I'm a little late with this, but better late than never.

Two previous commitments were there: TE Blake Gunter, who committed in September, RB/slot Jaylin Lucas, a Terrebone product who committed in July.

Three more 2022 possibilities were there:

1) Landon Ibieta. a 3-star WR from Mandeville who committed to Miami in June and also has offers from Wake Forest, Virginia and Memphis.

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2) Tygee Hill, a 4-star OT from Karr who committed to LSU in March.

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3) Tanner Johnson, a no-star safety from Lehman High in Texas who is listed at 5-9, 145 pounds.

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Two 2023 prospects were there:

1) Jirrea Johnson, a 3-star LB from Warren Easton who has offers from Louisville and Kansas.

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2) Jameian Buxton, a 3-star DT who plays for Thibodaux and has offers from a lot of big-time programs

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Tulane played its first complete game of the year, dominating all three phases and not committing a single accepted penalty. Then, as I had been told might happen more than a month ago, the Green Wave got a commitment from Lawerence Keys, a McDonogh 35 product who signed with Notre Dame in 2018 and had entered the transfer portal. He will be reunited with Chip Long. He had 13 catches for 134 yards in 2019, Long's last year at Notre Dame, and one catch for 20 yards against Alabama in a 2020 playoff game. I think one problem Long had this year was he had never coached anywhere with as little talent as Tulane has at wide receiver, and he did not know what to do. Getting better at that position is the No. 1 priority. and this is a good start.

WILLIE FRITZ

"I'm just really proud of the guys. They put forth great effort. We didn't start good again unfortunately. They went right down the field and scored on us, but after that the defense played lights out and we had over 500 yards of offense and we had 360, 370 at halftime. It was a good game in all three phases. We did a pretty good job punting and covering and fielding kicks and kickoffs. They had a nice one earlier in the game and then after that we did a pretty good job of closing the door in that area as well. It was just a good, solid team win. And we had zero penalties. I don't when the last time we had zero penalties was, so that was also big."

On needing a feel-good win:

"It's what everybody needed. Coaches, my wife, everybody needed it. (Deputy athletic director for internal operations) Chris Maitre needed. (Sports information director) Tom (Symonds) needed one. We all needed one. It's been a tough year and I'm just proud of the guys. I said it down there in the locker room. You go through this adversity and a lot of times it doesn't reveal character, it reveals lack of character. Our guys have done a good job of staying together, not acting the fool. I've seen that happen a lot. I know a couple of my buddies are having tough seasons and one.of them called me and said, 'hey, what do you do here? I've got guys entering the portal and quitting and being a fool during practice." I was thinking to myself thank goodnessI I haven't had that. It's something I pride myself on. I want to make sure that we know how to conduct ourselves when we're facing adversity, and these guys have done a great job of that, and the staff. It's tough. It''s difficult when you get in this situation, but the guys have done a very.good job with it."

On Tyjae Spears:

"He's just really tough. He was a complete back when he got here. He played for a great high school coach and he was that way when he came here and he's continued to do it. He's another guy that's faced a lot of adversity with injuries and things. He's just tough. He will go all day and every day. He will give you everything he's got."

On Michael Pratt giving preview of what he can do when he's feeling good:

"I sure hope so. He's just been banged up all year and he was banged up this week. We kind of backed off of him Thursday and Friday and he looked pretty healthy out there today, threw some good touch balls and when he needed to put a little bit of loft and air on them, he did it. I call it a one ball, two ball, three ball. He threw about three or four threes where the only person who could catch it was our guy and it had to be a three in order to complete it, so just a nice job by Mike."

On key to defensive turnaround:

"We've been tackling pretty good. I know coach Hampton is going to be upset because we didn't tackle as well as we needed to at times. If we would have done that, we probably would have held them under 200 yards of offense. I thought for the most part we did a pretty job of maintaining our pass rush lanes on this guy (USF freshman quarterback Timmy McClain) because he's dangerous when he gets out of the pocket. The receivers do a good job of running scramble routes and our DBs did a good job maintaining contact with their guy on scramble plays. That's where they really hurt people the last few weeks was (McClain) getting out of the pocket, extending plays and the receivers staying alive in their routes."

On Noah Seiden leaving at end of year:

"He came here as a walk-on and earned a scholarship. He earned it. He's getting ready to get done with his master's and go to law school, so he's done pretty well. Last night I introduced all the seniors and they all spoke a little bit. Every guy is going to have his degree and/or his master's degree, the transfer guys, so we're batting 100 percent again."

On taking this performance to Memphis:

"Well it would be great. We are going to celebrate this win for a little bit and then start looking at Memphis tomorrow."

NICK ANDERSON

On needing a game like this:

"Man, it was needed. It was needed. I'm out of breath because we had a locker room party. It was very much needed. Like coach Fritz said before the game, he was like let's go out and give it our all. The season really didn't hand us a good card, but it's not about how you start. It's about how you finish. It's about your attitude as far as having pride being on your home field one last time in front of your fans until nest year. Just go out there and give it your all, and that's what did. I'm so proud of this team."

On defensive dominance:

"Their quarterback is a great athlete. He's going to be a dynamic guy, able to move around, out of the pocket and extend plays with his speed. He's got a good arm, a left-handed quarterback, which is pretty rare. The key to the game was keeping him under pressure, making him use his athleticism to try to make plays. The momentum change was hitting him, getting sacks when he rolled out the pocket and tried to extend plays, playing good coverage on the back end and just throwing his mojo off because without him that offense couldn't function."

On four straight games playing well on defense and wondering what if it happened earlier:

"Most definitely. Like coach Hampton says, as a defense often times you've got to outplay the opponent's defense. That's been the standard, trying to play perfect ball, trying to play lights out defense in the past four weeks, which is amazing. We've played to our identity, played to our standard. Coach Hampton is a dynamic coach. He's going to do great things for this program, and I'm just excited to see what goes forward."

On being able to feel good at the end of a game:

"Most definitely. I'm just glad that we got a win at home. We've got one more next week. It's going to be exciting to play Memphis. It's always exciting, especially going up there to an environment like that in the Liberty Bowl. We just want to finish with a W and have that going into next season.'

On if he will be back next year:

"It's too early to make that decision. I'm just going to focus on playing this last game right now."

Guerry,

What are you hearing about Chip Long? I talked to an athletic department staffer who basically said CL is toxic in the locker room and on a human level is just an a-hole. This individual told me it would be in the best interest of Tulane football if CL was not here next year. Thoughts? Do you think a change will be made at seasons end?

Thanks for all you do!

In what I believe is the most lopsided individual weekly win in the nine years I have run this contest, Kettrade1 came within an Auburn second-half collapse of a perfect week, scoring 8 points, while no one else had more than 4. You vaulted to within one point of the co-leaders.

WEEk 10 RESULTS

8

Kettrade1

4

charlamange8
Guerry
MNAlum
DrBox
Wavetime

3

ny oscar
WaveON
2DatWuzAGoodDay2
chigoyboy
diverdo

2

winwave

1

tacklethemanwiththefootball


OVERALL STANDINGS

47.5

charlamange8
DrBox

46.5

Kettrade1

42.5

MNAlum

40.5

chigoyboy

39.5

2DatWuzAGoodBoy2
diverdo (missed 1 week)

36.5

tacklethemanwiththefootball

35.5

winwave

34.5

ny oscar

33.5

WaveON

32.5

Guerry

26.5

Wavetime (missed 2 weeks)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulsa 1 of 13
Michigan 8
Baylor 7
Ole Miss 5
Arkansas 7
Wake Forest 8
Mississippi State 4
Ohio State 5

I was the only person to pick Purdue to cover against Michigan State, and I still finished tied for last for the week.The story of my season.

WEEK 9 RESULTS

6

charlamange8
WaveON
DrBox

5

MNAlum
2DatWuzAGoodDay2
chigoyboy

4

ny oscar
tacklethemanwiththefootball
winwave

3

Guerry
Kettrade1
Wavetime


OVERALL STANDINGS

43.5

charlamange8
DrBox

38.5

Kettrade1
MNAlum

37.5

chigoyboy

36.5

2DatWuzAGoodBoy2
diverdo (missed 1 week)

35.5

tacklethemanwiththefootball

33.5

winwave

31.5

ny oscar

30.5

WaveON

28.5

Guerry

22.5

Wavetime (missed 2 weeks)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane 7 of 12
Texas A&M 7
LSU 5
Mississippi State 8
Tennessee 3
North Carolina 5
Oregon 11
Purdue 1

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

Tulane (-5.5) South Florida
Cincinnati (-11.5) SMU
Ohio State (-19) Michigan State
Clemson (-4) Wake Forest
Utah (-3.5) Oregon
Alabama (-21) Arkansas
Kansas State (even) Baylor
Texas-San Antonio (-4.5) UAB

Tulane practiced in the Superdome this morning because of the first rain of the month. I talked to Fritz when the team returned to campus. By the way, I asked him about the raised academic standards yesterday and he had no comment.

On South Florida defense (which ranks fifth to last in yards allowed in the FBS)

"Very athletic. Real athletic. We've had our ups and downs defensively as well and played well the last three weeks. You see some phases of the game where they do some really good stuff."

On getting six false start penalties against Tulsa:

"We just haven't done a good job. It's something we need to be more disciplined at. We work it, we talk about it, we've gotten our snap count about as simple as you can get it. Guys just have to execute."

On offensive line as a whole:

"Well, it's everything. When you throw the ball well it's the O-line, the receivers, the tight ends, the backs, the quarterbacks and the same thing with the run game. We need to finish up better than we've been at that position."

On Tyrick James being banged up hurting the tight ends:

"Yeah, a little bit. Him and Will, we've been hit pretty hard with the injuries and flu bug this year. Those guys will get back into it. It's kind of hit those two guys specifically. They'll get back into it. They've had solid seasons."

On Jha'Quan Jackson having bigger role:

"We hope so. When he's healthy, he's going to play a lot. That's all predicated on his health. We think he's way ahead of where he was last week."

And here is Corey Dublin from yesterday. He's about as reluctant an interview as I'm come across, and I don't mean that as a criticism. Some guys just don't like to talk about themselves, and he is one of them..He is courteous. He just doesn't say much.

DUBLIN

On feelings going into Senior Day and his 60th career start:

"Everybody is really excited, especially all the seniors. Last day we get to play in Yulman. Hopefully we will get a good crowd."

On if he knew he was coming back when he had to miss last year's Senior Day because of COVID contact tracing (the only game he's missed and not started):

"No, it was still up in the air. it was really kind of like over the bowl game and that break into January where I kind of made the decision."

On what 60 starts means to him:

"It just means a lot, being surrounded by good people--training staff, coaches--everybody who helped me achieve something like this."

On Fritz saying durability was one of the most underrated qualities in a football player:

"I feel like our whole team does a good job of that. When people get hurt, they power through it. A football season's long, so nobody's going to play at 100 percent for the season."

On importance of last two games:

"They are very important. We take it one game at a time. It's a big game to get a good win."

On what O-line needs to do to beat USF:

"Definitely move the ball, create holes for the running back, keep the QB clean."

On best memory of career:

"Oh, there's a lot of memories. I'd probably say one of my favorites was when we went to West Point and played there. Great venue. I'd heard really good things about the venue and it was unbelievable."

On happy about choosing Tulane:

"I'm very happy. It was a great decision to come to Tulane out of high school. I love the school, I love the city, I love the people."

On looking to NFL:

"It definitely helps that I can play both guard and center. I'm definitely looking forward to training but focused on the season right now."

Promises. promises.

I said I would be out to Turchin Stadium more often to watch the baseball team this fall, but life and work got in the way. I did see the first nine innings of the 18-inning game with Lamar last Saturday and never wrote it up last week. The Fall World Series started yesterday with game 1

The starting lineup against Lamar was Tyler Hoffman on the mound, Bennett Lee at catcher, Luis Aviles at first base, Chase Engelhard at second base, Brady Hebert at shortstop, Trevor Minder at third base, Jacob LaPrairie in left field, Jared Hart in center field, Teo Banks in right field and Brady Marget at DH. My memory is a little fuzzy and my notes were conflicting on Aviles and Marget, whose roles might have been reversed.

The pitchers consistently threw strikes but the hitters had a hard time, with the score tied at 1 when I left right before wholesale changes with a lot of youngsters due to come in. Tulane's run came in tjh first inning on an RBI single by Marget, a 6-foot-5 freshman from Wisxonsin who is the tallest position player on the team. The Wave had other chances to score, but Engelhard was stranded after singling and stealing second when catcher Seth Beckstead, who replaced Lee in the later innings, struck out and Hebert lined to the Lamar first baseman, who made a nice run-saving catch A little later Aviles had an infield single and stole second, but pinch hitter Frankie Niemann struck out. In the ninth, Minder hit a bomb that went foul off the Hack Shack, then struck out,

Tulane's hitters fared better than Lamar, which did not get its first hit until the eighth inning. Hoffman pitched a perfect first two innings, and Dylan Carmouch, the talented Mississippi State transfer, matched him in the third and for the first two outs in the fourth before walking two in.a row. He induced an easy grounder to get out of trouble.

Zach Devito, who has a strong start but terrible finish to his freshman season, entered in the 5th and pitched a clean inning. His strikeout ended the 6th.

Central Arizona College transfer Cristian Sanchez pitched the seventh, and other than hitting a batter, was clean. But he allowed a leadoff double in the eighth for Lamar's initial hit, and the mistake hurt when the runner advanced to third on an out and scored on a wild pitch.

Turner Thompson, Lee's teammate at Jesuit High in Florida who pitched sparingly last year, entered in the ninth and put a runner in scoring position before getting out of trouble with a strikeout.

Tulane ended up winning 4-2, but I was not around to see what happened in innings 10 through 18.

The umpires issued Tulane's dugout a warning in the first inning for arguing something or other, which seemed strange for an exhibition game, but clearly the idea of playing one amped up the coaches and players. I'm not even going to pretend to have a good take on where Tulane is at this point, but I did like the way the pitchers commanded the strike zone. Obviously that was a huge problem in Travis Jewett's early years, but Daniel Latham has corrected it. Carmouche had good stuff. but he was the only pitcher who had any control issue. Hoffman, who looked like he might have a big year in pre-conference play last year but struggled with his control in conference action, appears to have fixed it, but again, it was just two innings against an opponent that has really struggled at the plate in recent years.

I have caught some type of bug, to the point my wife made me get a COVID test today (the result came out negative, as I knew it would), but I will try to get out to at least two of the World Series games.

Tulane opened as 3 1/2 point favorite on USF and the line is up to 5 now, so all of he money has been placed on the Green Wave to this point. We will find out this Saturday if it was misplaced in a matcjup that should hinge on whoever wins the battle between USF's horrible defense and Tulane's struggling offense. One thing is certain, though. My opinion on what will happen is not to be trusted. I am 0-10 in picking Tulane games versus the points in our contest this year, which is remarkable on every level.

I'm not sure why Tulane's offense has been as bad as it has become, but the last time it looked right was when it briefly took the lead against Houston a month ago with some well-executed passes to the tight ends. The tight end have been very unproductive since then, but Tyrick James in banged up and nowhere close to 100 percent.

I'm not sure how the multitude of issues will be fixed in one week, but maybe the Wave can get confidence from its two scoring drives in the last four minutes of regulation against Tulsa. Jha'Quan Jackson needs to be healthy --we saw what he could do on one play right after he finally was inserted at wideout against Tulsa--and so does Tyjae Spearx, who has been outstanding in the last four games. They both practiced today but I got there late, so I will get a better read tomorrow.

The defense has been much better since the scheme was simplified and Nick Anderson returned. It needs to play with the same energy and execution again this Saturday while being ready to play at the beginning of the game, a recurring issue. Darius Hodges got banged up against Tulsa, so his status will be important, too.

Willie Fritz, MIchael Pratt and Jaylon Monroe talked today.

FRITZ

"It was our second practice of the week. Obviously we came off a very heartbreaking loss last Saturday. The guys have bounced back. We just keep reiterating to them how important it is that we stay together, hang together. We'll figure some things out after the season gets over, but right now we've got two games left and we want to do the very best job we can in those games."

On how deep the evaluation will be in the offseason:

"Oh, it's everything. Things I can do different Things the coaches can do different, players. There's a lot of things that we'll look at. The hard part about it during the season, I've been doing this a long time, and if you change a bunch of things around, and it gets worse instead of better. There are some suggestions and minute details you can change, but we just have to do what we're doing better and make sure we've got the right guys out there doing it."

On defensive improvement in last three weeks:

"After the first quarter we played great. It's like I always talk about, playing with leverage. There's three types of leverage, outside-in, inside-out and over the top, and we've done a good job of staying over the top. We had one big play against in the second half when we were about a foot or two away from tackling the guy for a gain of 11 and it turned into about 47 yards. Other than that, really no big plays. We did a good job of taking the ball away. We haven't had very many of those, but we got four on Saturday (all in the second half), which is outstanding, and we were tackling pretty darn well. Macon Clark had an excellent game. He had nine tackles and zero missed tackles, which we call that pitching a shutout."

On losing while being plus-4 in turnover margin:

"If you count the onside kick, we were at plus-5. I've never lost one plus-4 or plus-5, however you want to distinguish it (actually, Tulane was plus-5 in its loss at Houston last year), so yeah, that's disappointing."

On handling this adversity:

"Oh, it's tough It's difficult. You've got to stay positive. I'm the captain of the ship. I've got to look, act and feel and behave and talk as positively as I possibly can. Now you don't sit around and act like everything is guys are doing something good when they're not. You've got to make corrections--coaches and players alike--but I've heard stories of teams that had bad seasons and there's just all sorts of stuff that happens off the field and in the locker room and up in the meeting rooms and all that kind of stuff and we're not going to have that and we haven't had that. I'd nip stuff in the bud if it looks like there's an issue or problem."

PRATT

On another tough loss:

"We just have to do the little things, execute. As bad as we played offensively, the defense really picked up our slack and got four takeaways, even to that last point where we ended up scoring the field goal and tying it up, we were never out of the count. You just have to take advantage of your opportunity. We just missed one."

On throw to Duece Watts that was behind him and low that he almost caught for go-ahead TD:

"Yeah. Those right there are throws you've got to make. Obviously I'd like to have that one back."

On being resilient:

'It all starts with taking every day day by day with practice. I think we had a really good practice today. Everybody was getting after it. It was good energy out there. We've just got to stay hungry and just keep working hard and pushing each other. Leaderships's got to maintain."

On first 56 minutes:

"We got behind the sticks a lot. A couple of penalties that messed us up. I've got to make some throws. There's just a lot of factors. On offense all the parts have to come together to have a positive play, and we just didn't execute very well for a majority of the game."

On Jha'Quan Jackson:

"He''ll definitely make a difference. It's been tough with him being pretty much injured for the majority of the year. Just having him in there, having that depth and the capability of him going in there and making plays like that is huge for us."

On frustration:

"It's frustrating, but you have to take what you can from it. It's humbling. I think there's a lot you can learn from it."

On if he's ever experienced anything like this:

"No. Nothing close. It's difficult, but like I said, you've got to take what you can from it, take it with a grain of salt and just try to improve."

On last home game for seniors:

"This would be huge for us just to get us going into the offseason We've got two very, very winnable games left, so we just have to maintain and practice like we did today and have a great week of preparatin and come out on Saturday."

On why things will be better next year:

"I think everybody's been very humbled this year. We're going to have a really good offseason. We know what we need to work on. We have to get bigger and stronger. We have to do the little things right. WE're young. We have a lot of guys coming back, especially offensively, but I think also just another year of chemistry and bonding with the team is going to be big for us."

On not being as physical as needed to be this year:

"Yeah. Just another year of age, getting bigger, stronger, faster. It all comes with it to keep your attribute for the game. I know myself I need to get bigger and stronger to be able to stay healthy throughout the year and be able to break tackles and do the little things and put us in better position."

On difference it would make if he had been healthy:

"I'm not going to use it as an excuse, but i think it does make a little bit of a difference, especially just mentally, but like I said, that's something that is going to come during the offseason--getting bigger, stronger and preparing yourself to be able to maintain throughout the season."

On weight:

"I started the year at about 205. I'm down to like 198-200 right now. It fluctuates a little, but I'd like to get to 215-220 next year and obviously during fall camp we'll cut down a little bit, but playing weight I want to be at least 210-215 next year."

It looks like Caleb Thomas is going to reclaim his starting spot at right guard after losing it for a week to the tag team of Timothy Shafter and Josh Remetich.

Jha'Quan Jackson looks full strength for the first time in a while and is practicing with the offense for the first time in a few weeks.

The first-team defensive line today was Jeffery Johnson and Adonis Friloux inside with JoJo Dorceus and Angelo Anderson outside. The second0team line was Armoni Dixon and Keith Cooper outside with Noah Seiden and Eric Hicks inside. Darius Hodges likely will be a game-time decision.

USF has a freshman starting QB who has been an inconsistent thrower. Tulane's defense does its best work against erratic quarterbacks.

I watched Tyrek Presley run a deep pattern against the scout-team defense and get open in the end zone on a pass from Kai Horton. Then he lost it in the sun or just could not find it and let it hit the turf for an incomplete pass. That's the story of his career on one play.

Fritz. Casey Glover and Corey Dublin spoke in the interview room: I will post Dublin's Q&A later.

FRITZ

On Casey Glover getting kickoff job:

"He was very consistent and had a little bit more hang time and depth. Merek got a little banged up this summer and we just started using Casey and he was doing an excellent job, so we just stayed with him."

On being Tulane's next punter:

"He should be. He's been doing a pretty nice job. He punted well against South Alabama last year (when Ryan Wright was out due to COVID contact tracing).. We feel like he's got an opportunity to be a relaly good punter, too."

Onside kicks

"He does a good job. He knows how to go either direction. That's really the key. Some guys can only go one direction or another. He can go either direction to his right or his left and he can go straight ahead. We've even got some where we try to hit them in dead areas behind the line, so we've got an array of them."

On putting ball flat on ground:

"Yeah, sometimes they give him nice, easy bounces to field, but his are a hard ball to field."

On his background:

"He had played in high school I believe. Merek had not, and he came in 170-something pounds and now he's 200 pounds. He's got long levers. That's always good for a kickoff guy and a punter. He's really done a good job of improving year after year."

on Corey Dublin:

"How many games has he started for us? This will be his 60th. That's a record that will never ben broken more than likely. It just shows you his durability and his toughness. There's been some times where maybe some of the guys wouldn't have played with him being banged up. He went ahead and played and played well. Everybody talks about one of the greatest abilities known to mankind is availalbility or durability, and he's got both of them. He ought to be really proud of that because not many kids in the nation have played that many football games."

On pro future:

"I sure hope so. He's played a lot of different spots for us. Anybody who's snapped the ball, that's always an advantage for them, and he can snap it well, so I sure hope he gets an opportunity. He deserves one."

CASEY GLOVER

On kicking them with ball lying flat:

"We have so much time, so us as kickers we kind of like mess around, try new things, do all this stuff. I actually learned them from Merek. Merek was doing them last year when ew were practicing, and I said, ooh, that looks like a soccer kick. I just started hitting them, playing around to see what was best and just looking to give the team a chance to get the ball back and give our offense a chance to score."

On giving team a chance to recover:

"Just go out there, look around, we'll talk about which side we're going to go, just look and pick a spot. I played soccer, so just hit it in a way where it gets 10 yards, give it a hard bounce and see what happens."

On kick he almost recovered himself (hit straight ahead against ECU, one of the two of six Tulane did not get)

"Thats one tough because I'm going in there. I saw it and had to put it in a place where I could go in an d get it. Honestly I just tried to hit something so I could get the ball out and a teammate could get it and unfortunately it didn't happen."

On emotions:

"You've got to stay composed and hope the offense scores. In a way it's a turnover. We're giving the offense the ball back and didn't get their offense the ball."

Only nine of 29 kickoffs have been returned:

"All the work I've put in with my coaches back home and the coaches here just really prepared me. I feel like I'm confident going out there. Wind at our back, wind in our face, every time I think I'm going to hit a touchback."

Won job from brother:

"He was a little injured at the beginning of the season. I was just filling in, but no bad blood between us. We both want to see each other do well."

Punter next year:

"I feel very comfortable doing whatever the team needs me to do. I'e worked 365 days a year for it."

HIgh school:

"I played two years of football. Merek never played. I punted and kicked but I didn't get too many chances in high school just by the nature of high school."

On offers:

"I did not have any offers. Merek really sold the place. I met.a bunch of his friends and really fell in love with the place and fell in love with his friends."

Expect to have this big a role:

"That was always the goal to just play. I didn't come to sit on the bench. Just coming and working and showing the coaches what I could do was the goal."

When knew would be kickoff guy:

"Me and Merek were kicking and he got hurt, and that's when it hit me, all right, I may be kicking off the first couple of games. And then all through fall camp I was just going in like I'm going to start, just keep that mindset to be ready whenever I need to be ready."

Oklahoma onside kick:

"I don't think it was more nerves. It was all right, I need to do this. I always talk to one of the trainers, I love doing onsides. It's so much fun. We practice all these things. It's fun to do, and it's fun when we get the ball back. I kind of line up in a way where the direction I hit it, I have to put spin on it so it will spin back inbounds. Some people call it the watermelon kick. That's what they called it when Greg Zuerlein did it for the Cowboys against the Falcons a couple years back. Kind of hit it like a soccer ball, curve it. I can go either way with it. I can go forward. It's all the same technique. just a different part of the foot that you're hitting with."

Eligibility down road:

"I have two more years and I'm planning on staying here."

Nineteen days after he took a brutal hit that left him with a concussion, Michael Pratt spoke to reporters for the first time on Tuesday. He has never been a man of many words and always has been a bit guarded in interviews, but he also always has shown a sense of humor and been at ease when he talked. He was no different than normal today.

MICHAEL PRATT

On how he felt against UCF:

"A lot better. There were really no issues with my head or anything. I was ready to go."

Any rust?

"Not necessarily. The way we game planned, trying to establish our run game and a lot of quick game stuff, coach was trying to take some hits off me. I think it worked out."

When knew would be able to play in game:

"Since I started practicing, i think it was kind of determined that I was going to play that week."

On how he felt when he got hit against SMU:

"Honestly I couldn't really tell you. I don't really remember the hit very much, but it didn't necessarily feel great."

When knew where he was:

"Once I got back to the tent. I knew I was in the tent, so I knew nothing was good."

On what he remembers:

"I remember from right before the hit until I woke up in the tent. That's pretty much what I remember."

Got up from hit even though he doesn't recall it:

"Yes. That's the plan. No matter what happens, you've got to get up and keep fighting through."

On previous concussions:

"Not like that. I had two minor, minor concussions, but nothing like that."

On being more diligent about not taking hits like that:

"I think so. I think that was a little wake-up call. That play right there, I wasn't necessarily sliding off that guy. I didn't even see him. I saw the linebacker on my right side coming in to make the tackle and I was sliding off him, so when I was going to slide I was protecting my right side. I didn't see the guy who ended up hitting me."

On if it was dirty shot:

"No, I watched it. I don't think so. He made a play that was kind of an unfortunate series of events for me and a great play for him. I think he could have maybe seen that I was sliding, but in that heat of them moment there were a lot of things going on and his first instinct was to make a play. I don't think it was a dirty hit."

On getting down sooner:

"It will be ticking. I think so. It gives me a little more awareness of just trying to be more careful and getting down. Touchdown, first down, get down. I've flushed it our of my memory."

Frustrating to lose to UCF:

"It's frustrating. It takes a toll on you a little bit, but you just have to keep fighting. It's very humbling, but we just have to keep our faith and keep practicing. We had a really good practice today. We're going to have to come out this week and do the little things to come out on top."

On last few plays:

"We just missed a call with the safety blitzing. We should have been out to him, and then after that it was just tough to get it back. We were rallying a little bit at first and then time went down and we just couldn't make a play."

On feeling 100 percent:

"Yep. Feeling good."

How long before head was totally clear:

"About a week I think. It was a Thursday game. That next Sunday was when I started feeling I could end up (playing against UCF). I ended up practicing, so I started feeling a lot better."

Conversations with parents:

"They are always concerned to a certain extent. My mom was a little upset that I didn't slide a little bit sooner. She's mentioned that to me a couple of times, but obviously there was some concern there."

Was she forceful:

"Yeah. I'd say that. At first it it was making sure I was all right, but she was very adamant about making sure that I was getting down pretty early."

Three games left:

"I think they are really important to try to get the momentum back flowing, especially going into the offseason. We have a lot of potential and a really good group. Some unfortunate things have happened, some unlucky plays and some small details we've just got to get fixed up and we'll be all right, but these next few games are going to be huge for us to at least try to get some wins and go into the offseason with a little bit of positivity."

Here is some good news within all this doom and gloom...this young man choose Tulane...with quite an impressive offer list. 247 lists him as the 20th ranked player in the state of Arizona.

As always, the Tulane game counts double, home teams are listed first and the point spreads come from VegasInsider.com consensus. This is a good week for games.

Tulane (+3) Tulsa
Penn State (+1) Michigan
Baylor (+5.5) Oklahoma
Ole Miss (+2.5) Texas A&M
LSU (+2.5) Arkansas
Wake Forest (-2) North Carolina State
Auburn (-5.5) Mississippi State
Ohio State (-20) Purdue

Nothing big to report today. Darnell Mooney, who was at practice yesterday and addressed the team, returned today and talked to Willie Fritz for a long time after practice before doing a short interview with me. He's a fantastic player and terrific human but never has been a great talker with reporters.

I owe a big assist to Nick Anderson yesterday for pointing out casually that Darius Hodges led the AAC tackles for loss. His 13 are three more than any other player. It's something I should have known but didn't. It is going to be hard for anyone on Tulane's defense to get All-Conference honors this season, but Hodges deserves to be in the mix. Tulane has him credited with five starts, but the game book for SMU did not list him as a starter, and I trust that more than the overall stats, so he has accumulated his numbers with only four starts in nine games.

I expect Tulane's starting defense this Saturday to be JoJo Dorceus and Hodges on the outside, Jeffery Johnson and Adonis Friloux inside, Anderson and Dorian Williams at linebacker, Jadon Canady at nickelback, Jaylon Monroe and Ajani Kerr at cornerback and Larry Brooks and Macon Clark at safety. That's how they are practicing. Though in uniform, Alfred Thomas is not getting any reps against the scout-team offense. He definitely has not developed as expected after he played quite a bit as a true freshman. Noah Seiden, Eric Hicks and Noah Taliancich all are ahead of him on the depth chart behind the starters.

I'm not sure what role Jha'Quan Jackson will have other than punt returner. Hopefully for Tulane's sake, he will be healthy enough to play wide receiver on Saturday. I do not expect Ygenio Booker to play.

Lance Robinson is healthy now, but he is working with the second-team defense at cornerback. He has not played as well as expected this season after transferring from Kansas State.

Joey Claybrook was back at practice. I'm not sure who will start at right guard. Timothy Shafter got most of the reps when I watched today after Josh Remetich got the work yesterday. I have not seen former starter Caleb Thomas get any with the first unit, but I saw him get some at left guard with the second team today.

Michael Pratt threw a beautiful deep ball to Duece Watts for a touchdown against the scout-team defense. The ball traveled a long way in the air, which was something his Hail Mary did not do on the final play against UCF, probably the product of his concussion and his shoulder injury from earlier in the year. He looked better today than in the past several days.

Avram Glazer addressed the team at the end of practice today. strength and conditioning coordinator Kyle Speer was talking to two NFL scouts (one from Houston) and answering their questions about Tulane players.

Ryan Wright was named one of 10 finalists for the Ray Guy Award yesterday. Initially I thought he had a good chance to be one of the three finalists as well, but after checking the stats, Tulane's record might not hurt his chances because he's not a slam dunk and the award writeup says influencing a team's wins is one of the criteria.

I have absolutely no idea what was going on with the decisions on the sideline about the offense. Tyjae Spears touched the ball seven times in the first three quarters. The play calls appeared poor. The lack of discipline with six false start penalties was pathetic. I also can't believe the coaches did not call timeout before the third-and-9 play Tulsa converted in overtime The defensive players, particularly Jadon Canady, clearly were confused about the call right before the snap, and it was too important to let the play run.

Fritz and two players came into the interview room after the game.

WILLIE FRITZ

On the loss:

"What do you say? Very disappointing. I'm proud of the effort. They fought their butt off and had a chance to win in regulation and didn't get it done. It's very disappointing.

On the defense:

"They didn't play good early but they played really well. From the second quarter on they played really well."

On losing despite having 26-yard field goal from the middle of the field that would have won it:

"I don't want to get into that. It's a tough, tough loss. There were. many, many, many other plays in the game."

On missing two chances to throw for go-ahead TD on previous possession:

"There were a bunch of them. You've got to make plays. You've got to make calls."

On what changed to get offense moving at end:

"They started just rushing three and dropping eight. There were a lot of holes in there. We had five guys blocking three. We had good protection and got the ball out. When you have time, you have an opportunity to make big plays."

On offensive issues the rest of the game:

"We felt like we could run the ball on them. We were just having a really tough time running the ball. We were shortening the game up and there were some conversions we didn't quite make. A couple of dropped balls. getting the proper bodies on bodies."

On what said in locker room:

"I just told them how disappointed. We gotta hang together and have to handle it the right way. Everybody would like to scream and yell and go off, but it's not going to do anything."

On why Jha'Quan Jackson did not play wide receiver until his big catch late:

"He hadn't practiced all week and he started feeling better and we got him in the game."

On if he would have done anything differently at end:

"Down there at the end I thought we played it well. We got the good kill and that would have been the end of the game. All that execution was pretty good."


NICK ANDERSON

On defense playing incredibly hard but not getting a win:

"It's.a lot to swallow. It's tough to play lights-out defense and still not get the win. Coach Fritz said something important last week. He said that in order for us to win those games, our defense has to outplay the opponent's defense, and we got four turnovers, but in key situations like the overtime and it's third down, we can't have any busted coverages. Then the next first down we have to make tackles, we have to limit the ball and at key times make solid plays. We didn't make solid plays in overtime."

On confusion before third-and-9 conversion in overtime:

"It was just one of those situations where Tulsa had gotten into a little bit of tempo and coach Hampton was trying to get the best call and we were having a little trouble communicating on the back end. Things got a little hectic, but we have to able to say, OK, forget it, line up and play ball."

On ecstatic feeling when Macon Clark intercepted ball to set up what should have been winning field goal:

"Coach Hampton called a great play. He called a play where I get a delayed blitz. It was actually the play that I sacked Spencer Rattler on. Jeffery (Johnson) did a great job of taking on the guard, I shot through, hit the quarterback and I knew somebody was going to come up with a pick the way he threw the ball. Macon did a great job of catching the interception, getting the offense in great field position, but we just have to capitalize in all phases, whether it's offense, defense and special teams. You can't leave plays like that on the field. Merek (Glover)'s a great guy. He's a very talented kicker. We are going to try to keep his head up because things like that happen, but we have to capitalize on situations like that."

On having to make adjustments after Tulsa's first two drives:

"Most definitely. Tulsa is a very physical team as far as the run game. They run all sorts of different run schemes, so that first drive was really trying to figure out what their run scheme was going to be for the day and it was more of a stress type thing, which is something they've done over the past couple of years, so we got adjusted to that quick and started to stop the run."

On continuing to play hard next week despite being 1-9:

"Most definitely. Just keep pushing and keep your head up. A lot of people outside of this program and not in our locker room will look at our record and say, oh man, Tulane's a 1-8 team. but anybody watching the games knows that our record does not show who we really are. We' have two more games left, two more opportunities for these seniors, two more times to play football and be together and we have to take advantage of it."


KEVIN HENRY

On frustration of losing:

"It was very frustrating. A couple of guys on the team had great games. It's just tough not getting the W tonight, just going through the season we've been through. There have been a lot of downs, but I feel like we stick together as a team very well."

On defensive energy despite offensive ineptitude:

"It's just the character on our team. We've got a lot of guys with high character. We just want the best for each other and it kind of reflects on the field with the chemistry and how we play out there. It's not selfish defense., so we just keep going no matter what the outcome is. That's kind of been our motto, with the hurricane happening, we have no choice but to keep working"

On his interception:

"I was just reading the quarterback's eyes, and I checked to see if it was a slant, and as soon as.I checked the quarterback's eyes, the ball was in the air. I just had to make a play. Players make plays."

On having Tulsa offense rattled by end of fourth quarter:

"Most definitely. I feel like we had them rattled, but shout out to Tulsa. Good offense, good running game and it just came down to who could make a play."

On confusion before third-and-9 conversion in overtime:

"I really wasn't looking that way. I was trying to see the formation, just trying to see if I could call out what play they were running, so I really didn't see what was going on back there. Maybe I should have looked back there, but I didn't see it."

On tough losses the past two years:

"It definitely hurts. Any loss hurts, especially the close ones, but we just have to keep going. We've got a game next week and have to put it behind us and we've got to keep going."

Tulane was missing some players today but it was not because of injury. Joey Claybrook and Kai Horton were out with the flu. Horton's absence forced former walk-on quarterback Josh Coltrin, now primarily a running back, to get reps with the second unit at quarterback. Cameron Jackel worked as the first-team left tackle in Claybrook's absence. There was one other change up front, with Josh Remetich practicing on the first unit at right guard instead of Caleb Thomas, who was out there but did not get many reps when I watched. Timothy Shafter was on the second team at right guard.

Jha'Quan Jackson practiced with a brace on the left knee he tweaked against UCF.

Lance Robinson was in a no-contact but practiced.

Angelo Anderson has been wearing a cast on his right hand for a few weeks I forgot about it when his availability came up yesterday. It's difficult to play games in a cast, so that's probably why he did not play last Saturday.

Reserve Colby Orgeron, who was moved to defensive line last year, practiced on the offensive line, although he is not on the two-deep depth chart and never has been at any position.

Alfred Thomas practiced. He has been out several weeks and has not played since the Morgan State game.

Ygenio Booker did not practice.

Troy Dannen was there for a large chunk of practice.

Is he hurt, in the dog house, suspended ?

I talked to Ryan Wright on the phone earlier this week because as a double major in the school of business, he has classes right after practice and cannot do interviews then. Just posted a feature on him at Nola.com.

Here is the entire transcript of our interview:

On being candidate for Ray Guy Award:

Obviously it’s a punter’s dream to be a finalist for the Ray Guy Award, but I don’t want to think of that too much. I still want to do my job and compete and perform at the highest of my abilities, but hopefully that’s a possibility and we’ll cross that road in a month or so.

What most proud of:

I’m just proud of the way our punt team has developed over the past four years. Obviously I came in as a freshman and we weren’t a directional punt team yet. Coach Couch did a really good job and coach Fritz did a really good job of explaining that phase of the game. I always had a goal once we transitioned to a directional punt team to try to be one of the top punt teams in the country. Obviously I have to credit my coverage, the snap with Ethan Hudak, my shield protectors—Noah Taliancich, Jeffery Johnson and Adonis Friloux. That’s probably the thing I’m most proud of.

On having only three punts returned:

That was a very big emphasis heading into spring ball last year. Coach Couch was still there at the time, and he just drilled the word hangtime into my head, and I knew that’s something I had to work on. That was the next phase of my game, to move up a level in my abilities. That was a goal last year. I only had like seven or eight fair catches, which is obviously not very good. I just wanted to sacrifice a little bit of the distance and focus more on just matching that hangtime with the distance, so 55.0 or 47.7 instead of hitting that 65-yard rocket that only had four seconds of hangtime.

No clunkers this year:

It’s been a process transitioning into that full-time punter. I’ve been a full-tine punter since I got here as a freshman, but I was still kind of new. I punted in high school as you know, but I wasn’t able to put all of my efforts into just punting. I had to put my efforts into quarterback and punting and on top of that I was playing baseball as a catcher and I had to go to hitting training and catching training. Once I was able to just focus on straight punting, my consistency has improved each year and it’s really showed in my statistics and the way the ball comes off my foot.

Where can get better

I can improve in every area, but I would say the one area I could improve on the most is having the same steps every time. For example, if Ethan gives me a snap a bit to my right, I have a habit of adding a little jab step in there when I’m trying to just be a two-step punter.

Release time

I believe this past game against Cincinnati, two of my punt times was a 1.87 or a 1.88. It’s kind of sticking around the 1.9 area. I wouldn’t say it was difficult to get to that area. I just needed to get more comfortable with my steps and doing the same thing over and over again.

Favorite punt

Does the completion against ECU count? It was really fun. From not throwing a ball in a game setting since high school to being able to do that was pretty special. It was a career favorite moment. I will say my favorite punt this year might have been this one last week where I pooched it and Juice made a fantastic play and dropped it at the 1. He is phenomenal. I would argue he might be the best flyer in the whole country. He’s pretty special.

How long waited for fake punt

It’s about getting in the right situation, feeling right about it, coach Fritz being able to feel comfortable sending me out there knowing his punter is about to throw a ball. I’ve always known I would be able to do it, but it’s more of a comfortability and situational. It was really great to go out and execute like that.

On fake field goal pass (dropped by Will Wallace in end zone)

I was devastated on the field. I’ve moved on since then. I had a guy coming at me from the front, so I had to short-arm it there and maybe if that guy wasn’t rushing me so hard I would have been able to lead Will a little bit and get the ball off faster, but it is what it is.

On being 1-7

It’s really tough losing those kind of games. I will say that our team is closer because of it, though. People might not realize it right now, but I think it’s going to help the young guys have a bad taste in their mouth for a few years and setting an example for future Tulane players coming in. It’s really tough. I just try to do my one-eleventh when I get called out there and try to give our defense a long field. I just try to stay positive. It’s very hard to sometimes, but I do try.

Least favorite punt

One of the punts at ECU going towards their student section, I kind of got too underneath the ball and it went out of bounds like 30 yards. That probably ties with this past week where I kind of did the same thing. It ended up going 39, but if you noticed, we got the delay of game and I actually punted the ball when the ball was snapped and it ended up stopping at the 1. Then I realized we had to punt again and I got too underneath it and it curved out to the left.

Diet (got down to 235 from 264 during pandemic a year ago)

I’m still pretty healthy. I’m 245 today. I haven’t done as good with it as I did last year during the pandemic lock down, but I’ve been maintaining pretty well. I feel healthy and fast and smooth, so I don’t think the weight is a problem right now.

Draft

This is my final year. I’m excited. It’s kind of scary not knowing what I will get myself into, but I just have to train. Obviously the goal is to get drafted, but punters and kickers, it’s a very slim window and it depends on how many are needed in the NFL the next year and how many free agents is a team going to want to get a rookie and pay him less than a veteran. But I’m excited. I’m trying to get through this season and hopefully things work out.

Did you think this would happen

When I arrived on campus I always believed I had the ability and the tools to be one of the top guys. I didn’t quite expect that it would have escalated like this.

Tulane experience

Fritz always says it’s a 40-year decision and he’s absolutely right. I’m going to graduate in three-and-a-half years with two degrees from the Freeman School of Business. Obviously I’m going to give it a go in the NFL and hopefully that works out, but if it doesn’t I’m going to have my two degrees to rely on and a good fallback to get a great job. (management and marketing).

Need winning streak

Obviously winning is something we want to do and it would be really great to go on a winning streak the last few games, but we need to come together as a team and try to win individual battles more times than the person in front of you. If you do that, that’s going to lead to wins. We need to stop having the mindset of we are going to win this game. You have to do your job first and win the individual battle. That includes me. Obviously if I had that one punt back against Cincinnati, they would have had a long field to go.

Birmingham distraction

Obviously the pandemic last year was tough on everyone. It was tough on people and it was tough on businesses. Able to be back here and be 100 percent healthy for the most part and have to leave again for the hurricane was really tough. Living in a hotel in Birmingham for a whole month on three pairs of clothes. But I wouldn’t want to do it with anyone else. My teammates and my coaches, we’re a whole family now. We’re going to have that bond for life.

What makes you successful

I’d say my determination. If I set my mind to something, it’s going to happen. I make it happen. That may mean countless hours of training and driving to Tennessee and back. I know I mentioned that last year and I did that again this past summer. I went to Gatlinburg Tennessee for college training camps just trying to perfect my craft.

No resting on laurels after honors last year

I always want to do better the next year than the previous, and it always helps to have a good punter backing me up to push me. ** can be a phenomenal punter for us how every many years he has left, two or three. If I’m having a little off day at practice, he’ll hit a huge punt and that will just push me that I need to lock in and match that.

Who is working with you now

Coach Jesse Schmitt. We have a really good relationship now, but we butted heads a little at the beginning. We were just trying to get used to each other. It was more just I was used to interacting with Coach a certain way, but with coach Schmidt it might be a little bit different. It wasn’t anything bad. It was more just getting used to him.

Tough week for most of us. Kettrade 1 and MNAlum bucked the trend with six points.

WEEK 8 RESULTS

6

MNAlum
kettrade1

5

charlamange8
DrBox

4

Guerry
chgoyboy
diverdo

3

WaveON
2DatWuzAGoodDay2
tacklethemanwiththefootball

2

ny oscar
winwave

1

Wavetime


OVERALL STANDINGS

37.5

charlamange8
DrBox

36.5

diverdo

35.5

kettrade1

33.5

MNAlum

32.5

chigoyboy

31.5

2DatWuzAGoodBoy2
tacklethemanwiththefootball

29.5

winwave

27.5

ny oscar

25.5

Guerry

24.5

WaveON

19.5

Wavetime (missed 2 weeks)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Tulane 5 of 13
Michigan State 4
Houston 1
Mississippi State 2
Baylor 7
Penn State 9
Wisconsin 3
Georgia 12

As always, the Tulane game counts double, home teams are listed first, the point spreads come from VegasInsider.com consensus and I will fail to get more than four points.

UCF (-13) Tulane
Texas A&M (-4.5) Auburn
Alabama (-28.5) LSU
Arkansas (-5) Mississippi State
Kentucky (even) Tennessee
North Carolina (-2.5) Wake Forest
Washington (+7) Oregon
Purdue (+3) Michigan State

Michael Pratt practiced Wednesday and Thursday and appears likely to start against UCF, although official clearance will not come until Friday from Tulane's medical doctors. He needs to play and play well for the Green Wave to have a chance to end its six-game losing streak as a 13-point underdog. UCF's defense has played well the last two weeks, limiting Memphis and hapless Temple to seven points apiece for its first stretch of single-digit defensive performances since 2016, which involved Tulane (37-6) in the first one. That was the game where Glen Cuiellette ran the option and pitched it right to a UCF defender, who happily ran for.a touchdown. I've watched a ton of football in my life, and the only other time I saw it happen was when the slowest player on my dorm-league team at the University of Florida did it against the eventual dorm champion in flag football, although the dude did not score on the play.

But I digress. I don't like Tulane's chances Saturday because the Wave has been terrible on the road this year, stopping absolutely nothing defensively against Ole Miss, East Carolina and SMU, but at least UCF has a freshman quarterback who was ineffective until exploding against Temple. Tulane is capable of playing the run well, and the Knights rely on their 6-foot-1, 225-pound bruiser Isaiah Bowser, who has carried 45 times for 200 yards in the last two games. Thats the thing about Gus Malzahn's offenses. They run a lot, and often right up the middle on zone reads, despite all of the motion and trick plays he became known for early in his career. The Wave absolutely, positively needs to be physical from the opening snap to give itself a chance to win late.

FRITZ (Thursday)

On Tyjae Spears recovery:

"He had a pretty good attitude during rehab. At times he got discouraged. He wanted it to happen sooner than later, but I kept talking to him about hey, man, you get better and better and better but it's a process. He got hurt in the last week of September, probably didn't have surgery to the middle of October, so he's just over a year by now. He's very competitive, though, and that's good. He attacked rehab, and if a player doesn't do it, it doesn't ever happen. We're going to always do a good job with our trainers, strength and conditioning and everybody else, but he attacked it and did a really nice job. I think he's doing about as good as he can right now."

On road struggles:

"Oh, build upon last week. I don't know if it had anything to do with playing on the road or not. We just didn't play well but there were some things to build off last week. We need to continue doing the same thing. We only had a couple of times where we had a bust where a guy was supposed to cover a guy and that's going to occur every once in a while in a game, but you hope it doesn't occur very often. We tackled and played with leverage and played pretty well, We are going to have to play that way this week against Central Florida. They have a very potent offense, and we are going to have to play well."

On finding out about Pratt's availability Friday:

"We should. I'm hoping."

WEDNESDAY

“Today we had a good practice. We were off yesterday, the NCAA had it where you couldn’t practice because of election day. So we took yesterday off and came out today, so the guys are pretty fresh. That’s a little bit of a different schedule for us. I thought we had a good, spirited practice, and we’re just working on UCF. They’ve really played good defense, particularly in the last couple weeks, and offensively they’re a much better running team than they get credit for. They do a good job running the football. They have two backs that have contrasting styles. One of them is a quick, fast guy and the other is a big dude who's got power. We’re going to have to do a good job against the run as well.”


On if UCF offense is different from past:

“Yeah, they’re totally different. They’re also a little different with (Dillon) Gabriel, their lefty quarterback, getting hurt early in the year. They’ve had to change it, they have a lot of the same plays but there’s some things they aren’t doing quite as much. So they are totally different. Under (Josh) Heupel they had really wide splits, they were running that Baylor offense from Art Briles so it’s totally different now. Coach (Gus) Malzahn does a great job running the offense and he’s got a lot of window dressing. He’s got motion and shifts and adjustments.”


on progress last week?

“You hate to say that after a loss, but I feel like we did. I felt like we tackled better. I thought they were the No. 2 team in the country, but I guess they’re the No. 6 team in the country, but it’s a good ball club and I thought we did a good job defensively and offensively we ran the ball effectively, particularly in the first half. We did have a couple minus plays and got behind so we had to start throwing the ball a little bit there at the end. The score was a little skewed but I thought we made some real progress against a real quality opponent. They’re probably one of the top three defenses in the nation. They’ll probably have four or five guys drafted and playing in the NFL, so they have a good defense. Offensively they run it. We had a couple missed assignments but otherwise we really played well. We almost had a pick in the end zone. There were some things to build on and we need to keep improving.”


On Cincinnati's No. 6 playoff ranking:

“I was disappointed. I think they are definitely one of the top four teams in the country, they’ve proven it on the field, and I think there is some big time bias. I don’t know why they aren’t in the top four.”


On if Pratt has been cleared:

“We’re still waiting. There’s a protocol that we have to follow and that’ll lead all the way up to Friday.”


On if Pratt would make trip if not cleared:

“I’ll bring him for sure. He’s from down that way and unless they tell us it would be bad for him to be on the sideline he’ll go. I didn’t have him on the sideline last Saturday, I didn’t think it would be good for him and neither did the doctors.”


On Ryan Wright’s performance

“He’s just doing a good job. We call it a 1.0 punt, we create it on location, hangtime and distance. A 55-yard punt with a 3.0 hangtime doesn’t help you a bit. A guy’s going to have 30 yards of turf in front of him when he catches the ball. Ryan (Wright) is just doing a better job of location and hangtime, and getting a good distance.”

On looking at bad season in the big picture:

“You look at all sorts of things in a season. I spend Sunday reflecting back on the previous game and then you have to look forward to the next upcoming opponent. There’s a lot of things that you’d like to do differently and wish you’d done differently, but you can’t change what happened 8 weeks ago. There were some good things we did at the beginning of the season. And we’ve got to keep recruiting at a high level, we have to keep coaching and doing what’s good for our personnel. We’ve got to match our strategy with our personnel and sometimes you do have to change things on the fly with injuries, but we can play better than this and we know that. All of our attention is on finishing the 2021 season well. We’re not going to plan or look back totally until the season is over.”

On importance of bringing in some wide receivers for next year?

“It’s always important to bring in good players, but we have to bring in good fits athletically but also academically. We need to bring in guys who are going to fit our values on the field, off the field and in the classroom. That’s important. If you bring in a grad transfer or a regular transfer you want him to be a guy who can come in and play for you. If he doesn’t you screwed up. You can develop the high school kids, but with the transfers you’re looking for guys who can contribute right away.”

On signing class projected size:

“Somewhere around 20. That’s the tough thing right now. You’ve got to figure out at the end of the year exactly where you’re at.”

Tulane will not be able to practice tomorrow because of the NCAA rule enacted last year forbidding team-related activities on Federal election days, even though Louisiana will not hold elections until Saturday, so today was an interview day instead.

Michael Pratt returned to the practice field today but has not cleared concussion protocol yet. He did not wear a helmet but looked good throwing on his own and taking mental reps while Kai Horton and Christian Daniels took the physical reps. I did not see any issue with Horton, who did an interview or the first time after practice. I would expect Pratt to play Saturday, but as Willie Fritz said, it's a decision that will be up to the medical staff, not the coaches. Pratt looked like his normal self, smiling and jovial. Keep the Pratt news here for now because I am not writing anything today for the Advocate, which I assume will run the follow story I wrote yesterday but did not appear in the paper. My next story on NOLA.com will appear tomorrow.

I talked to Fritz, Horton and Chip Long. I will post the Long interview a little later today.

WILLIE FRITZ

On practice:

"It was good. We had to shift things around a little bit because of the NCAA rules that you have to have election day off, so we went a little longer and did a little bit more than we normally do on a Monday. Great weather. No one can complain about that, and then we'll get back after it on Wednesday."

On Pratt's availability:

"That's totally the doctors' call. I've learned not to guess on that. We're going to have Kai and Christian Daniels ready to go."

On if Pratt was ever on the field during practice last week:

"No, but it has to be cleared. That's all in the doctors' hands."

On importance of finishing strong in last four games after rough season:

"It's good. We've been talking a bunch about it. It's very important. These are all high-quality teams, too, that we have left. There's no gimmes in this conference at all. We need to continue to keep getting better. I saw some good things on Saturday. We just need to build on that."

On Spears' return to form:

"It helps. He's a tough, hardnose guy. He loves football and he's a guy that can turn a 3-yard, you can block it for 3 yards and he can turn it into 33, so it's great to get him going."

On Ryan Wright:

"He's had a really good year. I don't know how many times we've punted this year, but there's only probably a handful that you'd like to have back. He's done an excellent job. The big thing about Ryan is he has gotten better every year. He always had a big leg, but the consistency wasn't always there. It's been there this season. That's where he's made his greatest improvement."

On raw when he arrived:

"He has greatly improved. Punting, kicking, is sometimes hard to judge because a guy's got good average but poor hang time or a good average and poor location or the guy's got a slow get-off. You want a guy who can do everything properly. We call it a 1.0 punt--the location, punting it where it's supposed to be punted, great hang time and you've also got excellent distance, and now you're not outkicking your coverage. Ryan had done an excellent job of that this year. Very good."

On UCF defense, which has held Memphis and Temple to seven points in back-to-back games:

"Very athletic. They are running a different scheme and the kids have embraced it and are getting better and better at it, learning exactly the nuances of it. They've played great defense the last two weeks."

KAI HORTON

On feeling of first start:

"It was an exciting moment. Everybody comes in to college, that's your dream. You want your first start in college football, that's what I've dreamed about my whole life, and I finally accomplished that Saturday, so it was super exciting. Even though it wasn't the outcome that we wanted, it was just the next step in what I want to do."

On moment not being too big for him:

"I've been in some big-time games. I definitely was ready for the game and I messed up some things, but I was definitely ready for the game and I felt like I was really poised with what we were doing and ran the offense really well but I just messed up on some stuff and made some bad throws, but I'll definitely be better."

On reps he's been getting all year:

"It's helped out big time. Coach Long's doing a great job of helping me out with what I needed to do, and taking those second-team reps has been a tremendous help and I've just been learning and watching film just like all the other quarterbacks and just being ready so when it is my time I can be ready. That helped big time this whole week."

On first loss as a starter dating back to high school:

"It was definitely strange. It was a feeling that I haven't felt in a long time. It was definitely upsetting, but you have to loo at what you did bad, what you did good and just move on from that and learn from those experiences."

On when he began starting games at Carthage (Texas) High

"Yeah, I only started in my junior and senior year (going 30-0)."

On recruiting process:

"They had been talking to me for a couple months before they offered me. Coach Fritz and they had been talking to me during the playoffs. I like the academic side and the football side. It just drew me in. YOu want to get your degree and play high-level football, and that's what this has."

On sack on first series:

"That's a mistake on me. I got to know the situation. I took us out of field goal range and that's my fault. Definitely that play I'd take back for sure. Just got to get rid of the ball and throw it out of bounds right there."

On improvement after first start:

"Im definitely going to take a step forward. I got the kinks out in the first game, but i just learned from what I did wrong, throw the ball away when I have to, read the defense better and make throws and I think I'll be fine."

says all you need to know about the state of our program. The #2 team in the country coming to Yulman and nobody seems to care. This is not where we should be in year 6

The defense played much beter today and Tyjae Spears was outstanding before his fumble, but Tulane had no chance with Kai Horton at QB. I would have loved to see what would have happened if Michael Pratt had been able to play.

For what it is worth, I agreed with Willie Fritz's decision to punt near the end of the third quarter. The likelyhood of converting the fourth-and-2 was slim and Tulane still would have been about 65 yards away from the end zone if it had converted. The defense was playing pretty well and in fact forced a three-and-out after the punt.

FRITZ

You played them toe to toe right off the bat but missed a chance to take the lead on the big third-down sack and then gave up a 99-yard drive when they converted a third down from their own 3 with a perfect pass. How key do you feel like that early sequence was:

"Those were big plays, a key part of the game. It's easy to stand on the sideline and tell a guy to throw it away, a true freshman in his first start. He held on to it and he just needed to throw it away. We had an opportunity to get some points there, but darn it, they did a nice job throwing the ball over there to the sideline. The guy was in by about six inches. It was a really nice throw and catch to get them out of the hole. It would have been nice to be able to stop them there and make them punt it you and have a short field and have an opportunity to score, but it didn't work out that way."

On frustration of playing two No. 2 teams well bot showing any consistency the rest of the year:

"Well, it was disappointing. I thought we got better today, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. It was like I Told the guys downstairs. We don't have to play perfect, but we have to play real well. We had a key fumble and a sack you were talking about. We were thinking about going for it on fourth-and-2, but in short yardage we had our tight end out (Tyrick James). He's hurt. He's down. Our fullbacks out. Our running back's out. We didn't have any short yardage to do, so we went ahead and punted the ball. Our defense had some good stops. I put them into some bad situations there at the end of the game, going for it. I wanted to win the game rather than trying to come close. It was disappointing. We've got to play real good against a team like that. It's one of the top teams in the nation. You can see why. They're got really good players and are well coached, but we had a little bit of momentum going. They did a nice job shutting us down the second half running the ball. We had 157 yards rushing in tbe first half and I know we weren't close to that in the second half. They did a nice job shutting us down in the second half."

On outrushing them 156-45 in the first half but not leading:

"I'm sure they were a little surprised with some of the things we were doing with sone wildcat and a few different things because of our situation at quarterback. They adjusted in the second half and made us start throwing it a little bit. I don't know how many positive yards we had running, but I know we had a bunch of sacks, which skews it for you."

On Spears:

"He's a good back. He's tough, hardnosed, has good speed. That was a nice touchdown run by him. He had a couple of tough yards in there as well, too, He's not a real big guy, but he's a good short-yardage back because he's not afraid to hit it up in there."

On any sense of encouragement going forward:

"I told the guys we took a step forward, particularly on the defensive side, ran the ball a little bit more effectively, so there are some good things to take away from this, but you have to play real smart when you're limiting possessions like we were. You can't block in the back. You can't have a hold. You can't have a personal foul, things like that, selfish type penalties that you have to be smarter with."

On letting the air out of the ball:

"It was working good. It is something we work on a bunch, and we worked on it.a bunch this week. I'll be darned, we still snapped it sometimes with 15 seconds on the clock. We had a guy out there in his first college start. I thought he showed a lot of poise for his first college start. He did a good job. He hasn't played a lot of games to have that experence:"

On Pratt's status for UCF game:

"We won't know for a little bit. We are going to do what the doctors tell us to do and be real smart with it."

On losing record after making bowl games three years in a row:

"It's disappointing. That's always one of our goals every single year. We played a tough schedule. We knew before the season began it was going to be a tough schedule. We've got to answer the bell when we're playing teams like that. We've done well in spurts. We haven't done it over four quarters in order to beat quality opponents, and there's some other quality opponents that I think will be ranked that we played already this year. We just have to continue to keep improving. We've got a little bit of the injury bug, and when that happens the next guy has got to step in and play well for you. Some guys have had an opportunity and made the most of it. Some guys haven't."

On if Cincinnati deserves a playoff spot if it wins out:

"Oh, without question. If they win out and they don't make the Final Four, it's all a bunch of B.S. in my opinion. They should make it. It's a good ball club. If they had a little bit better time management in the bowl game last year, they would have beaten Georgia. They are a good team, well coached, tough, big. It would be really sad if they didn't make it, but you've got to win out."

NICK ANDERSON

On coming up short:

"Like I said prior to the game, this was a great opportunity on our home turf to get exposure playing the No. 2 team in the nation, and to not win the game is devastating honestly simply because I feel like we came out on fire, but we have to do a great job of keeping that fire going for all four quarters. We played for each other and kept everybody motivated. It's tough. We had them. It's just one of those situations where at some point you've got to get tired of the almost, tired of the we had them and pull through. We're hitting the hump, but we're not getting over it, and that's something we've got to change in the next four games."

On positive signs that are encouraging for last four games:

"Most definitely. The offense did a great job running the ball, a great dynamic job running the ball, which was needed due to Pratt being out. Kai got in and stepped up. CD (Christian Daniels) got in at the end of the game and stepped up and he hasn't played quarterback since a year or two ago. There were definitely some positives on the offensive side of the ball. The defensive side of the ball we tackled great and had some pursuit to the ball. We gave up a few explosive plays, but for the most part we played physical defense, so there are definitely some positives we can take away from the game."

On comparing Cincinnati to Oklahoma:

"Both teams are dynamic as far as the playmakers that they have. Both of them have great defenses, but I really believe that both of them know we're a physical team. I really believe we got respect from both of those teams. I do wish in both games we would have come out with the victory. That's the bad part about it."

On what need to see in last four games:

"At this point it's about your pride day in and day out and how you want to finish. Do you want to tuck your head, throw in the towel and give up or do you want to win these last four and take the positives going forward."

On Spears providing energy:

"A lot. He's a dynamic player, explosive, positive player. You always count on him to try to make a play and be physical. I'm just glad to see him full 100 percent and making plays."

DORIAN WILIAMS

On it being closer to the way they want to play defensively:

"Yes. As a defense we wanted to be very physical. We know their guys are big, so we wanted to be very physixal with them and play good on the back end. Guys played very well on the 50-50 ball and on the 75-25 balls. They played pretty good at not getting pass interference as well."

On 99-yard touchdown drive Cincinnati had to start game:

"It's very frustrating to give up long drives, but I feel like we made them earn every down. We made them earn every yard. We didn't have mental busts,. so they had to keep driving down the field and it made it harder on them."

On Moody's sack for.a safety:

"It brought a lot of energy. We all get into each other's hat. We all love it when each other makes a play, so that was a lot of energy when he made a big play like that."