This is one of the categories I have to write for The Advocate's preseason preview page, and I'm interested to see what you guys think?

Obviously, wide receiver is Tulane's area of tremendous need this fall and Block certainly will get a shot at placekicker, but which three players do you see making the biggest impact?

Richard Allen may not play Saturday against Temple. He has been bothered by an ankle injury he sustained against UCF and did not practice at all today, spending some time in the training room and some time on the exercise bike.

CJ said Allen still had time to get better and had not been ruled out, but usually guys who don't practice at all on Thursday are not ready to go on Saturday. If Allen cannot play, either redshirt freshman Donnie Lewis Jr. or true freshman Taris Shenall will start in his place. I should have realized something was up when CJ said Lewis had moved back to cornerback on Tuesday, but I assumed it was simply because of Roderick Teamer's development at free safety.

Allen was the clear winner of the cornerback job opposite Parry Nickerson in the preseason, but he has not played particularly well in the first four games. His misplay could have given UCF a touchdown and a 14-10 lead in the second quarter on Saturday if not for Nickerson's herculean effort to catch the receiver and strip him, with the ball popping right into Alllen's hands.

Allen has 12 tackles and a team-high four breakups (opponents have targeted him a lot) with no interceptions. Shenall has two tackles and an interception. Lewis, a weak link at safety, is much more natural at cornerback. It will be interesting to see who gets the call Saturday.

CJ said he did not expect running back Lazedrick Thompson, who sprained the opposite ankle from the one that was bothering him entering the UCF game, to play Saturday, although he did not rule him out, either.

Sean Wilson practiced with the second-team unit at defensive end again today. He played a little bit against UCF before limping off the field, but Johnson said it was not the same MCL problem that sidelined him two games earlier this year. End appears to be his new position, but I'll believe it when he's totally healthy and still playing there. A healthy Wilson appears more suited for the tackle position next to Tanzel Smart.

If you haven't read it, check out my By The Numbers story on the front page. Temple's defensive statistics are not as good as the team's reputation, but then again, the Owls did return 10 starters from the unit that held Tulane to 3 points last year.

We had by far our best week collectively, and not just because Tulane won and covered. All 14 of us picked Houston to cover against Tulsa and all but one picked Navy to cover against Air Force.

Week 4 Results

8

LSU Law Greenie

7

WaveON
Rcnut
Wavetime
Dew99

6

winwave
Guerry
Kettrade1
MNAlum

5

ny oscar
p8kpev
DrBox
jjstock2005

4

Golfer81

OVERALL STANDINGS

23.5

Guerry

19.5

Kettrade1
Rcnut
Wavetime
Dew99

18.5

DrBox

17.5

winwave
MNAlum

15.5

ny oscar
p8kpev

14.5

jjstock2005
WaveON

13.5

LSU Law Greenie
Golfer81

10.5

Charlamange (missed two weeks)

WEEK 4 PICKS RESULTS

Tulane 11
Houston 14
Navy 13
Alabama 9
Florida 3
Clemson 6
Texas A&M 8
Oklahoma 9

From The Advocate:

http://www.theneworleansadvocate.co...695-128/southern-labs-jonard-robinson-commits

From The Advocate:

http://www.theneworleansadvocate.co...3/catholic-new-iberia-tackle-wyatt-richthofen

Hey guys,

I'm not the guy who started this board but it seems like the guy that did genuinely wants good discussion without letting trolls like quovadis and Bearcats#1 go unchecked.
If you visit the other AAC board, I used to go by the handle Big East Homer. Maybe we can do something good with this new board. Who knows.

http://www.aacmessageboard.com/viewforum.php?f=5

Wide receiver Rickey Preston will miss the Temple game for an unspecified violation of team policy, leaving Tulane incredibly thin at the position. Preston joins linebacker Rene Fleury on the suspended list, but unlike Fleury will be back for the Houston game.

This is the fourth consecutive week at least one Tulane player has been suspended.

"It will be probably be one game, but I can't let kids not do what they're told to do," CJ said after practice today. "We can't just let them do whatever."

Preston's absence leaves Tulane with four scholarship wideouts--Teddy Veal, whom CJ said dropped too many passes in practies today, Devon Breaux, Larry Dace and Andrew Hicks. Preston caught a touchdown pass against UCF and has looked better and better each week, but he won't get a chance to show his skills against Temple's tough defense.

Also, CJ said running back Lazedrick Thompson sprained his other ankle against UCF and has not been cleared to play this Saturday.

He's no longer a Tulane commitment, and he also no longer is playing for Bradenton Manatee.

http://www.bradenton.com/sports/high-school/article36414336.html

I talked to him after practice today. It was not a planned interview, but he was waiting to talk to a local TV station and the guy I requested already had left for class.

Roderic Teamer really had an impressive game against UCF and made a huge impact on his first play with that bone-jarring hit. What did you think of his performance?

"That set the tone for the defense the rest of the game. When he came in we all knew he was a big hitter, but when he came in the game and played with that type of physicality, it made a difference for our defense. He's a smart kid. He understands what we're doing, and Jason Rollins has done a great job with that kid. He's going to play, and he's going to play a lot."

The defense forced five turnovers against UCF, which has been your trademark since you arrived. How much did that help?

"It was good to see that. That's something we've focused on all year and something we've talked about as coaches all year, creating takeaways. Any time you get a chance to make a big play, when it's time for you to make a play, you have to make the play. That's what this defense is starting to do right now."

How happy were you with the overall aggressiveness with the defense?

"I think that's what we did--we played aggressive and physical up front, the linebackers played aggressive, downhill football and the safeties did well and the corners covered. But we have to do a better job overall. We are still not really hitting it the way we want to, so hopefully this week we can have a good week of practice and get it going."

What did you think of Parry Nickerson's incredible strip to make up for Richard Allen's mistake?

"That was one of the better plays I've seen on any level. For a while we all thought it was a touchdown, and then Parry comes in a blur and the next thing you know Richard was right there and it's like, OK, we're going to get him down, and the next thing you know Richard is coming back the other way. We didn't see the ball hit the ground. He caught it out of the air. It was like, wow, excellent play. That's one of the better plays I've seen in a long time."

What is the biggest challenge facing Temple?

"The challenge every week is stopping the run. If you can make most teams one-dimensional, then you have a chance to win, and that's what we did this past weekend. We have to continue to do the same thing this weekend and make them one-dimensional, whatever it is. We have to take away something they do and play hard and play smart and play with leverage and technique, and that should take care of the rest of it."

The Georgia Tech game was awful defensively. How did you get the defense to recover as quickly as it did instead of getting down on itself?

"The guys showed resiliency. We have a resilient bunch of kids that come out here and play hard. That's the thing we as coaches always say--the next play is always the most important play. Forget about that play or that game and move on, and that's what we do. We have to have a short memory defensively and continue to work hard and try to make every play count for us."

Why did the backups struggle as much as they did in the fourth quarter?

"Guys first time out playing really a significant amount of time, and I guess for a lot of guys it was nerves in their first time getting a chance to play. We just have to work on the technical part of the game with our young guys, using their hands, staying in their gaps and things like that. We do it in practice, but we're not really consistent enough with the second group. We worked hard this morning. That's something we are going to get corrected."

How much easier was it for the DBs when you were getting seven sacks?

"You and I could go back there and cover when we're getting that kind of pressure. It's a lot easier when we're getting pressure, we've got tight coverage and we're getting interceptions. That's what happened this week. Everything works together. If our defensive line gets pressure, we cover tight, we get sacks and we get interceptions. We just have to get better at what we're doing, and if that happens we'll win more games."

Zach Harris is out, but how well has Rae Juan Marbley played?

"Rae Juan has played well, (Eric) Bowie has played well and guys are stepping up. C.J. always says next man up, and that's what those guys are doing. They are coming out competing, and everybody wants to play now. When you're winning, everybody wants to play and play well, so that's what's happening right now."

It's Justin Moore, a 3-star point guard from San Diego who had offers from Georgia State, USC and Utah State among others. He averaged 18.8 points, 4.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.5 steals per game last season for Mission Bay High.

He's a true point guard. Von Julien is the only point guard on Tulane's roster this year, so the Wave really needed another one for next season, and now it has two. A few weeks ago, Colin Slater, a 6-foot-0 point guard from Immanuel High School in Fresno, Calif, committed. He also is a 3-star recruit after averaging 20.8 points, 4.8 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.9 steals as a junior while hitting 54 percent of his shots from the floor, 45 percent from 3-point range and 86 percent of his free throws.

The Fresno Bee named him Co-Player of the Year, and he was an All-State selection after guiding Immanuel to a 30-3 record.

Slater would be the fourth player on the Tulane roster from California, joining centers Dylan Osetkowski and Ryan Smith and guard Kajon Mack, but he has a New Orleans background. His family left the area 10 years ago after Hurricane Katrina hit.

The early signing period for basketball begins Nov. 11.

This is available on TulaneGreenWave.com but I will post it here.

Opening Statement:

“The sun’s a lot brighter today. We finally got to 2-2 and it seemed like it took us four years to get there. I thought our kids played well. After the first feeling out period, I thought in the second and third quarter we played well. I decided to make some substitutions early on and UCF began to catch up. We had a couple of guys get hurt. Tanner (Lee) got hit a couple of times. There’s more disappointment sometimes in a win than a loss. You want everything to play out perfectly. Just the discipline stuff with the players and their shirts hanging out. We aren’t going to have that. We got excited because we were winning the game and they felt good about it, but we have to control it. I turn around when I was walking off at the end and some of the players looked like vagabonds, so we got to clean that up.”


If he was disappointed in the backups play in the fourth quarter:

“Yes. If you receive an opportunity to play, you need to play well if you want more and more playing time. We wanted to take a look at some of those guys. For instance, (Taris) Shenall, was one of those guys that really showed up. I thought he did great. Eldrick Washington, he’s going to get more turns. Yet, when those guys don’t play as well, you’re a little more reluctant to put them in the game again.”


If Roderic Teamer Will start this week:

“Absolutely. Rod Teamer will start. He played phenomenal. He was one of those guys that was coming, coming and coming. The one thing he does is bring the physicality to our football team and he can run well and is a very smart young man. If he can wear the right uniform and not have the stuff hanging all out, he’ll definitely start.”


On Saturday’s pass rush:

“It was the overall game plan. I thought we planned it very, very well. What we wanted to do initially was stop the run. Then once we stopped the run, we got a good little lead. Now you turn the team into being one-dimensional. We were on the other end of that in the first two weeks. When a team becomes one-dimensional they have to throw it and you can go and sack the quarterback. Our guys are good players. They were good enough to do those things.”


After watching the film, if it were Tanner Lee’s best performance:

“I thought this was his best overall. He may have had some better performances like the Houston game a year ago, but this performance was just calm, cool and collective. He just played so well. He looked so comfortable back there. I almost put him in for another series but he got hit late and I didn’t want him to get hurt so I said you’re out.”


On utilizing the running back depth vs UCF:

“We have to keep guys fresh. You know Lazedrick (Thompson) was out a little bit. He had a little ankle (problem), so we wanted to play more guys. Joshua Rounds deserved to play a lot more, in which he did. We also wanted to get Devin Glenn in the game some, because he can help us down the stretch. There are some knick-knack injuries that we have with all these backs. You have to play them all. It’s a physical league. I learned my lesson from a year ago.”


On what he sees in Temple and how big of a challenge it will be:

“Huge challenge. Going on the road to play a Temple team that should have been in a bowl game a year ago. They’re one year older. They’re probably the best team in the conference right now. You look at it and ask, who’s beaten who? Well they beat Penn State, and that’s a pretty good football team. They’re playing well and playing at a high level. It’s a huge challenge since they have everyone back from a year ago. They have great defensive linemen. The linebackers and the defensive front is outstanding. Everyone in the secondary is back. Offensively, the quarterback is back and the running back is key. They have two great receivers and a big offensive line. Certainly, a big challenge for us.”


On the next slate of four games and how they’re a combined 17-0:

“I remember when I was at St. Charles Parish and I was playing back in the day, that was the last time I’ve almost seen (a stretch of games like) that, back when I had hair. So no, I’ve never seen a stretch like that. All those teams, back-to-back, and they keep winning and winning at a high level, and now we got to play them right in a row, so hopefully we can continue to improve and continue to have confidence in going up and beating some of these teams. Hopefully we can beat them all and they can be talking about us like we’re talking about them.”


On Donnie Lewis’ status:

“He’s going to play safety. Probably play both (safety or cornerback) because we have a couple of knick-knack injuries there. Those guys are versatile in the secondary. Roderic (Teamer) played so well, you have to reward him. Donnie will play and will play a lot for us.”


On Temple’s special teams and how they’ve scored in the last three games:

“Their special teams are very concerning. We are opening the punting competition up. Right now, I don’t know who the starter will be. Zach Block kicked the ball well and he’s getting it off in a fast time. You know, all of our special teams just need to get better. Our coverage unit has improved. Temple will be a concern for us, but we’ll be ready by Saturday.”


On the fake punt from the first quarter of the UCF game:

“We have been practicing this for several weeks. Doug Lichtenberger had a great fake, and we’ve been practicing and practicing. We have just been waiting for the right opportunity, and this was clean and the best chance. I’m just happy that Rob Kelley and Marshall Wadleigh and those guys executed and did a fantastic job.”


On how much the league is better this year:

“Oh, a lot better. The league is just phenomenal. If you look at the teams they’re playing against. All those teams are playing and winning. Look at what East Carolina did, beating Virginia Tech. Memphis beat Kansas. Navy is beating everybody. This is a very tough league. You look at those rosters and everyone has older kids. I want to say we are one of the older teams but we’re still one of the younger teams in the league. We still have to compete and play well. Like you said, it’s a big time challenge.”


What did Peter Picerelli tell him about the dropped punt:

“I didn’t say anything to Picerelli. He knew it was coming and the competition was open. We warned him in the bye week. If he’s not playing, we all know and understand. When you play you got to catch those right in your hands and punt. If Tanner keeps throwing interceptions I would bench him. If (Nico) Marley keeps missing tackles, I would bench him. That’s just the lay of the land.”


On Sean Wilson’s status:

“He could have played more. He limped off but he had a separate set of circumstances. He’s fine. He was out today and did some practicing. He did some running around. Once we get Sean Wilson back, that just elevates our defensive line so much.”


How winning helps with recruiting and getting what he wanted out of the last three weeks:

“We had times when it looked bleak early, now I’m finally off suicide watch, but then I watched Temple’s special teams, now I’m back on it again. Then you start to win and get the production and the rewards for the players. The character could have easily gone south, but the players and coaches continued to come in and do the right things and get us back to .500. It’s very pivotal for this upcoming four-game stretch, since they’re all juggernauts.”


On the importance of someone from The American getting the group of five spot in the New Year’s six:

“Well that’s what you want to do. You want to represent and I hope it’s not someone we’re playing because we want to beat them all, but you want your league to have representation. I don’t look at it as this league, that league. You play with 11 and you got to play the best 11. If there’s a place where our league can get a guy in there then you would definitely love that and cheer them on. When you’re playing against them though, you want to beat them all.”

THE GOOD:

First, and most important, we won a game handily against a team that has owned us and our conference recently. Wins and losses are important and this was a very big game for the Wave.

Overall our defense turned the ball over to the offense deep in UCF territory so that four of our TD drives totaled only 75 yards, less than 20 yards each. That contributed greatly to the overwhelming result.

Next, our starting offensive line, which I have maligned repeatedly, had its best game in pass protection I’ve seen in years. Lee was seldom hurried and only sacked once when Chris Taylor misses his assignment. That was great.

The line was not as good blocking for the run, but running backs still average 4.0 yards per carry, helped a great deal by Rounds 46 yard run. (More later)

Tanner Lee looked like an all-conference QB in this game. He made good decisions, good reads, and good throws. Take away three clear drops and he’d have been 15-23 passing. As it was (15-26) is a 57.6% completion rate. It’s hard to complain about Lee’s game against UCF.

Our wide outs, Veal, Breaux, and Preston, looked good and seemed to get more separation than we're used to seeing . That may be due to Lee having more time to find them, but, regardless, it was good to see.

The starting defensive line was sensational. They completely dominated UCF’s line, allowing only 11 net yards on 13 carries to their running backs. That’s outstanding! And the pass rush, supported by some timely blitzes registered four of our seven sacks on the game (LaFrance 3 and Redwine 1).

Marshall Wadleigh had a great game. I can remember watching his HUDL highlights when he graduated from Northshore; he was spectacular, ran a 4.5 40, and looked as good as any back we’ve signed in recent years. He’s at Tulane on a legislative scholarship and been a strong special teams guy, now in his third year. That he’s on the “hands” team for “on-side kicks” suggests something and the reason became evident when he recovered the UCF try. More obvious, his run on the fake punt was terrific. Good for him! And good for the coaches.

Also, on special teams, since it’s been such a problem, I can’t ignore the good snapping we saw from John LeGlue and the kicking of Andrew DiRocco. DiRocco hasn’t been asked to do more than kick extra points and short field goals, but he’s done what we’ve asked. That’s more than what we’ve come to expect in recent years.

Additionally, though he didn’t gain any yardage on punt returns, I thought Darion Monroe did a great job on coming up to “fair catch” several very difficult short punts to protect field position. That doesn’t show up in the “stat book” but I thought it was very important.

Some firsts were also very good. Kendall Ardoin and Ricky Preston caught their first TD passes. Roderick Teamer, Rae Juan Marbley, and Taris Shennall made their first interceptions. Andrew Hicks and Larry Dace each caught their first passes for the Wave, which was also good to see. And Aaron Golub getting the opportunity to snap was a very classy move on the part of Coach Johnson, who, along with his coaches had a very good game in my opinion.

THE BAD:

After noting a lot “good” about special teams, it’s hard to ignore the problems with our punter. Prior to the season, I predicted Picerelli would have a good year. Not so far. “Pic” had one really nice punt of 52 yards to inside the UCF five, but the rest of his morning/early afternoon was terrible. But for that punt, and not counting the blocked one, he average 23.1 yards. That’s awful. Dropping the snap put us in a huge hole that many Tulane teams would have not been able to overcome. And, I’m not sure what exactly happened on the blocked punt, but he looked very slow getting it off. That CJ keeps sending him out there suggest something even worse—that he has less confidence in our true freshman punter, Zach Block, or any of our “walk-ons.” If Picerelli is the best we have, we need to sign another one for next year when he leaves. What a waste!

Our pass defense, even from our starters, could have been much better. Considering our pass rush and the inexperience/ineptitude of UCF’s starting QB, they had guys running free all over the place. On their first eight yard TD, Jarrod Franklin failed to cover his man at all. On the “turning point” of the game, Richard Allen was beaten badly for the long 62 yard completion that could have changed the complexion of the entire contest, had Nickerson not saved the day. Marley was badly beaten at least twice on guys he was assigned to in man-to-man coverage, and it seemed to me that he and Thomas were not taking deep enough drops to contest all of the crossing patterns UCF ran. Even Teamer’s interception, which was a nice play on his part, was due to an overthrow of an open receiver. A better passing team, and we’ll see a few over the rest of the season, could have caused us a lot of trouble.

When our reserves took over against the UCF reserves in the 4th quarter with a 38-10 lead, it was apparent; they simply have better reserves than we do (more depth). Their 3rd string QB (their starter missed the game) looked like a Heisman trophy candidate. He was in for three drives, all resulting in TD’s, and moved them 159 yards in 16 plays during his time in the game. But for a 9 yard sack by Calvin Thomas, it would have been worse. It’s good some of the “back-ups” got some playing time, but it was distressing to see how they played.

Our offensive back-ups didn’t fare much better, but the conservative play calling was probably at least partially to blame.

THE CONFUSING:

I’ll say it right up front. I have no idea what we’re doing with our running back rotation. We do not have an every down, All-American, back like Leonard Fournette. But, we’ve got some solid Division 1 backs who would be in the rotation at many P5 schools in the FBS. In that group I include Badie, Hilliard, and Thompson. With that said, Robert Kelley brings size and power that, with the possible exception of Thompson, we don’t have.

I also understand why Rounds (or at least not Badie, Hilliard or Thompson) took all of the carries in the 4th quarter. The game was in hand and no sense risking injury to our “lead” backs. And, if Thompson is hurt, I understand his lack of playing time. Though, he looked pretty good on the 37 yard run that was called back on a holding penalty against Uzvadinis. The best I can tell, he only played one more down. Is he still hurt? But Badie and Hilliard are our “go to” backs and, between them, had 14 offensive touches and frankly weren’t in the game much more than that.

Last week we brought in Devin Glenn for three plays in “garbage time.” He did nothing. Then, against UCF he was in for a couple plays in the first two series, dropping one pass and then dropping a forward lateral that was ruled an incomplete pass. He then sat out the rest of the game, losing his potential redshirt for this season. Why were Glenn, Rounds, and Kelley the primary backs for the game’s first two series? Where were Hilliard and Badie?

Glenn may be fast, but he isn’t as fast as Badie. He may not be as fast as Hilliard. And, after watching Rounds get run down from behind (no angle involved) on his long run, it’s clear he’s not as fast as those guys either. It all worked out, of course, I just don’t understand what we’re doing.

In the end, the “good” clearly outweighed the “bad” or “confusing” against UCF. We gained confidence, suffered no major injuries that I’m aware of, and are going into the Temple game with a degree of optimism.

Roll Wave!!!

Zach Harris likely is done for the year. Recurrence of the knee problem from last year.

Got that from CJ after practice.

Rae Juan Marbley and Eric Bowie have played pretty well but Tulane will miss him.

It's the special teams mismatch.

Interesting, though, that Temple gave up a successful fake punt to Charlotte.

I'm still trying to figure out if the writer was being sarcastic when he referred to Temple having a good field goal block unit (Charlotte missed 2 of 3 FGs). Strange.

http://www.philly.com/philly/blogs/sports/college/Temples-special-teams-come-up-big-again.html

Scroll down on Stewart Mandell's column and you'll see a section on how well the AAC is doing.

I tweeted it out Saturday, but the league is 9-1 vs. the other non-power five conference this year after going 5-9 against the same conferences last season.

Mandell also has a line about UCF coach George O'Leary being 0-5 with "losses to FIU, Furman and Tulane," but that's fair at this point. Tulane still has to prove it does not belong in conversations with the worst of the worse, and the next four weeks provide the perfect opportunity.

http://www.foxsports.com/college-fo...rebels-ucla-bruins-mandel-forward-pass-100515

We’ve now completed one-third of the regular season. A conference championship game and/or bowl game could extend that of course. So far, we’re 2-2 and have played four games against teams with a combined record of 7-14. While our recent two wins provide a positive trend, we all recognize it was not against the best competition. Maine was an average, at best, FCS team and UCF was a battered, injury-riddled, team with so many problems that one is hard-pressed to identify the most significant. And our two one-sided losses to Duke and Georgia Tech look even worse considering how those teams (particularly Georgia Tech) have fared since.

All that said, we seem to be coming into our own from a confidence aspect if nothing else. We’ve shown a lack of depth when our reserves faced reserves from each team we’ve played. But, at least against Maine and UCF, our starters clearly outplayed the opposition.

Our statistical rankings across the NCAA FBS are interesting if not “illuminating.” Of the 127 teams listed in the NCAA rankings, we stand #102 in total offense and #100 in total defense. Of note, we’re #54 in passing offense while #104 in passing defense. Our rushing offense is #115 and our rushing defense, even after holding UCF to -35 yards, is #80. We’re #88 on 3rd down conversions and #99 defending on 3rd down. Most surprising to me, there are four teams worse than us (we’re #123) in net punting. Considering we’ve played teams with net losing records, none of these stats appear to be very good.

Frankly, however, I think the statistics underestimate our performance on the field and, more importantly, the direction we seem to be heading. After all, we are 2-2. We don't have a losing record. Our QB seems to be maturing. We have two wide receivers that appear to be coming into their own. Our line is blocking better, particularly in pass protection. And our defensive line has ranged from very bad to spectacular, depending on the game. We’ve got some playmakers on the offensive side of the ball and some good players on defense as well. We’re not devoid of talent. But we are at a crossroad in the season.

In the previous ten years, we’ve come to our fifth game on six occasions with a 2-2 record. In 2005, we were 2-2, lost to UTEP, and went 2-9 on the season. In 2008, we lost to Army and went 2-10. In 2009, we lost to Marshall and went 3-9. In 2010, we lost to Army and went 4-8. The next year, 2011, we again lost to Army and went 2-11. Finally, in 2013, we broke the streak, beat ULM, and went 7-6 in our most recent bowl season. In those years we've lost that fifth game, we've gone 3-32 the rest of the year. Essentially, we "fell apart." The one year we got to 3-2, we went on to go 4-4 the rest of the season, including our bowl game. Based on this recent history, the Temple game could be a significant turning point in the Wave season. This is a BIG game for our guys.

Roll Wave!!!!

Good evening Guerry, over the weekend Tulane picked up a couple of commitments:
Jonard Robinson - DB SU Lab & Wyatt Richthofen - OL New Iberia Catholic
What, if anything, might you be able to tell us about them?
With these two commitments are we done for 2016?
I would've expected an additional WR in this class, I think so far only one true WR is committed J. Price of Crowley, unless you count D. Williams of McD 35 whose supposed to enroll in January. Which would give us 8 not counting L. James (suspended).

UCF has been awful this year, but here's how the two teams' starters stack up in the Rivals.com recruiting rankings.

QUARTERBACK

UCF: Bo Schneider, a true freshman, was the 25th-rated pro-style QB in 2015. Justin Holman, a junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Tanner Lee, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

RUNNING BACK

UCF: Dontravious Wilson, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4. Taj McGowan, a freshman, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5. C.J. Jones, a redshirt freshman, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Sherman Badie, a redshirt sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5. Dontrell Hilliard, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4. Lazedrick Thompson, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

LEFT TACKLE

UCF: Aaron Evans, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

Tulane: Arturo Uzdavinis, a redshirt senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3

LEFT GUARD

UCF: Luke Palmer, a redshirt freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

Tulane: Colton Hanson, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4

CENTER

UCF: Jason Rae, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3

Tulane: Nathan Shienle, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4

RIGHT GUARD

UCF: Tarik Cook, a redshirt senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the No. 12 center nationally

Tulane: Chris Taylor, a junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the No. 38 guard nationally

RIGHT TACKLE

UCF: Chavis Dickey, a sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Todd Jacquet, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

TIGHT END

UCF: Michael Campbell, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star offensive tackle rated 5.5, Cal Bloom, a redshirt junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2.

Tulane:

Charles Jones, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2, Trey Scott, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

ANALYSIS: not much difference. If Schneider starts, UCF has one more 3-star player, but he's a true freshman. The other starters are even in stars and sub-rankings.


DEFENSE

LEFT END

UCF: Luke Adams, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Royce LaFrance, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

LEFT TACKLE

UCF: Jamiyus Pittman, a sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the No. 34 DT nationally

Tulane: Tanzel Smart, a junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

RIGHT TACKLE

UCF: Lance McDowdell, a senior, was a 3-star JC transfer rated 5.6. Unrated out of high school.

Tulane: Sean Wilson, a sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4, Corey Redwine, a redshirt senior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

RIGHT END

UCF: Thomas Niles, a redshirt senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Ade Aruna, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

MIDDLE LINEBACKER

UCF: Domenic Spencer, a senior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Eric Thomas, a junior was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

WEAKSIDE LINEBACKER

UCF: Chequan Burkett, a redshirt sophomore, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Nico Marley, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2.

OUTSIDE LINEBACKER/NICKELBACK

UCF: Pat Jasinski, a freshman, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.5.

Tulane: Jarrod Franklin, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

CORNERBACKS

UCF: Kyle Gibson, a redshirt freshman, was a 4-star recruit rated 5.8 and the No. 16 CB nationally
Jeremy Boykins, a junior, was unrated.

Tulane: Parry Nickerson, a redshirt sophomore, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.
Richard Allen, a junior, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.3.

STRONG SAFETY

UCF: Tre Neal, a redshirt freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.4.

Tulane: Darion Monroe, a senior, was a 4-star recruit rated 5.8 and the No. 23 CB nationally.

STRONG SAFETY

UCF: Drico Johnson, a redshirt junior, was a 3-star recruit rated 5.6 and the No. 88 WR nationally.

Tulane: Donnie Lewis, a redshirt freshman, was a 2-star recruit rated 5.2 as a CB.

ANALYSIS: UCF gets the recruiting edge, with eight starters rated higher than Tulane, one even and only two lower. But each team has only one 4-star starter. UCF has eight 3-star guys to Tulane's two. The Green Wave has lived off under-the-radar defensive recruits like Nico Marley and Parry Nickerson and Sean Wilson and Jarrod Franklin.

To me, the key to the game will be how Tulane's offensive line handles UCF's talented front seven. If the Wave is overwhelmed up front, it spells trouble. The other key is Tanner Lee, who needs to be sharp. I can't see Tulane running consistently well today, so he needs to make clutch throws and big plays in the passing game.

Our opponents went 5-7 this week though the four undefeated teams on our schedule, Temple, Houston, Navy, and Memphis, all won, going to 17-0 overall. This portends a very tough next four weeks for the Wave, with three of those games on the road.

Duke (4-1) outlasted Boston College 9-7 in a game that featured 16 punts and little offense from either team with BC outgaining the “Blue Devils” 305 to 228. Duke only netted 33 yards on 35 rushing attempts and, even taking out the two eight yard sacks, only gained 51 yards on 31 tries (1.6 yards/carry). They are now 4-1 but don’t look like the same team that annihilated us.

Georgia Tech (2-3) lost their third straight since pounding the Wave, this time to North Carolina, 38-31. After taking a 21-0 lead on three long (at least 10 play) drives, the Yellow Jackets were completely outplayed the rest of the game. Our loss to them is looking worse and worse. Their coach’s job is now probably less secure than ours.

Maine (1-3) was beaten soundly by a good FCS Richmond team, 48-17.

UCF (0-5) UCF looked like a team with a lot of their better players out with injuries. Even though their young reserves pretty much had their way with the Wave’s reserves in the fourth quarter, their starters were dominated by Tulane’s starters. The final score was not indicative of the beating.

Temple (4-0) crushed UNC Charlotte of CUSA 37-3 to go 4-0 for the first time in over 40 years. That each of the last three wins were on the road makes the results more impressive. The Owl defense was particularly impressive holding Charlotte to 4 for 17 on third down.

Houston (4-0) beat Tulsa (2-2) 38-24 in another “track meet” as Houston gained 638 yards to Tulsa’s 456. Houston pretty much controlled the game between Tulsa’s initial FG and final TD, by outscoring the “Golden Hurricanes” 38-14.

Navy (4-0) beat Air Force 33-11 in a game which saw the “Middies” win the turnover battle 4-0. The “Mids” outgained the “Falcons” 370 yards to 204, so it wasn’t all about turnovers. The Navy QB, Keenan Reynolds, was 4-10 passing for 117 yards (29.3 yards per completion) and rushed 24 times for 183 yards (7.6 yds/carry), including a 67 yard run. As I’ve noted before, stopping him is key to beating Navy.

Memphis (5-0) beat conference mate South Florida, 24-17. After falling behind 10-0, Memphis scored 24 unanswered points before allowing a 4th quarter TD.

SMU (1-4) last to East Carolina 49-23 after holding a 23-7 in the second quarter. At that point, ECU changed QB’s and it was all over. SMU’s offense was held to 329 yards and allowed 555, and even though they were previously blown out by powerhouse teams, Baylor and TCU, this was probably their worst performance of the year in my view. (BTW: just noting Baylor and TCU as “powerhouses” makes me sick)

Army (1-4) lost to Penn State 20-14. In truth, they probably outplayed the Lions but fumbled seven times, losing three. They also outgained Penn State 293-264, had more first downs 17-12, and controlled the clock 31-29. During the game, Army only threw one pass, but it was complete for 32 yards. They seem to be playing better than when they lost to Fordham.

UCONN (2-3) was mauled by BYU 30-13. They were outgained 530 to 230 overall and were outclassed throughout.

As most everyone expected even preseason, the next four games will be key. Our final four games of the year are clearly winnable, but I think we need to win one of two of the next four to give the confidence and optimism necessary for the “stretch run.” If we go into the UCONN game 2-6, our chances of “winning out” are probably poor. This was a good win, but I’m still sticking with 5-7 for the season.

Excellent win and Roll Damn Wave!

I’ve watched a lot of film on Jack Abraham, our QB commit for 2016 from Oxford Mississippi, and have been very impressed. In his only game I saw in its entirety, however, earlier this year on national TV against Starkville, he didn’t look too good. He was 13 for 26 for 113 yards and an INT with no TD’s. Of course, he suffered through several drops that would have greatly improved his stats.

But, on the year, through now five games, he has unbelievable statistics. He’s 120 for 208 passing (59.6%) for 1,878 yards (15.7 yds/complete) for 19 TD’s and 3 INT’s. That he plans to enroll at mid-term and be ready for Spring practice is really good news. After a redshirt year next year, he should be competing with Cuielette for the back-up spot to Tanner Lee. If we can hold on to him, it should be interesting.

Roll Wave!!!

With Justin Holman cleared to participate (though he's still listed as day-to-day coming off a fractured right index finger), the line is finally up on the Tulane-UCF game, moving from even to the Knights as a 3-point favorite.

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

Tulane (+3) UCF
Tulsa (+7) Houston
Navy (-5.5) Air Force
Georgia (-2) Alabama
Ole Miss (-7.5) Florida
Clemson (even) Notre Dame
Texas A&M (-6.5) Mississippi State
Oklahoma (-7) West Virginia

Guerry-
I know Tulane hasn't been responsive on this question, but could you see if you can find out what recruits attend this game? I now think it likely that we can sign 2-3 more in 2016 and have a near full class in 2017. Some of those kids are coming to these games.

Thanks

Here is an article from Orlando Sentinel. Reading between the lines it seems like Holman will not play.

Tulane is now a 2 point favorite.http://www.orlandosentinel.com/sports/ucf-knights/os-ucf-football-1002-20151001-story.html

The position where Tulane possesses the least depth has taken a hit.

After practice today, CJ said Terren Encalade might be done for the year with a shoulder injury he sustained against Georgia Tech. He is nowhere close to being ready to play this week, and it will be determined soon whether he needs to sit out the rest of the season.

"I don't know what he's going to do," CJ said. "I don't see it getting much better right now. He could be done. I'm not going to say it for sure, but he hasn't improved enough."

Encalade, who started the first two games and had four catches, was one of only three returning scholarship wideouts on the roster along with Teddy Veal and Devon Breaux. Redshirt junior Larry Dace, a former walk-on, received a scholarship before the start of the semester, and true freshmen Rickey Preston and Andrew Hicks round out of the list of available scholarship wideouts.

Preston had two catches on consecutive plays against Maine, accounting for his season total of 16 yards. Hicks has played sparingly in the last two games.

In other words, look for even more throws to be directed toward the running backs and tight ends against UCF this Saturday. Trey Scott, who is not quite matching his preseason expectation of 50 receptions or more, is confident he will be one of the players who steps up this Saturday after he served a one-game suspension against Maine. He enters with three catches for 33 yards but was one of quarterback Tanner Lee's favorite targets in preseason practice.

"I'm hungry for this game," Scott said. "I'm trying to get in that end zone this week, so I'm excited. My breakout game would have been last game if I had played, so I am trying to transfer that into this game."

Scott, a true sophomore, is looking for his first career scoring reception. In fact, Tulane's active career leader in that category is fourth-string running back Rob Kelley with five (four came in 2012), Next is Devon Breaux with four, followed by starting tight end Charles Jones with three, Veal with two and Dontrell Hilliard and Sherman Badie with one.

Look for Badie and Hilliard to be very active in the passing game Saturday, although it will be interesting to see if they can get as open as they were against Maine.

Taking advantage of their skills in space should be a pivotal part of the game plan, making UCF's defenders confused about whom to key on among the running backs, Scott and Jones and Veal, Breaux and Preston.

Scott, for one, is supremely confident Tulane will win its conference opener for only the fourth time this century. In two of the other three years (2002 and 2013, but not 2005), the Green Wave went to a bowl game.

"It's all on a new level right now, and we're trying to increase it," Scott said. "This is going to be one of our signature wins to take us through the rest of the season."

Sean Wilson continued to play primarily at defensive end during practice today. Keep that under your hat because I'm not sure CJ wants that revealed publicly, but he's getting a lot more reps there than inside. It is interesting that he would get that opportunity coming off a sprained MCL that limits his mobility.

"I really don't feel a hundred percent, but I'm about 90 percent and I'll be ready for Saturday," Wilson said. "Like last year, I can play anywhere. My coach thinks I can do it, and I believe I can do it, too."

At the end of practice today he received reps with the first unit along with Ade Aruna at the end of practice while Royce LaFrance watched from the sideline. I assume LaFrance got plenty of reps with the top unit during the rest of practice since he has been a starter from day 1 in the preseason. I'll double check tomorrow to make sure what's going on there after a scheduling conflict forced me to arrive late today and yesterday.

It's also an interesting move because Tulane is supposed to have more depth at end than tackle. Production-wise, though, that has not been the case. Reserve ends Daren Williams, Luke Jackson and Robert Kennedy all have three tackles, while Peter Woullard and Quinlan Carroll have none. At tackle, Corey Redwine has six stops, with Eldrick Washington adding five and Calvin Thomas contributing three. If Wilson actually plays end against UCF, look for Washington and Thomas on the second unit.

Wilson is happy to be available at all.

"I thought it was worse when it happened," he said. "It really scared me. I'm excited to come back this soon. I feel good right now."

For the second straight day, Tulane freshman offensive lineman Keeyon Smart was involved in a fight. Yesterday it was with Aruna (I missed it), and today it was with linebacker Rae Juan Marbley. They both went down to the ground wrestling each other, and it took about 10 players to get in there and separate them while the scout-team offense was working against the defense.

"All of a sudden the young offensive linemen are getting better, and they're pretty talented, so now they are not just getting whipped around," CJ said. "It's making the defense get mad."

Running back Lazedrick Thompson practiced a little bit today after being held out of team drills yesterday. CJ said he was surprised by Thompson's progress but still was not sure he would be ready to play Saturday.

Offensive line coach John McDonell has been on the war path this week. Yesterday, he pulled guard Brandon Godfrey out of a drill and screamed at him that he would get the quarterback hurt if he made the same mistake in a game (I did not see what happened), then said he would be less upset if he had not just told him to avoid doing what he did. It was about five minutes before Godfrey went back in. Today, McDonell was on his guys again. To win Saturday, Tulane absolutely, positively needs better blocking up front than it had against Duke and Georgia Tech.

I still have not received confirmation on Justin Holman starting for UCF at quarterback (he is listed on top of the depth chart this week after missing the last two games), but in a strange coincidence, New Orleans sports talk show host Scott Alexander did radio play-by-play of the UCF-Stanford game when Holman hurt his finger. Alexander insists the injury was gruesome and says Holman will have a hard time being effective if he plays unless he has made a miraculous recovery.