The story is on the front page, with Bryan Moss of TigerSportsReport.com answering five questions.

Moss believes this will be a tight game.

I like that it is not as hard as last year, which was simply too hard for the caliber of a brand new roster.

It is more like some of the better Rick Jones schedules. The Ole Miss home series should be fun. UCSB had a rough last two years but went to the CWS in 2016 and went to regional three times from 2013 to 2016, so it will be interesting to see whether that team can bounce back.

Opening opponent George Washington is mediocre but has finished with a winning record in three of the last four years and finished with an RPI of 103 last season.

The tournament in Cary, N.C. is being hosted by Army, which has been very difficult to deal with in determining the field. Fordham is one of the other teams in what will be either a four- or five-team event, but the others have not been announced. Fordham went 35-19 last year and had an RPI of 116.

UC Riverside almost never is a contender in the Big West and was below 200 in the RPI last year. Back in the day, Tulane used to play periodically in the Riverside tournament that featured about six games and usually had a really good field.

Houston Baptist finished with an RPI of 111 last year and was reasonably competitive in the Southland.

Southern Miss is not on the schedule, but it's not an LSU deal where the schools are at odds. The dates simply did not work out for midweek series, and look for the Golden Eagles to be back on the schedule next year.

There are three games with UNO again.

Travis Jewett does a good job of not scheduling predicted bottom feeders, a problem that used to kill Tulane's RPI in the later stages of Rick Jones' career. This schedule is manageable and smart.

This is a huge year for Jewett obviously. The third year should be a good season if the coach is good, so there will be a ton of pressure on him to produce results.

Tulane moved its practice to the Saints indoor facility because of heavy rain in the area but had to finish it about 20 minutes earlier than planned --at 10 a.m. on the dot--to make room for the Saints, who are preparing for Sunday's game against the New York Giants.

I saw maybe the last five minutes, but that was enough time to watch Justin McMillan's arm talent show again. He threw a seed to Darnell Mooney for a touchdown on a skinny post, then zinged an out route that bounced off Jacob Robertson's hands. You have to have strong hands to reel in passes with that much zip on them, particularly when you are not used to it. I heard McMillan also threw a couple of beautiful strikes in 7-on-7 drills before I got there.

The team was rushed when it left the building, so I forgot to get confirmation from Fritz that Charles Jones and Kendall Ardoin would play against Houston on Friday. No one from the sports information staff was there, but I did ask Fritz a few questions.

Did you have to end practice early?

We ended about 15 or 20 minutes early, but we got some stuff in. It was lucky we did (considering the threatening weather around New Orleans).

How has the prep work gone for Memphis?

"Oh, it hasn't been bad. Obviously we were lucky to be able to come over here or we might not have been able to practice. So we were able to get it in. Both teams have short weeks. That's just the way it is."

What's your experience with short weeks?

"I've had a bunch of them, mostly Thursday night games. Sometimes you try to pack everything in. We went ahead and took Sunday off like we normally do just so we could prep and get ready, then we really turned the page and forgot about the last game and worked on corrections and things like that. Otherwise, we moved on."

Justin McMillan played a few series against Ohio State. Is there a plan or a package for him to get in the game on Friday?

"He's getting pretty close to having a good knowledge of our whole offense. We'll see how the game goes."

I checked on how many short weeks Fritz has had, and the total is eight since he became coach at Sam Houston State in 2010. He went 2-0 on Friday games there, winning a couple of FCS playoff games, and 1-0 on Thursday, beating Texas Southern. He went 2-1 on Thursdays at Georgia Southern, winning home games against Appalachian State and Troy and losing a road game against Appalachian State. He is 0-2 on Fridays at Tulane, losing to Memphis in each of the last two years.

When does MBB coverage start? Inquiring minds want to know.

Also in your cavernous spare time () a story about the 2019 baseball schedule and even a thought or two about fall ball would be welcome. Thanks for letting us be your assignment editor.

Meanwhile thanks for the wall to wall football coverage.

The Oregon-Stanford game was the perfect example of why I don't bet. I hate losing more than I enjoy winning, and of all the games in the first four weeks, I felt the most confident I'd be right on that one, only to watch the Ducks, a yard away from going up 31-7, give up a fumble return for a touchdown off a bad shotgun snap, then fumble again when a guy was trying to fight for a first down even though all they had to do was take two knees and either get off a punt or run another five seconds off the clock on fourth down to win. Then a QB who had thrown two incomplete passes in four quarters threw five on their OT possession. Incredible.

7

sscald

6

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Golfer81
highwave
GretnaGreen

5

buck2481
mono41
winwave
LSU Law Greenie
charlamange8
Wavetime
chigoyboy
St. Amant Wave

4

MNAlum
Gang_Green
Guerry

3

diverdo
paliii
WaveON


OVERALL STANDINGS

22

winwave

20

GretnaGreen

19

mono41
St. Amant Wave
Kettrade1
highwave

18

paliii
WaveON
buck2481
LSU Law Greenie
charlamange8
sscald
MNAlum

16

chigoyboy

15

wavetime (missed 1 week)
Golfer81

14

Guerry
Gang_Green
diverdo

10

DrBox (missed 1 week)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Ohio State 10 of 19
Notre Dame 11
Stanford 16
SMU 3
Texas 7
Louisiana Tech 7
Georgia 17
Texas A&M 11

Sorry for the late report. Last week I agreed to help cover Pelicans Media Day for The Advocate, forgetting Tulane would practice today before a Friday game, so I had to head straight to the Pelicans after practice today. I ended up not even writing anything about the Pels after sitting through three hours of interviews with each of the 19 players going up the podium separately.

Tight ends Charles Jones and Kendall Ardoin did not practice again today. Defensive coordinator Jack Curtis told me nickelback Larry Bryant might be cleared to play against Memphis after missing the last three games. He could help the depth behind Will Harper because Tirise Barge is struggling a bit.

Someone wondered what happened to Devin Glenn last week after my Thursday practice report did not mention him. It turns out he missed the game with an injury I did not know about and was not on the travel squad. I'll check on his status tomorrow.

Taris Shenall started instead of P.J. Hall at safety against Ohio State. Hall has not played as well as I expected to this point, but Shenall did not play well, either. Tulane needs to be a lot better at that position against Memphis.

I asked Fritz about the fair catches on kickoffs. Here's his response:

"The big thing is the field position. We were guaranteed to have the ball at the 25-yard line, and they've done a great job of getting the ball in the field of play with over four seconds of hang time. And they have some fast dudes running down the field. I believe the statistic is above a 4.0 hang time inside the 5-yard line and then catching it in the end zone, 70 percent of the balls don't make it to the 20. We were playing the percentages."

I did some research. In the opener against Oregon State, Ohio State kicked the ball inside the 5 but not to the goal line six times. Oregon State called three fair catches and returned the other three, getting stopped at the 20, the 24 and the 17. In the second game Rutgers called a fair catch on every kickoff except for one, when it was stopped at the 13. TCU tried to return the kickoffs. The first one went to the 4 and was returned to the 17. The second one went to the 1 and was returned to the 16. TCU tried a nifty lateral later on a kickoff return but the guy threw it forward for a penalty, forcing the drive to start at the 4. The last kickoff went to the 3 and was returned to the 22.

So as much as you might find the decision to fair catch the kickoffs distasteful, it was the right call. No team all year has returned a kickoff to the 25-yard line against Ohio State. Oregon State and Rutgers fair caught some kickoffs in the field of play, and the seven times a team did not call a fair catch in the field of play, its average starting position was the 18.

Here is the rest of Fritz. I was flying solo today with no other media representative there.

You are not going to play any team remotely as good as Ohio State the rest of the year, but Memphis has terrific skill position players. What are the keys to slow those guys down?

"We've got to be sound. That's the big thing. We have to make sure we've got bodies on bodies, we're covering people, we're playing with an edge on all our defense. Number one, we don't give up easy ones and number two, we've got to do a good job with leverage playing these guys. They've got one of the best backs in the country (Darrell Henderson, who rushed for more than 2,000 yards as a junior and senior in high school before starring at Memphis). He can play for anybody. He would have started at Ohio State probably. He's a really good, quality back. The quarterback has picked up where the last guy left off. They are really good defensively and are very opportunistic. They do a good job swarming to the ball, getting takeaways. This is an excellent team. This is a top-20 team."

When you lose like you did at Ohio State, how do you make sure the guys don't get beaten down by the way the first half went?

"We've got to move on. I talked to them about it in the locker room. The one thing I was happy about is we came out and we played hard in the second half. There's a big difference right now between our 1s and there 1s, but their 2s and our 1s are pretty close. We did a decent job in the second half of playing properly and doing the correct things, but it's a long season. That's one of the things I had on the board today--in-season heroes. A lot of guys are really good in January, February, March, April, May, June and July. We need their best right now."

Cam Sample had a very good second half. Is that what you need out of him the rest of the way?

"He played really well. We have five to 10 guys that could have played for them (Ohio State), and Cam would be one of them. He would get on the field for them without question. He showed that Saturday."

Rod Teamer came to play, too.

"Oh yeah, he's another guy that could play at that level, too. He goes hard every down."

What were the issues in pass coverage against Ohio State, and how much better does the communication need to be?

"It needs to be a lot better. There were a couple of times where we just turned guys loose. You just can't do that. You have to make calls out there and do some things. It was simple stuff where the offense calls a pick route. You've got to be able to communicate. If you don't communicate, they are going to run it all day. That's day 1 (stuff). It's disappointing."

Was that the most frustrating aspect of the game?

"Yeah. The back was catching the ball out there in the flat. That was just miscommunication, and you knew it was coming by their splits."

How did Banks play?

"He did some good things, but it's like talking about the secondary. Some of that's pass rush, too. When the guy can sit there and pat the ball for a long time, it's going to be tough to cover for a long time. You've got to coach both sides of it--getting a good pass rush and covering for as long as humanly possible. Jonathan did some good things. The big thing we just want to do is get crisper at when to give and when to pull. There were a few times they kind of ran at the mesh and we misread what we needed to do. We've just got to get better at that."

Any new injuries?

"No, we're not in too bad a shape."

You had no turnovers. How important is that going forward?

"You know, the only thing I was disappointed in was missed assignments. We had a few on defense and a few on offense. In that kind of game, you've got to be spot on, and we had four pre-snap penalties. They actually had a lot more penalties than us, but we had more of the pre-snap variety. which we control."

Bradwell ran really hard. How much do you like the way he ran?

"Oh, we just need him to play physical in all aspects of the game. If he can start doing that, he'll be a big-time player. When he's got the ball in his hands, we call him the Brahma bull. When he does that, he's hard to get down. We have to get him playing physical like that in all aspects of his game."

Charles Jones and Kendall Ardoin practiced today, which could be big for Tulane. Jones, who has missed three straight games with a leg injury, is by far the Green Wave's best receiving tight end, and and redshirt freshman Will Wallace and true freshman Tyrick James missed a lot of assignments against Ohio State while playing in the seniors' absence. I haven't done a full film study of that game, but James blocked no one on a quick out to Terren Encalade, and the guy he probably should have blocked nailed Encalade for a 2-yard loss.

In a pivotal, winnable but difficult game against Memphis, Jones' presence in particular could tip the scale if he is healthy and is used in the pass offense.

"They can help a bunch," Willie Fritz said. "Charles has played some good football. The tough part for him has been staying healthy. If he stays healthy we think he's a really good player. The great thing about Kendall is you know what you're going to get out of him in every single practice and every game. He's going to give you a workmanlike effort. He doesn't bust very often, and that's what you're looking for."

Devin Glenn also was back after missing the Ohio State game. They still have not found a role for him, but maybe Friday night will be the time he finally gets something in the open field where he can use his blazing speed. It's not like any of the other receivers have made much happen besides Encalade and Mooney.

There was a Ygenio Booker sighting today. I'd totally lost track of him since early in the preseason, but he caught a touchdown pass from Justin McMillan. Jonathan Banks threw a scoring toss to Brian Newman, who has been invisible since having a strong spring practice and decent fall camp.

Christian Daniels left with a knee injury today. Moved to wide receiver last week, he must have gotten hurt taking a rep there. I did not see what happened.

Cam Sample got the day off. I guess he is still not 100 percent, but he definitely will play against Memphis, Fritz, who praised him when I talked to him yesterday, was just as effusive today at his press conference.

"Cam Sample had a heck of a game," he said. "He did a good job maintaining the line of scrimmage, making plays and playing hard and those kind of good things."

Fritz said he thought about six, seven or eight players stood out and stressed Ohio State, adding that five or 10 of his players would make the Buckeyes first- or second-team depth chart. The only players he named were Sample, Rod Teamer, Encalade and Darnell Mooney.

Here is the rest of Fritz from today, courtesy of the SID staff.

Opening statement:

“Obviously, wrapping up Ohio State, they’re an excellent ballclub. Tall, long, strong. I thought they played extremely hard. Sometimes you don’t see that out of some of the elite teams, but they certainly did. They’re going to compete for a national championship this year. We had some opportunities in the first half, and we didn’t capitalize on them. A couple times we let them loose and didn’t make them work for it. The second half, they were playing their 2s and for the most part we were playing our 1s, we had a pretty even matchup with them. There’s a lot to learn from an experience like that in my opinion, testing yourself against the very best and see how you match up. Obviously, we’ve got a ways to go, but there are some guys I was really proud of with their effort and competitiveness and their skill level. There are 5-10 who would be a 1 or a 2 playing for them. That was good. We’ve got a short week. We told the guys we’ve got to turn, flip the script, move on. We can’t sit there and worry about the last ball game. We’re playing a top-20 school in Memphis. Coach Fuente a few years back took a little while to get it going, but he got that program going and turned it over to Coach Norvell, and he has really even done better things there as the head football coach. I’ve been very impressed with Mike, his staff, recruiting, coaching, very creative offense. They do a good job manufacturing offense, getting the ball in space to fast guys. Defensively, they’re very opportunistic. They’ve been one of the best special teams in the country the last three or four years. I’m very impressed.”

On needing motivation to get the team going:

“Unfortunately it is (something the coaches have to use). You wish it wasn’t the case. I go about my preparation the same every week and my coaches do as well, and most of the players do also. You’ve got to make sure these guys understand this is a long season. I’ve got some stuff up there on the [Yulman Stadium video] board. One, do your job. Quit worrying about what other people are doing, just do what you’re supposed to do to the best of your ability. I also have “In-season heroes” up there to have them look at. Some guys play their best football in January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, they really do a good job of talking about it. And then you get in the meat of the season and they don’t play quite as well. This is when you need the great effort, this is when you need the great focus, this is when we need the tough guys. So we’ve talked about that quite a bit.”

On whether he is using the messages on the video board because the team is discouraged to be 1-3:

“No, it’s just a natural human reaction sometimes. You work hard at something and not getting the outcome you want to have…this is what we need right now. We’ve got plenty of guys that are doing it. I don’t see a difference in these guys you’re going to be talking to here in a moment (Darius Bradwell, John Leglue, Donnie Lewis Jr.) I don’t see a difference in their preparation or their effort, their physicalist from the first day of practice until now. But we want to do it now. We don’t want to talk about things after the season gets over. We want to do it every single day.”

On the offensive line’s pass protection:

“Well last we were playing some big-time, big-time players. No question about it. Whenever we talk about this with the quarterbacks, sometimes they blame the quarterback on a particular pass play and it was really the offensive line or the back or the tight ends or the receivers not running the correct route. It’s the same thing with the offensive line. Sometimes he’s staying in the pocket, sometimes there’s a guy not getting loose so the quarterback can throw it on time. Sometimes it’s not the offensive line that’s not doing a good job of protection, it’s the other guys. It’s the tight ends, it’s the running backs. So there’s a lot of pieces involved.”

On getting to a bowl game being used as motivation still:

“We’re focused on one game. We talked about [bowl games] in the off-season, we talked about that in preseason camp. Once we get into the season, you’re just worried about the task at hand. We need a win. That’s what we need. That’s what we’re working towards.”

On Memphis’ running back Darrell Henderson:

“I don’t get a chance to watch everybody, but he’d start for Ohio State. He’s one of the top running backs in the country. He does a great job catching the ball. He’s great in the kicking game. He plays in a lot of phases in the kicking game. And he runs with fury outside, inside. There’s a particular play I kind of showed my coaches where he stepped up and stoned a linebacker blitzing in the gap. So he’s a complete package, no question about it.”

On whether QB Jonathan Banks is still ‘your guy’ right now:

“Yeah. Jonathan has done some good things. Some of the problems he’s had have been self-inflicted, but a lot have been from other positions. So we’ve got to get everything cleaned up. We’re happy that we got Justin [McMillan] in a game, that was great to get him his first meaningful playing experience in quite some time. I thought he handled himself really well.”

On Memphis’ QB Brady White:

“They’re doing a good job. You know they lost a great player last year (Riley Ferguson), I think he got drafted or got into somebody’s camp, he was a guy that really extended plays. This guy really seems to make good decisions, he gets the ball out of his hand quick. He knows where he’s going with it. He’s been very impressive.”

I expected them to get beat often today by the Buckeyes, but we exceed my expectations!

Last year against Oklahoma we owned them for a half.

Have we regressed? Is it because of the loss of Diaz? Is it because Atkins has more on his plate as a run game coordinator? We are sloppy, we miss assignments too often and plague by false starts. This is a far cry from the hallmark Fritz teams. We are consistently beating ourselves at the O-Line position.

I can take getting whooped man on man, but we are flat out sloppy.

As always, the Tulane game counts double, home teams are listed first and the point spreads are from VegasInsider.com consensus. On paper, this is a lousy week for college football matchups.

Ohio State (-37) Tulane
Wake Forest (+7.5) Notre Dame
Oregon (+2) Stanford
SMU (+6.5) Navy
Texas (+3) TCU
LSU (-21) Louisiana Tech
Missouri (+14) Georgia
Alabama (-27) Texas A&M

No griping from me about unfair results today. I just made bad picks last week and paid for them, although I was not alone. Only two people got more than half the games right.

5

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4

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Golfer81
highwave
chigoyboy
St Amant Wave

3

buck2481
LSU Law Greenie
charlamange8
diverdo
Kettrade1
GretnaGreen
sscald

2

MNAlum
mono41
DRBox
Gang_Green
Guerry

OVERALL STANDINGS

17

winwave

15

paliii
WaveON

14

MNAlum
mono41
GretnaGreen
St Amant Wave

13

buck2481
LSU Law Greenie
charlamange8
Kettrade1
highwave

11

diverdo
sscald
chigoyboy

10

DrBox
Gang_Green
Guerry
Wavetime (missed 1 week)

9

Golfer81

GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

UAB 0 out of 19
LSU 10
TCU 5
Oklahoma State 9
Texas Tech 4
Texas 5
Washington 15
Alabama 13

In what has been the hottest week of practice all year, Tulane completed on-field preparation for Ohio State on Thursday morning at Yulman Stadium. Willie Fritz, who said Tuesday he had needed to pump up some of his players who were dragging after the UAB loss, likes the attitude of his guys as they head on the road as a 37-point underdog against the No. 4 team in the country.

"They've done a good job of responding and coming back," Fritz said. "Obviously we've got a great challenge in front of us, but the big thing I've talked to them about, and it's the same way every game, is compete from the beginning of the game to the end of the game, plain and simple. I think it's a great opportunity to test yourself against the best."

As it turns out, Dane Ledford and Christian Daniels are getting reps at wide receiver this week. I had not seen them take any on Tuesday and Wednesday, but they were out there today. Tulane really needs someone to play well other than Darnell Mooney, who is 19th in the nation in receiving yards. and Terren Encalade, who had the huge game against Wake Forest. The rest of the wideouts have combined for a paltry five catches (two by starter Jabril Clewis, three by Jaetavian Toles). Clewis has been targeted quite a bit and come up empty most of the time. Brian Newman and Jacob Robertson have zero catches, and Jorrien Vallien did not have any in the one game he played. As appeared likely at the time, the career-ending shoulder injury to Freddy Canteen was a big blow.

"We need some more guys to step up and just at the very least be assignment sound and know that they are going to run the right route and know that they are going to catch the ball if we throw it to them when they're open and blocking the right body. Just being assignment sound is a big deal. We've got Dane Ledford out there getting a few reps. He's played there before (against Oklahoma the last time Tulane had a game like this). And then Christian Daniels, I just got done talking to him. If he can learn what he's doing, he'll play for us here in a few weeks. He's a big body and he's got all the tools. He's got really soft hands. A quarterback should have a pretty good sense of where to line up and the depth of the route and all that kind of stuff because he's had to go over all those things. It is putting him at a different position but not entirely a different position."

Wide receiver D.J. Owens, who no longer is on the roster but I've seen every day at practice out of his jersey on the sideline, has been medically D.Q'd, which clears up that mystery. He caught a touchdown pass as a true freshman but missed a lot of time with injury in his career.

"Unfortunately, he's suffered from migraine headaches over the last few years," Fritz said. "Prior to the season he was unable to compete in seven games, and then it started happening again during preseason camp, so we've medically D.Q'd him. He's helping us coach right now. He's a good young man."

Justin McMillan took every second-team rep this week. Although Fritz was not specific on the plan for him this Saturday, he likes what he has seen.

"We think he's closer," he said. "He's learning what we're doing. That's always the big dilemma. You don't want to put a guy out there and he knows a 10th of the offense. Now he's getting closer and closer to having a grasp of what we're doing."

You might see some new faces on the offensive line. Tulane mixed and matched there today for the first time since the first half of preseason camp, and Noah Fisher did not get any reps with the first unit at the end of practice. I would not be surprised if Tyler Johnson starts at left tackle because he got some reps with the other four regular starters. I also saw a lineup with John Leglue at left guard and Cameron Jackel at right guard, although I don't think they would make changes that significant for the Ohio State game. A few minutes later. Leglue was back at right guard and Dominique Briggs was at his usual first-team spot at left guard.

Each week, beat writers from around the American Athletic Conference rank the 12 schools. Three schools remain unbeaten, led by Central Florida, which moved up to No. 16 in the Associated Press poll. South Florida beat a Power Five opponent for the second week in a row and Cincinnati is off to its best start since 2012. The biggest jump this week comes from Temple, which moved up four spots after a 21-point win over Maryland.

My personal vote was this:

1) UCF
2) USF
3) Cincinnati
4) Houston
5) Navy
6) Memphis
7) Temple
8) Tulane
9) East Carolina
10) Tulsa
11) SMU
12) UConn

And the full vote came out like this:

1) UCF

Previous ranking: 1
Points: 143

Record: 2-0 (1-0 in AAC)
Last week: Bye
This week: vs. FAU
Trajectory: Steady. UCF saw its nonconference road showdown with North Carolina canceled due to Hurricane Florence. The Knights enter this week's game against FAU featuring the second-best offense in the country, averaging more than 600 yards and 47 points per game in 2018.
Did you know? UCF is tied for second in the AAC in turnover margin (plus-3) after forcing six takeaways.

--Matt Murschel, Orlando Sentinel

2) USF

Previous ranking: 3
Points: 128

Record: 3-0 (0-0 in AAC)
Last week: defeated Illinois, 25-17
This week: vs. East Carolina
Trajectory: Surging. For the second weekend in a row, the Bulls rallied from a fourth-quarter deficit against a Power Five foe. Saturday's comeback at Soldier Field offset one of the uglier performances of the 15-game Charlie Strong era (two interceptions, 14 penalties, two missed field goals).
Did you know? Quarterback Blake Barnett has accounted for five fourth-quarter touchdowns (three pass, two run) in USF's last two games.

--Joey Knight, Tampa Bay Time

3) Houston

Previous ranking: 2
Points: 114

Record: 2-1 (0-0 in AAC)
Last week: Lost to Texas Tech, 63-49
This week: vs. Texas Southern
Trajectory: Skidding. The Cougars allowed 704 yards total offense (605 passing) and nine touchdowns in one of the worst defensive performances in school history. UH had 18 missed tackles that led to nearly 200 yards after contact. Expected to challenge in the AAC West, the Cougars appear vulnerable with a defense that ranks 128th out of 129 nationally in pass defense (427 yards) and 127th in total defense (558 yards). They have two weeks to figure things out with a game against FCS Texas Southern and open date before the start of AAC play.
Did you know? The Cougars have scored at least 40 points in the first three games of a season for the first time.

--Joseph Duarte, Houston Chronicle

4) Cincinnati

Previous ranking: 5
Points: 103

Record: 3-0 (0-0 in AAC)
Last week: defeated Alabama A&M, 63-7
This week: vs. Ohio University
Trajectory: Surging. UC raced to a 42-0 halftime lead last week and virtually emptied its bench. Desmond Ridder threw for 199 yards and 3 TDs in just one quarter, and UC eventually played four quarterbacks. True freshman running back Tavion Thomas rushed for 141 yards and two TDs. At 3-0, UC is just one win shy of last year's win total.
Did you know? The Bearcats just missed recording a second consecutive shutout, which the program last accomplished in 1953.

--Tom Groeschen, Cincinnati Enquirer

5) Navy

Previous ranking: 4
Points: 102

Record:2-1 (1-0 in AAC)
Last week: defeated Lehigh, 51-21
This week: at SMU
Trajectory: Steady. Beating Lehigh by 30 points was nothing to get too excited about and the coaching staff was actually upset with some of the silly mistakes the Midshipmen made during the game. Navy is seeking to start West Division action 2-0.
Did you know?Malcolm Perry has rushed for 200 yards or more in three ofhis six career starts at quarterback. Perry has amassed 1,143 yards and 13 touchdowns in those six games.

--Bill Wagner, Baltimore Sun Media Group

6) Memphis

Previous ranking: 6
Points: 94

Record: 2-1 (0-1 in AAC)
Last week: defeated Georgia State, 59-22
This week: vs. South Alabama
Trajectory: Steady. Darrell Henderson had his second-straight 200-yard effort with 233 rushing yards and two TDs. Brady White returned to form with five passing touchdowns and Damonte Coxie broke out with six catches for 123 yards and two touchdowns. Bryce Huff led a strong defense with two sacks and two quarterback hurries.
Did you know? Memphis' defense has recorded a turnover in 19 straight games

--Evan Barnes, The Commercial Appeal

7) Temple

Previous ranking: 11
Points: 67

Record: 1-2 (0-0 in AAC)
Last week: defeated Maryland, 35-14
This week: vs. Tulsa (Thursday)
Trajectory: Surging. Despite being a 14 ½-point underdog, the Owls controlled Maryland from the beginning, leading 21-7 at halftime. Temple finished with seven sacks, including two by DT Michael Dogbee, the AAC Defensive player of the week. Anthony Russo made his first start at quarterback after Frank Nutile was unable to go due to an undisclosed injury. Russo learned an hour before the game that he would start. He completed 15 of 25 for 228 yards, one touchdown and one interception. After throwing a pick-six, Russoled Temple to a TD on the next series, scoring with seven seconds left in the half. Coach GeoffCollins said that Nutile will be a game-time decision.
Did you know? Temple has scored one special teams touchdown in each game. Last week quarterback Todd Centeio, the up-man in punt formation, threw a 36-yard scoring pass to Freddie Johnson. The fake punt came on a third-and-8 play.

--Marc Narducci, Philadelphia Inquirer/Daily News

8) East Carolina

Previous ranking: 9
Points: 53

Record: 1-1 (0-0 in AAC)
Last week: Bye
This week: at South Florida.
Trajectory: Steady. The Pirates opened with a loss to an FCS team, then scored a big win against North Carolina from the Atlantic Coast Conference before another ACC matchup (at Virginia Tech) was canceled. ECU is seeking consistency and regularity moving forward.
Did you know? The Pirates did not want to get stuck in the path of Hurricane Florence and have been in Orlando, Fla., since Sept. 12.

--Ronnie Woodward, Greenville (N.C.) Daily Reflector

9) Tulane

Previous ranking: 8
Points: 51

Record:1-2 (0-0 in AAC)
Last week: lost to UAB, 31-24
This week: at Ohio State
Trajectory: Skidding. For the second time in three weeks, Tulane missed a golden opportunity to win a game in which it was outplayed, allowing a 93-yard tie-breaking touchdown drive after rallying from a 14-point deficit on the road. Jonathan Banks threw his first interception in 97 attempts, lost two fumbles and went 7 of 26 against the Blazers. Now the Green Wave faces an almost certain loss at fourth-ranked Ohio State and the realization it will have to win five AAC games to become bowl eligible.
Did you know? Tulane is 1-2 for the fifth consecutive year. It finished with a losing record in each of the previous four.

--Guerry Smith, The New Orleans Advocate

10) Tulsa

Previous ranking: 7
Points: 43

Record: 1-2 (0-0 in AAC)
Last week: lost to Arkansas State, 29-20
This week: at Temple (Thursday)
Trajectory: Skidding. For a third time in as many games, Tulsa failed to get going offensively until falling behind and attempting a second-half comeback. Against the top team in the Sun Belt, the Hurricane mustered 15 yards in a combined five drives during the first half. In its conference opener Thursday night at Temple, Tulsa is seeking its first road victory since 2016.
Did you know? Through three games this year, TU is 90th nationally with 387.3 yards per game.

--Kelly Hines, Tulsa World

11) SMU

Previous ranking: 10
Points: 24

Record: 0-3 (0-0 in AAC)
Last week: lost to No. 19 Michigan, 45-20
This week: vs. Navy
Trajectory: Skidding. Coach Sonny Dykes was non-committal whether junior Ben Hicks or true freshman Will Brown will start the AAC opener. Hicks has struggled during the opening month, and Brown came off the bench to provide a spark, completing 11 of 17 for 82 yards and two touchdowns in the second half. A bright spot was receiver James Proche, who had 11 catches for 166 yards and two TDs and finished with 214 all-purpose yards.
Did you know? The Mustangs are off to their first 0-3 start since losing the first 11 games during the 2014 season.

--Joseph Duarte, Houston Chronicle

12) Connecticut

Previous ranking: 12
Points: 14

Record: 1-2 (0-1 in AAC)
Last week: defeated Rhode Island, 56-49
This week: at Syracuse
Trajectory: Steady. Most FBS teams would be worried after needing a late touchdown to beat an FCS team, but for UConn, beating Rhode Island felt like a good outcome. Defense will remain a problem all season, but if quarterback David Pindell plays like he did Saturday (308 yards passing, 137 rushing), the Huskies could at least have a shot in some conference games.
Did you know? UConn's defense ranks last in FBS in both yards allowed and points allowed per game.

--Alex Putterman, Hartford Courant

Because Tulane had no classes today due to Yom Kippur, practice started an hour later, allowing players to sleep in a bit before arriving for meetings at 8 a.m. The workout itself was under blazing hot conditions, ending around 11:30 with plenty of breaks for water.

Charles Jones and Kendall Ardoin missed their second straight day of practice, and Willie Fritz said a a determination would be made Friday whether either of them would make the trip to Ohio State. That means Tulane could have its third different starting tight end, with either redshirt freshman Will Wallace or promising true freshman Tyrick James getting the nod.

Instead of playing piped-in crowd noise, they had Ohio State's band over the loudspeakers today. It was quite noisy and I believe more effective at preparing the team for the atmosphere it will face than simply crowd noise.

It looks like Tulane will continue to use Cameron Sample, De'Andre Williams and Robert Kennedy as the starting defensive front, with Jeffery Johnson getting plenty of time, too. Williams had seven tackles against UAB, more than double the total of the next highest lineman.

The only reps I saw Dane Ledford get today were for the scout-team offense when Keon Howard took a break.

Freshman Chris Joyce practiced at cornerback, so the wide receivers getting reps other than the starters are Jaetavian Toles, Chris Robertson, Jorrien Vallien and Brian Newman, although to be honest, I didn't notice Newman out there. The foursome has combined for three catches--all by Toles--through three games.

Here is Fritz:

What were your thoughts on practice?

"I told them today this was a hot day. Some days I hear guys say it's hot out there and I say, no, it wasn't. That was nothing. This was a hot day today, but we got it in. We took quite a few breaks during practice. Nobody fell out. That's good."

What impresses you the most about Dwayne Haskins?

"He's very accurate. He seems like he's got a great handle on the offense. I don't know how much he's played in the past, very little, but he handles himself like a veteran quarterback, gets rid of the ball quickly and has good command of the offense."

How much do you have to be cognizant of this guy is hard to sack?

"He's a big guy and he gets rid of it quick. We just have to keep pushing with tight coverage and make him throw it a millisecond faster than he wants to, quicker than he wants to, and the coverage guy has to cover for a split second longer, and that gives a good chance to get some pressure."

Thakarius Keyes had the terrific interception against UAB and appeared to play a good all-around game. How good do you feel about him and Donnie Lewis at cornerback?

"They are both doing a good job. Donnie's having a very good senior year. Those guys are playing a lot of man coverage. Thakarius, the good thing about him is if he does get a ball caught on him, he doesn't sit and pout. He goes on to the next play and competes. You have to have a short memory as a corner."

He's a young junior, and he says he's a lot more confident now than he was in the opener just because he has three games under his belt. Do you see that?

"Yeah, he's a tall, long guy. I think he's only going to get better. He's going to probably be another 10 pounds heavier next year than what he is right now, and he's able to use his levers to his advantage. There's no reason to press if you're not going to get your hands on them, and he does a good job getting his hands on people."

How important is it for the secondary to be on point for the whole game Saturday?

"It's always important obviously. The thing we've got to do is try to mix up our coverage a little bit with zone and zone blitz and man and do a few things we haven't done in the first three games to give some different looks."

Last year when you went to Oklahoma there was no Banks and no Teamer. How important is it for those sort of guys to be out there and healthy?

"Oh, it's real important. If you're a competitor, this is the game you want to play in, plain and simple. It will be interesting. There will be some dudes that are really going to the top in this game. You will see their best game that they played this season. I hope that's a bunch of them. You want to have your best dudes out there with the frame of mind to compete."

Will the crowd be a big factor, or is it a matter of how you handle it?

"It's how you handle it. We've got to withstand the beginning of the game and do a good job. That's going to be very important."

You are a little injured at tight end right now. Is there a chance Charles Jones and Kendall Ardoin can play against Ohio State?

"We're going to make a decision on Friday and see how they are. They are both veteran guys. They know what we're doing. We just have to see if they are able to go."

THAKARIUS KEYES

Talk about that interception in the end zone against UAB.

"We were in man coverage, so once he faded to the back of the end zone I had in my mind that I was going to pick it. He didn't want it as bad as I did. We practice every day on high pointing the ball. It was a 50-50 ball. I had to come up with it."

That would have been the turning point if you had finished the comeback. You prevented the team from going down by three scores.

"Yes, it could have. I feel like it will give me a lot of momentum going into the next game and also it put more trust into the team and the coaches, so it will be a good thing for us."

What impresses you the most about Dwayne Haskins?

"He's pretty good with his passes. He can squeeze it in tight holes, but I mean we should have a good game. They tie their shoes like we do. We play with hard man focus all game and we'll have a great game."

How much more confident do you feel now?

"I feel a whole lot more confident, like it went from 50 (percent confidence) to a hundred, so this will carry on for the rest of the season."

What are your best strengths?

"Press and ball skills."

He really made awful decisions tonight across the board. So much more to say about this game than just Banks but his stupidity really stood out. Good tools, good size, but he really is a liability in terms of decision making. It’s going to take a few more years to make this team into what Fritz wants it to be

These two player interviews took place while I was talking to the two coordinators.

DARIUS BRADWELL

What is the feeling going into a game with a big atmosphere like this against a top five team in American?

"Why not us. We're just as good as them. It's just the mental mistakes we have to get better at that and play our game."

What's been the most disappointing part of the start?

"We're good enough to beat those teams. They didn't beat us. We beat ourselves. That's the tough part. Also, we started off slow in both of those games and were always trying to fight back instead of just starting off good and just finishing the game, so those are the most frustrating things. "

How do you fix the slow starts?

"It's a mindset, a mentality. Instead of just waiting to see what they are going to do, we need to just jump out and play our game and be confident in ourselves. I feel like we are just as good as any team that we faced at the beginning of the year. We've just been beating ourselves."

What is the closest experience you've had to what Saturday will be like?

"Last year we played Oklahoma, so that's kind of close to it, but where I'm from in high school we had big games, so I'm used to it. The size of the crowd, if you don't love it then you shouldn't be playing this sport. That should get us going. Playing THE Ohio State University should get us going."

How does that experience at Oklahoma help prepare you?

From my experience, the Oklahoma game being a big club and a top-10 school in the nation and they were pretty good with Baker Mayfield that day, our confidence went up when we stayed in the game with them. We realized that we can play with them. That just gives a confidence boost. We just know we have to play hard."

What was that high school experience you were referencing?

"I had a lot of television games, IMG and stuff like that, so I"m used to big games with big platforms, It's just another game. I don't put more pressure on it because I feel like they are just the team as I am. I played with most of them in high school, so I'm used to it."

In finishing games, what has to change for this team?

"Like I said, mental errors, mental mistakes and honing our craft. At those moments, we just can't have mental mistakes. Like Wake Forest, we had a false start when we we could have had a first down and we probably would have scored on that drive. UAB, we had a holding and a touchdown got called back. Those are little things we have to work on and focus on, cost us the game. Just lik the SMU game, we lost by one inch, so we have to keep reminding ourselves of that."

ROD TEAMER

What do you think about going up to Ohio State and everything that goes into this experience?

"It's a great opportunity for our program and for our team. We are excited to go up there. It's not too often you get to go to Ohio State and play against those guys. We got to go play against Oklahoma last year. I missed that opportunity, so I'm excited personally to get on the field as well. You guys know the history behind their program. They are a great program. You see them on TV a lot."

What do you remember about the Oklahoma game?

"At Oklahoma? It was great. The fans were into it from the time we got off the bus until the time we took the field. Those games are fun."

What is the missing ingredient for this team in starting and finishing games?

"To be honest with you, I really can't answer that. It's not my job to worry about those things. The coaching staff goes up and checks those things out and we come to work on them at practice. As a player I just want to play the game. Obviously we know we start off slow. I can't put my finger on what exactly that is, but if we do find out we'll definitely make the changes."

What is the most frustrating part of not being able to find the spark you need in those critical moments?

"We try not to look at it as being a frustrating thing. You start getting frustrated this early in the season and you're setting yourself up for a bad season. We look at those things as an opportunity and as a challenge."

What do you say to a guy like Jonathan Banks when he makes mistakes?

"Honestly, coming to the sideline I don't say anything to him as a player because we are all trying to come out and do our jobs. We understand JB is our leader at quarterback and is just trying to make a play, so nobody got down on him or anything like that. We tell him to keep his head up, keep trying to make plays and keep fighting. As a defense it's our job to go out there and stop them if we get the opportunity. Unfortunately, the guy returned (one of Banks' fumbles) for a touchdown. Other than that, there's nothing to say about it."

How do you prepare for the crowd noise?

Definitely. The noise at practice makes it hard for us to hear each other and communicate. Obviously going up to Ohio State it's going to be hard to hear and communicate, so we need that."

Is it harder with the piped in crowd noise or the music you usually hear at practice?

"I would say it's probably a little harder with the crowd noise. You can kind of tune music out. Crowd noise is steady and there's no breaks. It's definitely harder."

How talented is Ohio State's QB?

"He's extremely talented. Just on sheer size, he's a huge guy and he has a quick release. Those two things you don't really find in college quarterbacks. We always talk about the timing of their routes. The ball is definitely coming faster toward us."

Do you also have to worry about him running?

"Not so much. Even though he has the ability to run, you can tell from watching film it's not so much what he wants to do or what their coaching staff wants to do. We know he'll tuck and run it, but we'll rally to him if he does.

Two Ohio State beat writers reached out to me for a five questions feature, so I did both. The one with Kevin Noon, the publisher of the Rivals site BuckeyeGrove.com, is on the front page of this site. Here's the one with Alex Gleitman of 247 Sports:

1) Wave Report: Will Urban Meyer's return be an emotional boost or a potential distraction for a game the Buckeyes could overlook as a whopping 34-point favorite a week before traveling to Penn State? Tulane was not only an afterthought at his Monday presser. It was a non-thought.

Alex Gleitman: Tulane was definitely a non-thought in Monday's press conference, as most of the conversation revolved around the Zach Smith situation, as expected. That said, I think that is pretty much the end of hearing about that from Urban Meyer, and I can guarantee you his focus, and the team's focus, is on beating Tulane this week. I don't see Meyer's return as a distraction, because he's been with the team in practice the last two weeks, so it will be much of the same there. On game day, yeah it could give the team a little extra juice, having their guy back on the sidelines. I think looking ahead to Penn State the following week can be more of a distraction than Meyer returning to his coaching duties.

2) Wave Report: Nick Bosa is out, but Dre'Mont Jones is coming off a spectacular game against TCU. Who are the key players to watch on the Ohio State defense?

Alex Gleitman: You mentioned Jones, so I will go outside of him when it comes to players to watch on defense. Let's start with Jonathon Cooper and Chase Young, who will be the guys at defensive end getting most of the snaps in Bosa's absence. These are two highly recruited, yet inexperienced players, so OSU will definitely need them to elevate their game. Additionally on the line, Robert "B.B." Landers is the other starting defensive tackle next to Jones, and has been disruptive, despite his lack of size.

At linebacker, Tuf Borland continues to bounce back from an Achilles injury suffered in the spring, and got his first start of the season last week against TCU. Ohio State needs the middle linebacker to solidify that unit, so watch for him to try and do that this week.

Finally, in the secondary, safety Jordan Fuller is a star. This could very well be his last year in Columbus, as the talented junior should be highly regarded by NFL teams. He is a captain and leader of the defense, and his return in week two, after sitting out week one with a hamstring injury, gave an obvious boost to the defense overall.

3) Wave Report: Dwayne Haskins' passing numbers have been terrific through three games. How does his skill set compare/contrast to his predecessors?

Alex Gleitman: His skill set is completely different, as he is a pocket passer with a canon for an arm, versus the more mobile signal callers of the past in J.T. Barrett and Braxton Miller. While those guys won a ton of games and brought their own set of skills and intangibles to the table, the ceiling for the offense is much higher with Haskins at the helm, because he can make every throw on the field with tremendous strength and accuracy, making defenses cover the entire field, both horizontally and vertically, against the Buckeyes.

4) Wave Report: After destroying Oregon State and Rutgers and rallying past TCU for a comprehensive double-digit victory in Texas, how does this team appear to stack up with Urban Meyers's previous teams?

Alex Gleitman: I think Urban Meyer has set the bar high for the expectations at Ohio State, and this team is right in line with those expectations. There are certainly some holes that need to be filled up, namely at linebacker and a couple in the secondary, but early on this team has the look and feel of one that can win the Big Ten championship, make the College Football Playoff, and compete for a national title. If they achieve those feats will depend on how the team continues to develop and grow throughout the season, but the talent and potential is absolutely there for this to be a championship team.

5) Wave Report: What is your predicted score and why?

Alex Gleitman: I think Ohio State could get caught looking ahead to Penn State a little bit, but the talent gap is so wide between these teams, that I don't think it will matter much. Add in Meyer returning to give the team a little bit of a boost, and I can see things getting out of hand quickly, with the back-ups playing most of the second half, to prevent any key injuries before the team heads to Happy Valley. I will say Ohio State wins by a score of 52-10.

As I referenced in the Banks thread, Justin McMillan took all of the second-team reps at practice today as Tulane prepared for Ohio State. Only three QBs threw a pass today--Banks, McMillan and scout team QB Keon Howard, who wore the jersey No. 7 that Ohio State's Dwayne Haskins wears. I could not even find Dane Ledford or Christian Daniels at first before I realized they were in white jerseys instead of red ones.

Nose tackle Jeffery Johnson practiced. He played 35 snaps against UAB, defensive coordinator Jack Curtis told me, and graded out well.

Neither Kendall Ardoin nor Charles Jones practiced today, leaving Will Wallace and Tyrick James as the only scholarship tight ends. I'd like to see James get some more chances. He elevated to catch that sideline pass in the fourth quarter against UAB, making a play starting wide receiver Jabril Clewis has failed to make repeatedly in two years.

Offensive coordinator Doug Ruse was not in a good mood today during practice, lambasting the effort of his players at times. He knows the offense has under-performed through three games, and I caught up with him after practice.

DOUG RUSE

Banks did not play well Saturday and the offensive line did not protect well. What were the key factors in his performance?

"Group effort. A total group effort. JB was off target. He missed some opportunities and had some guys open and couldn't quite hit the spot. He was flushed out of the pocket at times, forcing him to create. It was a total group effort. He's got to play better. Everybody's got to play better."

What does Banks need to do better. He has not played as well in the first three games this year as he did in the last three games last year?

"I'd say what he and a lot of players need to do right now is not pay attention to all the negativity and control what we can control. That is getting better fundamentally, techinique wise. That's all you can do. You can't get dragged down by everything that's coming from the outside. We can control what we can control. That's get out here and practice hard with better, consistent focus, and that's going to lead to better play."

What have been the biggest issues with pass protection? Is it mental, physical or Banks not getting rid of the ball?

It's alll of the above. I wish I knew exactly what's led to some of the issues we've had. If it was that simple, it would be an easy fix. It's everything. We've just got to play better across the board. I have to do a better job. Every position has got to do a better job. You can analyze the thing and point at a reason that's the cause. Well, it's not that simple. You go to work. You go to work."

Darnell Mooney has been terrific through three games. What do you like best about him?

"You know what, I would have said the same thing about Darnell two years ago. Darnell is the same guy every single day. He's got a smile on his face. He's always giving great effort. The guy loves to play, and he is off to an excellent start. He's made a lot of plays for us, and that will continue. We were expecting Darnell to have a heck of a year, and he's going to keep rolling like he's been playing."

Darius Bradwell had a much better game against UAB. How much of a factor will he be now that he's gotten over the physical ailments that bothered him at the start of the year?

"Yeah, he's definitely looking more 100 percent here the last week and a half or so. He was really banged up and wasn't anywhere near full speed those first couple of games. It's great to have him back. He's another guy who's been very consistent for us and brings great effort and focus every day, so it's finally good to see him healthy."

What do you feel about the run game right now? If the option pitch to Mooney had counted as a run rather than a pass, you would have gained more than 200 yards on the ground against UAB, but there also have been some bad plays.

"We have created some plays in the running game, but I echo everything I said about our protection in our passing game. We've got a long way to go. We can play a lot better in some very simple things--the quarterback's footwork and the track of the back and some minor things that you kind of take for granted after a month-and-a-half of practice, but if you don't pay great attention to those every day, it will come back and bite you in the tail, and that happened to us Saturday some too--just a back on the wrong landmark, the quarterback's footwork slightly off that greatly affects the play. So just like I said about protection, we have to clean it all up and get back to fundamentals and technique."

A key play early was the fourth-and-2 direct snap to Bradwell where he got stuffed. The same play had worked well on the touchdown drive right before then, but what went wrong there?

"They just outplayed us on that particular play. We had run similar scheme early that was a touchdown for us and was blocked well and executed well. Just they won at the point of attack on fourth down. Sometimes it's not about necessarily the perfect call. It's fourth down and there's somebody you can't block. That's the nature of fourth down or goal line. You've got to get behind your pads and move the chains regardless of the look or the situation."

How much better do you feel like this offense is capable of playing?

"Oh, much better, but this is year 32 I'm doing this and at 55 I forget a lot of things that happened over a couple of years ago, but that's coaching. You always see ways you can play a lot better and there's always motivation to come out here and go to work every day because you do see the potential to play so much better. We've done some things very well, but we're nowhere near our potential at this point."

Would you like to see Jonathan Banks tuck it and run more often when no one's open?

"It's all based on the situation. There were two or three times in that game Saturday, and you've got to love the guy's effort because he's battling for yards, but the smart thing to do is just throw the ball away and you're not losing yardage and you're not taking a beating physically. It's one thing to say that and it's another thing when the live bullets are flying. You've just to program yourself to make those decisions. Obviously if it's fourth down, you've got to tuck your head, get behind your pads and move the chains. But he knows there are times when he has to limit the contact, throw the ball away and live to play the next down."

Is his mindset OK right now or did you have to give him some encouragement after the game?

"He's like we all were after that game Saturday--disappointed about the loss. Win or lose, you see things you've got to get better at and then you get to work the next Tuesday morning and attack those. That's what we're doing. We can play a lot better. There's no doubt about that, and that's what we're on track to do--play better."

Another frustrating loss. Tulane was outplayed today on both lines of scrimmage but still put itself in position to win down the stretch, then failed to make a single play when it mattered most. Barring a miracle victory at Ohio State, Tulane will have to go 5-3 in the AAC just to become bowl eligible. That's a tall task considering where the program is right now.

I was a one-man question-answering crew today. Requested Banks but he was not made available. Teamer, Lewis, Mooney and Bradwell talked.

WILLIE FRITZ

You put yourself in position to win in the fourth quarter but could not get it done. What did you tell the team?

"It was a very tough loss for us. We're disappointed. I talked to the players about it in the locker room. So many of them played their hearts out. We're making plays to be in the game. We're just not making plays to end the game, finish the game and win the game. Where we are right now, every game is gonna be close. We have to play as close to error free as we possibly can, and we just didn't do that."

The defense had played well in the second half for the most part, but then UAB drove 93 yards for the go-ahead TD. What happened?

"Yeah, I thought we were in the driver's seat. They had a long field to go and converted a couple of third downs. They had a little different scheme and we had a tough time finding the answer for it to be quite honest with you. They ran a lot of counter and quarterback power and we seemed to be a man short quite often."

What exactly were they doing different than you expected?

"They brought a couple of extra offensive linemen in and ran a lot more counter with it. With the personnel package we had put in to match it, we hadn't gotten those fits I guess to cover it like we wanted to, so that was tough."

Did you see what they called on (Terren) Encalade that negated the go-ahead touchdown?

"They called holding on the outside perimeter. I thought he did a good job of whipping the guy, but I also thought Jonathan was down earlier in the game. It looked like he landed on his butt and fumbled the ball. But you have to make one more play than they make."

Banks got hit a lot but also appeared to hold on to the ball too long. What did you see on that?

"It was a combination of both. Not real good protection and sometimes he held the ball a little bit too long waiting for some routes to develop. That's difficult. We've just got to do a better job being firm in our protection and get better at that. That's not our strength, and certainly when we get behind we have to do that. We just have to improve in that area."

You were punting in the second quarterback, then called timeout and changed your mind. You don't expect the result to be a sack, fumble and touchdown, but what was your thought process?

"The analytics told us to go. I decided not to go for it, then we called a timeout and I went with the book. It doesn't kill us if we hang on to the ball and they have to go 60 yards, but unfortunately (Banks did not hold on to the ball). I wish I would have gone against the book."''

It was a really slow start. What were the issues?

"They came out on fire and played a little bit different than what we thought they were going to do defensively and offensively, like I said, they had some different personnel groupings and ran some plays when they pulled two guys. That gives you four new gaps you've got to fit and we didn't do a very good job fitting them."

Darius Bradwell looks healthy now. What did you think of his performance?

"He ran with some power. I thought Corey (Dauphine) came within a whisker of scoring on a long run."

Like you said, all of these games are going to be close. What has to be different for you to win?

"We just have to play as close to error free as we can. That's just where we are right now. That's something a veteran team has got to do. We're not quite a veteran team, but we have to play like that. It's just disappointing."

Charles Jones did not make the trip. Is he injured again?

"He's injured right now and we didn't feel like he could play today so we had him stay home and get some treatment."

Jeffery Johnson did not practice all week but played today.

"Yeah, he played 20 or 30 snaps and hopefully did a good job. I'm not quite sure."

Ohio State is next. How do you get ready for that one?

"Well we've just to learn from our mistakes and move on. That's just the way of the world. I sound like a broken record, but that's what you have to do."


ROD TEAMER

After the slow start, the defense was playing well until the decisive long touchdown drive. What were the key factors in not getting a stop there?

"Honestly I can't answer that question until we watch film, and I don't want to credit it to anything I'm not sure of, but obviously at that point in the game fatigue becomes a factor. I don't want to blame that, but that leads into it and causes a lack of communication, so that might be a factor."

How hot did it feel today?

"It was pretty hot but we practice in heat, so it's not an excuse. I feel personally it's hotter when we practice."

How do you explain the slow start?

"They gave us some new looks that we haven't seen from them. Early in the season teams do different things and can watch last season and see what things hurt us, throw us some things that we've seen in the past. I feel like that's a credit to them and their coaching staff. They came out and gave us a curveball."

It seems like every one of these games comes down to a couple of plays. How frustrating is it to not quite be able to get over the hump?

"Of course it's extremely frustrating, but we want to stay steadfast, keep working hard, keep working for coach Fritz and his staff and for each other. At the end of the day it's a grind. It's week 3. We are going to keep pushing."

Jeffery Johnson did not practice this week but was able to contribute in the middle. What does that say about him?

"He's a tough guy. He didn't practice this week, but it wasn't his choice, obviously. Jeffery wants to be out there with this. He was out there today. I'm proud of the way he has come on as a freshman and the way he contributes to our defense."

It looked like you were going to come back and win, and you were ahead for a couple of seconds until the flag nullified Bradwell's TD. Can you take anything from that?

"We just have to keep focusing on the details. That's something we've been talking about since coach Fritz and his staff have taken over. That's something you always have to harp on and is something that always gets exposed in games like this. Even if you think your focus is what it should be, it might not be, so that's why we're going to go in and watch film and make corrections."

Spencer Brown is a tough running back. How much of a load is he to tackle?

"He's a big back. I talked to him a little bit after the game and he was telling me he likes my physicality. I like his physicality. I like running backs like him. He's a good running back, a physical runner, so I like that."

On the winning drive, they barely converted a third down for the first first down. What were you thinking at that point?

"At that point you try not to have feelings within the game. Giving up a first down is not going to win or lose the game, so I didn't really think about that play too much."


DONNIE LEWIS

How tough was it to have it end that way?

"Yeah, coach Fritz always talks to us about how we're going to have to grind and we are going to have a lot of close games and we are going to have to finish at the end. We have to come through and finish?

What was the key?

"Defensively we just have to pay attention to detail. There was a lot of stuff. They were going with a little tempo. There was a little heat. That's no excuse, but that does play a factor on the field when they are tempoing us. I would say just attention to details and getting lined up."

How frustrating was that winning drive and the way they kept converting third downs?

"It was definitely frustrating. We harp big on getting off the field on third down and they got us in a couple of third-down situations and they made a few plays. They are on scholarship just like we are, so at the end of the day we just have to bow up."

Any reason for the slow start?

"No sir. They came out with a bunch of new looks and a bunch of new things that we hadn't seen, a bunch of mass shifts. That all ties into communication, so we just have to get it communicated. We'll watch film and fix it."

You had the interception in the end zone. What happened there?

"Just making a play on the ball, baiting the quarterback and making a play on the ball. It was pretty nice."

You have Ohio State next. How do you bounce back?

"We have to take this game and learn from it. We have a 24-hour rule. We'll watch film, flush it and move on to the next opponent, so that's all we're going to do is stick to the script."

The latest football roster on the official site shows four more departures, including Freddie Canteen, whose leaving was expected. Others no longer listed include Jason Swann, who Guerry gave a “heads up” on some weeks back, along with Brian Webb and D. J. Owens. If my numbers are correct, I think we’re down to 78 scholarship players, with 19 seniors. If no one else leaves, that means we’d only have 59 players going into next year—26 short-- unless as suggested Swann returns in January. Regardless, we'd only be able to sign 25. I’d think Glover might get a scholarship but numbers are low for the foreseeable future.

Roll Wave!!!

Bringing back an old feature because I was interested to see how Tulane and UAB compare.

OFFENSE

QUARTERBACK

Tulane: Jonathan Banks, 2 stars, 5,3, but was 4 stars when he signed with Kansas State two years earlier.

UAB: A.J. Erdely, 2 stars, 5.3 when he transferred to UAB from Mississippi Gulf Coast College in 2016 and 2 stars, 5.2 when he signed with MIddle Tennessee in 2013.

RUNNING BACK

Tulane: Stephon Huderson, Darius Bradwell and Corey Dauphine (2 stars, 5.4; 2 stars, 5.3; 3 stars, 5.7 respectively)

UAB: Spencer Brown, unrated (although he had 2 stars from 247 Sports)

WIDE RECEIVER

Tulane: Terren Encalade, Darnell Mooney, Jabril Clewis (all were 2 stars, 5.3, although Clewis was 2 stars, 5.4 when he signed with San Diego State in 2014.

UAB: Collin Lisa, Xavier Ubosi, Andre Wilson (2 stars, 5.4, zero stars, zero stars respectively)

LEFT TACKLE

Tulane: Noah Fisher, 2 stars, 5.2

UAB: James Davis, 3 stars, 5.6 when he signed with UAB out of junior college.

LEFT GUARD

Tulane: Dominique Briggs, 2 stars, 5.3

UAB: Rishard Cook, 2 stars, 5.2

CENTER

Tulane: Corey Dublin, 2 stars, 5.2

UAB: Lee DuFour, 2 stars, 5.4

RIGHT GUARD

Tulane: John Leglue, 2 stars, 5.2

UAB: Malique Johnson, unrated out of high school and junior college.

RIGHT TACKLE

Tulane: Keyshawn McLeod, 2 stars, 5.4

UAB: Justice Powers, 2 stars, 5.2

ANALYSIS: Tulane has the slight edge in the recruiting rankings. UAB has two guys who were unrated and not even in the Rivals database and two more who had zero stars. Of course, one of them is maybe the Blazers' best player in RB Spencer Brown, but this is not a piece on the validity of the rankings.

DEFENSE

END

Tulane: Cameron Sample, 3 stars, 5.5

UAB: Garret Marino, 2 stars, 5.4

DEFENSIVE TACKLE

Tulane: Robert Kennedy, 2 stars, 5.4

UAB: Quindarris Thagard, 2 stars, 5.4

NOSE TACKLE

Tulane: Jeffery Johnson or De'Andre Williams, 3 stars, 5.7 and 2 stars, 5.2 respectively

UAB: Anthony Rush, 3 stars, 5.5 when he transferred from NE Mississippi CC and 2 stars, 5.4 out of high school.

JOKER/JACK

Tulane: Patrick Johnson, 2 stars, 5.2

UAB: Jamell Garcia-Williams, zero stars

NICKELBACK/OLB

Tulane: Will Harper or Tirise Barge, 2 stars, 5.4 and 2 stars, 5.2 respectively

UAB: Craig Kanyangarara, 2 stars, 5.3.

INSIDE LINEBACKERS

Tulane: Zach Harris, Lawrence Graham and Marvin Moody (2 stars, 5.4; 2 stars, 5.4; 2 stars, 5.2)

UAB: Chris Woolbright and Fitzgerald Mofor (2 stars, 5.4 and unrated by everyone)

CORNERBACKS

Tulane: Donnie Lewis, Jaylon Monroe and Thakarius Keyes (2 stars, 5.2; 2 stars, 5.4; unrated)

UAB: Brontae Harris and Duke Culver (unrated, 3 stars, 5.7 when signed with Louisville in 2014)

STRONG SAFETY

Tulane: P.J. Hall, 3 stars, 5.5

UAB: Will Dawkins or Mar'Sean Diggs (3 stars., 5.6 when signed with Indiana in 2014; unrated)

FREE SAFETY

Tulane: Rod Teamer, 2 stars, 5.3

UAB: Broderick Thomas, zero stars

ANALYSIS: Again, Tulane has the slight edge with a trio of 3-star players to UAB's two, one of whom was only two stars coming out of high school and the other who may not start. UAB also has three potential starters with zero stars or unrated coming out of high school, while Tulane has one (Keyes).

Gueery,

Is the Advocate sending you to away games this season? Also, are you going to post on-line you're articles that appear in Saturday's paper ? Last week I think you had them up on Thursday.

This is going to turn into my weekly complaint-fest. Georgia Tech was driving the ball down a tired USF defense's throat in the fourth quarter with a 3-point lead when it fumbled around the 20, blowing what was about to be a 10-point lead. USF responded with three straight TDs to cover easily in a game Georgia Tech looked like it was going to win by double digits. Oh well. I had Ga Tech, but it was a good win for the AAC.

Golfer81 made the wrong kind of history by getting zero points, which I believe had never happened in the seven years I've been doing this. But since we get to drop our lowest score, it won't matter in the long run.

7

winwave
Gretna Green
St Amant Wave
WaveON

6

MNAlum
mono41

5

LSU Law Greenie
Charlamange8
Kettrade1
paliii
Wavetime
highwave
Guerry

4

buck2481
DrBox
Gang_Green
sscalc
chigoyboy

3

diverdo

0

Golfer81


OVERALL STANDINGS

13

winwave

12

MNAlum
mono41

11

GretnaGreen

10

buck2481
LSU Law Greenie
Charlamange8
Kettrade1
paliii
Wavetime
St Amant Wave
WaveON

9

highwave
DrBox

8

diverdo
Gang_Green
sscald
Guerry

7

chigoyboy

5

Golfer81

3

Harahan Wave (missed 1 week)

1

bbos1025 (missed 1 week)

WEEK 2 GAME BY GAME RESULTS

Tulane 14 of 20
Navy 2
South Florida 8
Georgia 15
Texas A&M 4
Stanford 13
Penn State 15
Houston 13

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

UAB (+4) Tulane
Auburn (-9.5) LSU]
TCU (+13) Ohio State (Arlington, TX)
Oklahoma State (-2.5) Boise State
Texas Tech (+1) Houston
Texas (-3.5) Southern Cal
Utah (+6.5) Washington
Ole Miss (+21) Alabama

I saw the best pass of any practice this year today. Justin McMillan, who is splitting second-team reps with Dane Ledford now, threw a frozen rope to well-covered tight end Kendall Ardoin on a deep seam route for a touchdown. drawing oohs from the players on the sideline. I mean, Drew Brees could not have thrown that ball any better. I don't know if McMillan is ready to play in a game--I will ask tomorrow--but with that kind of arm talent, he is a bright spot for the future.

Dane Ledford threw some nice passes today as well, including a deep one to Terren Encalade, but he does not have the same arm strength as McMillan. Ledford threw a short out that bounced on the ground. And freshman Christian Daniels, who competed with Ledford for the top backup spot in preseason camp, no longer gets any reps. He was giving signals at one point of practice and watching on the field the rest of the time. Keon Howard operates the scout team and completed a wounded duck down the sideline to Jaetavian Toles, but he, too, does not look as smooth as McMillan in practice.

Jeffery Johnson missed practice again today. Willie Fritz said he expected him to be ready Saturday, but if he is not, a heavy load will fall on DeAndre Williams. Tulane really does not have a third guy at the position, and with the temperature expected to be in the low 90s by the end of the game at UAB, it would be awfully tough for Williams to go play after play. Fritz confirmed that true freshman Jamiran James had finger surgery and will be unavailable for quite some time. He will be able to practice with a cast soon, but Fritz said he had not seen good results when previous players tried to play with a cast. James was practicing with the third team anyway, so he might not have been ready to play if healthy. Fellow true freshman Alfred Thomas (one tackle) is the only other guy who has played any downs at nose tackle in the first two games.

There are a few other injuries. Larry Bryant, part of the three-player rotation at nickelback, spent most of practice on the exercise bike, so Will Harper and Tirise Barge figure to split all of the time at UAB. Freshman DB/WR Chris Joyce and freshman DB Dorian Camel are out, too.

Charles Jones practiced today but was not made available for interviews, which is unusual. He may have needed treatment right after practice.

While the wide receivers were on the sideline, they worked on their hands. One player would stand with his back to Darnell Mooney about 10 yards away, and when Mooney yelled "go," he would toss the ball as they turned around and caught it. Terren Encalade caught every one. When it was Mooney's turn to catch, Joyce served as the quarterback. Joyce is wearing a green (defense) jersey despite not practicing but was standing next to the receivers. A little into the inpromptu drill, Encalade started hitting players with a cushion as they turned around to catch the ball, creating another distraction.

It was hot at practice, which should serve as good preparation for the UAB game. Maybe sensing players were dragging, Fritz hollered out several times, "Tough guys, push the weak guys." At the end of practice, he talked to the entire team for at least 10 minutes, the longest I've ever seen, and appeared angry with their effort, but he said that was not the case when he came in for interviews afterward. My take: although he approaches every game the same, he knows how important effort level will be Saturday. It's the difference between an encouraging 2-1 start and a disappointing 1-2 start with Ohio State next on the agend. It is a game in which Tulane simply has to put its best foot forward.

Here is Fritz after practice:

So you weren't too happy with practice today?

"No, it was all right. It was OK."

How have preparations gone for UAB?

"It's been OK. We're into the week grind right now where we do things a little bit different. I take Sunday off. It allows everybody the opportunity to go to church. It allows everybody to kind of step back and be a student-athlete. We come in a little bit later as a staff and then a lot of us will really analyze the game and then Monday we have our heavy lift of the week. I don't really practice much on Monday. We don't do very many things now. There have been a few weeks where you come off of different dates and you do practice on a Monday, but when we get into Saturday to Saturday, we don't.

"We have a tough practice on Tuesday and Wednesday and cut back a little bit tomorrow and then cut way back on Friday. It's a grind. You have to be tough to sustain a grind."

It's going to be 90 degrees or hotter by the end of the game in Birmingham. Do you feel pretty comfortable with your team's ability to handle the heat?

"Yeah, these guys are outside a bunch, so they ought to be used to the heat. We'll have fans and all that other stuff there, so we'll do everything we can to get them ready to play to the best of their ability. We're always prepping our guys to turn it loose at game time. They (UAB) will be playing int the same weather."

Will Jeffery Johnson be ready to play Saturday?

"I think so. I think he'll be ready to go."

Especially on the defensive line, how important is it to have everyone healthy for this game?

"Well, you always want to have everybody available so you have the proper amount of depth and you can roll some guys and all those kind of things. Every position you want to make sure you have proper depth, but it's next man up. If one guy goes down, it's next man up and we expect him to play well."

Did Jamiran James have surgery?

"Yeah. He had a deal on his finger right here, a spiral fracture, so they had to put a pin in there. In order for him to come out here and practice, they had to club it up."

Is he going to redshirt?

"Well, we'll see when he gets that club off. It just is awful difficult. I haven't had a lot of guys that played with a club and have been real effective. It's difficult."

Terren Encalade and Darnell Mooney have combined for more than 900 receiving yards in their last four games dating to 2017. Are they as good a duo as you've coached?

"Oh yeah, they are good. They are really good players, both of them. I've been blessed with really good receivers over the years, but those two guys, the thing I like about them is they are both tough. I've said this about Darnell and I worry people think it's a cut on him, but it's a compliment. He plays up to his ability always. He plays as fast as he can. He's always playing as physical as he can. He's a student of the game.

"And Terren, he loves football. He doesn't like football. He loves football. I don't know how many times I've come out here, I work every day and I'll come up here on a Saturday and look out the deck and he's out there running routes or doing something. Those are the kind of guys you want to have."

Encalade did not practice much before the Wake Forest game and then had almost 200 reception yards. What does that say about him?

"He's a senior. If he was a freshman, I'd worry about it and probably wouldn't have played him. He banged his shoulder up, so we just put him in a red shirt for about two weeks and said you know, the game is going to be on this date, so we need to have you ready for that day. He's also a smart player. He can just come out and execute the game plan and maybe not practice. Other guys need the reps, reps, reps, reps, reps."

Jeffery Johnson did not practice today but has not been ruled out. They are resting him this week in the hope he will be able to go Saturday. It will be a game-time decision, and that's not coachspeak. it was the plan all week. He really needs to be available because he already is durable and capable of playing more downs than the smaller De'Andre Williams in the middle. Tulane is a much stronger team with Johnson at nose tackle and Williams at the other inside spot than it is with Williams at nose tackle and Alfred Thomas having to come in to relieve him.

Tirise Barge definitely practiced today in his usual spot with the second-team defense. He and Will Harper will continue their tag-team effort at nickelback. Barge struggled early against Nicholls after I praised him in my film study, but he settled down. This might be a game where Harper is the better option because UAB usually is run heavy.

Here is Fritz.

On the week of practice:

"The best thing is we got in every practice. You always worry about whether we are going to be able to get it in or not, but we were able to get in all the practices. We had to shift a couple of things around on Tuesday because we were thinking about going out to the Saints, but it all ended up working out, which is good."

On stopping UAB RB Spencer Brown:

"We have to do a good job up front and we have to do a good job fitting it up. Fitting it up means the front guys are in their correct gap and the linebackers are fitting in the correct gap and the secondary guys are getting in the correct gap. If everybody does that, you have an opportunity to be gap sound and make plays on the line of scrimmage of gains of 1 or 2 maximum. It's when one guys gets out of his gap where you get the big plays. Their offensive line has a lot of seniors. I was reading through their stuff and they are the most veteran team in America. They have 36 seniors and Navy has 37, and they've got more juniors than Navy's got, so they are the most experienced team in American."

On Justin McMillan:

"He's getting better every day. He's learning more of the system every day. It's tough right now to throw him out there because right now he's getting close to half of the playbook. Each week we're trying to find here's what we know you can do and here's what would be good against our opponent in case we've got to get them out there, but he's getting closer and closer. He's really doing a good job of studying and coming in and meeting with the coaches and all those kinds of things."

On his arm talent:

"He's got a good quick release. He throws a nice ball. I think if he gets repetitions running the ball, he'd be a really good runner. He's got speed and quickness."

On concerns if had to play him:

"There are some things he just couldn't do. The big thing we're trying to do is make sure we have some veteran backs in there with him. The signaling is a big part."