the playing and all that and I put the system in and the kids understand the system, that’s the part I was really happy with when I went home, that everyone in my program understands the system now.”

With all the NCAA allows you to work on in the offseason now, how much harder would it have been to come in 10 years ago and have them this comfortable before the start of preseason practice?

“I couldn’t have done it. When I took over at Georgia State we didn’t have the summer (practices), so we had to start Oct. 15, so we got off to a slow start. The rules now really help you, and not only those rules but the recruiting rules. Grad transfers you didn’t have back then. Having transfers eligible you didn’t have. The transfer portal. As much as I complained about the transfer portal, I think it’s a wonderful thing now. The portal saved us, it really did. Without those things, you just can’t flip a roster. You can’t do it. I feel like a general manager. I talked to (Pelicans G.M. David) Griffin yesterday and I said, man, I’m just like you. I used my transfer portal. We just have to make a few deals here. I teased him. He said are you done and I said, no, I’m going to make one more deal. He said what do you mean, so I said I’ll give you that walk-on for Zion (Williamson). He’s got three years left. He didn’t take it.”

Does Lawson have two years of eligibility left?

“He could, but he’s a one and done. He’s trying to be a pro. He came here to do that, and I’m OK with that. Now if he was to come back, we’ll take him. But we have an understanding. He just got married this summer and it’s time. He needs this great year, and I told him I was OK with that when we recruited him. But if he wants to come back, he has that option.”

Guerry, please include your thoughts as you have seen more of this team than anyone.

Will McMillian be able to carry the team in Will Hall’s offense?

Who will be offensive rookie of the year?

Who will be Offensive Most Improved?

Who will be the MVP of the O?

Same questions above for defense?

Which teams if any are ripe for an upset?

What will our record be? Who and where will we play if we make it to a bowl?

Opening Statement:

"Thanks to everyone for coming out today. We appreciate the coverage. We're very, very excited about the opening game here at Tulane on Thursday night at seven 'o clock playing Florida International. A bowl team last year. Won their bowl game. Coach (Butch) Davis has done an excellent job at FIU and has taken them to a couple consecutive bowl games. He's got a great history as a head coach, both in the NFL and also in the college game at Miami and North Carolina and I've got a lot of respect for him. They've got a lot of starters coming back, 18 of 22 starters returning for them. And when you look at them in the special teams game, across the board they've had nine, 10, maybe 11 guys on their kickoff team and they have a very veteran squad. I think our guys are ready to play somebody else. It's been a long preseason. We reported on July 30, with the first practice on July 31 and I think everybody right now in college football is ready to get going. With that I'll open it up to any questions."

On opening the season for the second consecutive year on a Thursday night:

"I do like it on Thursday because you get the weekend off and you get ready to go and it gives you a chance to exhale and relax a little bit. I do like the Thursday game. Unfortunately, the last couple of years the game date has become a bit of a conflict with the Saints with their last preseason game, because they don't get to know their schedule by the time we set our schedule, but I'm excited about opening up on Thursday evening."

On if there have been any differences in this year's camp as opposed to previous seasons:

"Well the good has been the fact that our guys understand how we do things here. I've talked about it before, where our team meetings, or position meetings or unit meetings are going half the time as they did in our first year where I had to explain a lot of things. I also think it's been exciting with the new offense and coach (Will) Hall has brought a lot of energy and excitement to the program along with Cody Kennedy, our offensive line coach. There have been a lot of new additions along with some of the veterans we have and a lot of things we've done in the past. But it has been a great camp."

On tailoring practices based on specific needs during camp:

"We've changed things up a little bit based on what the coordinators are looking to do. I've been a coordinator myself and a head coach for a long time and I want to make sure those guys feel good with their preparation. So we'll tweak practice to help them out offensively and defensively and also in the kicking game. Our staff's been together for so long and everybody is very easy to work with and I think that's an advantage going into year four."

On the addition of offensive coordinator Will Hall and the players acclimating to his system:

"You know the thing I think Will has done a great job of is there were three or four things that I wanted us to continue to keep running here at Tulane and he's done a good job of combining that with what he's run in the past. He's got a lot of head coaching experience, a lot of coordinator experience. When he was with Memphis he ran a very explosive offense up there. So he's kind of picked the best things and added it with what we have done here and what I'd like to continue to keep doing. And I think it's made for a very diverse offense."

On the relationship between Will Hall and senior quarterback Justin McMillan:

"They've got a great relationship. He and Justin probably talk four, five, six, seven times a day. Nowadays you can watch tape anyplace, and maybe he'll be at his apartment and they're talking about something that was run during practice and they don't have to wait until meetings the next day and they can go over things throughout the day."

On being able to make adjustments in the game against FIU:

"I think both teams, especially in that first ballgame, both teams are going to have to make adjustments on the sidelines. It's just the way it is. Offensively, defensively, kicking game. We've got new things that we're doing and I'm sure they've got new things they're doing. You want to make sure you have enough in your package where you can have multiple looks, but keep it simple so that when you see something totally different you can adjust to it. I think both teams understand that going into the first ballgame. It's really easier to prepare for weeks six, seven and eight. The advantage you have week one is that we worked on FIU for 10 practices, rather than just four or five."

On the health of the offensive line:

"We're pretty darn healthy.KeyshawnMcLeod is going to start at right guard for us. That's been a position that we've had a lot of competition in. A lot of guys are going to play. ChristianMontano. I thinkGuerry(Smith) said this to me yesterday that I think every guy that we've got starting on offense and defense has started. Maybe not at Tulane, but someplace else. We've got a lot of guys coming back. After he said that I went upstairs and I looked that we've got 29 guys that have starting experience when you include the kickers, punters and snappers as well that have started at least one collegiate ballgame at the Division I level. So a lot of experience. Corey Dublin is going to be over at guard, and the two tackles JoeyClaybrookand Tyler Johnson have played a lot of football for us as well. Ben Knutson will play a bunch his first ballgame both at guard and tackles. So we have a lot of guys who are going to see action on Thursday night."

On if he sees any parallels between how he's built the Tulane program and what Butch Davis has done at FIU:

"There's probably some similarities. He's got his hands all over the defense. Years and years ago I used to go watch the (Dallas) Cowboys practice when he was coaching there and you still see a few things they were doing back then with Jimmy Johnson, DaveWannstedtand Davis when they were all there together. There probably are some similarities in building a program."

On FIU quarterback James Morgan:

"He just does a really good job of getting a pre-snap indicator of where he's going to go with the football. It's hard to sack him and he gets the ball out of there in a hurry. You've got to do an excellent job of having close coverage and competing for those balls. When he throws short balls, you've got to make sure they don't turn into big gains. You tackle them for gains of three, then they'll slip by you and turn them into 23 or33-yarders. So they'll get rid of the ball in a hurry."

On the challenge of the early season schedule:

"I look at the schedule in the first team meeting and that's the last time we really talk about it. But as I said when I came in here, we're going to improve the opposition we play here at Tulane. We want to be a national program and in order to do that, you've got to play people. This is a great league and I want to invite everybody to come out here Thursday evening and watch a ballgame, because you're going to be surprised at the level of play both on our team and in the opponents that come here toYulman Stadium. So if you want to be a national program, you've got to play people.

I made it for the last five minutes only today because it was moved to Yulman Stadium from the Superdome and finished at 11 instead of 12, which was the original plan. No practice report, but Willie Fritz said Keyshawn McLeod would start at right guard, clearing up the closest race in camp.

FRITZ

Why the venue switch?

"It was a nice day. We saw we were going to beat the weather. We just kind of had going down there as a backup plan. We'll probably have to go there (the Dome) tomorrow (because of the weather report).

How good do you feel about the offense going into the season?

"Great. I feel good about it. The great thing for me is Will (Hall) has got a lot of head coaching experience, so he knows how to organize things. You think about what ifs. Sometimes that's what I have to do for everybody--make sure they are doing this, that and the other thing. He's been there and done that as a coordinator and as a head coach, so that's an advantage for me."

Some coordinators appear more concerned about stats than anything else.

"He sees the big picture. Moreso than anything else it's just how to put it all together. This goes before this and this goes after this and there's a rhyme and reason for installation. That's good."

What is the decision at right guard?

"Keyshawn's going to start, but Ben (Knutson)'s going to play a bunch. Cam Jackel will play some, too. We have a lot more depth than we've had."

It is possible all 22 starters for you on Thursday will have started games before in college. Is that nice to have?

"Oh, I think it's good. We have 15 seniors, but only one of them was here before we got here. Those guys have helped us become a little bit more of a veteran squad than really what we are probably, but we have a lot of young kids who are going to be able to play. I like where our roster is at right now."

P.J. HALL

What do you remember from the loss to FIU two years ago?

"Yeah, I remember a lot from that game--the formations they lined up in, we remember it all. We've watched film on it. It wasn't a good game for us."

How much better do you feel you are as a team now than two years ago?

"A lot better. We didn't come into the game prepared. We kind of took the game lightly, but it's a totally different story this year. "

Is payback a little motivation?

"You can say a little bit. We need to get them back but for the main part we just need to start our season off with a win."

How do you like the defense's progress in camp?

"I feel real good about that. All three levels, from the D-line to the linebackers to the DBs, we have a good group."

Earlier this month, he transferred from Boca Raton High to Deerfield Beach, a power program that has a senior QB who has committed to Southern Miss. He will have to beat him out or ride the bench in his senior season.

https://www.bing.com/search?q=Micha...arterback&FORM=ATUR01&PC=ATUR&PTAG=PTAG00RAND

The conditions were sweltering this morning at Yulman Stadium as Tulane had a practice in pads and shorts that lasted two hours. Willie Fritz said Monday practices usually last two hours and 15 minutes, but since the Green Wave already had worked some on FIU for four practices last week, he cut it slightly shorter.

I have not gotten confirmation on it, but it appears Ben Knutson will start at right guard ahead of Keyshawn McLeod. Knutson took all the reps with the first unit today, while McLeod worked with the 2s both at right guard and right tackle alternately. The coaches are getting the eight or so guys who they believe can help Tulane win ready to play, so Cameron Jackel split time at second-team right tackle and left guard. Sincere Haynesworth is the other guy I think is ready to play, although his time will be limited behind starting center Christian Montano since the starters rarely come out up front. I don't see the other guys on the second unit--Stephen Lewerenz and walk-on Timothy Shafter-getting meaningful action yet.

On the defense front, one guy who has had a good camp is sophomore Davon Wright, who had shoulder surgery in the spring but has come on strong in his return. He is versatile enough to play end and nose guard --a pretty rare combination--and has passed Alfred Thomas on the depth chart in the middle. Look for him to be in the rotation.

"He's really progressed well," Fritz said. "He's a really good athlete with good movement."

Patrick Johnson has been impressed with Wright's development.

"Davon has a motor on him," he said. "He's a big guy (6-1, 300) and a lot of people wouldn't expect him to run a 4.9. He ran a 4.9 after his freshman year and we were like, hold on, that's a 300-pounder moving. He's very athletic. It's great having him back (after the spring shoulder surgery). I told him the other day, ,man, it's nice having you back. When you have a guy that can run and be that big, he's an athlete and he proves it every single day."

Although the defensive starters are pretty evident, plenty of backups will get significant time against FIU, too, as the coaches find the best combinations. This is not news to anyone who has read these reports, but Fritz said safeties Macon Clark and Larry Brooks would roll in for Chase Kuerschen and P.J Hall, all four returning corners would play a bunch, three nickels would play (starter Tirise Barge and two of the three among Larry Bryant, Will Harper and K.J.Vault), three linebackers would play substantial downs at the two ILB spots (I'm thinking it's really four with Nick Anderson and Malik Lawal behind Lawrence Graham and Marvin Moody) and three or four end/joker guys. Obviously, Patrick Johnson and Cam Sample will not come off the field often, but Fritz said he would not be surprised if 20 guys played on defense.

During the 11-on-11 work today, Fritz hollered out the down and distance before each play, going from third-and-6, to second-and-10 and all over the place. That has been the traditional mode of practice for all of camp, and it's by design. Asked how camp had gone overall, he emphasized that part.

"There are still a lot of new things offensively, but we've done a good job of having a plan of attack with situational football throughout camp," he said. "I've seen more coaches make a mistake, the day before the first game they're trying to put their hands team in and onside kicks and punt after afety. We've worked all those things throughout camp (I can vouch for that because I've seen all of them worked on)."

Tulane played one of its worst games of Fritz's tenure at FIU two years ago, getting beaten 23-10 and dominated statistically as the Panthers rushed and threw for more than 200 yards while holding the Wave to 239 yards total. But if you look at who played in that game, Darius Bradwell had one carry (for 26 yards), Stephon Huderson had a carry, Jacob Robertson caught two passes and no one who had a carry or a catch or threw a pass is still on the roster. Defensively Sample had five tackles, Patrick Johnson had three stops, Bryant and Moody had two, Graham and Hall had one and everyone else is gone, including the six top tacklers in that game.

The FIU quarterback, running backs and receivers who had big games are all gone, too.

"I don't know," Fritz said when asked how much carryover there would be from two years ago. "When we played down there and we have a lot of guys that weren't on the team when we played that game. But a lot of things are the same. Coach (Butch) Davis is still the (FIU) head coach and they run the same style defense we assume. That's one thing about the first game. You just don't know what everybody's going to do. We are going to throw a lot of new wrinkles they haven't seen before on offense, defense and in the kicking game, and they'll be doing the same thing. You have to be prepared to be flexible in what you're running."

The message on the scoreboard today was #Beat FIU, a welcome change from the It's All About the Ball that has been there for awhile. That's definitely not my favorite catchphrase.

Jaetavian Toles turned in the play of the day, making a leaping catch over Hall in the middle of the field. Bryant made a nice play on Will Wallace, staying with a play to slap the ball away from him after they grappled for it for a few seconds. Wallace began juggling it and finally had it slip from his grasp, with Bryant getting a compliment from a defensive assistant for his stick-to-itiveness.

All seven running backs received at least a few reps with the offense. Fritz was noncommittal when I asked him how he would handle that situation in a game.

"I've been in situations where you thought you were really deep at a spot and then all of a sudden you're not," he said. "I hope that becomes a problem getting guys enough touches."

Marvin Moody made a one-handed interception against the scout-team offense.

Tulane will return to the practice field tomorrow morning at the Superdome for the equivalent of a Tuesday practice. When I covered Florida under Urban Meyer, his term for that day in 2005 was "Bloody Tuesday," with really physical workouts. Times have changed in the last 10 to 15 years.

Tulane had its last practice of preseason camp this morning in shorts and shells at the Superdome and will take Friday off before returning Saturday to begin normal game-week preparation for next Thursday's opener against FIU. The rest of the schedule is exactly like what it would be for . a Saturday game, only moved two days up. Saturday will be the same as a normal Monday, Sunday a normal Tuesday, Monday a normal Wednesday and Tuesday a normal Thursday.

I would say the new offense is still a work in progress, with more consistent accuracy needed from Justin McMillan. He threw a gorgeous fade to Jorien Vallien for a touchdown in the corner of the end zone but also threw a pass over the wrong shoulder to Amare Jones, forcing him to contort his body in an unsuccessful attempt to bring it in and a pass behind Jalen McCleskey on an out route that bounced of his hands as he reached behind his body. McMillan can make all the throws but he doesn't always put the ball where it needs to be.

Although Sincere Haynesworth has looked good as a blocker in camp, Tulane cannot afford to lose Christian Montano because of his snapping ability. Haynesworth has struggled at times with his shotgun snaps, and so has third-string center Stephen Lewerenz. An errant snap by Lewerenz today caused all of the offensive players on the field to do up-downs as punishment. As we saw in the CJ era, snaps need to be perfect every time or trouble arises.

Keon Howard made another pretty thrown on the run, his best strength in the passing game, hitting Vallien while sprinting to his left. Not for the first time in camp, Vallien had an excellent day.

The offense got into a good rhythm practicing against the scout-team defense. At the end of a stretch with several completions in a row, including a McMillan pass to Jacob Robertson over the middle, offensive coordinator Will Hall went over to the entire first-team offense and gave each player a high five.

One freshman who may play is Armoni Dixon. He has gotten some reps with the No. 2 defense at joker and is a good pass rusher. Since Tulane's depth is really good on the defensive line, it's not a sure thing, but I like what I've seen from him.

Two guys who definitely will not play are safety Sean Harper and walk-on wide receiver Ryan Thompson. They have practiced with the scout teams all week. Aside from that one day when Quentin Brown was on the scout team, I have not seen anyone surprising on the scout teams, which are primarily made up of walk-ons and scholarship guys who did not make an impact in camp.

Cameron Carroll did not practice again today.

Like I wrote yesterday, I have run out of questions for Willie Fritz until real prep work for FIU starts Saturday. I am writing a feature for The Advocate today on Will Hall's 8-year old son attending all the practices and having a great time throwing a little ball around with trainers (until school started at John Curtis yesterday), so I talked to Fritz about that.

FRITZ

So you like having Pete Hall at all of the practices?

"Oh, I'm am old coach's son myself and Will is a coach's son. His dad's the second winningest coach in the history of the state of Mississippi with 310 wins. His kid just loves it. He sucks it up and sits with me on the bus rides out here. We try to foster a family atmosphere here, and shoot, I want our coaches to be able to have their kids around all the time. It doesn't bother me a bit."

Did you experience the same thing as a kid?

"Yeah, I grew up that way. My dad was an athletic director, so I'd go watch the basketball team practicing, the football team, I was a batboy for the college baseball team and all that stuff. My two girls and my boy, they'd come to practices all the time. It's just a neat experience that we want to be able to have now and not regret not having it later."

Will Hall says Pete think you're the only person around here he has to listen to.

"I don't know about that. He just is a very well mannered kid, too. Him and his older boy Tripp are good, young kids."

Justin McMillan says he likes having Pete around.

"Yeah, it's fun. My former players knew all of my kids. They were at practice all the time. My former players were kind of the older brothers they had growing up."

I also talked briefly with Jalen McCleskey.

MCCLESKEY

The opener is a week away. How excited are you?

"I'm really excited. It's been a while since I've played in a game. I can't wait. We've made a lot of strides as a team in fall camp. We really worked on a bunch of things and got better. It's going to be real fun. Coach Hall does a great job scheming plays up, knowing his personnel and knowing how to put us in a great situation."

You rested with a hamstring injury for about a week in drills. How do you feel?

"I feel great. I couldn't wait to get back out to practice. It feels good to be back out there with my team."