Tulane's practices have been more enthusiastic this week than the previous two weeks. Whether that's forced or natural remains to be seen, but Darion Monroe in particular has been incredibly vocal every day. Yesterday, he said he had burned more energy talking than practicing, and he was not implying he had taken it easy in practice.

Today, a red zone drill between the offense and defense was very competitive, with the defensive players on the sideline jawing with the offense (in a friendly manner) every time a pass did not work. When Parry Nickerson knocked down a pass in the end zone for Rickey Preston in a battle of hair, the defense was all over Preston for never having a chance. Another time Nickerson knocked down a pass in the corner of the end zone, then kicked the ball against a wall.

When the offense scored a touchdown on a pass to Larry Dace in the back of the end zone, wide receivers coach Carter Sheridan ran into the end zone and did a jump bump with Dace.

Does any of that excitement mean anything? We'll find out Saturday, but I have not noticed any moping or disinterest this week Tuesday, Wednesday or today.

Devin Glenn did not play against Georgia Tech, so I was totally wrong at least twice when I swore I saw him. I guess I mistook him for Badie, but that's weak on my part because Glenn is much shorter and the number 7 does not look like 3.

A few other notes:

--A Tampa Bay Bucs scout attended practice today after a couple of NFL scouts were at Wednesday's workout.

--Robert Kennedy is practicing. He went down with an injury in the fourth quarter against Georgia Tech and had to be helped off the field, but he is fine.

--Teddy Veal did not practice in the last hour today. CJ said it was precautionary and he would be ready for Maine.

--Ade Aruna and Arturo Uzdavinis came up limping after knocking knees on one play, but Uzdavinis did not miss a rep and Aruna returned in a few minutes. I"m not sure Uzdavinis is 100 percent after hurting his leg twice against Georgia Tech.

--Royce LaFrance got yanked for a couple of snaps after jumping offside.

Some quotes from CJ:

"It was good emotion. I love it. I know a lot of people are leaving us for dead, but the one thing we do have is emotion. We have hustle, we are running around and we are competitive, and as long as we do that we'll be fine."

"With Monroe coming back and challenging guys, I know he wants to win, and Tanner wanted to do a better job. I'm glad because if it wasn't going to be (them) I was going to be emotional."

On Breaux

"He's doing outstanding. The one thing he's gotten is a lot of confidence. I love what he's doing."

On Veal

"He's going to be fine. I held him out because he stretched for a ball and I was like, look, you don't need this, just relax and be ready to play."

On Glenn

"No, we didn't put him on (the field). I'm waiting and debating on his status right now. I just don't want to burn his year for three or four plays."

On the Georgia Tech TD when Tulane had nine men on the field

"We were putting the young kids in and taking all our old kids out. I didn't want anybody to get hurt. Two of those young kids were on the kickoff team (Tulane had just kicked a field goal to cut the deficit to 51-10) and they just didn't go on the field. They were waiting for somebody to tell them, but we told them (prior to the kickoff). That's my bad. That's on me. I'll make sure that won't ever happen again. It was young kids."

In the Massey rankings (http://www.masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm ), Tulane’s loss to Georgia Tech dropped the Wave from #114 to #117, three spaces.

After an 8-2 week, one would expect our opponents to move up in the Massey rankings, and they did. Last week, our opponents, not counting Maine from the FCS, had an average position of 72.36. Now, it’s down to 67.36, an improvement of five places.

Below, I’ve shown each team’s ranking last week, this week, and the change. For example, Duke’s line would look like this:

Duke 37, 34, +3 Last week they were #37. This week, they are #34, and they’ve improved (+3) slots.

The others in order of our schedule:

Georgia Tech 11, 10, +1.

Maine (FCS) 51, 45, +6

UCF 74, 82, -8

Temple 51, 44, +7

Houston 65, 51, +14

Navy 61, 63, -2

Memphis 39, 32, +7

UCONN 10, 105, +5

Army 123, 124, -1

SMU 120, 109, +11

Tulsa 105, 87, +18


UCF again fell the most in the rankings, followed by the Wave. Houston, SMU and Tulsa moved up by double digits with Tulsa gaining 18 spaces. The AAC passed the Mountain West as the best of the worst (G5) conferences with an average ranking of 75.35, an improvement of almost three places on average. The Mountain West had a terrible week and fell seven spaces to 84.92. We’re still, on average, about 28 places behind the Big 10, the lowest ranked P5 conference.

As Guerry pointed out earlier in the week, on a neutral field we’d probably be underdogs to everyone remaining on our schedule save Maine and probably Army. We need to start changing that this weekend.


Roll Wave!!

With Tulane fall ball starting Tuesday, I talked to David Pierce on Monday and posted the Q&A on the front page. He is expecting a lot out of a group of transfers that will supplement the returning talent after the Green Wave went 35-25 and reached a regional for the first time since 2008 in the spring.

Here is the history of the transfers:

1) Infielder/catcher Shea Pierce (Pierce's son)

--Pierce played in 28 games and started 20 as a freshman in 2012, batting .203. Opponents were 16 of 16 stealing bases on him when he caught.

--Pierce played in 22 games and started 13 as a sophomore in 2013, batting .245. Opponents were 5 of 7 stealing bases.

--Pierce played in 52 games with 45 starts as a junior in 2014, batting .199. Opponents were 5 of 8 stealing bases.

--He missed all of 2015 with an injury, which is why he has a year of eligibility left. He will pursue a master's degree at Tulane as a graduate student.

2) Junior outfielder Jarret DeHart, an LSU transfer who had a stop at Howard Junior College in between the Tigers and Tulane

--He played in 10 games, starting two, in 2014, going 3 for 15 with eight strikeouts.

--He was part of a Howard JC team that went 43-15 last year, but I can't find any stats. He was not one of the three players from the team who received named All-America honors.

3) Redshirt sophomore Matt Rowland, who signed with Louisville and then played for Scottsdale CC

--He never played at Louisville, but he started as a utility infielder for Scottsdale last season. Can't find any stats, but he went 3 for 4 in their final game at the JC College Wold Series.

4) Redshirt senior pitcher Evan Rutter, a Rice transfer

--In 2012, he pitched in six games covering 7 1/3 innings and did not allow a run.

--in 2013, he pitched in 11 games covering 14 innings and had an ERA of 3.86.

--In 2014, he pitched twice, throwing 2 2/3 innings against Purdue at the beginning of the year and striking out four without allowing a hit before being sidelined by an injury. He returned for the final game of the season in an NCAA regional against Texas A&M and pitched 1 1/3 innings without allowing a run, including a scoreless 9th in a tie game the Owls eventually lost.

5) Redshirt sophomore pitcher Chris Oakley, who signed with North Carolina before playing at Florence Darlington Tech

--He pitched 37 innings at Darlington Tech in 2015, allowing 28 hits and 20 earned runs while walking 35 and striking out 36 in 11 appearances, 10 of them starts. He went 4-2. The team went 36-14.

--He pitched in summer ball this year, throwing 14 1/3 innings and giving up 12 hits and six earned runs with 11 walks and 15 strikeouts in 12 appearances for the Baltimore Redbirds of the Cal Ripken League.

6) Senior pitcher Christian Colletti, a left-hander who played for UConn and then Indian River State.

--In 2013, he appeared in 11 games with nine starts. His ERA was 5.86 in 43 innings, and he struck out 29 while walking 20. His record was 3-2.

--In 2014, he appeared in three games with one start for UConn, going 7 2/3 innings while allowing zero earned runs before being sidelined by a shoulder injury.

--I can't find stats for him at Indian River, and he did not play summer ball.

7) Redshirt freshman infielder Chris Hohlstein, an original Davidson signee who will not be eligible to play until next year.

8) Redshirt junior Jeremy Montalbano, a Texas transfer who sat out 2015 but is eligible now.

--In 2013, he played in 25 games with 22 starts, hitting .247 with two doubles and two home runs.

--In 2014, he played in 26 games with 23 starts, hitting .171 with six doubles and no home runs.

9) Redshirt senior pitcher Trevor Simms, who has played at Rice and West Virginia before landing on the football team as a kickoff specialist and will be eligible to play baseball this year.

--In 2012, he pitched two innings and gave up five runs in three appearances for Rice.

--In 2013, he played at Weatherford College, but the school's website makes you sign up for something to look at stats and I didn't bother.

--In 2014, he pitched 8 1/3 innings and gave up seven earned runs for West Virginia. He also was a position player in 28 games with four starts, getting one hit in 20 at-bats.

Guerry, any comments from Coach Pierce on his freshmen recruits?r

Uzdavinis practiced today, and CJ said he looked good. That means Tulane's starting lineup will be the exact same as in the opener against Duke on both sides of the ball aside from Terren Encalade exiting due to his ankle injury and Sean Wilson missing his second straight game due to a ankle injury.

Lazedrick Thompson should get at least 20 carries against Maine. That doesn't mean he will get 20 carries. CJ said this week he will be the featured back, but Tulane's actions often have not matched CJ's words.

Here are a couple of comments from Wednesday's practice:

"It was a much more spirited practice," CJ said. "We are finally over our (Georgia Tech hangover). I like how those guys flew around. They ran around good."

On Thompson:

"He's a battering ram. I've always wanted to get him the ball, but when you are down you gotta throw it and that's not what his forte is. He can just hit them and hit them and hit them, and he makes them force their hand on defense and then you can throw it."

I don't have much to add because the previous posts have been very informative and it's hard to get much out of a massive blowout anyway, but here are a few items.

1) Georgia Tech scored its second to last touchdown when Tulane had nine men on the field. That harkens back to CJ's first year, when the defense was incredibly disorganized and had 10 men on the field for multiple plays of the same drive at ULL. This time, one DB ran off the field right before the snap (I couldn't catch his number) when a DB should have been running on the field. Not sure I've ever seen a team have only nine men on the field and not at least call a timeout. The easy TD that resulted was a virtual lock. I ripped the effort level of the defense on twitter, and I was not mistaken, but effort level didn't matter when there were only nine men on the field.

2) Just about all of the freshmen on defense did not play hard enough, which was probably a result of not knowing what they were supposed to be doing. Roderic Teamer in particular ran around with no clear idea of what he was doing, looking very tentative. The cornerbacks did not play with enough force, and they got burned when Georgia Tech threw. I saw that part coming because Ga Tech did nothing in the air against Tulane last year and players and coaches almost discounted the Yellow Jackets' passing game when I talked to them last week. Justin Thomas threw 18 touchdown passes last year, which is a ton for an option team. The game at Yulman Stadium was an anomaly.

3) Those plays on offense where a running back goes in motion right before the snap or right after the snap and makes a beeline for the sideline while running parallel to the line of scrimmage have been a staple of the offense for four years, and I have no idea what the purpose is. It never works. Devin Glenn did it a few times against Ga Tech, and if Tanner Lee had thrown to him, it would have gone for a 5-yard loss because he was not open and had no blocking. Those swing passes to the running backs with no blockers in front of them rarely work, either, usually getting stuffed for a minimal gain, as one to Rob Kelley for 2 yards illustrated. Not sure what the plan is there. It's hard to catch a ball running sideways and then make guys miss. Plus, Tulane runs those type of patterns so often that when it ran a nifty misdirection screen to Kelley, it fooled no one. Since most Tulane plays end up with the backs in patterns near the line of scrimmage, why would it have fooled anyone?

4) Royce LaFrance really struggled against the option near the goal line, getting sealed inside repeatedly as the play went to his side. But LaFrance was better than Ade Aruna, another predictable result since Aruna is green against the run and never had played an option team before. He looked lost.

5) Kelley's nice run actually was a poor run that he turned into a good play with outstanding individual effort. He stopped and changed direction for no real reason, which almost always results in a negative play, but he made it work.

6) Even Jarrod Franklin, who played with effort from start to finish, had plenty of rough plays where he got blocked or ran to the wrong area or missed a tackle. No one played well on defense, to my eyes.

7) I loved Dontrell Hilliard going into the season while others preferred Lazedrick Thompson. Score one for the others. Hilliard has looked sluggish in the first two games. With the exception of a nice run to convert a third-and-1 against Georgia Tech, he does not appear to be moving at full speed. He also ran an aimless pattern near the goal line before Tulane settled for a field goal in the second half, and this guy has been money in practice as a receiver. When CJ talks about confidence, Hilliard is a prime example. Thompson, meanwhile, ran hard every time he touched the ball and has earned the right to be the featured back against Maine. I don't know how players graded out against Georgia Tech, but I suspect Thompson and Devon Breaux may have been the only players to earn a passing grade.

8) I still can't get a clear picture on what happened with the miscommunication between Lee and Breaux on the interception, but Lee blamed himself when I talked to him yesterday, saying they were not on the same page but it was his fault.

9) Everyone in the stadium will be praying John Leglue snaps well against Maine because Mike Lizanich has made too many mistakes in three years to ever be trusted to ever fix his issues. Yes, I'm being Captain Obvious, but I can't understand why the coaches haven't found someone better. It makes zero sense that Tulane cannot execute a deep snap. It's insane.

10) With Terren Encalade out, Tulane absolutely, positively has to thrown down the field to its tight ends and running backs against Maine because the depth at wideout is nonexistent. Limit the sideways throws and get Hilliard 15 yards down the field like his touchdown against Houston and keep throwing the seam route to Trey Scott. He was not open often against Duke and Georgia Tech, but he will be against Maine.

Never mind. Double post.

Unfortunately you did miss the announcement. Rick was forced to move Saturday's game to the Superdome to accommodate the
overflow crowd that Yulman could not handle. The long-standing regional rivalry between these two exciting teams, each sporting unblemished records necessitated the move.

Of course Tulane's 0-2 record is deceptive. There is excitement among the Olive Green and Blue faithful given that we are leading the nation statistically in many categories, like "most points allowed," "fewest yards rushing" and that hallmark of all Tulane teams, "special teams miscues."

Understandably, Rick also needed to accommodate the many fans Maine is expected to bring in. He correctly surmised that most of them would prefer seeing the Superdome as opposed to actually watching the game itself. A smart move.

Locally, ticket sales are growing notwithstanding our poor performance against Georgia Tech. It seems that CJ's announcement yesterday at his weekly press
conference has fans convinced these silly mistakes will be corrected, just as he promised after Duke. There was a palpable shift in attitude among his audience when CJ said "we just need to play with a little more confidence." Who knew?
He also said, to the relief of everyone, that no lineup changes are planned other than at long-snapper. But greatest cause for optimism was when he announced that henceforth we will be "simplifying" our otherwise deceptive offense.
Few suspected this, believed missed blocks and stupid penalties had played the major role.

The Dome will be filled, so get there early if you hope to park anywhere within walking distance.

Roll Wave

Unfortunately you did miss the announcement. Rick was forced to move Saturday's game to the Superdome to accommodate the
overflow crowd that Yulman could not handle. The long-standing regional rivalry between these two exciting teams, each sporting unblemished records necessitated the move.

Of course Tulane's 0-2 record is deceptive. There is excitement among the Olive Green and Blue faithful given that we are leading the nation statistically in many categories, like "most points allowed," "fewest yards rushing" and that hallmark of all Tulane teams, "special teams miscues."

Understandably, Rick also needed to accommodate the many fans Maine is expected to bring in. He correctly surmised that most of them would prefer seeing the Superdome as opposed to actually watching the game itself. A smart move.

Locally, ticket sales are growing notwithstanding our poor performance against Georgia Tech. It seems that CJ's announcement yesterday at his weekly press
conference has fans convinced these silly mistakes will be corrected, just as he promised after Duke. There was a palpable shift in attitude among his audience when CJ said "we just need to play with a little more confidence." Who knew?
He also said, to the relief of everyone, that no lineup changes are planned other than at long-snapper. But greatest cause for optimism was when he announced that henceforth we will be "simplifying" our otherwise deceptive offense.
Few suspected this, believed missed blocks and stupid penalties had played the major role.

The Dome will be filled, so get there early if you hope to park anywhere within walking distance.

Roll Wave

Our opponents went 8 – 2 this week and, on the whole are looking better than most thought pre-season.

Duke- Duke overwhelmed FCS’ North Carolina Central, 55-0. This is their second straight “laugher” to start the season. It will be interesting when they start playing “real” teams.

Georgia Tech- Had a solid game against an overmatched, undermanned, poorly coached, listless squad that played with no “fire.”

Maine- Maine had a BYE and should be ready for us. Will we be ready?

Bye- Didn’t play, but still is our best chance for not losing on a weekend.

UCF – Central Florida lost to Stanford 31-7, only scoring thanks to a “garbage time” TD with a minute to go in the game. For the game, UCF averaged 2.8 yards a play and gained only 187 yards. Up until their final possession, they only had 131 yards and a 2.1 yard/play average. I can only assume (I don’t know) that that drive was against Stanford reserves. On defense, UCF was porous against a passing attack that gained 339 yards while also allowing 131 yards rushing.

Temple- Temple won their second straight, this time against conference mate, Cincinnati, 34-26. The score is somewhat deceiving as “the Bearcats” had 557 yards of offense to Temple’s 296. Four interceptions and a fumble did them in. At the same time, it must be noted that many of those yards and their final 14 points came in the 4th quarter after Temple built a 34-12 lead.

Houston- Houston had a big win over P5 Louisville, 34-31. Houston outgained “the Cardinals” and scored on a 100 yard kickoff return, but winning the turnover war, 3-1, was the real key. They look good.

Navy- Navy had a bye.

Memphis- Memphis rolled up 653 yards in pounding a hapless P5 Kansas team, 55-23. They completed an amazing 24 of 27 passes for 370 yards. Yet they averaged 5.3 yards per rush on 53 attempts for 283 rushing yards also. That could be very ugly in a few weeks. Of course, after the past two weeks, “ugly” could be a relative term.

UCONN- UCONN beat a bad Army team, 22-17. I saw much of this game and UCONN’s QB looked good. He’s mobile, hard to tackle and a pretty good passer. UCONN dominated the game, if not the score by running up 415 yards to 265, gaining 23 1st downs to nine, and winning time-of-possession, 39 minutes to 21 minutes.

Army- As noted above, Army lost to UCONN, 22-17. Army has only one weapon, their starting QB, Bradshaw. He can’t pass but he is very quick and mobile. He scored on one long TD run and had another 49 yard run called back due to a penalty. If we can control him, we can contain their offense. Once they fell behind by 12 points late, they brought in their “passer,” who hit a long TD pass, though bad defense by Connecticut contributed on that one. They didn’t show me much but, then again, neither have we.

SMU- SMU beat CUSA’s North Texas 31-21 with three TD’s in the fourth quarter to come back from a 21-10 deficit. They rolled up 444 yards to North Texas’ 240. Despite being behind for much of the game, they never gave up.

Tulsa – Another AAC “doormat,”Tulsa got off to a 2-0 start by routing New Mexico of the Sunbelt Conference, 40-21. They rolled up 600 yards in a balanced attack (321 passing and 289 rushing) that totally dominated the game after falling behind 14-10 in the first quarter.

Obviously our opponents had a good week with UCF again underperforming versus preseason hype and Army continuing to look bad. Memphis and Houston had big wins against P5 schools. Temple won again and the three other teams who were suspected of being our “peers” this year, UCONN, SMU, and Tulsa, all looked pretty decent. My five win season prediction is starting to look shaky .

Roll Wave!!!

Tulane elected to practice on Monday and skip Tuesday instead of taking Monday off and practicing Tuesday, its regular schedule during the season when it plays Saturday games. There are no time limits on holiday practices like there are when class is in session. It was a hot morning, which could help prepare the Green Wave for an afternoon game in Atlanta, although the initial weather forecast is for a 75 percent chance of rain.

Sean Wilson, as expected, is not dressed. He is standing on the field with a brace on his left knee watching a drill between the offensive and defensive lines. Everyone else is accounted for. Corey Redwine, who had two tackles against Duke but also succumbed to cramps for a stretch, is replacing Wilson with the first-team defense. Every other player is the same on both sides of the ball.

CJ is riding the receivers hard. Tanner Lee got plenty of criticism for the offense's failures against Duke, but a huge issue was the lack of separation and play-making ability of the receivers in that game. Devon Breaux just beat Parry Nickerson deep, and Lee threw a catchable ball that was a shade too long. Instead of running through the catch, Breaux tried to one-hand it. CJ screamed for another receiver to replace him, called him over and gave him a tongue-lashing, saying it was a perfect throw and he had to get two hands on the ball. One caveat on the receivers: Duke's strength going into the year unquestionable was its secondary. Tulane may not face a group of DBs as good as that for the rest of the season.

It is a feisty practice. Charles Jones just caught a pass in 11-on-11 drills with a lot of room to run. He then ran into Jarrod Franklin pretty hard in what was supposed to be a no-tackling drill, drawing Nico Marley's ire. Marley went up to Jones and shoved him and had some choice words for him, prompting CJ to throw Marley out of the drill. At the end of the possession, the drive stalled at the 30, so Trevor Simms tried a 47-yard field goal and duck hooked into the Student Section words at the back of the end zone about 20 yards left of the upright. Folks, I can't make this stuff up. The drive was very crisp right up until the kick.

Jeremie Francis is practicing with the second unit at cornerback, so it looks like they don't expect Dedrick Shy to be eligible against Georgia Tech. Stephon Lofton is working as the second-team nickel. The linebackers are Rae Juan Marbley and Zach Harris. The safeties are Tristan Cooper and Roderic Teamer, so it's pretty much the status quo.

The second-team offensive line is John Leglue, Leeward Brown, Junior Diaz, Brandon Godfrey and Devon Johnson, so there are no changes up front offensively. It was a poor performance by the OL against Duke, but the starters proved themselves as better than their backups during preseason camp. I don't think a personnel change will help.

At the end of the two-minute drive matching the second units, Steven DiRocco hit a 39-yard field goal. If he can do that in a game, Tulane will be in better shape than a year ago. It appears the Wave will have to get to the 25-yard line to have a realistic chance of making a field goal or even attempt one.

Michael Lizanich continues to be the first-team long snapper on punts. HIs snaps were OK in the punting drill today, but we saw what happened against Duke. John Leglue, the second-team long snapper, was perfect on his snaps today. The first team punter is Peter and the second team punter is Picerelli. In other words, there is no possibility of a change there--he is by far the best punter on the roster at this point, which says something.

In the field goal drills, DiRocco made from 29 yards, 37 yards, missed short and right from 37 yards (I kid you not), Simms nailed one from 43 yards and missed wide left from 48 yards, all from the left hash. Trying from the right hash, Simms was wide left from 47 yards. Then DiRocco tried a 37-yarder and hit it. None of the snaps was terrible, but few were perfect.

I am a Lee supporter, but he does need to improve his accuracy. He is a tad off on several of his throws. One forced open tight end Kendall Ardoin to make a diving catch near the line of scrimmage in what would have gone for a first down if he had hit him in stride.

One of the most crucial plays in the Duke game was the offside when the Blue Devils punted from deep in their territory in the first half. Well, today, Lee just got the defense to jump offside twice in a span of a minute with a hard count. That's a different problem than what happened Thursday, but it's still concerning.

If Ade Aruna can get past the physical ailment that affected him in the first half against Duke, he will live up to his hype. He just knocked down pass by Devin Powell, using his length.

Braynon Edwards is in uniform, but he's not getting any reps. Jason Stewart just went in ahead of him. Eswards is standing next to Edward Williams, who is suspended for the year, on the sideline.

Devin Glenn's nickname of Jet is accurate. If the Wave can get him the ball in space, he can do serious damage. The problem is opponents probably will ID him the second he enters the game and make sure to limit the space.

Sherman Badie just dropped an easy pass. The coaches keep saying he is an excellent receiver despite mediocre numbers in that department from a year ago, but he needs to prove it on the field.

Taris Shenall made a nice interception of Powell near the end of practice. Tulane got very little from its true freshman class against Duke, but Shenall is going to be a good player.

Leonard Townsend started at linebacker against Georgia Tech last year because of his ability to run and his tackling, then did not have another tackle the rest of the year while playing sparingly. Don't look for a resurgence this Saturday. He practiced exclusively with the scout team defense today when they divided up into scout teams.

Charles Jones left the field near the end of practice, accompanied by a trainer. He appeared to be fine, though, and CJ confirmed it in the quotes below.

Here are CJ's quotes from today:

On practicing Monday instead of Tuesday

"We have another day, so we got more time with them today. It was good. I thought we ran around well. The defense looked good. We had some good throws and some nice plays."

On hot weather

"I'm glad. I hope it is warm in Atlanta. I can't get the weather straight. Last year I didn't want it to be warm. Now this year I want it to be. I hear it is (supposed to rain). We have to do the wet ball drill. But hey, look, you gotta play in some elements, and I think it will rain this weekend."

On Wilson status

"I don't think we're going to have him for this week and maybe the next week. You see him, he's on the bike and just walking around. It's just a knee sprain. We have a couple of guys limited right, but for the most part we'll be healthy."

On Trey Scott making one catch, dropping tough chance that turned into INT v. Duke

"Some of it was him and some of it was not being targeted. I think what happened to a bunch of our guys is, we we were all excited, we get hyped and we go three-and-out and three-and-out, and then all of a sudden they kind of go in the tank a little bit. We have to get past some of those immaturity things."

On defending option

"You just gotta defend it. We've been practicing since last spring. The best thing you have to do, you gotta play assignment football and be very, very disciplined. This quarterback is a handful, the backs look good and the line's pretty mature, so this is a tough team for us."

On reaching out to outer schools for help

"We have done high schools and colleges also, teams that played well against the option teams. We've done extensive high school research, so yes, we do that."

On helpful to have played Georgia Tech last year

"They know what they are doing. They are so-high powered. They got it going. That's one thing about Paul Johnson. He knows the answers to the questions, so we just have to hang on, try to get some turnovers and hope we can slow those guys down."

On Glenn

"He's going to play. He's definitely going to play. Last year he was out with the shoulder, but this week we have some plays in for him. I want to piece mail him in a little bit. I don't want to just whole-heartedly substitute him."

On long snappers

"We've started speeding some things up a little bit with the long snapper and the kicker. The long snapper, he's just got to get it back a little bit. Pete (Picerelli) did a great job getting some of those errant snaps down."

Is Charles Jones OK?

"He's fine. He got hot."

On Shy

"I don't know about Shy. He's got to get some stuff cleared. I wish he was available. He's a big, physical DB, and our DBs definitely are going to have to tackle this week."

On Marley being too aggressive in practice at times

"I have to calm him down. I don't want him to get kicked out of the game. All of a sudden, we've got the muscle man penalty, we've got this, but he's a player now. He plays his heart out."

It never ends:

http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/2015/09/tulane_suspends_senior_ss_dari.html#incart_river

As usual, almost all of us went down in flames picking Tulane to cover last week. This week the Wave is a bigger underdog than for any game under Curtis Johnson.

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

Georgia Tech (-29) Tulane
Cincinnati (-6.5) Temple
Louisville (-13.5) Houston
Connecticut (-7) Army
Mississippi State (+4.5) LSU
Oklahoma (-1.5) Tennessee
Michigan State (-3.5) Oregon
Stanford (-19) Central Florida

I attended Tulane from 1962 to 1967, which included our last four years in the Southeast Conference and first year as an independent. We played Georgia Tech all five years in football, losing 42-14, 17-3, 7-6, 13-10, and 35-17. Those were the final five years that Hall of Famer, Bobby Dodd, coached Georgia Tech, and in 1966, his last year, they were ranked eighth in the nation in both the Coaches’ poll and the AP poll. But they weren’t the dominating team they had been in the 1950’s when at one point they won six straight bowl games- Orange, Sugar, Sugar, Cotton, Sugar, and Gator. That’s still pretty impressive! They finished in the top ten all but one of those years when they finished eleventh.

Georgia Tech left the SEC after the 1963 season despite being quite competitive (20-15) in the conference their final five years. The reason? The SEC was going to limit the number of recruits a school could sign and Tech thought that with their academic stringency, that would put them at a disadvantage. Two years later, many will forget, that was also a reason Tulane gave for removing from the conference. Of course, we weren’t nearly as competitive either.

In 1980 a guy I worked with, Mike Ashmore, had been a defensive lineman at Georgia Tech in the late ‘60’s and said his “claim to fame” in football was that he ran down Bobby Duhon from behind in one of their games with Tulane. I’m not sure I believed that but, truthfully, Bobby was quick and shifty, but not particularly fast, so maybe… Anyway, Mike and I recalled many other events in that one-sided history.

We played Georgia Tech a number of times in the 30’s and 40’s and every year from 1955 to 1982 before taking a long break prior to last year’s game. Through the years we have a 13-36 record against “The Yellow Jackets” and have played them more often than any team other than LSU, Ole Miss, and Mississippi State. I wish we’d play them every year. Eventually, we’d win again. The last time was 1981. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, but without much hope for a "W."

Roll Wave!!!

This year I will give a breakdown of how we fared on each game. If anyone had picked Duke to cover, they'd probably be in the lead with the two points they would have gotten. Only one person was above .500.

5

Dr. Box

4

Guerry
Charlamagne8
Kettrade1
MNAlum
Rcnut
Paliii

3

WaveON
Wavetime

2

nyoscar
Golfer81
p8kpev
Dew99

1

winwave
LSU Law Greenie
jjstock2005

Winners/how many picked them

Duke 0
Temple 4
Louisville 4
Texas A&M 9
Alabama 8
Notre Dame 7
BYU 6
Washington 8

Guerry - I don't think the Duke game would put Tulane in a very good light among recruits, but did you ever get a list of who attended?

I arrived late and practice ended early, so I saw about 15 minutes. The only thing I noticed was some second-team offensive linemen getting some reps with the first unit on the right side--Junior Diaz, Brandon Godfrey and John Leglue. The depth chart has not changed, but that bears watching.

Didn't have much to ask CJ today after catching him Monday and at Tuesday's press conference.

How was practice?

"I though it was good. I thought it was real good actually. It was better than I expected. We gave them a day off last time and they weren't good, but they were good today. They ran around."

With the offensive line, what is the primary thing you want to see improve from the disappointing Duke game?

"You know what, the one thing is I want to run the ball a lot better. This team's another tough team. They come after you. I want to get some consistency running. They did a good job keeping them off the quarterback. Two of those plays they called sacks, Tanner ran out of the pocket once and the other one he was just late, but other than that it (the protection) was good against a tough team."

Corey Redwine is being thrust back into a starting role after not even thinking he was going to continue playing football at the end of last season. Is he ready for this?

"I hope so. He's going back home. He's from the Atlanta area. The one thing about him now is he's playing a lot better this year than last year. I want him to play well in front of his family. He's begging everybody for tickets, so I hope he plays well."

Other than Wilson, is there any player who might miss this game due to injury?

"I don't think so."

What’s up with our academic problems? Our poor 2015 recruiting class, average rating between 247, Rivals, and Scout was 103rd out of 128 teams, lost three players before they even got to campus due to failing to meet NCAA minimums. Then, before fall practice starts, Leonard Davis and Edwin Williams have to sit out the year for academic shortcomings. The good news (I guess) is that they can take a “redshirt” year and IF they can get their academic situation in order will not lose a year of eligibility. Now, it’s reported that two guys who have really underperformed on the field, Kenneth Santa Marina and Braynon Edwards, have been declared academically ineligible as the season starts. Both have already used a “redshirt” year so this is a lost year of eligibility, assuming either returns. That’s seven guys not able to play out of 83 we might have had available. I’m all for taking in guys who meet NCAA standards, but they need to meet those standards. And, once enrolled, they have to do enough to stay eligible. This is not good.

All of us have views on whether Team A is better than Team B or Team C is not as good as Team D. Yet, few of us, even retired guys like me, have the time to analyze each and every team and rank order them from #1 to #128. I’ve always liked the Massey rankings (http://www.masseyratings.com/cf/compare.htm ) because they attempt to put together a composite of a wide variety of polls, computer model rankings, and individual, magazine, and newspaper views on how each team is ranked. That doesn’t make them right; it’s just a consensus of a large number of viewpoints.

Prior to the start of the season, Tulane was ranked #101 by the Massey composite. Going into week two, following the Duke game, we’ve dropped 13 slots to #114 and are now only ahead of two FBS teams on our schedule. What follows is the ranking of each team we play this year with Maine being ranked within the FCS. I’ve shown the team, followed by its preseason rank, its current rank, and the change since last week. For example, Duke’s line looks like this:

Duke 45, 37, +8. Last week they were #45. This week, they are #37, and they’ve improved (+) eight slots.

The others in order of our schedule:

Georgia Tech 15, 11, +4.
Maine 40, 51, -11
UCF 53, 74, -21
Temple 74, 51, +23
Houston 68, 65, +3
Navy 66, 61, +5
Memphis 49, 39, +10
UCONN 119, 110, +9
Army 118, 123, -5
SMU 122, 120, +2
Tulsa 113, 105, +8

Off of the first week, UCF had the worst drop, 21 slots, while Tulane was second, 14. Army’s loss to Fordham only dropped them five spaces because, frankly, they couldn’t drop much further. Overall, at least according the the Massey rankings, our opponents as a group moved up from an average of 76.6 to 72.4, a gain of four spaces. For interest, the AAC remained just behind the Mountain West among G5 conferences, but moved up a couple slots on average from 80.7 to 78.2.

I’ll be tracking this through the season for my own interest. If others are also interested, I’ll post the weekly results here each Thursday, depending on my schedule.

Roll Wave!!

After causing a fumble on Duke's first series last Thursday, Ade Aruna got injured in the first quarter and stayed on the ground for a minute before getting up and walking off the field without a limp. He returned in the second quarter and finished with five tackles, but it was unclear what happened to him to cause him to leave for a while. I caught up with him today after practice and asked.

"I got the wind knocked out of me a little bit. That's why I went down. I just had to come back catch my breath a little bit, so they took me out and I came back in and started playing again."

How do you feel like you played?

"I can do better than that. The whole team can do better, but it is what it is. I think I did OK, but I can do better than what I did in the first game."

Georgia Tech runs on almost every play. That wasn't your strength when you got here. Are you confidence you can handle the assignment?

"Yeah, me and Royce (LaFrance) don't need to get up field. All we have to do is play our assignments, and that's what we're going to do. Last year (against Georgia Tech) I was on the special teams and did not get any reps on defense, but I watched what happened. We just have to stick to the assignment and do everything exactly like the coaches tell us to do."

Opening Statement:

“The most disappointing part of the loss was that we didn’t play like we practiced and with the energy and the fire. We had a couple of three-and-out’s on offense. I looked at the bench and people’s heads were down and eyes were cloudy, almost like it was over, and it wasn’t over yet in the first half. In the second half, when the momentum began to change, we began to miss tackles and some smaller things that are correctable. I did remind the team of a couple of things. A few years ago we played South Alabama and our defense couldn’t stop running water, and I was really on suicide watch then. We lost that game but at the end of the season we were bowl eligible. It’s not over yet. The sun is up. We have to play a really good Georgia Tech team this week. I want to see us progress and do the things that we do well. If we can do those things, I’ll be happy.”


On whether the biggest thing right now is keeping the players from getting too down:

“I think what happens is, you practice hard and you know you’re better and you just want to come out and play well, but you don’t, especially against an opponent that was probably better than us. That offensive line they had was good, and the quarterback played well, but we have to play better. The kids have to understand that they have to put it to teams in order to win. It’s just not going to happen by happenstance.”


With special teams being a big focus in the offseason, were you disappointed in their performance:

“One thing we did do was personnel the kicking team much differently. As far as the punting, I thought Peter (Picerelli) did ok. He did what we asked him to do, which was kick it high where the kid couldn’t return a punt. We knew their punt returner was very dangerous. We like the ball to be kicked a little farther to the left. We just got to go down and make a tackle on a big return. If you don’t do that against a good team, they’ll utilize their explosive players.”


More on the snapping issues:

“Yeah, very disappointed. We are going to go with John Leglue on short snaps. (Michael) Lizanich will continue to do the long snaps but enough is enough. I think Lizanich definitely has the talent to do it, but he just has to do it every time, which isn’t that much to ask.”


Is the run game something they want to do more of in week two:

“Yeah, we have to. We wanted to do more when we started that game out, but we got backed up a couple of possessions. Then all of sudden we had no run game because we were down and had to catch up. We probably threw it the most in the time I’ve bene here. The disappointing part was, we have to make first downs. We have to continue drives. The one thing I’ve always told our team is when you can get a couple of first downs, you can flip the field position. Duke flipped it and we didn’t.”


In having more time between games – did that allow more time to recover or a longer time to dwell on loss:

“I don’t mind playing whenever we play. I think we all got to look at each other as a man and say we have to coach and play better.”


On going for it on 4th down deep in enemy territory and how much it has changed offensively and not having a reliable kicker like Cairo Santos. Is there a line:

“There’s definitely a line. That’s what we talked about going into it. Everyone knew right away we were going for it. We hadn’t been consistent in making those (field goals) from that distance. I didn’t want to do that to that kid and the team. I thought we had a chance to make it on fourth down but we didn’t execute like we should have. We’ll continue to go for it until we feel a little bit more comfortable with (Andrew) DiRocco.”


“When you get down there you have to get points against a team like Duke. Like I said, I don’t know if we could have beat them or not. They’re a really good football team, but you want momentum and something to come off the field with.”


On the minimum lineup changes for week two:

“No, we’re not changing very much. I really love our team, we just have to play better. I like what we’re doing on defense. Sean (Wilson) is going to be out the next game and we’ll miss him. I thought the linebackers played well, just look at what (Darion) Monroe did. He probably had his best game. Nico (Marley) had 15 tackles. They just played tremendous on defense. I would like to get a couple of those balls back that we didn’t intercept. Offensively, the receivers did pretty well, specifically (Terren) Encalade and (Teddy) Veal. Then (Devon) Breaux had the big play.”


Is it easy to get the kids up for facing a top-20 team in Georgia Tech and being a heavy underdog:

“No, I don’t think it plays to our favor. The one thing you have to do when you’re playing a team like this, a really good football team, is work on your own mistakes. If we concentrate on ourselves, and not worry about the (scoring) line, and be more concerned with getting this team to work, we’ll be fine for that game.”


Was the result more disappointing now that you have more experienced players:

“It’s always disappointing when you only score seven points. They did do some good things, but we need to mature. We need to get better at the third down situations. Tanner will get it better. He made some throws in there that I thought were incredible, but still did some novice things. Again, Tanner will be good.”


On what he thinks Georgia Tech’s weakness might be:

“I don’t know if there’s a weakness. When I watched the Mississippi State game last year, I didn’t see any. The quarterback is phenomenal. They have a bunch of players that came back on defense. Coach Johnson has many answers for the option. They’re a very good football team. Again, the one thing we need to do is tackle, move the ball on them, and get a lead and try to make them throw the ball and become one-dimensional. That’s how you beat the option.”


When you say the team didn’t play like they practiced. Who is that on?:

“I mean, you could put it on me, but it’s on everybody. I have to get those guys ready to play like they practiced. The coaches have to make sure they’re putting them in the best opportunity to play like they practiced, and the players have to go out and execute the game plan.”


Assessing the team’s tackling woes:

“We did some tackling circuits this week. We hit the sled a little bit more. To me, tackling is an attitude. You got to bring your feet and tackle your guys. Also, I think a part of it (last Thursday vs Duke) was in the second half when the defense became a little more discouraged.”

Some random thoughts.

Our running game. We started out with a 4 yard run and a 5 yard run and on 3rd and 1 I was confident. Then, we handed off to Thompson, our “pile-driving” back and three Duke defenders broke through to tackle him 2 yards behind the line of scrimmage. NO ONE BLOCKED. I knew then we were in trouble. In the end, our longest run was for 11 yards and our four running backs gained 58 yards on 17 rushes (3.4 yds/carry). Are we overrating our running backs? Maybe. None of them are Matt Forte, but much of the problem is a very poor offensive line, who’s play, considering the experience they have, is inexcusable.

Our passing game. On the second series, we got a first down on a pass interference, then threw two incompletions, both bad throws. Jacquet then moved early to make it 3rd and 15. To cap off the series, Lee was then sacked by two guys who charged in on either side of Jacquet, with neither of them being touched. To be that close to the action and not participate usually costs the viewer a lot of money. (Sarcasm). Before it was all over, Lee was sacked four times, hit many more times, and hurried on most throws, including the 76 yard TD, in which Breaux made a great play. Lee missed quite a few passes, but the line didn’t do him many favors and receivers seldom had much separation. The interception was off his man’s hands in a very tight space. But most of his throws were to “very tight spaces.” Lack of blocking, poor separation, an inaccurate QB, and faulty play calling seldom spells success. Other than the long TD, our average completed pass went for 7 yards. And, on several occasions we were 3rd and short, having completed two passes. It’s hard to move the chains if you have to complete three straight passes to get a first down. That's a play calling problem but may be driven by lack of time to throw.

Our Defense. I note a lot of people give our “D” a pass in this game because they were on the field so long. There is probably some truth to that. But, one of the reasons is that the “D” couldn’t get off the field. In the first half, presumably before our “conditioning” gave way, Duke had seven drives which resulted in a TD, three FGs, a turnover, and two punts. They gained over 250 yards. Before it was over, they “gashed” us for 530 yards, averaging 5.7 yards/play. Receivers were wide open all night. And, we never figured out how to cover their option (Heaven help us against Georgia Tech, Navy, and Army). Their QB outrushed our entire backfield. And their speed and athleticism was well beyond ours. Our linebackers and DB’s couldn’t keep up with their backs all night and they “turned the corner” on virtually every rush to the outside. Allen, Franklin, Monroe, and Lewis made 35 tackles in the defensive backfield. BTW, I thought Monroe may have played his best game as a Greenie, though he must have played a part in all the completions over the middle. Thomas had a terrible game in my view, and though Marley (who I love) made several really good plays, he was badly fooled on a run straight at him that went for 20 yards and should have been stopped at two. Another time he tried to “block” a ball carrier to the ground with his shoulder and “whiffed” completely, allowing another long gain. Good stats for the “little guy” but not one of his better games in my view. Better offenses than Duke’s lie ahead. We need to improve quickly.

Special TeamsI think Dr. Box may have “coined” the expression, “clown act” for our special teams back during the Toledo era (error?). Whatever, I don’t recall “Buffet Bob’s” teams putting on a performance so woefully inept in every area. Last year we were last in the FBS in special teams by most accounts. But a continued performance like last night would put us last in Division 1 (FBS plus FCS) and maybe the entire NCAA, to include Division 2 and 3. A nightmare! Start with the two high snaps on our first two punts, which were at least partly to blame for poor punts (30 and 31 yards respectively). That said, I can’t come up for an excuse for Pic’s later punts of 37, 32, 32, 25, and 33 yards. That’s’ seven punts that averaged 31.4 yards. He did have a very nice 55 yard punt and another for 47. He also had a very short punt that rolled forever to give him a 44 yard net. Really poor overall!

Our punt and kick coverage regressed badly. The 95 yard TD return was the first we’d given up in three years. Considering we only kicked off twice and that was the only one returned, you can’t do much worse.

As for our own return game, the only time we got beyond the 25 yard line on kick-returns was when they kicked out of bounds, hardly a sterling achievement for our side. And, Breaux taking a knee inside the one yard line is something I’ve only seen one other time in the past 60 or so years in any level of play. As far as punt returns, we caught one that should have been let go and let one go that should have been caught. We had 8 yards in total returns all night so that can’t be very good.

Of course, lining up “off sides” when Duke was punting deep in their own territory was yet another in a long list of “unforgivable” efforts on the night.

What can one say about or snapping issues? The two high snaps on punts I already mentioned. The “dribble” that only went about five yards looked like Lizanich tried to stop the snap for some reason and couldn’t. It may have been due to the “procedure” penalty called on us that play but I don’t know. Maybe it will be explained at some point. Anyway, that was truly the “capper” on the special teams’ effort. Oh, DiRocco’s extra point was a “Thing of Beauty.” (Got to find something positive I suppose).

I know a lot of people think we’re so much improved athletically over recent Tulane teams and that may be true. But to think we’re in the same class as a team like Duke doesn’t pass the eyeball test from my perspective. They appeared faster, bigger, and more aggressive. The difference in coaching only exacerbates the problem. While recruiting may be CJ’s strength, we’re not getting the players necessary to compete with Duke. Maybe we’ll show better in the coming weeks. I always have hope.

Roll Wave!!

Bogie got the call up. Well deserved.


http://www.mcall.com/sports/basebal...-qa-brian-bogusevic-0905-20150905-column.html

Our opponents, in general, did better than the Wave this weekend, going 8 - 4, but all did not impress.

Duke- Duke looked good. I don’t wish to comment further at this time.

Georgia Tech- The “Yellow Jackets” routed Alcorn State 69-6, despite “calling off the dogs” early. Next week could be tough for the Wave.

Maine- Maine, as our one “walk-over” this year, may be tougher than some expected. They lost to Boston College 24-3, but trailed only 10-3 into the fourth quarter. They didn’t show any offense, however, netting only 91 total yards while giving up 359.

Bye- While we’re unlikely to win this match up, it probably gives us our best shot of the year to avoid defeat. The big question: Will CJ give the players the week off? Green Wave fans want to know.

UCF – UCF blew a 14-3 lead to lose 15-14 to Florida International. That this was unexpected is an understatement. UCF may not be as good (or as average) as many have thought.

Temple- In the conference’s “best” win in a while, Temple trounced Penn State 27-10. I watched a lot of this game and the score reflected the dominance. Trailing 10-7 at half time, Temple took over. For the game they led in 1st downs (16-7), time-of-possession (36-24), and yards gained (315-182). Their second half defense was awesome. It’s only one game, but it is more like what we were hoping for from “our team.”

Houston- Houston beat FCS’ Tennessee Tech, 52-24, in a game which they led 45-10 early in the 4th quarter. Houston rolled up 627 yards while allowing 341. Of course, over half of those yards (173) came on Tech’s last two drives against Houston reserves.

Navy- Navy mauled FCS Colgate 48-10, while throwing only six passes. Three were complete, all to one guy for 67 yards. Of course they also ran for 373 yards with their triple option. They are always tough and will be again this year in Annapolis.

Memphis- Memphis slaughtered FCS’ Missouri State, 63-7. They rolled up 519 yards to their opponent’s 125 and were helped by three Missouri State turnovers, while clearing the bench (played 66 guys). I don’t know if we learned anything from this mismatch, other than Memphis can run up big numbers against bad teams.

UCONN- UCONN struggled to beat FCS’ Villanova 20-15. It was a very close game with UCONN gaining 307 yards to ‘Nova’s 303. The teams had similar stats for rushing, passing, turnovers, kicking, punting, returns, 3rd/4th down conversions, and penalties. Not much to choose from, but the scoreboard kept the “Huskies” from an embarrassing defeat.

Army- Army fell behind early to FCS’ Fordham, came back to tie the game, and then lost the game in the fourth quarter. They apparently suck, but Fordham may have their best team since the “seven blocks of granite” featured Frank Leahy as the offensive line coach and Vince Lombardi as one of the “blocks.” Fordham outgained Army 445 to 389 on the strength of 323 yards passing. Army, of course, got most of their yards on the ground (256 net). Losing to an FCS team in a home opener can't be good.

SMU- SMU held tough with Baylor for a half, only trailing 28-21, but eventually was overwhelmed 56-21. The Ponies gained 366 yards but allowed an astounding 723 (300 rushing and 423 passing). Could be interesting when our “no offense” faces their “no defense” on November 21st.

Tulsa – Tulsa beat Florida Atlantic in a “track meet,” 47-44, in overtime. Tulsa racked up 618 yards with the “Baylor-like” offense coach Phillip Montgomery brought with him. Of course, they allowed 568 yards, and “lost” the time-of-possession” battle, 2-1. Yet, it’s a lot better than what happened to UCF against another CUSA team.

Quick Summary- It’s hard to judge our opponents off of one game, especially since it included so many mismatches against FCS opponents. Temple looked particularly good; Army looked particularly bad. UCF wasn’t as good as expected, and SMU and Tulsa looked like they can move the ball. Navy looked like, well…, Navy. We're still playing our toughest games early and our easier games later in the season.