As Tulane finished its last practice in preparation for Saturday's huge game against undefeated, 16th-ranked South Florida, Willie Fritz gathered the players together and told them to do everything in their power to seize the opportunity presented in a nationally televised game on ESPN2 against the overwhelming preseason American Athletic Conference favorite.

"It's an opportunity to show the country what we're all about," he said.

He reiterated those comments seconds later.

"It's a great opportunity," he said. We've got the 13th-ranked (in the coaches' poll) team in the country. They're undefeated. They are very talented, very well coached and are playing on national TV. It's a great challenge. That's what you want. That's why you get into athletics. It's an opportunity to compete. It will be fun."

Fritz said he liked the way the week of practice had gone coming off a disappointing loss at FIU, saying the players appeared to have a good handle on what they were doing schematically in all three phases. "You hope for Thursdays like that every week," he added.

Peter Woullard might not have played against FIU, but he practiced with the second team at left defensive end and likely will have a significant role behind freshman starter Cameron Sample on Saturday versus South Florida now that senior end Eldrick Washington is gone for the year with a torn ACL. The second-team defensive line at the end of Thursday's practice had Woullard, De'Andre Williams inside and Patrick Johnson on the other side. The first team had Sample, Sean Wilson and Ade Aruna. I did not see big Braynon Edwards on either unit, but I would assume he still is ahead of Williams. With the last two games not being on TV, it's hard for me to evaluate the play of the linemen other than just the obvious, so I'm not sure how Edwards has performed lately.

This much I know. The coaches are very high on Sample, who is tied with Sean Wilson for the most tackles (17) by a Tulane lineman.

"Number one, he's extremely talented, especially for a freshman," defensive coordinator Jack Curtis said. "He's really a bright guy with pretty good size to him and is just a real good athlete. People don't realize (except for people who read my daily practice reports), Cam turned 18 years old after he played a college ball game, so it's amazing where he's at. He's going to be just an outstanding player and has a lot of good football ahead of him. He's going to be a dominant force in this league one day, and he's already played way above what a freshman should be playing. We're extremely happy. He's excited about getting his first start."

Said Willie Fritz: "I've been very impressed with him. He's been rolling in there like a starter the last few weeks anyway. He's a really good player, very smart, great character, great student. He'll do a great job."

That low-rated freshman class is paying dividends early for Tulane, with Patrick Johnson getting significant playing time as well as Sample.

"It was very important," Fritz said. "We're fortunate that we've got a little bit of depth."

You have to feel for Washington, a fifth-year player who finally had worked his way into a starting position.

"Everybody's your favorite, but he's one of your favorite because he keeps his mouth shut and just works as hard as all get-out. He has a positive attitude. I told the story the other day with our players about a lot of guys would have sustained that type of injury and class would have been optional on Monday. He was there 15 minutes early and didn't say 'I need a cart' or 'somebody take me' or tell the teachers that I can't make it. He's a man, and he did a good job. I told him I was more proud of him for that than all of the great football he's played for us."

Tulane has one prominent backer against South Florida. Associated Press national college football writer Ralph Russo picked the Green Wave to upset the Bulls 28-27 in his weekly picks column. He rarely explains why he makes a pick, but I know he has a ton of respect for Fritz as a coach. The pick won't help or hurt Tulane win, but it's interesting.

Curtis understands the challenge of going against a team that is seeking an NCAA-record 24th consecutive game with 30 or more points.

"They are explosive," he said. "The quarterback can be an explosive player, a talented runner and they are a good rushing team. They average 293 yards a game rushing, and that's the fourth or fifth team we've played that was in the top 10 of the nation in rushing. Army, Navy, Tulsa, even Oklahoma was a good rushing team. They are very explosive with the play-action pass off the running game. What they force you to do is play a one-on-one game. It's one-on-one on the outside and one-on-one on the inside. We have to win our one-on-one battles."

Tulane's tackling, usually a strength under Fritz, was bad against FIU. The Wave will be in big-time trouble with the same results against USF.

Cornerback Parry Nickerson was one of the culprits, turning a short gain into a 50-plus-yard play with a missed tackle. Curtis disputed the notion Nickerson had a terrible game against FIU--he had an interception in the end zone to end the Panthers' first drive and was targeted 13 times, giving up six receptions to talented receiver Thomas Owens.

"That receiver is an excellent player and made some really good plays," Curtis said. "Parry made some great plays, too, but we have all the confidence in Parry. He's our best, and there's no reason to doubt him. The thing we have to do a better job of is we had a season high of 18 missed tackles in that game. We strive for single digits, and of those 18 missed tackles, they had 170 yards after the miss. That's a lot of hidden yardage. We have to tackle better."

Tulane's coaches continue to credit FIU for being more talented at the skill positions that anyone gives them credit for being.

"The quarterback is extremely talented, the running back's good and the receivers were good," Curtis said. "They were as good as anybody we've faced. Their play-calling had us rocked back on our heels and we couldn't get in synch. Now, saying all that, going into the fourth quarter it was 10-3. You are going to take that in today's football. Now we have to find ways to create more turnovers, get the ball back to the offense and score on defense. That's what we talked to our guys about. When it comes down to the fourth quarter, we've got to find a way to win it."

One other note: Miles Strickland practiced with the scout team today. At least he's practicing after missing almost all of last year and the the beginning of this season with injuries, but after getting a few carries in the blowout of Tulsa, he's still clearly fifth in the pecking order at running back.

Running The Bulls publisher Kelly Quinlan answers five questions about South Florida on the front page. Of the four Engaging the Enemy pieces I have done this year, Quinlan's is the best. Pulls no punches, as some do, and clearly knows the team and the league.

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

As I suspected, Eldrick Washington is done for the year for Tulane, meaning his Green Wave career is over.

Willie Fritz confirmed Washington torn a knee ligament against FIU on Saturday night, and the recovery time will go well past the end of his redshirt senior year.

It's rough news not only because of the loss of a starter, but because he is a hard-working guy who does everything the right way. My spies tell me Washington, a Helen Cox High product, showed up at his first class 15 minutes early on Monday and was in the weight room on time to work out even though he knew his career was over. He is going to be the feature story on the Tulane game program for South Florida --he plays the bass and drums with New Orleans bands in his spare time--and they decided not to make a change even though he won't be able to play.

Washington finishes his career with 38 tackles. He started only once until this season, when he started all six games at defensive end.

It turns out Peter Woullard, a potential replacement for Washington, is not hurt. He's just fallen down the depth chart. Fritz said he thought Woullard might have played a few downs against FIU but was not sure. Cameron Sample, who has been very productive with 17 tackles, the most for any Tulane lineman, will start in Washington's place. Looking at Tulane's notes, I see Patrick Johnson is listed as the backup to Ade Aruna, so maybe redshirt freshman De'Andre Williams will be Sample's backup. Williams has played in all six games, making six tackles.

Robert Kennedy was in uniform today but did not have a helmet, so he still has not been cleared to practice. I'll get an update on him tomorrow. His return would be a huge help for a line that got pushed around a little bit against FIU. Before getting hurt last year, he was the Wave's second best defensive end behind Ade Aruna.

Offensive tackle Joey Claybrook got hurt in Tuesday's practice, something I forgot to mention. I'm not sure about the extent of his injury, but he was being redshirted anyway.

Caught up with offensive coordinator Doug Ruse after practice today. Here's what he had to say:

What was off in the passing game against FIU? I know it was a team-wide thing, but how do you get it corrected?

"It was a team-wide effort. We struggled in protection at times. We struggled to get open at times, and we struggled to hit the spot with the ball at times. We had seven or eight times in that game where we were off by six inches that were potentially big plays that may change the outcome. We had a fourth-down opportunity when we had a busted assignment with a guy open. It was a group effort, but it's been addressed. Why we had those issues I just don't know. That was kind of the story of the night. We just kept shooting ourselves in the foot. That's part of football. You can't have them. You've got to prepare great during the week, knowing you're going to know what to do, and execute fast on Saturday."

You didn't throw a lot, but the matchups were there for big plays. How badly did you need to hit those shots?

"They were playing straight man, cover zero and daring us to throw the ball, and like I said, we had ample opportunity over the course of the game. We just were not able to connect."

Jonathan Banks was off. What did you tell him and what does he need to do better?

"It's kind of the coaches' go-to. We didn't have a great week of preparation at the quarterback position and all positions offensively, and that's the way we played. Whether that's the reason, you don't know, but as a coach that's how you attack it. You prepare at the top of your game all week and you expect to go out and play at the top of the game on Saturday. We just were out of rhythm. They played their tails off against us. Give them credit. They beat our butts."

Fritz said Dontrell Hilliard should have gotten the ball more, but he added hindsight was 20-20. What are your thoughts?

"Every game I've even been a part of that we lost, that's always been a part of the deal--you evaluate what you should have done different. We definitely had our moments in this game, but like I said, if we hit on a couple of those big opportunities we had in the throwing game, nobody's second-guessing anything. Yeah, knowing what I know now, I wish we would have fed Dontrell more."

What worries you about South Florida's defense?

"They are freakishly fast and athletic, and the thing that's amazing about these guys, they are returning nine guys defensively and were one of the lowest-ranked defenses in the country a year ago and are just playing lights out. The thing they're doing, and it's kind of our m.o., too, they are winning because they have a huge advantage in the turnover/takeaway, and because they're taking the ball away and they are scoring points offensively, they are forcing people to try to do things that really doesn't suit them, and that's what's creating mistakes and that's what's leading to turnovers. They are playing great complementary football as a team right now, and that's what we've got to do against those guys. We talk about ball security every week, but it's never been more important than this week. That's why these guys are winning. They are plus-14 in turnover (differential)."

How do you attack their run defense?

"We always check the stats. That's the first thing we do to see where they're ranked rushing, passing, but at the end of the day it really doesn't matter. It's execution. You've got to go out and do what you do. If you try to become something you're not, it's going to bite you in the tail. We've got to go out and do what we do. That's not giving you a whole lot of information, but that's the truth. We've got to be ourselves."

Banks appears tough mentally. Some guys might struggled to bounce back from a game liek he had against FIU, but are you confident he will be OK?

"That's not his mindset. He's not that kind of guy. The thing about the quarterback position is you get too much praise when things go good and too much blame when things go bad. You have to be the same guy every day. You have to feel good all the time. There's no extreme highs or extreme lows. Be the same guy every play, every week, every game."

Coming off a game like that, is there any better opportunity to bounce back than a game against a team like USF?

"I expect not just the quarterback, but as a team we'll bounce back. We're playing a heck of an opponent. We'll have to play our tails off, but I feel very good that we'll do just that."

Don't look for Eldrick Washington to play for Tulane any time soon or maybe ever again. Although he is listed as a starter at defensive end on the depth chart the Green Wave released Tuesday, he was wearing a bulky knee brace on his right leg and was on crutches at Tuesday's practice and not moving well on the sideline. I will get an update today on his status, but the redshirt senior, who went down in the first quarter against FIU, could be out with a significant injury.

The Wave has a capable replacement in freshman Cameron Sample, who already had double the number of tackles as Washington before he got hurt, but his absence would affect depth with no proven player behind Sample at end. Apparently, Peter Woullard also is out. I did not notice him missing practice last week, but he did not play against FIU and obviously would have gotten a lot of action with Washington unavailable. True freshman Patrick Johnson had three tackles against FIU, but having a pair of true freshmen as the top two guys at a spot is not ideal. I wish the game had been on TV so I could watch the tape and see exactly what the rotation was after Washington went out.

I'm not going to sugarcoat the loss, but I will point out teams play differently every week. If the Wave has another one like that one, the season will be in trouble, but if it was an outlier, a bowl bid is still within reach. Heck, the Wave is tied for first in the loss column in the AAC West, so upsetting USF would change everything. College football is strange. LSU beat Auburn, which beat Ole Miss, which beat South Alabama, which beat Troy, which beat LSU, so by comparative scores, LSU can beat itself by 59 points. We'll find out in the next two weeks if Tulane is capable of competing with and beating the top teams in the AAC and whether this team is closer to its performance against Tulsa or closer to its performance against FIU.

Willie Fritz gave his assessment of USF on Tuesday:

"They have a Heisman Trophy candidate for a quarterback, run the ball extremely well and have the good backs, a big offensive line. The quarterback's a big-time run threat, and they also throw the ball very effectively. They have some big, talented receivers. Defensively I don't think they get enough credit. I believe they are one of only two teams in the top 10 of the country in rushing yards allowed and yards per game. The other team in that category is Alabama, so they've got some pretty good company. They have good corners. They play a lot of man coverage, a big defensive line up front, so it's going to be a tremendous challenge for us. We need to have a great week of preparation and play lights out Saturday night."

Going forward, Fritz wants his staff to make better adjustments once a game starts, and he counts himself in that group.

"Sometimes with what we do offensively, you don't get exactly what you hope you're getting," he said. "You always work on the what ifs, but you can't work on 20 different things. You have to narrow down your focus. We just didn't make the adjustments quick enough and be able to go out and execute the adjustments. Offensively they ran a few different things they'd never shown. They ran some unbalanced, which they'd never show, played more zone read, which they had shown very little, and fly sweep, which they had shown very little, especially to the short side of the field. You've got to make adjustments on the fly. It's hard to fit things up. You need a few practice opportunities, but unfortunately in the game you don't get those."

Fritz is not a big believer in momentum from week to week:

"You can't bring points with you from the week before," he said. "Each game is its own game. You look around college football, there's a lot of parity right now. That's why you get a Clemson and a Washington State and a Washington get beat. There are a lot of good players across the country. I thought their quarterback was an excellent player. I have a couple of buddies who were at the game, they are pro scouts, and they feel like that guy is going to be in an NFL camp for sure. No. 81 is a high quality receiver. They have their share of good players, and we knew that ahead of time."

Fritz talked at length about his offense and what needs to happen.

"We have our base plays. We have to make them work no matter what we're doing. Then we have some plays, I'm not going to call them gimmick plays, but plays you hope take advantage of their coverage and their front that might be a little bit different. You just hope that all 11 guys are on the same page. It's all about execution. When you get up there and you draw them up on the board, we generally have them all blocked, so every play looks like it's going to be a winner. But if one guy doesn't do his job, you've got problems. It's just executing and having faith in the system and the play call and doing your assignment to the best of your ability, and as a coach you have to do a good job of matching your personnel and taking advantage of your strengths and sometimes trying to hide your weaknesses as well.

"There might be some plays you'd like to run, but you just don't have the hosses to run it. So you can be stubborn and keep running it or pull that away and move on. That's what you have to be able to do. That's something we talk about on a daily basis is personnel. Part of my job, being the general manager, is making sure we're playing the right guys. Dontrell Hilliard, I don't think he got enough touches last week."

Fritz also was asked about how Tulane could beat Tulsa 62-28 and lose to FIU 23-10 while Tulsa rebounded to beast Houston 45-17.

"That's college football right there," he said. "I'm sure Houston felt like they were prepared, and I'm sure Tulsa sat around and pouted about the game they played here and about getting their butts kicked. You don't want to have a game beat you twice. We talked about it on Monday. We talked about some of the upsets and who would have thought what happened to us would have happened to us and who would have thought what happened to Tulsa would have happened to Tulsa. Not very many people, so you have to play every single week."

Fritz was very supportive of Jonathan Banks right after the FIU game. He elaborated on those thoughts Tuesday.

"He's played well for us. He's a tough-minded kid. He was very disappointed, and I told him he was one of many guys who didn't play well. Unfortunately the quarterback and the head coach get too much credit when things go well and too much blame when things go wrong. I told him join the club, buddy, and I'll hang with you."

I asked Fritz why the passing game was so bad against FIU all around.

"Number one, it was good coverage by them a lot of times," he said. "Number two, we missed a lot of shots. We had guys open and missed them and we have to hit them. Sometimes that's not always the quarterback. You see a guy running, and the quarterback's looking to the other side, and then all of a sudden he throws it and the guy speeds up. That's too late to recover. Protection. He couldn't hold it and pat the ball one more time. We got beat inside a few times, so that was a team effort."

I had Texas as a 7-point favorite against Oklahoma State. Texas is a 7-point underdog.

Harahan Wave, Gretna Green, Golfer81 and Charlamange8 all picked Oklahoma State before I switched it to the correct spread. If you want to change it, go ahead.

We were provided only one player after the game--Rod Teamer--which I will address with the proper people this week. The quickest way for the Advocate to pull me off the road in future years is limited access like that.

Fritz, as always, was accommodating, answering every question.

FRITZ

"When we throw the football, we've got to do a good job of completions on some big hitters for us. We didn't complete those. They dominated time of possession in the first half and they probably dominated the second half as well. Give them the credit. They were well prepared. They had a good game plan against us, offensively and defensively and they won the ball game."

Do you feel like your players bought a little too much into the positive attention they received after blowing out Tulsa?

"Well, I hope not. I know we sure didn't talk about that. You can't sit around and pat yourself on the back when you play well, and you can't dwell on the negatives either. I guess we got to move on from this game, too. It's just disappointing."

You had nine yards passing at halftime. Was there an emphasis on switching anything up?

"No, we just hit on any of our big hitters like we did last week and we've done so far this season. For us to be successful in the passing game, we have to run the ball effectively and we just didn't have enough opportunities to do that. We had some big rips, but they were between the 30s and not in the red zone."

Dontrell Hilliard had another good game, but it didn't look like he got much help.

"Yeah, we'll look back. There are a few times we should have just stayed on the ground and run the football and not tried to get too cute. Hindsight's 20-20, isn't it?"

You mentioned the lack of opportunities. Is that time of possession, number of plays?

"Well, they were packing the box and playing a lot of man coverage and giving us some nice shots. We just missed on two or three of them. When you look from the sideline and up in the box, you see some things you can do, but you still have to execute them."

The defense had a hard time getting off the field and appeared to miss a lot more tackles than usual. Did you feel that?

"I thought we did a really poor job of tackling. Too often the first guy in was trying to strip the ball instead of tackling, so we missed a lot of tackles and we've been pretty good at that. I think they were 4 of 8 in the first half on third-down conversions, and they had a fourth-down conversion also. You've got to shove the door when you get them in third downs so you can get off the field and your offense can get out there."

Did you see something like this being possible during the week of practice?

"You know me. I'm worried about every game under the sun. We certainly knew they had a good squad. Their quarterback is a pretty good player. The (running) back is a lot better player than I bave him credit for. I'll say that. He's a good running back. The real thing they did a nice job of was scheming us. They ran some unbalanced (lines) and a little bit of zone read, taking some pages out of our playbook."

They are the first team that has really gone after Parry Nickerson a lot. Were you surprised with that tactic?

"That's a good receiver out there. We had to man (-to-man coverage) a lot. You hope to get a little pressure when you're bringing four or five or six guys, and we just didn't get a whole lot of pressure against them. They did a really nice job of moving the pocket, too. They were running some bootlegs and getting out in space and were giving the quarterback a bunch of time."

It looked like Jonathan Banks was late on his decisions. Did you sense that?

"He's like a lot of guys. He didn't play one of his better games. When that happens, everybody's got to pick up around him. He's our guy, though. He'll bounce back and have a great game this week."

EDIT: Q&A CONTINUES HERE AFTER A 40-HOUR DELAY

Was the way FIU played their run defense different from other teams?

"It wasn't totally out of the realm of what other teams have done against us. Looking back on it, I'm sure we wish we would have been a little bit more patient running the ball and giving ourselves three downs to get ten yards instead of a lot of times it was two downs (due to an incomplete pass)."

Did you consider going for the first down on that fourth-and-2 after you had scored a touchdown to cut the deficit to 13-10 and gotten the ball on a three-and-out?

"Yeah, I came pretty close to going for it. I think it was a little closer to fourth-and-2 maybe. We felt like if you go for it right there and you don't get it, the game's kind of over."

You lost Eldrick Washington early. Cameron Sample played well in place of him but it hurt your depth. How much did that affect the defense?

"He (Eldrick) is a good player. Hopefully it's not real serious. He's a really good young man. You hate to see that happen to anybody, especially a senior."

With South Florida coming up next, do you feel like you'll get a good response from these guys?

"Yeah, we'll bounce back. We're coming back home. We are going to learn from our mistakes, flush this tape down the toilet and move on to the next game. It's what you have to do."

RODERIC TEAMER

The defense had a hard time getting off the field tonight. What went wrong?

"Really they came out and had some wrinkles, some things that we hadn't seen all week that they really confused us with. We had to make a lot of halftime adjustments. That was really what happened in the first quarter. It was a lot of adjustments, and it's hard to play on the run. When you have the advantage all week of knowing what your opponent is going to do, hat's off to them with that."

Do you feel like anyone got too excited about what happened against Tulsa last week?

"No sir. Coach Fritz always preaches to us the next game. We celebrated the Tulsa game, but we had a 24-hour rule and moved on to this game. Nobody overlooked this team. We went out, we felt we had a great week of practice. Things just didn't go our way tonight."

You were on the field a long time as a defense. Did you wear down in the second half?

"You could say that. I'll have to look at the film to really tell you if we wore down defensively, but of course being on the field getting demoralized when they get first down after first down and they converted a fourth down on us. When that type of stuff happens, it gets you down a little bit."

You got a three-and-out right after cutting the deficit to 13-10, but the next time they had the ball, they ran it right down your throat. How surprising was that drive?

"I won't say it was surprising because all week we watched them. They did a great job running the ball all year, so it wasn't surprising, but like I said, in the running game they did some things we didn't expect them to do, and that really caught us off guard. That's just great coaching by them."

They really went after Parry Nickerson with a good receiver. Did that surprise you guys because everyone else had stayed away from Parry?

"I mean, it surprises you a little bit, but we never lost any confidence in Parry. That receiver is a great receiver. Throughout the scouting report, that's what we talked about all week was we were going to have to stop him in the passing game. It wasn't surprising. On a 50-50 ball, if he goes up and gets it, that's his ball."

How quickly can you bounce back for the South Florida game?

"Tomorrow we're going to get in and watch film, Monday we're going to watch film on this game and then after that we're moving on. No one is going to dwell on this game. It hurts. We felt like this is a game that we should have come out and won, but we have to move. We have a ranked opponent, South Florida, coming in, and we want to get that one."

A few Tulane fans are all over an Advocate goof that had nothing to do with me, with an editor forgetting to substitute FIU for Tulsa in the matchup listing at the top of the Tulane page in today's edition. You make mistakes, and people are going to hold you accountable, often with a nasty tone, but that's not the point here.

In my mind, Tulane needs to treat FIU exactly like Tulsa. It won't be as easy because the Golden Hurricane was looking for a reason to lie down when it arrived at Yulman Stadium last Saturday, but a decisive rout would be another positive step as Willie Fritz changes Tulane's culture. When I picked all of Tulane's games for The Advocate in the preseason, I forecast a 2- or 3-point victory for the Wave, figuring a letdown was inevitable in a non-conference road game against a nondescript program.

But Tulane has a real chance to exceed my expectations. Most of the questions that needed to be answered before the season have been answered positively, with quarterback Jonathan Banks exhibiting all of the qualities of a playmaking winner in his limited sample size, the offensive line showing signs of life and a veteran, deep defense making up for the loss of Tanzel Smart and Nico Marley better than any outsiders anticipated.

The two biggest questions today are whether the offensive line can duplicate its dominance against Tulsa and a secondary that has given up far too many big pass plays can tighten up its coverage. If the Wave runs on the Panthers early, this could be another blowout, but if the offense is up and down like it was against everyone but Tulsa, the game could get interesting.

As for the pass defense, there will be fewer one-on-one opportunities against safeties than in previous weeks because Tulane will not have to load up the box to stop the run as much as it did against Navy and Tulsa. FIU quarterback Alex McGough can make all the throws, although he is not always accurate, so it is time for the defensive backs to step up. That means Donnie Lewis not getting caught with his head in the backfield and the safeties not blowing any assignments. These guys will have to play better down the stretch for Tulane to have a true breakthrough season.

Tulane is not playing Tulsa today, but if the final score is anything like last Saturday, the Wave will be set up perfectly for its biggest two-game American Athletic stretch (USF at home, Memphis away) since it joined the league.

Many on here probably remember Jack Abraham, the record-setting high school QB from Oxford, Ms., who decommitted from Tulane shortly after Coach Fritz was hired. He went on to enroll at Louisiana Tech where he redshirted as a freshman last year. This season, as a redshirt freshman, he has moved on to Northwest Mississippi Community College where, through six games, he has averaged 274 yards per game passing with 13 TD’s and 5 INT’s. He’s also carried the ball 14 times for a net of 52 yards (after subtracting 14 yards in sacks).

Two days ago (Thursday), he led his team (#10 in JC ranks) to a 61-38 rout of then #1, East Mississippi Community College and their QB, Lyndsey Scott. Abraham was 22-33 passing for 314 yards and two TD’s with no INT’s. He also ran three times for 19 net yards, including a 10 yard TD run. Scott, of course, has put up cartoon-like numbers all year. Through seven games he’s averaged 308 yards per game passing with 18 TD’s and 6 INT’s. He’s also rushed 82 times for 407 yards and 4 more TD’s. In this game, he ran the ball 26 times for a net of 125 yards and a TD. He also threw 45 passes (26 complete) for 310 yards, 3 TD’s and 2 INT’s. It will be interesting to see where both kids end up next year. Abraham does not fit our “profile,” but Scott clearly does. Do we fit his? We’ll see.

Emanuel Bridges, the linebacker who initially enrolled last year at Georgia Tech after declining offers from Alabama, Clemson and many other “top end” football programs, led EMCC with 16 tackles during the game. Of course, it’s hard to believe anyone had a good game defensively when they allowed 61 points. That said, when he was still at Georgia Southern, Coach Fritz offered Bridges and earlier this year offered him a Tulane scholarship. At 6’2” and 225# with three years of eligibility remaining, he may be a name to remember.

Roll Wave!!!

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

FIU (+13.5) Tulane
Memphis (-3.5) Navy
Oklahoma (-7.5) Texas (Dallas)
LSU (+6.5) Auburn
Florida (-3) Texas A&M
Miami (-7) Georgia Tech
West Virginia (-3.5) Texas Tech
Southern Cal (-13) Utah

The questions and answers with FIU in-house writer Pete Pelegrin is on the front page.

My answers to his five questions ran on the FIU website.

http://fiusports.com/news/2017/10/12/football-5-questions-on-tulane-vs-fiu.aspx

This is a must-win game Saturday. Tulane, 4-21 in AAC play, has to start winning in conference right now. Tulsa, which is 1-4 and lost to New Mexico and Toledo, is vulnerable.

Since joining the American Athletic Conference, Tulane has been favored only three times, beating UConn 12-3 in 2014 at home as a 3-point favorite, losing to SMU 35-31 at home in 2016 as a 2-point favorite and beating UConn 38-13 on the road in 2016 as a 1-point favorite.

According to Phil Steele's college football preview magazine, Tulane was a 1-point underdog before beating UCF in 2015, so scratch that one off your list if you thought there were any others.

When Tulane went to a bowl game in 2013, it was favored in only one conference game, crushing UTEP 45-3 as a 16-point favorite. The Wave was favored just twice in 11 regular-season games against FBS competition that year, losing to South Alabama as a 6-point favorite the other time.

This already is the second time Tulane has been favored this year, with a very likely third time coming next week at FIU, and, if things go the same they've been going, a fourth time at home against Cincinnati on Nov. 4 and a fifth time at East Carolina on Nov. 11.

Even without significant improvement on offense, which I expect, the opportunity for a bowl game is there. But it has to begin this Saturday with a clean effort against Tulsa.

Willie Fritz' biggest task this week is going to involve one of his biggest strengths, which is to get his team to treat each opponent the same and not have ups and downs emotionally. Tulane's destruction of Tulsa was not totally surprising because the Wave was coming off the high of a dramatic comeback win against Army and had two weeks to prepare when coaches could point to a boatload of mistakes against the Black Knights to keep the players focused. No one went out on the field Saturday thinking Tulane had played great against Army.

After scoring seven touchdowns in seven possessions against Tulsa, the staff has to guard against complacency entering a trip to lightly regarded FIU for a non-conference game. It's human nature, even for teams that have experienced little success in the past, to get big heads after a shellacking like that.

Beating FIU is paramount and will allow Tulane to really start thinking big heading into back-to-back games against 18th-ranked USF and AAC contender Memphis. A loss would kill all the momentum and make reaching a bowl game difficult. Tulane is favored by double digits (-13.5) on the road for the first time since traveling to Army as a 16-point favorite in 2003 (the Wave won 50-33) and needs to take care of business.

The coaches were on the players hard today at practice. At one point, defensive coordinator Jack Curtis criticized someone for making the same mistake three times against the scout team, yelled about the importance of practice habits and made the defense redo the play.

Jabril Clewis looks like a different player than in preseason practice and the first few games, when he did not impress me at all. He's starting to resemble the big target with good hands Tulane appeared to be getting in the spring, and he made some nice plays in practice today.

Tulane integrated Devin Glenn into the offense a bit on Saturday, even running a "Jet" sweep with him, but today, he dropped a pass while wide open over the middle. He has ability but he has to cut those mistakes out of his game. The Wave was lucky it recovered his fumbled kickoff near the sideline against Tulsa.

I did not see Chris Johnson on the practice field, but Darnell Mooney, who I thought I saw leaving the field accompanied by a trainer in the second half against Tulsa, practiced. Mooney did not have good game, stopping on a deep route early when he thought he could not catch the ball instead of trying to finish the play.

Freshman Jaetavian Toles got a lot of reps today with the receivers. He also was the very last player to leave the field, spending about 20 minutes of extra time working with a coach after the end of practice.

Today was Parry Nickerson's birthday, so the team sang Happy Birthday to him at the end of a hot practice. I was hard on him on twitter for missing the tackle on the long touchdown pass Tulane gave up in the first half against Tulsa and then yelling at Chase Kuerschen rather than owning up on his own contribution to the score, but as you'll see from Willie Fritz down farther, Nickerson had good reason to be irritated.

The weather this week has been extremely humid and unseasonably warm, even for New Orleans, in October. It's supposed to rain during the FIU game, and even if it doesn't, the Wave will be very prepared for the humid conditions in Miami on Saturday night.

I talked to offensive line coach Alex Atkins and linebackers coach Michael Mutz for Q&As that will run later this week, but here's what Fritz had to say today:

"We had a good game today. We're still learning a few things. We had a few guys at different spots, but I thought overall it was pretty good. We really front loaded everything, and with fall break, we're going to let them sleep in a little bit tomorrow. We're not going to start 'til 8:30 as far as meetings, but we're getting there."

Tyler Johnson has really come on in the last two weeks after starting at the end of last year. What is he doing well?

"We're blessed to have a little bit of competition. We didn't have a whole lot of competition last year, and it was a big move for us to throw him in there to start as a true freshman. It got him a ton of experience, and he just knows what he's doing. You redshirt a guy, that next year is his first year of playing, cut it any way you want. That year of experience last year really helped him out. He's got great feet. He's starting to get size and strength."

What did the offensive line do against Tulsa that they had not been doing consistently?

"Well, bodies on bodies, creating some movement. If we can just get the right bodies on their right bodies, we have a chance on every play, and then it comes down to technique. That was a big deal. We run a lot of that inside zone, and you have to create a little movement vertically and horizontally, and we did that."

You inherited an offensive line with a whole lot of work to do. How happy are you with the progress?

"It's good. Coach (Alex) Atkins does a great job. Our graduate assistant, coach (Mack) Helms, is awesome with the offensive line, too, but then also to have a good running game, the backs have got to block, the tight ends have got to block. I thought our wide receivers did a fantastic job on the perimeter Saturday. The offensive line, the tight ends, the backs, they are the ones that get it to the second level, but to get the big runs, you've got to be blocking downfield, and we had a bunch of them."

The defense has given up some big pass plays. How do you fix those busts?

"The first one was just a very elementary bust, as a matter of fact a day 1 bust which we shouldn't have. Otherwise it was 48-zip at halftime, so you've got to be pretty happy with how they played. The second half we played a bunch of guys, and they are a really good running team, and when you do that you have to out-populate them at the line of scrimmage and it leaves you playing a bunch f man-to-man coverage. A few times we had poor technique at the break point of the route, and also we started turning and looking at the quarterback when we got beat. We always talk about hard-man focus, so we have to eliminate that stuff for sure."

Zach Harris came back from his ankle injury that kept him out for most of the preseason and is making a lot of tackles as usual, getting back into the starting lineup. What do you like the most about him?

"He's a good tackler. He really is. He's done a good job. He doesn't miss many tackles, either. That's a big deal as well. Sometimes a guy will make 10 tackles but have three or four misses. Really, they are hurting you more than they are helping you. He's good. If he's around 10, it's either one or zero (missed tackles)."

I was on the right side of the two games decided in the final seconds, but still, I'm constantly amazed that people can stomach putting real money on point spreads when something happens like Utah-Stanford. Twice Stanford made fourth-down stops on Utah's meaningless final drive to preserve its cover, and twice the referees threw flags that gave the Utes an automatic first down, leading to their very late TD to cover the spread.

Week 5 Results

8

mono41

7

winwave
diverdo

6

Guerry Smith
paliii
buck2481

5

DrBox
WaveON
highwave
bbos1025

4

p8kpev
St Amant Wave
LSU Law Greenie
Harahan Wave
Wavetime
MNAlum
GretnaGreen

3

Kettrade1
Golfer81


OVERALL STANDINGS

30

winwave

29

mono41

27

Guerry Smith
St Amant Wave
bbos1025

25

p8kpev
DrBox
buck2481

24

WaveON
paliii
diverdo

23

Wavetime
GretnaGreen

22

MNAlum
LSU Law Greenie
Kettrade1

21

highwave

20

Golfer81
Charlamange (missed 1 week)

15

Harahan Wave (missed 1 week)

WEEK 5 GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane 18 out of 19
Houston 9
Miami 13
LSU 3
South Carolina 4
Washington State 13
Utah 8
West Virginia 8

i heard several times today that Tulsa tried really hard to have the game cancelled... What's the scoop? Did you hear anything about that?

Also, on a 4th and 1 I think, Banks went under center. I think that's the first and only time a QB has taken a snap from under center since Fritz has been at Tulane. Am I right ?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roll Wave!!

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

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

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

FRITZ

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

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

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

Was this your earliest game?

"Yes it was."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

What are your thoughts on Dontrell Hilliard's performance?

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

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

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

What are your thoughts on getting your 200th win?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Here's what he had to say:

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

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

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

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

Why did you leave Vandy?

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

What are you expectations individually this year?

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

What do you bring to the table?

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

How did you end up at Tulane?

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

What did you like about Dunleavy?

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

Anything specific he told you that has helped you?

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

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

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

Who would you compare your game to?

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

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

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

Where have you lived in America?

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

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

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

How hard was not getting to play last year?

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

Will you play the 4 or the 5?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Roll Wave!!!

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

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