Graff ended the show by asking about our pitching rotation this weekend. We play Thursday to Saturday and could start play in the conference tournament on Tuesday. Jewett said the obligatory we want to win them all. He then said we need to be set for Clearwater. He said he may either not throw Merrill or France at all or have them throw a very limited amount.


I hope he shuts them down completely and rest Solesky too. I'd start Massey Thursday. If you get lucky he goes 4 or 5. Of course you go into rit eady to wholestaff it. I'd wholestaff it Friday and go with Bjorngjeld on Saturday. They could all end up being wholestaffed and I'm good with that.

After his solid performance out of the bullpen on Sunday, I talked to Chase Solesky, who may be the most important player on the team in the AAC tournament. He gave up only four earned runs in his first 23.2 innings but stopped missing bats when he was promoted to weekend duty, giving up 41 hits in 24.1 innings. He appears to be the most likely candidate to give the Wave good innings in Clearwater aside from J.P. France, Corey Merrill and closer Christian Colletti.

Here's what he had to say following his four-inning stint against Houston, when he earned the victory by giving up one run on four hits with four strikeouts.

You've been scuffling for a while. How good did you feel today?

"Yeah, I had been throwing a lot these last couple of weeks. I'm pretty sure I was up nine innings in relief last week (over three appearances). I had an easier week this week (he faced one batter on Friday) but I could feel progress (in bullpen work). Today it was just something inside of me. With all the seniors, I get chills thinking about it. Those guys deserve it. I get tears in my eyes when they come off the field."

How much did you need a win like this?

"It's huge for us. The bats came around and we started to find ourselves a little bit. Now we need to keep it going and see what we can do. We needed that."

You were really good early in the year. What happened after you moved to the weekend rotation?

"I needed to learn. The competition I had been playing against was good--you play LSU, McNeese, San Diego, but when you come in against conference, it's a different ballgame. Maybe you start trying a little harder. I've been going in and getting better day by day, learning from Corey, J.P., Ross, they all came up today in the dugout and said something to me. I've learned from them."

This team will need better pitching in the conference tournament. How important can you be?

"I feel very important for this team. I've really come to like my role coming out of the bullpen. It's the best chance I can give our team to win right now. That's all I can ask for and all I can do for this team. As long as I can keep going out there and giving out and doing my thing for the team, that's all that matters."

I recently had a chance to catch up with 2018 New Iberia (La.) Westgate DB Deandre Spencer to talk recruiting. He's still waiting on his first offer, but mentioned Tulane as a school that he's visited and has also visited him.

Here's a portion of what he had to say:

On Tulane: “I went to Tulane for their spring game last month. I like it, it’s quiet school and I think I can make it there. Everything is right by each other. I got to watch them on the field and they’re getting better. They’re still young, they have a lot of developing to do. I’ll be going there to camp June 16. I would like that to be my first offer because it’s close to home and I could come see my family and they could watch me play.”

You can read the complete article and watch his junior film here.

It was not a good final week for Tulane's perennially struggling offensive line, and I'd love to say everything will be fine up front. The reality is offensive line coach Alex Atkins still has plenty of work to do before the Green Wave's blocking is an asset rather than a liability.

I'll start with the qualifier that I am less qualified to judge offensive linemen than any other position. This is where the closed practices to the public hurt the most. There were plenty of opportunities in the spring to watch the linemen, with full contact permitted in the trenches, but I'm not good with nuances like technique, arm position and leverage. And although Atkins is a terrific coach by all accounts (including those of his current players), he is sparing with his quotes, essentially refusing to talk about strengths and weaknesses of individuals other than in broad generalities, so I never even interviewed in the spring.

Still, some of the issues are obvious. In the last scrimmage of practice and the spring game, the linemen were overmatched against Tulane's solid defensive front, causing some significant concerns.

Here is an analysis of each position:

TACKLE

I'm not sure any position is solid, but Willie Fritz really likes John Leglue at right tackle. He had a terrific offseason in the weight room, is in outstanding shape and is happy to be back on the outside after playing out of position at center for most of last year after Junior Diaz went down. The problem is at left tackle. It would be an understatement to say Keyshawn McLeod and Tyler Johnson struggled in the spring game. McLeod, who practiced at center last year, looked too slow to handle outside rushers. Johnson gets a bit of a pass because he was banged up for the second half of spring drills, but he struggled, too. After starting the last three games as a true freshman, he did not exactly take a firm hold on the starting and is listed behind McLeod on the post-spring depth chart.

Maybe Fritz' scheme is different, but left tackle is the most important position for pass blocking since it's a right-handed quarterback's blind side, and Tulane appears limited at the position. These guys need to have a good summer and be in the best possible shape for the start of preseason practice. It's hard to imagine one of the incoming freshmen being the answer. Starting true freshmen up front is usually a sign of trouble, as it was last year with Johnson after Kenneth Santa Marina proved for the umpteenth time he was not the answer. The other returning backup at tackle, Devon Johnson, never gets mentioned by the coaches. He's battled a weight problem throughout his Tulane career, playing sparingly.

GUARD

Chris Taylor wasn't always in optimal shape and he did not live up to the promise he showed as a true freshman starter in 2013, but he played well in the second half of 2016 after a slow start. With him gone, both guard spots are question marks.

Leeward Brown, who was pretty heralded coming in, was merely adequate as a redshirt freshman starter last year. He has weight problems of his own. Listed at 6-4, 335, he needs to drop a few pounds and play with passion or he could lose his spot. Fritz really likes the makeup of John Washington, who was converted from defensive tackle during the 2016 season, but Washington unfortunately missed most of spring drills with an injury. He'll be healthy in August and will get a chance to push Brown.

Juco transfer Dominique Briggs looked pretty good in the spring, particularly as a run blocker, but he was by no means dominant. He will enter preseason drills on top of the depth chart at left guard and figures to start. The only other possibility is Miami transfer Hunter Knighton, who can play anywhere on the line but spent most of the spring as the backup center. Tulane's starters will come from that four-man group. Brian Webb, the other returning scholarship player, sustained a significant knee injury in the spring and was at the bottom of the depth chart before getting hurt.

CENTER

It's hard to tell who is higher on Junior Diaz--Fritz or the Pro Football Focus people who graded him as A-level blocker in the two games before he fractured an ankle last year. I haven't noticed that same greatness in the past, but one thing Diaz does perfectly is snap. The quarterback never has to worry about where the ball will come in the shotgun. Knighton, his backup in the spring, struggled in that department. He'll have to fix it in the summer, although I anticipate him getting action at guard in the fall because Diaz will play every down if he stays healthy.

FINAL TAKE

Tulane's run blocking was adequate last year, allowing the backs to average 228.1 yards. Factor out sacks, and the ball-carriers averaged a respectable 5.5 yards per carry. But the pass protection was subpar, with opponents registering 21 sacks despite Tulane attempting only about 20 passes per game. If anything, the protection looked even worse in the last scrimmage and the spring game, with defenders either coming in totally free or winning one-on-one battles easily. That has to be corrected or Jonathan Banks will be running for his life when he tries to pass. He's a good improvisor, but it's hard to win consistently without decent protection.

I'm not sure the eight players in the running for significant time--Leglue, McLeod, Tyler Johnson, Briggs, Brown, Washington, Knighton and Diaz--are good enough, but they'll have to be because help is unlikely to come from anywhere else.

J.P. France and Grant Brown, a pair of redshirt juniors, will participate in senior day ceremonies and do not plan to return to the team, so Tulane really will be starting over next year.

Add them to the list of Williams, Kaplan, Willsey, Hope, Merrill, Montalbano, DeHart and Colletti. That's seven out of the nine lineup starters (if Montalbano were healthy), the Friday and Saturday pitchers and the closer. In other words, it's every positive contributor on the team this year except for Witherspoon, the Gozzo twins and Hoese. Paul Gozzo has come out of concussion protocol and has been cleared to play this weekend, by the way.

On another note, I finally asked Jewett about what happened to Koby Owen. Sorry, WaveOn, that I did not get the info last week like I promised. Owen, who pinch hit against UCF on Sunday in the eighth and played left field in the ninth, was dealing with an unspecified injury. Jewett said he was available but did not sound too optimistic about his ability to contribute: "Hopefully he just continues to get better and maybe he can find a way to get in at some point to try to help us win. At what level I'm not sure at this point, but he's back to at least being playable."

Jewett said Brown, who has been the hottest bat in the lineup, should be even healthier this weekend than last. He's been dealing with a bothersome shoulder but is playing the best outfield defense of his career in center and hitting a lot better than ever before. The Wave could really use him next year if he has a change of heart.

I recently had a chance to catch up with Donaldsonville DT Davon Wright to talk about the offer he picked up from Tulane on Tuesday.

Here's a portion of what he had to say:

On Tulane: "That was a big offer for me. I wasn't expecting it to come until I camped there but I talked to them today and offered. My recruiting area coach said that he evaluated me again with the head coach and the defensive line coach and they really like me so the head coach said to offer me now. They said i would be a great fit into their defensive line at 3-technique position. I visited during spring practice. It's a great staff I really like Coach Peoples and I love the facilities and the campus."

You can read the complete article and watch his junior film here.

In a year when an unusually difficult schedule and tremendous success against RPI top 50 teams kept Tulane's at-large hopes alive despite a sub-.500 or barely above .500 record, that possibility went kaput in a comprehensive 2-1 series loss to UCF at Turchin Stadium over the weekend.

Tulane still has an outside shot at the AAC title, which would be its first back-to-back regular season championships since 1997-98, but it will need a lot of help, and more significantly, will need to play better than it appears capable of playing down the stretch. The Green Wave trails USF by 2 games, but the Bulls have tough series left at UConn and UCF and easily could go 2-4. The Wave trails UCF by a game and loses the tiebreaker. UCF travels to Cincinnati and hosts USF and should go 4-2. The Wave trails Houston by a game but can take care of that deficit this weekend, although a series loss is more likely than a series win. Regardless, a league title won't be enough to garner an at-large bid, and Tulane won't even be on the board unless it finishes above .500.

Tulane's primary focus needs to shift to a desperate search for pitchers who can get the job done heading into the AAC tournament, where it will try to save the season. Travis Jewett also needs to set up the rotation so that France can pitch Tulane's AAC tourney opener on either Tuesday or Wednesday in two weeks (seeds 1, 4, 5 and 8 play on Tuesday; seeds 2, 3, 6 and 7 play on Wednesday) because France has easily been the Wave's most consistent pitcher in conference play. Let Merrill, who has given up a preposterous 20 runs in his last two starts, pitch the second game. The third game, if Tulane is still alive at that point, appears hopeless at the moment. Bjorngjeld blew his opportunity yesterday with four walks in the second inning. Solesky gets the ball over the plate but has been hit hard by every AAC team he has faced. Massey can't be trusted to get out of the first inning. And no one else who has started has good enough stuff to go very far in a tournament game.

But I have an idea, born out of desperation. I'd seriously consider using Colletti as a day 3 starter in the tournament. He's been money as a closer, and in an all-or-nothing tournament, why not take the gamble and see if he could pitch five innings and keep the Wave in it when the guys that already have been in that role have failed repeatedly. If the plan worked and the Wave won three in a row to get to the championship game, Jewett would have some options for the championship game on Sunday, particularly if the tournament started on Tuesday for Tulane.

The Memphis series, which will run from Thursday to Saturday before the tournament, most likely will be insignificant, so I would keep France and Merrill on a strict pitch count or not use them at all so they could be as fresh as possible pitching on four or five days rest in the tournament. The only way Tulane can salvage the season is by winning the automatic bid, so every decision from here on out needs to be based on maximizing that possibility.

The reality is Tulane simply is not pitching well enough to get it done. The team ERA is 5.60, which is worse than the season-ending ERA in all but two seasons (1990, when it was 6.72, and 2010, when it was 5.66). That's not the only issue, but it's the overriding one and the one that never has been solved.

Tulane is capable of hitting well at the top five spots in the lineup, with Grant Brown hitting better than anyone right now. The bottom has become a problem, but if the Gozzo twins snap out of their slumps (I'm assuming Paul will be cleared this weekend), it would help, and maybe Willsey and Hope will come up big. Willsey was a first-team All-AAC selection and really cares. Hope still is capable of hitting mistake pitches out of the park at any time.

So here's my best-case scenario for Clearwater:

Game 1: France goes 7 good innings, Issa pitches the 8th and Colletti gets a one-inning save.

Game 2: Merrill, who regains his form with a quality start against Houston, goes 8, the bats come alive and the Wave does not have to use Colletti to hold on.

Game 3: Colletti, who started 10 games at UConn as a freshman in 2013, goes five strong innings, and Bjorngjeld finishes up as the Wave clinches a spot in the championship game.

Championship game: Given one last chance to redeem himself after a quality start against Memphis, Massey gets his breaking ball over the plate often enough to keep hitters off balance and does not have to use his fast ball exclusively. He keeps Tulane in the game. France comes out of the pen in the sixth inning, finishes it off and Tulane celebrates with a sense of joy and relief at giving a huge senior class its third straight regional.

Right now, I would rank the AAC teams in this order: 1)UCF, 2) Houston, 3) USF, 4) Tulane, 5) UConn, 6) Cincinnati, 7) ECU, 8) Memphis. UCF outclassed Tulane over the weekend, with only a terrific performance by J.P. France saving the Wave from a sweep. UCF is fast, has the best bullpen in the AAC by far and has quality starting arms. The Knights are an average hitting team, but they make up for it in all of the other areas.

In other words, it would be better for Tulane if UCF ended up in the other bracket in Clearwater. Other than that, I don't think it matters much. Not much separates the other top teams in the conference, and very little separates the bottom three teams.

Now here's a position that is much easier to judge in non-tackling practices From the 1-on-1 drills to the 7-on-7 work to the 11-on-11 competition, the receivers got plenty of work this spring, and one thing is certain: Tulane's receiving corps will be exponentially better next fall than it was in 2016, with four incoming freshmen and a juco transfer joining six returning wideouts, two tight ends and a hybrid tight end/wide receiver in Andrew Hicks, who missed spring drills while recovering from his second torn ACL.

Still, that leaves plenty of room for improvement because it was the worst position on the team, including the offensive line, in 2016. The second Teddy Veal announced he was transferring, I knew this group was in trouble. The coaches even reached out to Devon Breaux, who did not participate in spring drills while he concentrated on track, to make sure he returned to the team in the fall, and anyone who had watched his haphazard pattern running and concentration could have predicted his lack of impact--three catches, 38 yards. Former walk-on Larry Dace was the third most productive receiver with 15 catches for 169 yards. The talented but immature Trey Scott (and that goes for on and off the field) disappointed with two catches for 14 yards and left the program. A gaggle of freshman were given chances to produce right away even though none of them were ready, and Darnell Mooney, the least heralded of the group when they signed, stepped up with 24 receptions for 267 yards. Terren Encalade had a good year (36 catches, 500 yards) and was the only legitimate D1 receiver (a term Willie Fritz uses a lot) of the lot, although last year's freshmen class will get there soon.

Here is my take from the spring. The one disclaimer is blocking skills were not clear, and receivers don't get on the field for Fritz if they can't hold their own in that department.

Leaders of the pack: Encalade and Mooney

The hardworking Encalade, a slot receiver, was not content with his breakout season in 2016 and has worked to get better. While he does not do anything great, he does a lot of things well and is smooth. Barring injury, he is a near certainty to increase his reception total from last year and lead the team in receiving unless one of the incoming freshmen is out of this world.

Mooney is not as much of a sure thing. His development last year was super impressive because he did not show up until right before the start of training camp, but he he still has work to do. At his size (5-11, 175), opponents can disrupt him from his routes, and I got the impression the coaches wanted to see more improvement from him during the summer. He runs crisp routes on air and has good hands.

Biggest potential difference-maker: Jabril Clewis

Clewis, a junior college transfer, had a strong start to the spring but did not have a good spring game and was not even listed on top of the post-spring depth chart, backing up Jacob Robertson at split end. Clewis makes himself a big target, which is important on a team with uncertain quarterback play, but he does not get much separation on deep routes even though he was used in that role a ton during the spring. He also did not show me a whole lot on the fade routes they kept throwing him, so he definitely has room for improvement. If he produces in the fall like he did at times in the spring, Tulane will be helped immeasurably.

Most improved: Robertson

Robertson missed all of his freshman year after a preseason injury, so he started from scratch in the spring and got significant better with each practice. I still like Clewis' potential over his, but Robertson can be a steady contributor at X.

Biggest surprise: tight end Charles Jones.

It's unclear how often the tight ends will be involved in the passing game--that's not a Fritz specialty--but Tulane has a pair of pretty good ones in Jones and Kendall Ardoin, who caught four passes for 80 yards a year ago. Jones had some outstanding practices, making an incredible leaping catch in the corner of the end zone during one of them. That was the way he looked in the preseason of 2014 when he earned a starting role under CJ, but as Fritz pointed out, Jones needs to bring it every day rather than every once in a while. With teams cheating to stop the run, the tight ends can be weapons in Fritz' offense and Jones, who received a medical redshirt after missing almost all of 2016, is more polished than Ardoin. Throw in Andrew Hicks, whom the coaches are considering moving to tight end, and it might be a good idea to involve these guys in the passing game heavily.

Question marks: Devin Glenn and D.J. Owens

Glenn was very productive in the last week of the spring at flanker (Z), backing up Mooney. He probably caught more passes than any other receiver in that span. He also is an incredibly hard worker. The problem is his size (5-7, 160), which makes him a hard target to connect with and also makes him susceptible to physical corners. He also is not a natural receiver, coming in as a running back. That being said, Fritz says his toughness makes him a better blocker than his size would indicate.

Owens made some plays in the spring and is listed as the backup to Encalade in the slot. The coaches want him to be more consistent because his attention to detail wavers at times. I really have less of a read on him than the other guys, but he definitely has gotten better after making one catch in a year when he was forced into limited playing time and would have redshirted if there were more quality guys in front of in.

Unknown: Chris Johnson

I admit I was not as impressed with him last year as others --he played in 10 games, starting three, and had one catch for 18 yards--but too many people think too highly of him for me to trust my own opinion here. Johnson will be Tulane's fastest returning receiver if he recovers from a torn ACL in time for preseason practice, and Fritz anticipates him to be ready by then. Overall, this group does not have a ton of speed, so for that reason alone it is important that Johnson returns.

TAKEAWAY

This group still is not explosive enough, but it is likely that the worst of the returning scholarship receivers will be better than Dace, the No. 3 guy, was last year. Encalade can be an All-AAC contender if he gets enough opportunities. The pecking order behind him is uncertain, but if three of the other guys produce, Tulane will be competent at a spot it was incompetent a year ago. That is a huge difference.

If you think it is hard to evaluate quarterbacks when no live tackling is allowed in any of the 15 spring practices, that goes double for the running backs. One of the funniest things to me over my years as as a sportswriter is reading breathless accounts of 60-yard touchdown runs in drills that aren't live. How could anyone possibly know how long the run would have been if tackling were allowed? Lazedrick Thompson comes to mind; when healthy in the spring and preseason, he invariably looked like Tulane's best running back in shorts, but when the games started, he was less effective (though still good) because of his upright running style and propensity for getting hurt.

With that qualifier acknowledged, it is not hard to judge cutting ability, quickness, instincts and receiving skills, and from what I saw in the spring, Texas Tech transfer Corey Dauphine is the best all-around back on the roster. Of course, he can't help the team next fall since he is sitting out his transfer year, but it bodes well for 2018 when Dontrell Hilliard and Sherman Badie are gone. Dauphine is fast, he has good acceleration and he picks out holes well.

Last year, Tulane used a rotation of four running backs, with Hilliard, Badie, Thompson and Josh Rounds all carrying a least nine times against UCF and the coaches usually settling on a hot pair as the games went along. The final breakdown was 135 carries (759 yards) for Hilliard, 125 carries (758 yards) for Rounds, 87 carries (506 yards) for Thompson and 43 carries (169 yards) for Badie, who missed four games with an injury. Rounds and Thompson played in all 12 games, while Hilliard missed the finale against UConn.

I expect a similar rotation in the fall with two new guys, and here's my pecking order based on the spring.

1) Hilliard

Something happened to Hilliard at the end of 2016 when a potential 1,000-yard season dissipated into eight carries for 13 yards against Houston and five carries for 22 yards against Temple before he sat out the last game. Yes, both of those teams had excellent run defenses, but he didn't look right after averaging 5.9 yards per carry with 724 yards through nine games.

He looked right this spring, displaying the quickness and pep in his step he had in the past. He's also an excellent if underutilized receiver--the backs combined for only 19 receptions last season. I see no reason for him to have fewer than 20 catches as a senior, but we'll see. He's not only a check down, outlet target. He can run precise patterns out of the backfield and catch the ball even when it is not thrown well.

2) Darius Bradwell

He's raw after moving to running back from quarterback before the finale a year ago, but Bradwell is the most physical runner on the team and likely won't be easy to bring down when he gets a full head of steam going. Some of his practices were better than others in the spring, but I like the way he runs downhill, reminiscent of Thompson but two inches taller and 10 pounds heavier. He is also heady, so I don't anticipate him having much trouble with the transition. Other than Jonathan Banks, I will be more interested to see what Bradwell can do in September than any offensive player. If he is adept at picking the right hole--again, something that is hard to judge in the spring--he will be a force.

3) Sherman Badie

I've never been sold on him, even after his spectacular 200-yard-plus effort against Tulsa in his Tulane debut back in 2014. Hopefully, he will prove me dead wrong. Hampered by injuries, Badie did not even average 4.0 yards per carry last year while the other three averaged at least 5.6. Where he needs to improve is in picking out holes and making decisive moves. Too often, he hesitates behind the line, waiting and waiting for the crease as if he is the best athlete on the field and then getting thrown for a loss. Even his signature long run against Tulsa came that way, when he sort of meandered in the backfield, made a few guys miss, took off and was gone. Plays like that don't happen against good defenses.

Honestly, I did not notice him much in the spring. He missed some time with an injury, but Willie Fritz praised him heavily, and he knows a thing or two about running backs.

Badie is at his best in open space, using his sprinter's speed to good advantage. The question is whether the offensive line can provide that type of room for him. He's also easily the best of Tulane's running backs as the pitch man on the option, but the question again is whether the QBs can run the option properly and set him up for some big gains. His speed should make him dangerous as a receiver, too, but aside from impressive numbers as a sophomore (27 catches, 10.5-yard average), he's done little in the passing game.

4) Stephon Huderson

I really liked what I heard about Huderson in high school, and he did not disappoint in the spring, showing nice quickness and instincts as the smallest scholarship back on the roster (5-9, 190). His ball security was not as good as the other running backs, though, with safety Roderic Teamer picking on that weakness by continually trying to knock the ball from his grasp in practice and succeeding a few times. My guess is Huderson might be a year away from reaching his potential, and I'm not sure what he adds that the other backs don't provide. He will have to produce early in the year to warrant more carries, just as Rounds did last season after touching the ball once against Wake Forest. He made things happen against Southern in week 2 and never looked back, averaging more than 12 carries the rest of the way.

SYNOPSIS

Running back was the strength of the team a year ago and should be again, although there are concerns. Hilliard should be a given, but the other three are not. The keys in my mind are Bradwell handling the transition from quarterback and Badie providing some big plays. If those two things happens, the loss of Rounds, who was the best back on the team by the end of the year, and Thompson, who had a career-high 23 carries for 108 yards (second best) and a career-best three TDs against UConn in his swan song, won't be significant.

I talked to Jewett and Montalbano after the 16-2 loss to Southeastern on Tuesday. Here's what they had to say.

JEWETT

"We looked tired. I didn’t see maybe the spirit that I was hoping for. I don’t know if we cracked something a little bit more in the first, if that changes the tide a bit or what-have-you, but it just wasn’t our night. They played with a good energy, and I almost felt like we walked to East Carolina and back, which would make us tired. I don’t know if it was the emotional weekend in front, but just nothing was up to par tonight and the scoreboard certainly reflected it."

On Ross Massey still struggling

"It’s hard. I’ve told you guys a million times he’s a 10 of a kid. I’m just hopeful he can have some success. At least the balls were being directed more over the plate tonight, so that’s a move forward. The tunnel was a little bit shorter. It wasn’t like he was walking everybody. He was throwing balls that were a little bit elevated and over the plate, and they did a good job. You’ve got to give them a lot of credit. Any time somebody puts it on you like that, you just have to tip your cap and give the other team a lot of credit. They are a good team. They are going to be tough to handle not only in their league but probably in the postseason."

On Montalbano having role as pinch hitter down stretch (he popped out to second base in 9th)

"I think so. Certainly at this point. Obviously there wasn’t anything on the line other than him setting his feet back in the batter’s box. He’s been taking batting practice lately and going on the trips with us and rehabbing and swinging, just trying to get his timing so that hopefully as we go forward he can be maybe a viable option. That was a good time to get him in there and let him have an at-bat. Whether he was able to beat it out or anything like that, it just didn’t have any ramifications on the game, so good for him. He’s been working hard. I just wanted him to be able to get that feeling of being back in there and seeing some velocity. Every day he’ll keep working on his swing and his leg will get better, and eventually he might be able to even DH for us down the road depending on how much of the season we get to keep playing."

On bouncing back for huge series against UCF, one on four teams tied with Tulane at top of AAC

"I certainly believe that they will (bounce back). This game didn’t have anything to do with East Carolina Friday, Saturday or Sunday and it’s not going to have anything to do with Friday, Saturday or Sunday against Central Florida. That’s not the way the world works. We have to make sure they understand that, but it’s a bunch of older guys over here. I’m sure they do. I think we’ll come out energized and ready to go, and obviously we’ve got to get a good start with Merrill. It starts with him. They know where they are. First place. Obviously this is a tough one, but at the same time we’re going to have to flush it and think about their legs and their brain and all that kind of stuff. We have study days coming up and finals. We did travel last week, so we’ll be cognitive of that the last couple of days so we can come out against Central Florida with a little more pizzazz and energy. Taking them off their feet a little bit might help us. It’s getting late in the season, and sometimes you can run into a brick wall like we did tonight. If we can just sit them down and remove them from the environment a little bit, give them a physical and emotional break and then get back after it on Thursday leading to the weekend, I think the kids will respond."

MONTALBANO

On what he can do rest of way

"I’m not too certain. Pinch hit situations and I’m hoping I can get back to DH a little bit later in the year, but it’s going to be tough. The hard part now is the running. I swing fine, but the run part, I can get going, but it’s slowing down and turning and those types of things. I’ve been working on and trying to get back."

On significance of playing again after fracturing ankle in early-season collision

"Obviously it’s everything. My career is coming to an end in a short amount of time. I’m pushing as hard as I can to be able to play and help the team win."

On rehab process

"I’ve probably been in the training room four hours a day. I’m up there 7, 8 most mornings for two hours, and I’ll go another 2, 3 hours in the evening."

On receiving ovation from fans who stuck around for ninth inning

"That was awesome. I didn’t even know we had that many people in the stands left. It was nice to know a few people were there and it was fun to be able to play again."

By the end of spring practice, the player just about every fan hoped would be at the top of the chart was there--junior college transfer Jonathan Banks. But is he ready to lead Tulane to a successful season? And did Glen Cuiellette, who ended spring at No. 2, and Johnathan Brantley, who will be No. 3 entering preseason camp, improve enough to be serviceable players if Banks gets hurt or does not pan out?

The truth is I'm not sure. With no tackling allowed during the spring, it was hard to gauge how effective any of the quarterbacks would be in real games. Sure, the QB is off limits to hitting almost all the time in the spring everywhere, but for analysis' sake, the fact the running backs and receivers could not be tackled made it impossible to say how many yards successful plays would have produced.

Here is an analysis of each of Tulane's scholarship QBs:

1) BANKS

Strengths: One thing Banks clearly exhibited time and time again was the ability to throw accurately on the run, a vital and uncommon skill. When he got out of the pocket to his right, he made plays with his arm, frequently hitting receivers in stride after continuing to look for them rather than tucking the ball and running. With the lack of protection he'll likely get, that's a tremendous asset to have. Banks also has an excellent attitude and work ethic. He stayed after practice every day to work on routes and throws with a few of his receivers, trying to get as comfortable in the offense as possible.

Weaknesses: Knowledge of the offense is the primary concern, as it would be with any newcomer. There were times when Banks did not run the right play or forgot the down and distance (Fritz is a huge fan of situational scrimmage work) because his mind was focused on digesting the offense. That should get better by the fall unless he's not the answer. Maybe a bigger concern was the amount of time he held the ball, which may be related to him still learning the offense. Will Guillory, the Nola.com beat writer (and someone who is a valuable practice observer even though we don't agree on some players), pointed this out first, and he was spot on. Banks will get sacked a lot if he waits that long to pass consistently in the fall. He also threw some potential pick-sixes that were late and outside, a terrible combination.

Question mark: Willie Fritz raved about Banks' running ability, saying when the games were live, one of Tulane's best plays would be his scrambling downfield when no one was open. I didn't see it. I'm by no means saying he can't do what Fritz said, but he preferred to try to throw in the spring. Last preseason, I saw Brantley's ability to tuck it and run more clearly than Banks' this spring. It will be very interesting to see what happens in that department.

2) CUIELLETTE

Strengths: As a thrower, Cuiellette was streaky last year, but he is Tulane's best pocket passer when the QB has time. He knows the offense and he knows where to go with the ball. If the Wave falls behind big early in a game next September, I would not be surprised to see Cuiellette play. He also values the ball better than his competition, throwing it away when no one is open and protecting it when he runs.

Weaknesses: First and foremost, Cuiellette never will be a natural runner, and Fritz repeatedly emphasized this spring how important the ability to run effectively was for a quarterback in his system. The play from last fall that sticks out more than any other was the intercepted option pitch Cuiellette had after being told in practice he needed to pitch more often. He just didn't have the feel for that part of the game and made a really bad decision because he was trying to do what he was instructed to do.

Question mark: How much can a QB improve a part of his game that does not come naturally? There is no more conscientious player than Cuiellette, but he is not a good fit for Fritz' system and he is not a good enough passer to overcome that deficiency. His best chance for playing time is if Tulane's offensive line struggles to block effectively for the run but provides decent pass protection (an unlikely double), forcing the Wave to win by throwing.

BRANTLEY

Strengths: No longer inhibited by the tired shoulder than made him in a horrid passer as a freshman, Brantley looked more like the guy from the preseason in 2016. He is by no means a consistent passer yet, but he showed potential and connected on some deep balls. He also is flat-out fast, another aspect he showed last August but not in games, when the speed of college football proved too much for him. He tucked it and ran a lot more often and a lot earlier in the play than either Banks or Cuiellette during the spring.

Weaknesses: His throwing is still Jeckyll and Hyde. Often, he would follow a perfect pass with a clunker, like one in the flat that sailed over his receiver's head and out of bounds. And he does not appear to read defenses as well as the other two. When his first option is not open, he mind says "run." That makes him predictable for the defense.

Question mark: If Banks is as good a runner as Fritz claims, it's hard to see a role for Brantley. He won't offer a change of pace like he did in theory for Cuiellette. And if he ever is going to develop into a trusted passer, that probably is another year away. His best hope is getting into a game and scoring on a 60-yard scamper, giving Fritz something to think about.

BOTTOM LINE

The QB play was poor in Fritz' first year and is Tulane's biggest unknown entering year No. 2. I did not see enough from Banks in the spring to say for sure he will be the answer, unless the question is simply, "Who will be Tulane's starting QB?" I really like his demeanor and attitude. The key will be how well he picks up the offense because he can't be thinking rather than reacting once the games start. That would slow him down too much and sabotage the Wave's hopes of a winning season. It's also not clear how good he will be at running the option, an important part of the Fritz package. His bad pitch in the spring game was uncharacteristic, but throughout the spring Fritz kept talking about how Banks was familiar with his style of offense and Banks kept saying it was mostly new to him because he had run the West Coast offense in junior college.

First off, I will begin my spring football review tomorrow. And if the baseball team has a rough week, it won't have much to play for in the final two weeks of the regular season anyway. An at-large bid is still within reach, but my best guess is it will take a 9-2 finish, meaning wins against SLU and UNO and series victories against UCF, Houston and Memphis with one sweep. It's doable but very difficult, particularly for a team that has lost four of its last five in conference play and just isn't doing the little things well enough, never mind the big things like consistent pitching.

The seventh inning against ECU was very bad. First, Colletti paid zero attention to the runners on first and second he inherited, allowing the easiest double steal I've ever seen on his first pitch. Initially I thought Jake Willsey had screwed up by not getting to the bag, but it would not have mattered if he did. The runner, who was halfway to second base before the pitch, would have beaten the throw easily. Then Kody Hoese failed to rotate to third base to cover for Hunter Hope when he charged the bunt attempt that Paul Gozzo caught. I mean, the runner was five steps from home plate after Gozzo grabbed it, and Tulane would have been out of the inning with no damage if Hoese had done what he was supposed to do. Jewett told me Gozzo could have thrown to second to double that guy off, but when I checked the replay, it would have been hard because that guy was much closer to the bag and Hoese didn't run all the way to second base anyway. If Hoese had covered third, Gozzo could have rolled the ball to him before the runner got back. So then the eventual AAC hitter of the week hit a two-RBI single to give ECU a 5-1 lead it needed when Tulane got two back in the ninth. Disappointing.

Tulane still has a good chance to win the AAC regular season title, but if it is not accompanied by an NCAA berth, it will be meaningless in my view. If Tulane wins its series against UCF and Houston the next two weeks, even 2-1, it will hold the tiebreaker on every meaningful team in the league. Although the Houston series would be tied at 3, Tulane would get the Cougars on the secondary tiebreaker of best record against the next best team in descending order. The only team Houston has an edge on Tulane against is ECU. The Pirates are in dead last and won't catch anyone in the top five.

But if Tulane goes 6-3 the rest of the way and loses to both SLU and UNO, it won't even have a winning record entering the AAC tourney. That obviously would not be good enough for an at-large berth, and the Wave actually would have to win twice in the tournament in that scenario just to be eligible for an at-large berth.

Corey's Merrill's performance Friday was inexplicable. Tulane scored eight runs in a game in which Kruczynski pitched. That should have been more than enough to win. Instead, the Wave lost 15-8.

I do think Bjorngjeld, whom Jewett said today will pitch the next three Sundays, gives the Wave the best chance to alter its miserable 1-9 record on Sundays. He will be pitching on a full week's rest the rest of the way and is a battler. Massey will pitch tomorrow and has to get his act together against an SLU team that has struggled to hit all year. It's a must-win game to get back to .500 and set up Tulane for what it hopes will be a big weekend against UCF. The next seven games are all at home and all against top-40 RPI teams, so the Wave can rocket up the RPI IF IT STARTS WINNING. That's a big if.

Watching the draft had me thinking how many players on our roster look like NFL type guys regardless of classification. You know height weight skills etc?

As far as I can tell, Nico Marley (Washington), Lazedrick Thompson (Arizona) and Josh Rounds (Chicago) received rookie minicamp invitations rather than signing with their respective teams. That makes their odds of getting on the roster longer.

Here is a story that breaks down the difference.

https://www.nj.com/giants/index.ssf/2017/04/whats_the_difference_between_an_undrafted_free_age.html

Sweet 9-6 win. This team doesn't quit. First time since 75-77 that we won 4 in a row against them. First ever to sweep in back to back seasons.Timely hitting. Bjorgngjeld did his job. Solesky finally got some people out and then Colletti was money as usual.

ROLL WAVE ROLL!!!

Score another one for winwave. My first question was about Robert Kennedy's knee injury, and Fritz said he did not expect him to be back for preseason drills but expected him back at some point during the fall. Kennedy is not listed on the two-deep depth chart.

There is not a single OR on the depth chart, which I like. I am very surprised that Jacob Robertson is listed ahead of Jabril Clewis at a X receiver. That does not jibe with what I saw in terms of who was running with which group. Other than that, everything checks out, with Keyshawn McLeod getting the nod over Tyler Johnson at left tackle.

Fritz said Banks would start the opener against Grambling and then be judged from there. As it appeared almost all spring, he separated himself from Cuiellette and Brantley, but he'll still have to play well to keep his job once the season begins.

They handed out a sheet with a position called Joker in place of a second DE, but Fritz said it was a mistake and they emailed a new version 30 minutes later that has the same players listed as DEs. Whatever they call it, it matches up with what I saw in the spring.

OFFENSE

QB: Banks, Cuiellette, Brantley
RB: Hilliard and Badie; Huderson and Bradwell
WR (X): Robertson, Clewis
WR (H): Encalade, Owens
WR (Z): Mooney, Glenn
TE (Y): Jones, Ardoin
LT: McLeod, Tyler Johnson
LG: Briggs, Webb
C: Diaz, Knighton
RG: Brown, John Washington
RT: Leglue, Devon Johnson

DEFENSE

DE: Bryant, Carroll
DT: Eldrick Washington, D'Andre Williams
NT: Wilson, Edwards
DE: Aruna, Woullard
MLB: Marbley, Graham
WLB: Harris, Luke Jackson
LCB: Lewis, Tre Jackson
RCB: Nickerson, Keyes
NB: Franklin, Hall
FS: Shenall, Will Harper
SS: Teamer, Sean Harper

SPECIAL TEAMS

PK: Neenan, Harvey
P: Block, Carrasquero
LS: Eatherly, Golub
HO: Cuiellette. Encalade
KR: Badie and Hilliard; Glenn and Newman
PR: Lewis, Hilliard

It was a warm day but there was a strong southerly breeze. There were referees.

I"ll start with the good news. I got there early. The Kickers were using their own ball holder devices to kick from so no snapping involved and no pressure. Neenan looks much better. His leg extension is noticeably improved. On his shorter kicks he was usually making them and putting them ove the net. He then went to 44 yards out from the right hash and hit it. He then kicked from 52 from the left hash and hit it w/room to spare. Next he went from 56 and made it easily from the right hash. He then set it down from 62 yards out on the right has h and made it with at least 5 yards to spare. Harvey Made kicks from 41 and then 45 yards out.

Injury report- These are the players I saw who were not dressed out: Robert Kennedy had a huge brace on his right knee. Webb was on crutches. Daren Wllliams had a boot on his right foot.The others were Tre Jackson, Chris Johnson, John Washington, Hicks, Strickland and Sam Davis. I didn't see Nickerson with that group but I didn't see him on the field either.

They did a FG drill. Neenan was good from the left hash on a 27 yarder. He then made a 27 yarder from the middle of the field. He missed from 32 on the right hash. It was off to the left. Harvey came on and barely made a 30 yarder from the left hash. He then made a 35 yarder from the middle the field.

Punting was next. Block kicked a 35 yarder and Badie fielded it. He later kicked on 56 yards with good hang time with Hilliard as the return man. He was kicking into the south wind. They had a WO, Carrasesquos punting too.

The scrimmage started with one's v. one's. On offense it was Banks at QB. The line was Mccleod at LT, Brown at LG, Diaz at center, Briggs at RG and Leglue at RT. The D-Line was Aruna Wilson, Eldrick Washington and Woullard. Harris and Marbley were at LB. Lofton and Donnie Lewis were at DB. Teamer and Shenall were the safeties with Franklin at the nickel.

Let me preface the scrimmage report by saying that most of it was situational. So it might have been first and ten and we gained 12 but the next play would be 2nd and 7.

On first down from the north 27 Hilliard ran for 6 to the right. On 2nd down Woullard would have sacked Banks but Briggs was offsides. He then threw to Ardoin who initially caught it but was then crushed by Teamer and dropped it.

On first from the north 39 Banks couldn't decide between running and pitching and eventually pitched it to no one and the defense scooped and scored. They ran 2nd down from the 42 . Banks threw deep to Robertson but Lofton tripped him however there was no call. On 3rd down Briggs was offsides again. On the next play Banks was sacked by Larry Bryant who got past Leglue w/no resistance.

The two's came in w/Brantley at QB. His line was Mccleod at LT, Briggs at LG, Diaz, Knighton at RG and Leglue at RT. The d-line were 3 down lineman- Woullard, Edwards at the nose and De'Andre Williams. They started from the 43. Badie ran for 2 to the left side. He threw deep to Feneroy( a walk on) in the end zone and he dropped it. He hit Bradwell over the middle for 10.

Cuillette came in. He threw to Clewis in the end zone but he dropped it. He then threw to Huderson who dropped it on the left side. He hit Owens for a TD on the left side.

The one's then went from the 10 in some red zone action. Huderson ran for 3 up the middle. Banks kept for 2. Hilliard scored from the right side. They ran another play from the 5 and he hit Ardoin in the back of the end zone.

They then starte at the south 2 going north. Banks kept for 2. He was then sacked for a safety.

The 2's came back w/Brantley. They started at the south 13 going north. He threw incomplete but Will Harper was called for interference. Carroll then sacked him . a run up the middle gained nothing. They then went with first down at the 24. Cuillette was at QB. Huderson went up the middle for 8. He hit Robertson for 10. Cuillette ran the option and didn't pitch and gained nothing.

The one's came back and started at the north 34 going south. Banks had to scramble and hit Glenn for 25. On 2nd and 8 Dauphine gained nothing. On third and 3 Dauphine got 2.

On 1st from the 45 Banks ran for 10.On 2nd and 5 he hit Owens but Donnie Lewis knocked it loose.

We then did kick-offs. Block kicked it to the 2 and Badie returned it to the 35. Harvey kicked it to the 2 and Huderson ran it back to the 20. Block then kicked it out of the end zone. Harvey then kicked one to the 12 and Eric Lewis fielded it and returned it about 5 yards.

The one's came back. On first and 10 from the north 30 going south Banks was pressured and had to throw it away. He was then sacked by Aruna. On the next play he was pressured and shoveled it to Hilliard for 7. On 4th and 3 he was pressured, slipped and shoveled it to Hilliard for 4.

They then had 1st down at the north 47. Banks was pressured and threw it in the flat to Hilliard who dropped it. Under pressure on the next play he threw to Badie for 5 in the flat. Aruna went down. He eventually walked off with what appeared to be an injured left arm. On third and 5 he scrambled forever and eventually hit Robertson for 30 yars. The crowd went wild. However he would hab=ve been sacked twice before the throw if he was live. He then scrambled for 10. On first and ten from the 20 Banks over threw Feneroy. On the next play he was under pressure and scrambled and overthrew one in the end zone.

Brantley came in with the two's. They started at the south 30 going north. Bradwell went up the middle for 7. He hit Jones on the sideline for 3. On first down he scrambled for 7 but Mccleod was offsides. He was then intercepted by Will Harper at the 45. On 1st and 10 from the 46 Bradwell got 7 up the middle. Woullard blocked the pass on the next play. Under pressure he overthrew Mooney 20 yards downfield. On 4th and 3 he rolled right and hit Jones for 10. On the next play he had to scramble right and he hit Jones on the sideline who made a great catch at the 5. On 1st and goal Cuillette threw incomplete to Clewis. The next play was an incompletion to Ardoin in the end zone. He then threw incomplete again to Ardoin in the end zone. Ardoin then dropped one at the 3.

The action began at 10 and ended at 11:23.

The defense looked good.However they are going against our offense which is a completedisaster. We continue to have major issues on the line and at QB. The line is just awful. They were constantly beat and committed way too many penalties. The QB's don't look good but behind that line I hate to be too hard on them. None of them look to have the ability to run the offense WF insist on running. In an interview earlier this week WF was asked about bringing in Banks who had no experience running this offense. Fritz insisted he had in fact run elements of it or we wouldn't have brought him in. Then in an interview w/Banks later Banks said he had never run this offense before but he was learning. To be blunt I am very disappointed and I don't see any of these guys being successful in this offense. We have the summer and fall but I just don't see it. If he wants to save his career we should be running a no huddle spread option and be getting the ball out of the QB"s hands quickly. But we know he is dead set on forcing this offense on the team and it is not promising.

Fritz is conducting a post-spring presser Tuesday morning. I will have the full transcript here by Wednesday.

If you have questions you would like me to ask, fire away here.

Saturday night in Houston has caused a lot of discussion on various sites about how Coach Jewett left France in too long; that “coach lost the game” and that the game was “supremely mismanaged.” I, for one, don’t believe any of that.

Entering the bottom of the 7th inning, France, who had gone at least 7 innings in 6 of his previous 9 starts, had retired 12 of the previous 13 batters and had thrown only 87 pitches. He was looking strong. He allowed a single on the second pitch of the inning and then struck out the next batter. Was anyone ready to pull him then? Of course not, especially considering who was in the bullpen—Solesky, who had been hit hard in almost all of his recent appearances.

On the next pitch France allowed a ground ball single that had it been a few feet one way or another would have provided a potential double play and the end of the inning. Do you take him out now when with runners on first and third and a three run lead, a double play will still get us out? Is Solesky ready? How’s he look in the bullpen? Anyway, two pitches latter, a triple plated two runs. That was the point at which the first “on-line” comment was made about getting France out. There had only been three pitches since the strikeout; not much time to make a decision. And, virtually all of the damage had now been done. Immediately after the triple was probably the first time a reasonable man would consider taking France out. Two runs were already in; they had a man on third, and one out. The chances of the guy on third scoring were probably pretty high regardless of who was pitching. Coach delayed for three more batters, a double, an out, and a walk before talking France out—probably too long in my view. But, in truth, it didn’t matter. The damage was done before those last three batters and we still had a 7-6 lead going into the eighth. That we went six up and six down the rest of the way on offense and our infield defense fell apart is why we lost the game, not, in my opinion, because the coach waited too long to take France out.

Roll Wave!!!

WILLIE FRITZ

What are your overall thoughts?

"It's hard to really evaluate when you aren't tackling and all that kind of stuff. We were down to 51 healthy bodies before the scrimmage began. We saw a lot of good things and went through a lot of situations. The two-minute drill for us is just invaluable when you have officials out here, to be able to go through all the different scenarios because each one is a little bit different. When you are scrimmaging each other, if one side of the ball does good, it means the other side of the ball did bad. You see good things, you see bad things. There was a lot of good work. We've had a very competitive spring, and I feel a lot better about our team right now than I did last year. That's for sure."

How much better did the defense do than the offense?

"I thought about the first 18 plays, the defense dominated. They had a good pass rush and we didn't really provide a firm pocket for the quarterback on a lot of plays, but we got better as the scrimmage progressed."

How would you assess Jonathan Banks' performance?

"I thought he started off pretty slow, but he really played well in the two-minute (drill). The tough part for him is if you're really scrimmaging, a lot of those times he's getting away from guys. He will run the ball and do some stuff, and in a controlled scrimmage you don't really allow that as much. I thought he did some things that were really good, and there were some plays he'd like to have back. He's had an excellent spring for us."

He's still on the field practicing (15 minutes after the scrimmage ended). What does that say about his willingness to get better?

"Oh, he's got a good work ethic. He has a really good work ethic. He's a gym rat. The guy that tutors him back home in Houston used to play for me, and that was one of the things when I was recruiting him I checked out, what kind of work ethic does he have? He told me he has a great work ethic."

How much does it help him that he started two years in junior college instead of begin thrown out there with no college experience like your QBs last year?

"He started nine or 10 games in junior college in California. He was at Kansas State, so he's been in a four-year system before, and then he started 10 games or something like at Independence (CC), so he has a lot of experience. From my days of coaching junior college, there's a big difference between high school and junior college and junior college and four years."

What is his biggest task?

"Just learning the system. It's a new system and the verbiage, the tempo, everything is just entirely new, so that's always the toughest thing for anybody coming in."

Jarrod Franklin said Banks' ball security today was going to draw your ire.

"Well, we've got to get better at that. That really gave us an opportunity to be competitive last year in a lot of games, was the turnover-takeaway margin (plus-9). When you get that and you improve in personnel, which I feel we have, we have an opportunity to be much better. It starts with the center and it goes to the quarterback. Those two have got to be on point with ball security all the time."

How much do you still need to shore up the left tackle position on the offensive line?

"Yeah, you know, Keyshawn McLeod has really played well this spring. I've been very impressed with him. I'm not quite sure how he played today, but there's some competition between him and Tyler Johnson for that other tackle spot, so yeah, we have to have five studs out there. We've got about seven or eight guys competing for those five spots right now."

From last year to this year, how much better do you think you've gotten?

"From last year to this point, we are much better. We've got some competition at positions. Guys understand the philosophy of the offense, defense and kicking game. I like where we're headed. We've just got to keep going."


OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR DOUG RUSE

What did you see from the offense today overall?

"We wanted the tempo to be a little bit faster today than what it was. It's always tougher when you go out here and predetermine the down and distance and it's all scripted. It's just kind of hard to track the ball and know the down and distance and get lined up quicker. We have to play faster, but we've made a lot of improvements in 15 days. We've come a long way since practice 1 and had a lot of transfers out here and new guys who've learned a lot in 15 days. It always happens in spring ball, you hit practice 15 in the spring game and you wish you had about two more weeks because that's kind of when things are starting to come together with the guys. I was very pleased. We've made a lot of progress."

How did you feel about the offensive line today?

"The biggest thing with the offensive line right now is we have a bunch of guys out. We're only playing with seven O-linemen right now, so endurance or lack of endurance is probably the biggest factor right now. We've been playing with seven offensive linemen about the last six or seven practices, so that's made it tough on those guys. We get a couple guys back healthy, some new signees coming in, it will help us with depth and we can get back to more of a normal rotation and tempo practice."

How would you assess Banks today?

"Just like I said before, you compare what he knows today to just a month ago, and he made a lot of progress. He'll tell you the same thing. He's carrying himself with a lot more confidence. He has good understanding of what we're trying to do offensively, and of course that's got to continue right through the summer, right through the fall camp because he'll be the first to tell you we've got a long way to go, but based on what he got done in 15 days, very pleased. Actually he's a little bit ahead of schedule of where I thought he might be."

How about the ball security issues?

"Yeah, I wasn't happy about that. You've seen us practice, you know how much we've stressed that. We had the ball on the ground too much today. We had some missed communication on snap counts, had a couple of false starts, and that's the kind of stuff that drives you crazy as a coach. We have to get off on the correct snap count and take care of the ball, but that's a coach Fritz thing. That's not just something we talk about. We address ball security every single day of the fall, spring and summer. Looking at today we have a long way to go, but we'll continue to stress it and get better."

How much upside does Banks' natural ability give him?

"He showed that today with his ability when things break down to escape and and make plays and extend plays That happened several times today when the protection wasn't as good as what we'd hoped. He's big, he's a physical runner, he has good speed and he's got a good feel of when to escape and create plays and extend plays. He's done a nice job there. I'm excited about that element he brings to us."

Tulane's final regular practice of the spring was one of the least productive for the offense, with the defense dominating the 11-on-11 session at the end of the workout. At one point, Jonathan Banks got chewed out by offensive coordinator/QB coach Doug Ruse for not making the proper read, but it was really the offensive line that struggled the most. As always, it is hard to judge when they are not tackling, but Willie Fritz agreed the defensive front had its way.

"We still have to get firm in our protection," he said. "It looked like the defense today got some good push on pass plays, whereas the last scrimmage we did, the offense really did a good job of setting a good, clean pocket for the quarterbacks. Hopefully we'll get that on some occasions. The problem when you scrimmage each other is one side of the ball does good and the other side does bad, so that's not always what you want to have. I'd like to get in some clean pockets where you can really see the guy go through his progressions instead of running for his life."

Fritz wasn't exactly panicking, though. His overall assessment of the day was positive.

"It was good," he said. "We got a lot of stuff done. We're still inserting some plays offensively, and then defensively we worked on a new coverage in front here today. We got some good work in the special teams early, so it was a very productive practice."

Several players sat out with injuries: among them were offensive lineman John Washington, running back Miles Strickland, offensive lineman Brian Webb, defensive end Daren Williams, cornerback Thakarius Keyes, walk-on defensive back Sam Davis and cornerback Tre Jackson. To me, Jackson's is the most concerning. I will get an update on him either tomorrow or in the post-spring press conference next week, but his body language has not looked good as he sat out the last two practices. He's walking OK, but remember, Fritz said he had been concerned about Jackson's future in December and January because his knee was not coming around from a devastating injury in his senior year of high school. Hopefully it's just precautionary rest.

Keyes, who is being held out for the entire spring to protect his right knee, simulated some defensive reps in individual drills, running pretty well with a brace on the knee.

Quinlan Carroll is being double-trained at linebacker and end. Midway through Thursday's practice, he raced off the field and went out of the stadium after working with the linebackers. I followed him to the outside practice field, and sure enough, he was getting reps at end. The other guy in that boat is Luke Jackson, although I did not see him get any reps with the D-line on Thursday.

When they had 7-on-7 work, the first-team defend was Rae Juan Marbley and Zach Harris at linebacker, Taris Shenall and Roderic Teamer at safety, Parry Nickerson and P.J. Hall (in a red no-contact jersey) at cornerback and Jarrod Franklin at nickel. The second-team D was Carroll and Lawrence Graham at LB, Sean and Will Harper at safety, Eric Lewis and John Helow at cornerback (due to the guy sitting out) and Chase Napoleon at nickel. Napoleon, who has spent some time at linebacker this spring after coming in as a DB, struggled mightily in pass coverage, getting toasted by Darnell Mooney.

In his first 7-on-7 session, Banks overthrew Jabril Clewis deep, hit Devin Glenn inside and threw a late sideline pass that Harris almost intercepted. Later, he completed a slant to D.J. Owens but threw it behind him, forcing him to slow down and lose his momentum.

Johnathan Brantley, who has gone in second the last two practices, connected with Jacob Robertson deep and threw to Mooney on the play where Napoleon was left in the dust. Later, Brantley was less sharp, throwing a sideline pass to no one and having another one glance off Mooney's hands after he ran out of bounds to catch up with it.

Cuiellette, working with the last receivers, hit Rocky Ferony for a decent gain but was mainly in checkdown mode, throwing in the flat to Dontrell Hilliard and for a very short gain to Glenn.

It was a really good day for Glenn, who got some time with the first unit and caught more passes than any other receiver. I did not notice him much earlier in the spring, but Fritz did, and Glenn has closed spring ball strong. He could be a factor in the fall. After catching a pass from Banks on an out route, one of his teammates yelled, "Good job, Jet."

"He kind of had a little spurt in there where he had a difficult time catching the ball, but boy, at the beginning of the spring he was great, and he was good there towards the end," Fritz said. "He's probably the smallest guy on our team and he may be one of the toughest guys we've got on our team. He is tough. He's great in the kicking game for us, and he's a really good blocker out on the perimeter for being a buck-50, a buck-55, whatever he is. He has great speed and he has great toughness. That's what makes him a very effective player for us."

Near the end of the 7-on-7 drill, Nickerson leaped to deflect a deep pass but landed awkwardly and started favoring his left knee. He walked to the sideline, talked to a trainer and sat out the rest of the practice, applying ice to the knee for a good while.

The tackling drill for the linebackers and DBs after the 7-on-7 involved an assistant rolling a donut toward a player who ran to meet it head on and bring it to the ground. "Right shoulder, right foot," Fritz kept yelling. Luke Jackson and Carroll participated in that drill.

Fritz had music blaring over the loudspeakers during the 11-on-11 session, which had a few referees. Daren Williams, who is out with a severe ankle sprain, held up the formation calls for the defense from the sideline. Tulane is experimenting with a lot of different defensive formations, but the base defense at the beginning of 11 on 11 had Ade Aruna and Carroll at end, Sean Wilson and Eldrick Washington at tackle, Harris and Marbley at LB, Franklin at nickel, Stephon Lofton and Hall at CB and Shenall and Teamer at safety.

The second-team D had three linemen, with Peter Woullard and a number I didn't catch flanking Braynon Edwards, Carroll and Jackson playing what amounts to OLB and Graham and Larry Bryant playing ILB. The Harpers were at safety with Donnie and Eric Lewis at CB. Donnie Lewis is being eased back into reps after missing considerable time with a hamstring injury.

The first-team offensive line was the usual suspects with the exception of Tyler Johnson, who did not participate. Keyshawn McLeod replaced him, with Leeward Brown, Junior Diaz, Dominique Briggs and John Leglue. The second-team line had McLeod, Briggs at left guard, Diaz, Knighton at right guard and Devon Johnson at right tackle.

Briggs was called for a false start on the first play. The only touchdown of the controlled, situational session came on a nice cutback by Corey Dauphine, who is a heck of player. I talked to him after practice and will post that interview early next week.

Banks missed an open Clewis over the middle. Brantley tried a quick out that could have been disastrous in a game because he threw it backwards and behind everyone. It ended up going out of bounds but would have been live ball in a game. Cuiellette dropped a perfect snap when he was looking over the defense. Fittingly, the 11-on-11 work ended when the defense got a lot of pressure, forcing Cuillette to throw the ball away out of bounds.

After practice, Brian Newman, Stephon Huderson and Hilliard worked on catching punts. Huderson dropped one. Don't rule out Newman, a walk-on, from winning that duty. He's not the favorite, but he's been back there consistently in the spring.

The scrimmage Saturday will not feature tackling. Here's what Fritz had to say about this thought process there and on what he wants to see from the final workout of the spring:

"I've been going back and forth about trying to see if we can run some plays live. I just don't think we can do it. We've got a couple more guys injured or are hobbled. I'm not quite sure what it would accomplish. We work on tackling a great deal and we want to get everybody into the offseason program. We're going to work on two-minute. We'll have a couple of situations with our 1s and 2s because we have a full allotment of officials, and that's hard to replicate with just your coaches out there, so whenever we have some officials, I try to do some two-minute. And then we'll do a little bit of kicking game with the officials out there going down the tempo, and then we'll do thud-up tempo and we'll try to get maybe 60 plays in. It will be a good workout for us. The other part, too, sometimes you want to go live to distinguish between this guy and that guy, but I've been doing this long enough that I can kind of figure out who's where based on what we've been doing for 14 practices. If not, I shouldn't be here. But it will get these guys experience, and then we'll take Sunday off and start getting into the offseason and cutting back and focusing solely on academics instead of academics and football."

There should be about 10 recruits at the spring game. Tulane actually preferred having recruits come before then so they could watch a real practice instead of the glorified exhibition that will occur Saturday.

Thursday was a sno-ball day after practice, with the place I grew up going to, Williams-Plum Street Sno Balls, handing out free cups for everyone as they left the stadium. I got spearmint. SID Scottie Rodgers chose Wild Cherry. This is a full-service report.

Graff mentioned this week that Montalbano has been taking some batting practice. Does anyone know his status? Is he close to pinch-hitting. How's his leg? Is he walking? running? What are his chances of playing this year? If good, when? Any possibility of him being able to catch at some point this season? This is a good kid who sat out a year due to transfer rules to play at Tulane. He's now in hid fifth year. It would be great for him to get a chance to finish it off with some success.

Roll Wave!!!

Tulane had a light practice Tuesday morning on the heels of a heavier workout Monday afternoon, concentrating heavily on special teams (though not field goals) before ending with some seven-on-seven work.

I don't have to watch any more of Jonathan Banks to know he has the tools to be successful in the Willie Fritz/Doug Ruse offense. The only question now is whether he can translate his practice skills to game days, which some players can do and others can't. Today, he hooked up with Jabril Clewis and Darnell Mooney for consecutive touchdowns on red zone plays from the 3-yard line. He was decisive and accurate with his throws, zipping the one to Mooney on an in route with little open space. He almost had a third TD but was a little late with his throw, forcing Jacob Robertson to run out of bounds before he caught it on a comeback route.

The play of the day was turned in by Glen Cuiellette and Terren Encalade, who combined on a perfect throw and catch on a corner route in the back of the end zone. On his next play, though, Cuiellette fired a pass five yards over walk-on Rocky Ferony's head and out the back of the end zone.

John Leglue, who sprained his ankle last week, returned to practice today, helping the offensive line. Cornerback Donnie Lewis took some reps in individual drills but was not part of the 7-on-7 work. As I did once earlier this spring, I forgot about John Washington when I listed the injured offensive linemen in the Monday practice thread. He will not return this week, but everyone else who was not already hurt practiced today, leaving the line with Leglue, Devon Johnson, Keyshawn McLeod and Tyler Johnson at tackle, Leeward Brown, Dominique Briggs and Hunter Knighton at guard and Junior Diaz at center.

The tackling drill today for the linebackers and DBs involved one player holding a tackling pad and another tackling the pad. They never, ever skip the tackling drill in Fritz' practices.

To answer a post in another thread, Eric Thomas will not return to the team as a graduate senior. He participated in Pro Day at the Saints facility and played all four years of his career, so he has no eligibility left. I have no idea why he suddenly is listed as a grad senior on the official roster.

I talked to Encalade, Mooney, Clewis and wide receivers coach Jeff Conway for an Advocate feature after practice today. The receivers aren't great quotes, and Conway does not like to give specifics, but I will post some of what they said later.

The channel 4 TV crew was at practice today and dominated the questions for Fritz. Here's the transcript:

Is Encalade the No. 1 guy at wide receiver?

"He's doing a great job. He's really much improved and being more consistent catching the football. And the great think we like about Terren is he's very aggressive. He can block. Some receivers, that's not part of their game, but with our offense you've got to be able to do that. He's a great route runner, catches the ball well and also is very physical in blocking. He can be utilized in the kicking game, too.

"Right now he is (the No. 1 wideout), but we've got some other guys right there with him. Jabril Clewis has had a good spring. Darnell Mooney has gotten much better. Jacob Robertson is kind of like another new guy, too, because he got hurt last year, too. We're much improved in that area."

You said last year your receivers were smaller than the rest of the conference. Does Jabril Clewis give you that six?

"He's about 215 pounds, he's 6-1 and he really high points the ball. We've done a good job of throwing some fades to him and some 50-50 balls. I'm an old DB coach, and the toughest thing to do is teach those guys how to turn on the sideline and adjust to the football. It's difficult to do, and the receiver should have an advantage. Last year we couldn't really do that very often. He really allows us to do that. You can kind of throw it up for a jump ball."

How nice is it to have depth at receiver this spring?

"Well, we've got nine guys (counting walk-ons) and nobody's gotten hurt, so that's good. We kept nine from the first day of practice to the very end."

Jonathan Banks said he hadn't run the read option before. How hard was it to guess if he would be good in your system?

"Well he ran quite a bit of what we do, the zone read and the power. Obviously we wouldn't have recruited him if we didn't think he'd be able to do this type of offense. He's been able to pitch the ball as well. He's a tremendous threat running the ball. If a quarterback can run the ball a little bit, it opens up everything. He's done some of it before. Some of it he hadn't done, but he's really taken to it."

How has Darius Bradwell progressed at running back?

"He had a great practice yesterday. He's a big guy with great vision, and he's going to explode through arm tackles. I'm impressed with him, and he's another guy that can really do everything. He's got really soft hands, runs routes, is fast enough to run on the perimeter and is really good between the tackles. He's a bigger back, so he ought to be able to block."

Who approached whom about the move?

"He stayed there at quarterback last year but was having a hard time throwing the ball. What we saw was a good athlete who was staying over there by me, and we wanted to get him on the field. In the last game we ran him three plays in a row against Connecticut and he really showed some stuff to it. It's been a good move for our team."

How about the running back group in general?

"We're deep there. We've got some guys we think are bonafide Division i players. Dontrell Hilliard and Sherman Badie have looked really good. We've added Stephon Huderson. He's going to be a really good player for us. Unfortunately Corey Dauphine is ineligible this year, but he is going to be outstanding."

Leglue was back today?

"He sprained the heck out of his ankle and was unable to practice the last few days, but he's OK now and back ready to go, which is good. He'll play Saturday. "

Here is my interview with Jeff Conway after Tuesday morning's practice. Tulane will practice Thursday morning and then end the spring with the spring game on Saturday at 10 a.m.

You didn't have any injuries to your nine healthy wide receivers this spring (Encalade, Glenn, Robertson, Mooney, Owens, Clewis and walk-ons Brian Newman, Rocky Ferony and Reed Green). How much did that help (Andrew Hicks and Chris Johnson were out for the entire spring)?

"It always helps keeping everybody healthy because your better players get reps and get better, but the good thing is the kids who are running second and third team get a bunch of reps, too. In the springtime we evaluate everybody, and you can see them getting better day by day, which is really important."

It was a pretty raw receiving corps last year. How much better is is this spring?

"It's night and day. We are substantially better. Now this is spring to spring, and I do think we've made another step from the fall to the spring, but the real determining factor is when we get to the fall and we get to an actual game. I know this. The kids are working extremely hard to prep for that time period because they understand the importance. Without us telling them, they are fully aware of how we did in the passing game last year and how that has to be the next step for us."

What was the biggest problem for the receivers in the fall?

"It wasn't just one thing. We would have a little success in a short time period and then we would falter in some form or fashion, so I think more than anything we've developed some consistency. We've always had some talent. The coaching staff before us left us some good receivers, but developing that consistency is such a huge factor, and I think that's what we lacked at times last year.

"Matt Forte came to talk to us last Thursday, and one of the things he talked about is the coaches need to know what they are going to get, and you do that by being a consistent player every single day."

Encalade had a pretty good year last year. How much better can he become?

"The sky's the limit. First and foremost, he's got a work ethic that's unparalleled. As long as he continues that work ethic, he will get better because there are still some areas where he needs to improve on and he's working hard. One of the things that's good about Terren is that he doesn't just work on things that he's already good at. As a good receiver, to take the next step you want to be able to work on things you're not very good at, and that's hard to do for a young guy sometimes."

What is he best at?

"He's a really tough guy, so if we make an adjustment with him, he's mentally tough enough to be able to handle it and be successful and understand what we're talking about. Also, he's not necessarily a yeller and a screamer, but by working hard, and that's in all facets, we talk about on special teams having 18 to 22 players that are dependable who can run and hit. Those guys are the core of your special teams, and he's one of those guys. The kids look at him and see that he's a tough guy. It's leadership by example."

What do you like about Darnell Mooney and what does he need to work on?

"Again, the consistency is a big deal for him. Darnell's size is such that he has to overcome his lack of size. Now he has gained about 10 or 12 pounds from last year in the offseason program, and he should be given credit. We saw receivers last year we played against, big strong guys, and Darnell can be that kind of guy because he has those skills, but there are times he gets in a confined situation where he has to be stronger. He's already got the quickness. He has good hands. He understands receiver play. Just his physical maturation is a huge step forward."

How has Jabril Clewis meshed with what you are trying to do?

"Really well. He's been a nice surprise. You never know when you bring a young man in from the outside, especially someone who's been at a different university, how he's going to react to whatever changes we ask him to go through, and he's done very well in that regard. One of the good things is because he's a good kid and wants to learn, the rest of the position players and therefore the team has accepted him and embraced him and helped him along with the process, too."

Jacob Robertson, who got injured early last year, and D.J. Owens, who was redshirted, did not really have a role last year. How is their progress?

"We had a good feeling that Jacob had some skills that we could utilize here, so really this spring was his first exposure to full-time football in an extended period because he got injured so quick last year that we only saw bits and pieces of what he could do, and he's shown some big-play ability out here. And D.J. knows what he has to work on and is attacking those things."

What does he have to work on?

"D.J.'s big thing right now is for him to go hard every play. I guess I keep harping on the same thing, but it's consistency. D.J. will be very successful for two or three plays, and then they'll be a drop-off for two or three plays. That's what's kept him from being a big-time player, but I do think he's addressing that."

You have some walk-ons. Has anyone stood out?

"Brian Newman has really done a good job. He's a transfer as well (from Hillsdale College), and he's been in our program for a year. He's one of those kids who just does everything right. He comes in and watches a ton of extra film with us as coaches. He never misses workouts. He's constantly working hard. He has good hands. He has good quickness. He's not the biggest kid, but he's 185 pounds (5-8) and is very strong for any of the guys in our receiving corps. I can see Brian getting snaps next year. We don't really care whether you're scholarship or non-scholarship. If you're productive, we're going to play you. And then Rocky Ferony's done a good job, too."

Will Chris Johnson be ready for preseason practice?

"He will be healthy. We're told that he will be full go by the fall."

For Tulane's only afternoon practice of the spring, I got there at 4:30 and they already had finished early, but Willie Fritz was still on the field. He yelled at Jonathan Banks to finish his extra post-practice work because a local TV crew was waiting to interview him. At that point, Banks was pretty much the only player left on the field.

I talked to Fritz for a couple minutes, and for part of it I did not have my tape recorder running. He said Coby Neenan in the frontrunner to be the placekicker and was pretty good Monday after having, in his words, a terrific performance last week (I have missed every field goal drill this spring because they do it at the beginning of practice). Randy Harvey is next in line but is significantly behind Neenan at this point.

Here is what Fritz said after I turned the recorder on:

How was practice today?

"We had good work today. We had officials out here. We did a lot of down and distance, we did two-minute and got a couple of sets on that and then we went 56 plays. We worked on some kicking game, a little bit of punt block, kickoff, kickoff return and did some field goal versus block team as well, so we got a lot of work in."

What are your thoughts on Banks since you named him the frontrunner?

"He did a good job. He's obviously getting pressed by Glen and Johnathan Brantley. Those two have picked it up as well. Part of that is we're better in the offensive line, we're better at the receiver position, we're better at the backs. We all know what we're doing. All three of them, we want to close this out. I talked to them about just finishing."

How impressed are you with the receivers as a group?

"I've been very impressed with Terren (Encalade). He's really taken a leadership role. The thing I like about him is he's just really competitive, and that's in all facets of the game. The other thing I talked to our guys about today is being unselfish, doing things that aren't glamorous. A lot of that is with the receivers blocking, and Terren is a tough, hard-nosed competitor. I've been impressed with that."

Do you know what you're going to do in the spring game?

"We're going to be scripting it. We're down to seven offensive linemen and we might be at six. I'm going to have to find out, so it's not conducive to really going all out."

Daren Williams got hurt in practice last week. Is he OK?

"Yeah, he's going to be all right, but he's going to probably miss the rest of the spring. He sprained his ankle really good."

One other note: Deion Rainey is not hurt. He has been excused from practice to deal with a personal issue and everyone expects him to return in the fall. I did not get that from Fritz, who is guarded about any personal information, but from a very reliable source. Rainey definitely was not at practice last Friday, and I assumed it was due to a minor injury he had entering spring drills, but my assumption was wrong. He is healthy.

I am headed out to practice shortly and will check to see which offensive linemen are available. With Webb out and Leglue getting hurt last week, I know they were down to Diaz, Knighton, Briggs, Tyler Johnson, Devon Johnson, Brown and McLeod, and come to think of it, I did not see McLeod practicing Friday, either. If he got hurt, that would fit Fritz' definition of having six available linemen, although he seemed to indicate someone had gotten hurt yesterday.