Good morning, I noticed a lot of posts lately asking for updates regarding recruiting. I am more than happy to share what I can with you all, sometimes I am asked not to by my sources as it could cause some issues, but otherwise if I see or hear something I share. But if you want the most up to date stuff you should really check twitter. A lot of kids will keep you abreast of their recruiting and there are a few sites which you can follow that give regular recruiting updates...and of course you can always follow me...@SirrLance.
I usually retweet most Tulane related news...a few other sites worth a follow...
@JuCoFootballACE - Juco football recruiting site
@TUJoinTheBuzzFB - A Tulane football centric site
@CoachWEFritz - Coach Fritz's personal twitter account...be on the lookout for a 'ROLLWAVE'
@John_C_Fritz - No relation to CWF, just loves Tulane football.

I will get every word put this week, but here were the highlights

Tulane hopes to announce juco signings by 11 a.m. tomorrow. Of the three who are committed, we know two visited other schools over the weekend, and they are after at least three more, so it is unclear how many will sign.

Fritz said the class, counting the ones who date back to last year, can accommodate 25 to 27. Currently Tulane has 19 or 20 commits. Fritz said they are going after really good players but need t close the deal.

Bradwell will stay at RB and Fritz said Bradwell was excited about the opportunity.

Spring practice may be delayed this year so they can have more bodies available. Fritz said 4 or 5 guys might be able to practice if they held it later, but he did not name them due to student confidentiality concerns.

Of the guys who no longer are on the listed roster, Fritz said they were giving every junior with a chance to graduate in May the opportunity to stay or transfer somewhere to get more playing time.

He said Parry Nickerson would go through the NFL Draft Advisory Board process, saying that was a good thing, and mentioned one or two other players might do the same thing. What Nickerson hears from that group will go a long way in determining his future.

His staff will return intact and he still believes his offensive system can win. I asked the first question. Was surprised there were multiple questions about the second. Why in the world would he think his system doesn't work after one year with no QB, few WRs and no offensive line?

He believes the UConn win was big, giving the team a sense of what happens when it is committed and plays well. He pointed out he never had lost more than three in a row before Tulane's five-game skid leading up to the UConn game. He lost three in a row in his first year at Central Missouri and Sam Houston State before making big leaps in his second seasons.

He wants more walk-ons the program and is actively pursuing them to help with the numbers os the roster. ED comment: I hope they are not taking too much time on that task because of the cost of attending Tulane.

He very much wants as many of the 2017 class as possible to enroll early to help with numbers in the spring.

He does not believe in redshirting players even when there is depth. The four guys who did not play this year were either at positions of great depth (defensive line) or injured.

They will not sign the maximum 25-27 if the players aren't worthy. He said he cannot afford to waste any scholarships and will hold them until next year if the quality of the potential signees is not high enough.

Here is what has happened to six Tulane basketball players who still would have eligibility left if they had stayed over the past three years. Not included: Dylan Osetkowski, who is sitting out a transfer year at Texas, and Taron Oliver, who apparently has not enrolled anywhere after leaving the team in the offseason.

1) Jonathan Stark, Murray State

--After sitting out a transfer year, Stark is on fire, averaging 22.6 points, 6.0 assists and 3.8 rebounds while hitting 28 of 57 3-pointers (.491). After a promising freshman year at Tulane, he struggled with the physicality of the AAC as a sophomore, lost confidence in his shot and sulked a lot despite hitting a spectacular game winner against Cincinnati. I always felt like he could be a terrific point guard for the Wave. Murray State is only 4-4, though, a disappointing start for a team that competes for the NCAA tournament every year. Stark scored 27 points in his last game, a victory against Ohio.

2) Payton Henson, Vermont

Although Henson shot horribly his whole two years at Tulane, the Wave could use him this year. He He is hitting 54.8 percent of his shots and 40.0 percent of his 3-pointers while leading the Catamounts with 12.7 ppg. He also averages 6.2 rebounds. Vermont is 6-3 and will be a contender in the American East.

3) Josh Hearlihy, Vermont

Some players are lost causes. Hearlihy, who was impossibly awkward in brief playing stints at Tulane despite having decent court vision, is one of the last men off the bench at Vermont, averaging 1.3 points in 9.4 minutes while hitting only 4 of 13 shots.

4) Kajon Mack, Tennessee Tech

Mack chose to leave after attending Dunleavy's opening press conference. He had one year of eligibility left and, having graduated from Tulane, was eligible immediately at Tennessee Tech. He is averaging 10.0 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.0 assists but shooting poorly, hitting 37.9 percent overall and 10 of 32 3-pointers. His scoring average is second on the team. Tennessee Tech is 4-6.

5) Keith Pinckney, Old Dominion

Nothing has gone right for a recruit who was fairly high regarded when he enrolled at Tulane. After looking like a dear in the headlights for his entire freshman year as a backup point guard, he bolted along with Stark and went to Northwest Florida State Community College, where he said a broken wrist in the offseason set him back on a deep team He averaged 4.3 points and 2.4 assists as his team reached the quarterfinals of the national JC tourney. He transferred to Old Dominion this summer and has two years of eligibility left. He has not played yet. Not sure if he is injured or just not good enough to crack the lineup.

6) Ray Barreno, Portland

Barreno did not look like a D1 player on his high school highlight reel and has not shown he is one at Tulane or Portland, either. He is averaging 2.1 points as a senior but had all but one of those points against Lewis and Clark. His average against D1 teams is 0.1.

Yeah, I know, there's not much interest in Tulane basketball after the dreadful start, but some of you might be interested in the stated mindset of Dunleavy and his players.

DUNLEAVY

After watching the film, how much of St. John's torrid shooting was not good defense on your part and how much was lights out shooting on St. John's part?

"Well, it was a combination of course, but unfortunately, there first couple of buckets, I thought we were doing well the first couple of possessions, and then we had a couple of I guess you could say unlucky plays in a sense. They saved the ball from going out of bounds twice on the same play and ended up getting an open 3 in a scramble situation. Melvin (Frazier) had a steal, came up with a shooter in the corner and they threw it to the guy in the elbow and he knocked it away for a potential breakaway, but the point guard came over and beat him to the ball, then threw it to his guy in the corner for a wide open 3, so a couple of their guys who really hadn't had good looks got buckets that way, then they got another one in transition off a mistake. So our defense didn't initially give it up, and then what happened is you had guys make shots. Coming into the game we knew they were really good shooters, and from there they caught fire. Then when we had good defense on them a couple of times, it didn't matter."

The shooting percentage of your opponents is far too high. What do guys have to do to correct that?

"The first part of good defense is good offense. Our best defense is when we score. When we've scored and teams have had to play against a set defense, we've been OK. We've been pretty good actually. But the games that have created issues have been we've reached a point in the game and the other team has a quick run-off on us, and it's based on bad shots and turnovers. That's the area of the game that coming in I was trying to correct--shot selection, turnovers, the chances that our guys take with the ball at times are real cavalier, and it's just not good percentage basketball, and invariably we're paying the price. For the most part the teams we've played have been fairly high level teams with good talent, and you can't let those teams get away from you. The fact is that most of the time they want to speed the game up, and we've let them speed us up in a way that's nothing positive for us. We want a fast game when we've got numbers when we're playing against a better team. We want to have the advantage numbers, 2 on 1, 3 on 2, 4 on 3. That's when we're creating high percentage shots with board coverage. We're coming down in transition and shooting shots like, I'm open, well sometimes there's a reason why you're open. An open shot with no board coverage is as good as a turnover if you don't make it."

There have been a whole lot of shots lately with no board coverage.

"As I have tried to make the guys understand, a good shot versus a bad shot has to do with time of game, momentum of game and score of game. The same shot can be taken by the same guy twice, and one time I'm saying good shot and the next time I'm saying bad shot and it didn't have anything to do with the ball going in the basket or not. Clearly bad shots that go in, you feel a little bit better about, but bad shots are bad shots, and they can put you in a real bad way."

Southern's Shawn Prudhomme is averaging more than 20 points and shooting better than 50 percent from the field and 3-point range. What is his game like?

"He's very efficient. His numbers from the 3-point line have been amazingly good, his field goal percentage the same thing, he gets to the free throw line and he's very athletic. I haven't seen all their games, but in the games I've watched he's done a nice job of letting the game come to him. I haven't seen him force it, but clearly his guys look for him and get him the ball."

Guys could start hanging their heads after the last few games. How do you make sure they don't?

"My conversation with our guys has been virtually I look at this whole season as almost a training camp for us. We have no chance of getting to the NCAAs unless we win our conference (tournament) championship, and we have to build on experimenting at times during the season with things that can work for us and coverages that might work for us. It's a learning process. I still think that guys are improving. Not that statistics mean anything, but we've had a number of guys get career highs in a bunch of different areas. They just have to keep working that part of the game and understanding what they are efficient at doing and we have to just put it together to where we can play a full 40 minutes of being disciplined at both ends of the floor. This team at times has had bad mental lapses as far as understanding a little bit about who they are as players, what their real skill level is and how that translates to our team and our needs."

Frazier looked pretty good against St. John's coming off his back injury.

"Yeah. Your work with a bad back is never done. You've got to keep taking care of it, but I thought he played free in that game."

FRAZIER

Defense has been an issue all year for this team. Where do you need to tighten up the most?

"We just need to pay attention to our defensive coverages and guard the ball really. We just have to do what the coach says. It's there, but we have to finish the defense off."

Is it individual mistakes?

"That, too, but it's a team effort on defense. We just have to really pay attention to details that coach is telling us to do that we're not doing."

You pride yourself on your defense. How frustrating has it been?

"Very frustrating because I like to play defense and that's where it starts. Defense wins games."

So you feel like the potential is there to be a lot better on defense?

"Yessir. We just need to listen and do what we need to do."

When a team shoots like St. John's did from outside, have you ever been in a game like that?

"No, that was actually my first time playing in a game like that. We played good defense at times but they were just knocking shots down. We just had to continue to play defense and hopefully they wouldn't make it, but it didn't go in our favor."

How do you make sure the whole team doesn't get down? Those are two rough games you've just played.

"It's over with now. We've got to put it in the past and go on to the next one."

What's the most important thing you need to do against Southern?

"We are more focused on (Prudhomme). He's one of the most efficient shooters in the country right now, so we are more focused on playing defense on him and letting the others try to (beat us)."

How healthy are you?

"I'm coming back to 100 percent in this game. I should be there. I didn't know at first until we went to the doctor, and he got it right. It was just spasms in my back."

MALIK MORGAN

Have you ever seen a team get as hot as St. Johns?

"It's been a while since I've seen anybody get that hot, but credit to St. John's. They had a lot of open shots on our miscues and they really nailed them."

The defense has been a problem all year. What is the biggest issue in your mind?

"I think we play pretty solid defense for most of the possession, but we've got to figure out how to finish out the possessions, whether that be getting a loose ball or securing a rebound."

How do you make sure that guys' heads are up?

"We know it's going to be a long season. We can't dwell on the past. We've got to be able to keep moving forward and trusting our process and trusting what coach Dunleavy has in store for us. We just have to keep coming in together every day and stay together."

Did you see UNO beat Washington State by 16?

"Yeah. UNO has a good group of guys that play hard, and they were able to continue a good run."

Southern's Prudhomme is averaging about 23 points. What do you need to do to slow him down?

"He's a really good shooter. We're going to try to cut his water off early. He's going to be someone we focus on a lot when he's on the court. We have to find him early and be able to stay attached to him and not let him get loose."

What is the most important thing you need to do against Southern?

"We just have to play hard. We have to come out and play hard every minute and every possession. Once we see us get a couple of stops in a row, our confidence goes up and we are able to move the ball on the offensive end a lot better. We just really need to learn how to play together."

This was where it began falling apart for CJ and his staff, which had recruited fairly well to that point aside from offensive line, wide receiver and quarterback (I still like Tanner Lee, but he was the only option).

But the 2015 class hit rock bottom. Of the 17 guys in the class on signing day, 10 remain, three started this year, four played any real role and only one would be considered a positive contributor.

Darius Williams never qualified at a position of monstrous need
Andrew Hicks will be a very good player if he can get healthy, which is a big if.
Leeward Brown started this year but needs to get better
Zach Block punted this year but needs to get better
John Washington got moved to offensive line this year. His potential is unclear
Dedrick Shy left after spring drills
Roderic Teamer is a solid starter
Keyshawn McLeod is a backup center and not starter quality at this point
Brian Webb has done nothing to this point
Nigel Anderson left after being academically ineligible in the spring. Also had clearinghouse issues.
Malik Eugene transferred after Fritz and his staff arrived
Darius Black was flagged by the clearinghouse and never qualified
Doug Henry was let go because they knew he would not qualify
Taris Shenall played a lot this year but needs to get better
Jeremie Francis got passed on the depth chart by true freshmen at CB
Keeyon Smart disappeared before spring drills, also apparently due to academic issues
Devin Glenn was a non-factor at RB and WR but is a hard worker with a good attitude

If I were grading on the same scale I graded the positions this week, the class of 2015 would get a big fat F.

There were 13 contestants who entered all 12 weeks and two who entered all but one week. I dropped the lowest score for each person who entered every week, but it did not change who would have won.

Here are the final standings. The score in parentheses is what you had without dropping your low score. Kettrade 1 took a solid lead with an 8-point effort in week 6 and stayed in front from there despite late charges from diverdo and MNAlum.

No one had a zero-point week and no one had a perfect week, which has been true all five years.

1) Kettrade1 58.5 (60.5)


2) MNAlum 56.5 (58.5)

3) diverdo 55.5 (58.5)

4) Rcnut 54.5 (55.5)

5) LSU Law Greenie 53.5 (56.5)

6) Charlamange8 52.4 (55.5)

7) Wavetime 52.0 (54.5)

8) Gretna Green 50.5 (53.5)

9) Golfer81 49.5 (52.5)

10) WaveON 49.5 (51.5)

10) Guerry 49.5 (51.5)

12) ny oscar 49.5 (49.5)

13) winwave 47.5 (49.5)

14) DrBox 46.5 (48.5)

15) highwave 44.5 (44.5)

My story is up on the front page.

Let me know what you think of my grades, and post your own grades here.

If Ohio State had defended a fourth-and-10 pass from Michigan in the first OT, two of us would have posted the first undefeated week since I took over this contest from Scott Kushner five years ago. As it stands, Wavetime and I settled for an 8-point week.

8

Wavetime
Guerry
MNAlum

7

Rcnut

6

LSU Law Greenie
diverdo
WaveON

5

ny oscar
Kettrade1

4

Charlamange8
winwave
DrBox
GretnaGreen

3

Golfer81

GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane over UConn 12 of 14
Michigan over Ohio State 3 of 14
FSU over Florida 7 of 14
Navy over SMU 12 of 14
South Florida over UCF 9 of 14
Alabama over Auburn 7 of 14
Vanderbilt over Tennessee 8 of 14
Georgia Tech over Georgia 8 of 14

Sorry it took me so long to post this, but that's my life right now. When Scott Kushner gets back from vacation on Tuesday, my latest weekly immersion into Pelicans coverage will end, allowing me to do what I like.

Willie Fritz talks about his junior college recruiting philosophy at the end. That's the most interesting part.

What are you planning on doing for Thanksgiving?

"The guys that are not traveling with us, this was their last practice of the week. So we're going to practice early tomorrow morning. I've got a ton of guys that are local, so if they want to go home, I am going to let them go home. If they are from a distance, they are either going to go home with one of their buddies or go to a coach's house. We've got everybody taken care of one way or the other. And then I've got curfew at 11 o'clock tomorrow night."

EDs note: I left that in there to show how organized Fritz is. He cares about his players, he cares about winning and he combines it into a good package.)

You said yesterday you might not take 60 players to the game. Is that true?

"I think it's either going to be 59 or 60."

Is there any chance that Devon Breaux can play?

'I hope he can, but it's not looking good. He's going to make a decision on it tomorrow about how he feels. He is coming off a concussion."

Parry Nickerson is going to start. How big a difference does that make?

"It makes a big difference. That guy (Temple's top receiver) was really good, too. There's no doubt about that, but we're glad to have Parry back. He's a good football player."

How has the team responded in practice this week coming off that 31-0 loss?

"I think we've practiced well. With our low numbers, we have to kind of service each other. It's difficult to really get out there and replicate everything you want, but this late in the season there's got to be carry-over from practice to game to game to game, and I think there is."

When you are looking at junior college players, what are the restrictions?

"Yes. Number one, they've got to be a qualifier coming out of high school, so that's the first thing. Then they've got to have hours that can transfer into Tulane. Generally speaking there are not many of those type of guys out there, but there are some. Primarily you sometimes get bounce-back guys--guys that qualified for a four-year school and then went to a junior college for one reason or the other."

With the depth shortage that you have, it's hard to make a quick fix with an all-freshman recruiting class. How important is it to be able to supplement with junior college guys?

It's important if you can, but we're not going to take a guy just to take a guy. We want to take guys if they are bonafide Division I players. We have to do a great job of recruiting and finding guys that can compete at this level. I'm sure next year will be another year like that. We're probably a couple of years away from freshmen coming in here and not playing for us."

I'm getting this one up early because it's Thanksgiving week. It looks like Kettrade1 is a lock for first place, but here's your final chance to move up the standings. As always, the Tulane game counts double, the home team is listed first and the point spreads are from VegasInsider.com consensus.

There are some good Friday games, but I'm sticking with the Saturday games so no one is caught off guard.

Connecticut (even) Tulane
Ohio State (-6.5) Michigan
Florida State (-6.5) Florida
SMU (+7) Navy
South Florida (-10) Central Florida
Vanderbilt (+8) Tennessee
Alabama (-17.5) Auburn
Georgia (-4.5) Georgia Tech

I had a dreadful week, finishing dead last and coming close on only one of my six losses (Notre Dame) while going against the grain (unintentionally) on most of them.

Of more relevance to anyone else, diverdo is making a late run at Kettrade1 and has pulled within three points entering the final Saturday. Charlamange8 is four points behind.

7

diverdo

6

LSU Law Greenie
Charlamange8
Golfer81
Gretna Green

5

MNAlum
winwave
Kettrade1
WaveOn
Rcnut
Wavetime

4

highwave

3

ny oscar
DrBox

2

Guerry

OVERALL STANDINGS

55.5

Kettrade1

52.5

diverdo

51.5

Charlamange8

50.5

MNAlum
LSU Law Greenie

49.5

Golfer81
Gretna Green

48.5

Rcnut

46.5

Wavetime

45.5

winwave
WaveON

44.5

DrBox
ny oscar (missed 1 week)
highwave

43.5

Guerry

GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Temple over Tulane 1 of 15
Florida over LSU 7 of 15
Oklahoma over West Virginia 13 of 15
Colorado over Washington State 5 of 15
Virginia Tech over Notre Dame 10 of 15
Arkansas over Mississippi State 11 of 15
Oklahoma State over TCU 9 of 15
Tulsa over Central Florida 14 of 15

Darius Bradwell was in a white jersey rather than a red QB jersey today for the first time, getting reps at running back. Tulane does not have Josh Rounds or Lazedrick Thompson on Tuesday's due to classes.

"We got to do it right now," Willie Fritz said. "We're a little banged up back there at back and we're trying to find ways that he can contribute because he's certainly a very good athlete."

Nickerson practiced in a no-contact jersey but appears ready to test his injured arm against UConn. The dropoff without him was tremendous against Temple, when Donnie Lewis and the freshmen cornerbacks struggled from start to finish.

"He should be able to go Saturday," Fritz said. "We've thought he was going to be able to play this week. We weren't sure, but we held him out (against Temple) as a precaution. It will be good to have him back."

Zach Harris is hurt again. He practiced in a no-contact jersey with an unspecified injury. Freshman cornerback P.J. Hall was not in pads with an unspecified injury after starting for the second time against Temple.

Glen Cuiellette said he had not been told who will start at quarterback against UConn but that he had taken his normal reps in practice, so it appears he will get first crack at the Huskies on Saturday.

Tulane needs to win this game to show something different from past seasons. Incredibly, the Wave has not won a finale since 2003, a remarkable run of failure considering it has played 11 different opponents in those 12 losses. This is not like the 14-year streak of losing the last game from 1983 to 1996 when LSU was the opponent 12 times.

I talked to Rae Juan Marbley today after practice, and he said he has not been hurt. His playing time decrease is a coaches' decision.

"It's just a different scheme that we went towards the last couple of games," he said. "I'm definitely a team player, so anything that's going towards helping our team succeed or just putting us in the right position for anything, I have to put the team before myself, so I'm not really worried about it."

Marbley said he did not know if he would play a bigger role against UConn.

"We're still talking out the situation, but any way my team needs me, special teams or anything, I'll be that guy," he said.

Marbley had 11 tackles against Tulsa, a career high. Since then he has not made any tackles in four consecutive games, with Eric Thomas getting more playing time than Marbley behind Nico Marley and Harris.

I'm working on a Nico Marley feature that will run in the Advocate later this week, and he has a very positive take on Willie Fritz. Here's the exchange:

Is there anything about your time here you regret other than not winning more?

"No. If you asked me this about eight months ago, I would have said one more season with my last coaching staff who brought me in, but coach Fritz has done a great job of embracing us. I love coach Fritz."

Did the transition go as well as possible?

"It did. It really did. Coach Fritz embraced us seniors and always kept us involved. He always made sure we are still coached liked we are."

How rough was the end of last year for you?

"I don’t want to say rough. It was kind of like a whoa type moment. But things happen in life. That’s how it is. It’s the real world. Things are not going to be how you want it forever. Bad days are going to happen, and you are going to have to deal with them and persevere through them and be a grown man about situations like that and you gotta accept it."

How important is wining the final game?

"For me, it would be just closing out my senior year on a somewhat high note, not the note we wanted but on an all right kind of note, but as far as for the team, building confidence in these players. People should follow coach Fritz because he knows where he’s going and he’s going in the right direction and he just needs the right people to go with him. Winning this game is a great start for that."

thinking back to last spring the ucf program and Tulane program was comparable Tulane was stated to have more talent than ucf and both teams have new coaches. However ucf team seemed to have a much bigger jump than Tulane . My question is why?

I don't have time right now for a full practice report. but I talked to Fritz after practice today and he said only the seniors on the roster would participate in Senior Day, with no fourth-year juniors electing to do so.

Fritz did not rule out cornerback Parry Nickerson from playing, but Nickerson did not participate today and unlike Nico Marley in previous weeks, he was sitting on the bench rather than taking metal reps. Look for true freshman P.J. Hall to start Saturday in Nickerson's spot.

Here is Fritz on a few topics:

On how practice went this week:

"It's gone all right. We've had good practices. They are a little different offensively than a lot of the teams that you play with some under center and an I back and power running game. They huddle, so things are a little bit different, but they are a very well-coached team and very athletic with good size."

On Nickerson's availability:

"We're going to see. He's feeling better. We just have to keep him out of harm's way. He's got two more days."

On the accomplishments of the seniors:

"It's a good group of guys. I've really enjoyed working with them. It's difficult for a guy that's been doing things one way for three or four years and then all of a sudden a new coach comes in, and they've all been extremely easy to work with and embraced change. I've had very, very, very few problems with these guys."

On Temple's blocked kicks:

"It's been through the middle. The thing they do. I had an old coach tell me years ago that you notice how tough a team is on their extra point and field goal block team. A lot of teams just kind of go through the motions out there. That's one thing we pride ourselves on. We've come close probably 15 times this year, but we haven't gotten one. That's one thing they do. They just go hard and they repeat it play after play after play."

On whether they've done any extra work to prevent blocks this week:

"You've got to work on it every single day. It's not any exotic scheme. They're not jumping over the top like what happened last week with Denver. It's just great effort and something they take pride on."

On making sure not to add to Temple's block list:

"You've got to be mentally tough in order to be a good extra point, field goal team because you're doing the same over and over and over and over and over again. Some guys just have a difficult time doing that. That's something we really preach with our guys."

Fritz said Devon Breaux would not play on Senior Day with his hand injury. Eric Bowie will miss his third straight game. Quinlan Carroll is out for the year, but Peter Woullard, out this week, might be able to play against UConn. Kenneth Santa Marina had an injury going into the Houston game but could have played. It was a coaches' decision not to use him, and he will be available against Temple.

Seems like we have regressed from mid season on. I stopped playing football in HS but those big pass plays in the first half...our DBs never turned around to go for the ball. Temple would either catch the pass or we would get flagged for interference. Of course it really did not matter since our offense was inept as usual.

Tulane covered for the first time in a while, helping the scores.

7

Rcnut

6

LSU Law Greenie
ny oscar
Charlamange8
diverdo
Kettrade1
WaveON
Wavetime

5

MNAlum

4

Guerry
Golfer81

3

highwave
winwave
Gretna Green
DrBox

OVERALL STANDINGS

50.5

Kettrade1

45.5

Charlamange8
MNAlum
diverdo
LSU Law Greenie

43.5

Gretna Green
Golfer81
Rcnut

41.5

DrBox
Guerry
ny oscar (missed 1 week)
Wavetime

40.5

winwave
highwave
WaveON

29.5

Mono41 (missed 1 week)

Game-by-Game Results

Tulane over Houston 12 of 15
USC over Washington 4 of 15
Navy over Tulsa 8 of 15
South Florida over Memphis 9 of 15
LSU over Arkansas 7 of 15
West Virginia over Texas 9 of 15
Georgia over Auburn 5 of 15
Ole Miss over Texas A&M 8 of 15

It wasn't meant to be 10 questions, but it turned out that way when I talked to Curtis after practice on Thursday. We actually talked for longer than that, but some of it was off the record about the game plan for Temple.

Here's what he said:

It was a heck of a defensive effort against Houston, especially in the second half. Was that as well as your guys have played, and what can you carry forward against Temple even though its offense is nothing like Houston’s?

“We are getting better on defense and are continuing to get better for the season. We’re obviously disappointed that we didn’t win, but things are getting better in the way we’re playing. Holding an outstanding Houston team to 287 yards, the players did a nice job and played hard and made a lot of plays for us. We try to pick up those positives and keep trying to sell it. Hey, we’re ranked 23rd, let’s be a top-20 defense at the end of the year. That’s all we can do is get better, and that’s what we’re preaching to them right now.”

The tackling was excellent against Houston, and that’s something Willie Fritz has emphasized a lot since day 1. Are you seeing it pay off?

“I don’t know where we’re at right now, but I know at one point of the season we were 40 or 50 tackles (missed) less than what they had at the same time last year, so you’re definitely seeing it pay off. It’s due to a lot of emphasis, and it is coach Fritz’ emphasis. When we tackle out here, it’s coach Fritz running the tackling drill, and any time the head coach is involved in a phase, it puts a little bit more emphasis on it, and he does an outstanding job of teaching the tackling and making sure it’s done right and putting that emphasis on it.”

The fill be Jarrod Franklin that knocked out Houston’s backup quarterback was impressive. Is that the way you want to see your guys play?

“I commend the players to continue to play hard even when you’re down. There was a reason to play hard, but we’ve talked about playing hard even when maybe there’s not a reason to, whether you’re up by 50 or down by 50. We want to see that same effort, and you’re exactly right. Jarrod plays extremely hard on the back end, and his production shows it. He makes a lot of plays for us.”

I noticed a big difference in Nico Marley against Houston after he practiced all week than the way he played the previous two games when he didn’t practice.

“No matter how good a player you are, if you don’t practice you’re just not quite as in tune as you should be. We needed to rest him last week or we may not have had him, but there is a difference when you’re out there practicing. He played an outstanding game as well.”

What are you going to miss the most about Marley?

“Right now, it’s not only the playmaking ability he has, it’s his leadership on the field and getting people lined up. He’s very smart. He understands and studies the game. People think it’s all instincts, and it is a lot of that, but Nico studies the game. He understands the down-and-distance situation. He understands formations and what people are doing to you and he’s ahead of the game. He’s put a lot of time and effort to be where he is, and he’s overachieved in so many ways because of his lack of size. We’re going to miss everything about him. Everything.”

You don’t get to coach a lot of guys like Tanzel Smart. What is his best attribute?

“I’ve talked to the NFL scouts that come in here, and it’s just his motor and how hard he plays the game. He never slows down. We’ve played games where he never comes out. He played 101 snaps (against ULL) and he’s capable of doing it. He never came out of the game, and I don’t know of many defensive tackles in America at the Division I level that are ever in that situation and not see a drop-off. There’s a drop-off when he’s not out there. He’s our bell cow.”

You’ve had a lot of injuries but still have your guys playing well. Is the depth better than advertised at some positions?

“We don’t have a lot of depth, but we don’t harp on it. We say, hey, it’s next man up, and we’re training our guys from day 1 that when your opportunity comes up you’ve got to know what you’re doing. They bought into that, so we’ve had to arrange and move people around to get them in the right position and double teach a lot of people. They are getting better each week.”

Zach Harris had a terrific game against Houston. What makes him so effective?

“Zach has outstanding speed for a linebacker. He’s got pretty good size. He’s 2120, 215 pounds and he can really run. He’ s probably in the high 4.5 speed-wise, and it shows up on the field. He’s a good tackler. He has a bright future here. He’s playing a lot and playing well and has a couple more years ahead of him. We’re expecting big things out of him. He needs to step up and be one of those leaders next year.”

You lost Parry Nickerson after the first series and the defense still played well against Houston. How impressed were you?

“We worry about it because Parry has been such a Johnny-on-the-spot player with interceptions, fumble recoveries. You love having him out there, so hopefully we are going to get him back this year, but it just goes back to next man up. We expect you to know what you’re doing and play hard and give us an opportunity to win.”

The next man up probably is P.J. Hall. He’s gotten his first start. How comfortable is he now?

“We’ve seen a lot of improvement. Now he’s got game experience. He’s gotten a little bit of the nervousness out of being the first time out there, and now he’s actually played and lined up in the American Conference against some outstanding receivers. Part of becoming a good player is playing enough. That first time some of those receivers can school you and embarrass you a little bit, but he’s seen it and he’s getting better and better. He’s going to play a lot for us over his tenure here.”

It's not a large list. Javaris Russell, a 3-star LB From Grenada, Miss. who I tweeted last night was visiting, has changed his mind and will not take an official visit to Tulane. He is a 3-star LB prospect from Grenada, Miss who committed to Mississippi State in June, then re-opened his recruitment and visited Kansas and California. He also has offers from Memphis and Missouri. Not sure what happened between last night and this morning, but Tulane was very high on him.

Here are the players that are coming:

1) LB Bruce Bivens, no stars, from Houston Aldine Davis (5-11, 217)

Skinny: Biven has an offer from Tulane but is a Fresno State commitment. His only other D1 offer is from UNLV.

2) OT Corey Dublin Jesuit (6-2, 282)

Skinny: Tulane has not offered Dublin, who is in the Rivals database but has not received any offers as far as I know.

3) S Austin Hawley, Gladewater, Texas (6-1, 206)

Skinny: He's a ULM 2-star commitment and also has an offer from lower-level Incarnate Word. Tulane has not offered him to this point.

4) CB Mackell Pippen, Birmingham (Alabama) Jackson-Olin (6-1, 165)

Skinny: He has offers from Middle Tennessee State and Western Kentucky and is in the Rivals database but does not have any stars.

Then there are three 2018 recruits: DL Kernon Smith, Salmen, TE Christoph Henle of the Oakridge School in Texas and WR Josh Matthews of the Dunham School, none of whom are in the Rivals database yet.

Will Wallace, a TE already committed to Tulane, will be at the game, too.

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

Tulane (+15) Temple
LSU (-13.5) Florida
West Virginia (+3) Oklahoma
Colorado (-4.5) Washington State
Notre Dame (-1) Virgnia Tech
Mississippi State (-1.5) Arkansas
TCU (-4.5) OklahomaState
Central Florida (+1.5) Tulsa

Guerry: Was messing around on the internet yesterday and found an entry on 247/Sports
that took me by surprise. Checked it again just a few minutes ago and it is still there. It
lists Dominique Briggs, 6'3", 295 lbs, OL (center) as a commit with a date of 10/21/2016.
He plays for Coffeyville CC, Coffeyville, Kansas. Do you have or know anything about this
young man?

Ben Guillory has Tulane with one fewer commitment than I do.

Is there any player among the 19 on the home page who longer is committed? I don't think so, but just checking.

Jonathan Banks, a former 4-star QB prospect who committed to Tulane, talked on the phone about his decision this afternoon. Tulane will be Banks' fourth school. The Houston native played at Contra Costa JC in California for a year, went to Kansas State for a year and did not player there, then went to Independence CC in Kansas this year before choosing Tulane. He will enroll in January and have two years of eligibility left.

What were the primary reasons you chose Tulane?

"I come from a bigger school, Kansas State, but I really liked the way Tulane treated me. With coach Fritz' whole background of having a winning program and winning championships at Coffeyville, Blinn and turning Georgia Southern around, how could you not give that man a chance? The way the whole coaching staff treated me, I loved the way they treated me, so I came to this decision. I could have waited it out. I still have a lot of time and a lot of people talking to me and stuff and I have a few offers on the table, but I really like Tulane. They've been on me and on me and on me."

When you will sign with Tulane?

"I will be there for the spring. I'll sign on (Juco) signing day, which I think is Dec. 15 (the dumb bell interviewer, me, was not aware of the junior college signing day, but in my defense, Tulane has signed one juco player since I started covering it and Florida rarely went the juco route, either).

Your career has not gone as expected to this point, but do you feel you have a new lease on life now?

"Yes sir. Actually Kansas State, a lot of people don't know that they actually still want me. I feel like I have a new opportunity."

I read you were sick at Kansas State when you had a chance to start a game. Is that accurate (actually, there are other reports of exactly what he had, but he told me he did not want it revealed, and I will honor his request)?

"Yes. I was actually supposed to start against Oklahoma State. I had to sit out for four or five weeks."

Why did you leave Kansas State?

"I basically didn't really like the offense. For me they ran the quarterback too much. That was one of my reasons. The second reason is they didn't really give me the opportunities, but when they did, I took advantage of it."

What did you do best at Independence?

"Coming to Independence, it was a new program, so a lot of the staff had just been hired, so we just started getting to know each other. My ability to keep plays alive is my best asset. I've been doing that all along."

Is Tulane's offense the perfect for you?

Yeah, that actually would be the perfect fit for me. It's the read option offense. I believe it's similar to the one Cam Newton had at Auburn. That's what I like."

What do you like about coach Fritz?

"He's an outgoing coach. You don't see too many coaches like that. I checked his background. I know a lot of people that know him. He's a straight shooter."

What do you need to do to earn the starting job?

"I just need to go in there and not worry about anybody really but myself. I have to come in, get with my other teammates and really just prepare myself to outwork those guys and compete with those guys."

You had four games at Independence where you ran for more than 100 yards and also a few huge passing games, including one when you were 29 of 33. Is that what separates you?

"I definitely can separate myself as a pocket passer, but when things break down on third-and-3 and fourth-and-3, I can go get the first down. But that's any dual threat (QB) really."

The game where you went 29 of 33, how were you that successful?

"They gave us a lot of stuff to look at it, and one of my receivers was on fire. He kept getting open for me, so I kept feeding him."

Had you been to New Orleans before your visit this week?

"Yeah, I actually have. I used to go the Bayou Classic every year. I have relatives in Baton Rouge, Lafayette and Opelousas."

How much are you looking forward to being back in Division I football with a chance to start next year?

"It's really exciting. I'm getting another opportunity."

Ben Guillory tweeted a little while ago that sourced had confirmed Banks committed today. My best source has not confirmed it yet, but I'm sure it's true.

Here are Banks' rushing numbers at Independence CC this year. He has gone over 100 yards four times.

http://www.kjccc.org/sports/fball/2016-17/players/jonathanbanksi3c3?view=gamelog&pos=rb

And here are his passing stats. He had an outstanding game in the first Saturday of November and and an incredible one on Oct. 15, but he has been very inconsistent as a thrower.

http://www.kjccc.org/sports/fball/2016-17/players/jonathanbanksi3c3?view=gamelog&pos=qb

I don't think it's a slam dunk that he will be Tulane's starter next year, although he certainly will get the opportunity.

Guerry,

It'd be great if you could write a season ending post or article on the contributions of the true freshmen this year and those that are likely to be redshirted. We all heard CJ discuss the youth of his team over the last couple of years, but I believe Fritz may have played more true freshmen this year than CJ. Can you confirm?

• We all know about Brantley and Bradwell at QB
• I've been impressed with what I've seen of Tyler Johnson at Tackle. Quick feet, low pad level and an athletic build. Hopefully we can recruit more like him to go with Diaz and Leglue next year. Do we have any insight on Phabion Woodard? Was he too light to play this year?
• WRs have contributed mainly in the form of Mooney, Chris Johnson was starting to get reps before his ACL injury and it was good to see Tristan Cooper, and DJ Owens starting to get reps too in the last couple of games.
• Several DBs have gotten playing time with PJ Hall, Bo Keyes, Will Harper, and Tre Jackson all getting quality game time experience.
• I've seen DB Stephen Lofton on special teams

I'm sure others have contributed to, so it would be good to have a list of RSs versus all of the others that made it into games.

Biggest positive surprises for me were Mooney and Tyler Johnson
Surprising non-contributions: Bradwell and Sean Harper/Tre Jackson