Tulane closed football practice to reporters today. With bad weather approaching tomorrow, I suspect they may go to the Saints facility if it is available, so that one likely will not be open either.

Mordecai was pretty much throwing to wide open receivers all night.
Pratt, on the other hand, was throwing into tight windows and for the most part our guys were guarded. The one time we actually had a guy wide open he ran the wrong route and we turned the ball over on downs.

Our offensive sets last night looked like they came out of a hybrid Buddy Teevens/Bob Toledo playbook and our all too frequent pre snap penalties were straight out of the CJ era. I just wasn't sure what Long was trying to accomplish with all those two TE tight formations. Our Oline is awful and we were going smash mouth? I think Long schemes us into good plays at times but too many times he lacks rhythm to his play calling. We have to lead the nation in plays that go for 1 yard or less. We also throw a lot of long outs across the field that seem so dangerous.

Pratt is tough but he gets himself into trouble. He slides too late and leaves himself vulnerable. That last hit was brutal and I hope he is Ok. He would do a better job protecting himself just finishing out the play and forgets sliding. I have no idea where we go at QB after Horton. I don't see any of our walk on QB's on the sideline anymore. The odds of Horton staying healthy behind this Oline is not great. I would have to imagine Pratt will be out for a while after that last hit.

Pratt was better as a freshman in Will Hall's offense. He is clearly skittish in the pocket this year (for good reason) and always looks rushed. We need to stop the RPO's. Most of the time the receiver can't get open and Pratt ends up in no man's land running for his life because those plays are designed to get rid of the ball quick with no second read. I don't know if this is Pratt making the wrong read or the receiver just not getting open but it is bad.

The defense rivals the Pete McGinnis era for ineptitude. We can't get pressure, we lose containment all the time, we can't cover, we are poor tacklers, we consistently get beat one on one in space, we look slow, and we look confused. They ran the same WR screen and got close to 10 yds every time because our DB's couldn't get leverage and couldn't get off a block. We ran the same play and Jackson gained a measly 1 yd. They had guys just squatting in the middle of the field all night for easy completions. On one of their long drives they got a first down every play until they got into the red zone. That is crazy. At times our interior run defense looked OK but that was about the only positive. Clearly we have regressed big time and it is not just because we lost Sample and Johnson.

SMU was clearly bigger, faster, stronger, and were running a modern day college offense. They are a small private school in an urban setting. There is no way they should be so much better than us.

Finally, when has a coach regressed like this in year 6 and then turn the ship around again. I don't recall any off the top of my head. Once a coach peaks with his program, wherever that peak is, and starts back sliding it is hard to get the players on board again. I hope Dannen realizes this.

This all just makes me sad. I thought these days were behind us after the last few years.

I talked to Travis Jewett on Friday the day before Tulane's baseball fall practice began. We had limited time before a team meeting, so I could not cover everything, but here is the entire interview. I have been told he has a three-year contract extension, but that has to stay here because he does not want to address his contract and will not talk about it if asked.

The last time you had to replace your entire weekend rotation, it turned out pretty well in 2020. This time, you actually have one of the four from last year's extended weekend series back in Tyler Hoffman, but you lost Braden Olthoff, Jack Aldrich and Donovan Benoit. How do you feel about the guys you brought in?

"I feel good. I like this group. Obviously Hoffman gives us somebody that has at least done this before. I think you and I both agree he has.a good arm, and he was a COVID juco guy, so he was still pretty green behind the ears. That experience for him going forward I truly believe will be valuable. He's throwing the ball really well right now, so that will be good, and then we picked up a few grad transfers and a couple of JC guys and some high schools kids that we really like. It will be some new, but there's some arm talent down there for sure."

Dylan Carmouche struck out the side when he faced you at Mississippi State last year. How much do you like him as a transfer?

"So after we left Mississippi State that well, I just told (recruiting coordinator) Jay (Uhlman) let's get him at some point. No, obviously he did that to us there, but he's been good. He doesn't have 100 innings in his college career (he threw 7.1 innings last year, allowing one earned run and striking out 11), but they are nine innings of SEC or whatever it is, so he has competed in that environment in a practice situation. He's had to compete against other good pitchers and some good hitters for sure. He's been a very welcome addition. Left-hander, that's nice. Left-handers in this league for some reason have pretty good numbers."

How did you get him:

"Well now with the transfer portal, you put your name in the hopper and then you get cleared through and all of a sudden you're eligible. And then, just threw out contacts in baseball and where we've been and how long we've been doing it, you get a call like hey, would this interest you, he's in the portal. And when you lose most of your rotation and your closer, you've got your eyes and ears down open to suggestions of anybody who thinks they can help us. He'll be a nice addition."

It's very early, but who are the guys you think can be in the rotation?

"We have a freshman kid from Georgia named Michael Massey. He had Tommy John as a junior, so he did pitch a little bit in his senior year, but I think if that never would have happened, I don't know if he shows up. Because from a mound perspective he's a little bit like the (Teo) Banks and (Jackson) Linn, it's a physical, mature, pro type. Fortunate for us that he chose to hang in there and come to school. I think he's got a real chance. He's not only been throwing the ball with some life, but it's around the plate."

How much does it mean for the program that Banks and Linn opted to play for Tulane rather than play professionally after getting drafted?

"It's just huge. Obviously in a 20-round draft, that pinches the talent down, and if somebody is going to take a pick from 1 to 20, I don't care what round it is, there's not that many, and somebody would think at that elite level that you would be a potential cog in their organization, that just tells you about the talent. Most of them sign. If it's 10 rounds, they for sure sign, and for those guys to have that and say, no, Tulene is developing players and there's draft picks coming out of there and I get a great education and I can kind of delay what I hope is the inevitable and come here and mature their mind and get educated and get experience playing college baseball so that they cannot just play pro ball but have a chance to.say I made a living playing pro baseball."

They are both listed as being two-way guys. (outfielder/pitcher) What do you envision as their role for you?

"Jackson is not pitching. He's got like 95 (mph) in his arm but it's probably more of a thrower, so he's not doing any pitching. Could that change at some point? Maybe. Teo and (infielder/pitcher Landry) Alligood and (infielder/ outfielder/pitcherBen) Tate, those other guys are, they are. They are doing a good job of figuring out that center line of positionally and bullpen. We have another kid named Adam Ebling, too, that is also pitching, so we actually have four that are presently doing both, so that's good."

You have a catcher who almost hit .400 last year. How good is it to have Bennett Lee back healthy?

"It's just like push pause, go off and play in the summer, come back and push play. The one thing about Bennett is he's very smart, cerebral. He gets it. Nothing's really too fast for him. That's kind of why he's successful. He can slow it down behind the plate. He can slow it when he's in the batter's box. He just looks to be the same but a year older and a little better."

How do you feel about this group overall?

"Everything in life there's these things called first impressions that matter a lot, and my first impression of this group is good. I'm not saying that equates to going undefeated, but I like them. I like their way. They are on time, early, a lot of routine oriented stuff kind of going on. The kids are around the field all the time. They are in the clubhouse all the time. Their minds are open to learning, so I like it. The way is good. As we continue to try to get better, we have more layering. We're just deeper. We have a really good freshman group in here. We've got a really good freshman group in here. We've got some nice JCs. We've got some good transfers, and then you add some of the pieces back from last year and there's a nice mix and some good competition going on"

No commentary needed. You watched it. Tulane was awful again. I went solo with Fritz and the players on Zoom.

WILLIE FRITZ

"The same things that have been hurting us all season, we just didn't start off very good. When you play a quality opponent like them, if you don't start good, it's going to give you problems. We dug a big, big hole and tried to claw our way out of it and we weren't able to do it. I'm disappointed in our kick coverage in the first half. I was disappointed in some of our coverage responsibilities, a few things that we've been at it from day 1. We just didn't coach real good and we didn't play very good either. I told the players there were plays we made out there that we did not execute when we needed to. We've got to find out what our guys are capable of running and be very careful about being too complex."

On if there is an update on Michael Pratt:

"I have not heard anything."

On defensive issues:

"Well, some of the things I just mentioned. They hit some curl routes over the middle of the field I think four times in the first half. We're supposed to have a guy sitting there. Just doing your assignment, doing your job, not trying to do someone else's job, that's a big part of the problem."

On fake field goal:

"It's tough. It could have really gotten us back in the game, and it kind of took the air out of sails, but you can't allow them to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown. Not very good."

On third-and-long conversions:

"Well, we're having a tough time getting pressure on the quarterback and we're having a tough time covering. It's not a good combination. That happened to us quite a few times. If they are holding the ball patting it, you've got to get some pressure, and if you got some pressure, you gotta have tight coverage. That's a recipe for disaster when you're having a hard time getting to the quarterback and you're not doing a good job covering. The big thing we''ve got to do defensively is we've gotta do our job. So many time there's a guy I guess trying to making a Superman play or somethng. I'm not sure."

On not converting fourth downs, particularly the one when Pratt missed Phat Watts when he was wide open but did not appear to finish his route:

""That should have been wide open. He ran the wrong route. He ran it slow. It's something we've been running since day 1 in camp. I'm confused that someone could run it day 1 in camp (but not in the game). We've just got to do a better job of executing and doing your job. That's really what I talked to our guys about. There are guys that I think are very smart players and they didn't execute. There are some defensive and offensive and kicking game things we've worked on a bunch. We just gotta do our job when we get out there on the field and see what can happen."

NICK ANDERSON

On main issues defensively:

"Overall like coach said, just poor execution on the defensive side of the ball. Many times we've got them in third and long and we just didn't execute the right calls to get off the field, which is something that limited us last year when we played them. Just getting off the field on third down was the biggest thing. The explosive plays in the first half is something we really have to clean up on this next week."

On demoralizing plays:

"Like I said, it is demoralizing when we don't execute the plays the way we are supposed to execute, but that's just one of the things in football. You have to have a short-term memory. You can't let the past play affect the next play, and that's what happened to us a lot today, just living in the past and not having the attitude to, OK, that play's over, let's go and execute the next one. That's something that really has to change if we want to change the course of the season--just having a short-term memory, performing the right play calls that the coaches call and just playing our style of football."

On how he felt physically:

"I felt 100 percent. I felt even better than what I did prior to the Ole Miss game. I felt good. I was just trying to mentally get to a space where I could find some way to motivate my fellow teammates and be a better leader on this team."

On how they can come out of funk with Cincinnati next:

"Just overall at this point look at the Cincinnati game as an opportunity to really take the spotlight away from everything that we didn't do this season. In week 1 we were supposed to have Oklahoma come in as a top-ranked team on our home turf and God has blessed us with an even better opportunity to have our homecoming and having the No. 2 team in the nation visit Yulman Stadium. We just have to look at it as a pride situation. These guys are the No. 2 team in the nation. It's a great opportunity to get on ESPN2 and show how great we are. Why not come out and give it everything we've got against these guys and show the nation we are the same team we were in week 1 and just really play with effort."

On seeing Michael Pratt get crushed:

"It burns me when Pratt takes those type of hits. It makes me wish I was on the offensive side of the ball so I can hold a block or play with a little bit more aggression. I hate to see our guys take hits like that, I know Jha'Quan (Jackson) took a big hit on a kickoff return, and those things are tough, but you just have to go back to the mentality of protecting our brothers beside us and just having that chip on our shoulder and just having the attitude of that's our quarterback and we're going to take care of him and take care of the guys beside us."

On fake field goal not working:

"It just goes back to execution. That field goal play is a play we work on almost every practice. We just have to execute and make those plays and capitalize on those plays, and defensively we have to make a stop regardless of those plays or the situation of the offense. To drive the ball 90=plus yards is unacceptable. Defensively w've got to play better. I've got to play better. We just have to execute better as a unit."

By the six teams the AAC just added. Repeating what I tweeted today about the bottom four:

North Texas has had six winning seasons out of 26 since joining FBS.

Rice has had six winning seasons out of 21 in the 2000s.

Charlotte has had one winning season since it began playing football in 2013. F

FAU has had five winning seasons since becoming a full FBS member in 2005.

It stinks that ESPN did not want to mess with the Sun Belt because it has a cheap TV contract with that league, so it forced the AAC to raid CUSA only (which has a contract with CBS Sports). Ultimately it doesn't matter a ton because the AAC was doomed as a major player the second Cincinnati, Houston and UCF bolted, but in the interest of being the best league it could be, the AAC needed to get the top Sun Belt teams to go along with UAB and UTSA. Appalachian State, Coastal Carolina and even ULL would have added more than the four losers from CUSA will. I don't see a fourth worthy candidate from the Sun Belt, but adding Coastal Carolina and Appalachian State would have been a no-brainer without ESPN's influence.

The big market thing is a canard and is only being used to explain away why they raided Conference USA. ESPN and everyone else knows by this point that playing in a big market means nothing if fans in that market don't care about you.

Stephen Peters of the HillTopics, the SMU Rivals site, answered five questions.

Here were my answers to his questions:

Five questions about Tulane

Check out this takedown. God almighty.

Nick Anderson, who will play against SMU after missing the past three games with a high ankle sprain, talked Tuesday. He always is a good interview.

On being back:

"It's just a blessing to be back. It was a blessing that I had a speedy recovery. I'm just thankful to God that I got to come back and finish the season with my team and be back with those guys. It was a tough three or four weeks just being out there on the sideline, not being able to help physically as far as being on the field with my team, but like I said, it's a blessing to be back and I'm excited for Thursday."

On how he got hurt:

"Honestly I don't remember the actual play that I got injured. I just know that by the fourth quarter, something just wasn't right. The pain started getting worse and then they ended up pulling me in the fourth quarter, and when we got back, we figured out what everything was."

On pre-existing injury:

"It bothered me a little bit going into the game and it it just got worse over time."

On tough watching:

"It was tough. I just feel like as a team we got out of our identity. It was good to have this bye week this past week just to come in and allow everybody just to re-establish their mindset and our goals going forward. We realize going forward we can't change anything about the first six games. All we can do is press forward, and the most important thing is starting off 1-0 versus SMU."

On most important thing need to improve defensively:

"Coming out hot. I feel like last week we did a good job of coming out with intensity and coming out with fire, but we've got to keep that fire going. We have to play each play with the same intensity and the same effort, the same judgments as far as doing our own assignment, our 1/11th. We did a better job of tackling against Houston, and we have to keep the emphasis on that and keep the emphasis on getting off the field in third-down situations and playing our style of football."

On if he is shocked to be 1-5:

"Overall, being in a 1-5 situation, nobody wants to lose, but we just have to put the adversity behind us. Going forward, we can control what we can control week in and week out."

On pressing re-set button:

"One of the things that we did was we took a big recovery week. Coach Fritz gave us a couple of days off to just mentally recover from the first six games, whether that's getting your mind right, getting adjusted from the hurricane, catching up on academics, just trying to limit our distractions aside from football and also physically he gave us some days off because we have a lot of guys who are banged up, so that was good for us. Being able to come back in Saturday and focus all in on completing the season, on beating SMU and being 1-0 week in and week out."

On not closing out SMU last year:

"It was just one of the things that's been on our mind, especially coach Hampton's mind. That was one of the things he told us before he even left and went to Duke. He told us we got to beat SMU. He watched the game last year and he was pretty upset that we didn't pull it off. Each week we want to have the same mentality, but this week especially he's like we gotta get this win. The past five years they've beaten us and we haven't beaten them. He said four of those five games have been close and I know since I've been here, everything's come down to the end of the fourth quarter, so just having that mentality of playing all four quarters and if there's a fifth quarter playing the exact same way and just having that little bit of intensity to go out and handle our business and show the nation that we're still one of the top teams. We had a shaky first half of the season, but it's not about how you start, it's about how you finish, and that's just one of the things that we are going to implement going forward."

On finding a way:

"Like I said, it's an ESPN game, Thursday night lights against a ranked, very talented SMU program. It's just an opportunity we've got to grasp. We can't let the fact we haven't beaten them in the last five years, we can't let anything negative (seep in). We've just got to look at the opportunity that we have going into this game, which is to kill that streak, go in there and play to our best capabilities and get the win. That's the most important thing. That's mandatory. No matter how we get it, we have to get this win."

As always, the Tulane game counts double, home teams are listed first and the point spreads come from VegasInsider.com consensus: The games stink this week, which is unfair since I will have a rare Saturday off.

SMU (-13.5) Tulane'
Ole Miss (-9.5) LSU
Pittsburgh (-3.5) Clemson
Alabama (-25) Tennessee
Notre Dame (-6.5) USC
UCLA (-2.) Oregon
Iowa State (-7) Oklahoma State
Houston (-13.5) East Carolina

Here is Tulane's depth chart from the last two days of practice.

1ST TEAM DEFENSE

DL: Darius Hodges, Eric Hicks, Jeffery Johnson, JoJo Dorceus
LB: Nick Anderson, Dorian Williams
CB: Jaylon Monroe, Ajani Kerr
S: Macon Clark, Derrion Rakestraw
NB: Jadon Canady

2ND TEAM DEFENSE

DL: Keith Cooper, Noah Taliancich, Noah Seiden, Angelo Anderson
LB: Marvin Moody, Kevin Henry
CB: Lance Robinson, Kevaris Hall
S: Cornelius Dyson, Larry Brooks
NB: DJ Douglas

1ST TEAM OFFENSE

QB: Michael Pratt
RB: Cameron Carroll
OL: Joey Claybrook, Corey Dublin, Sincere Haynesworth, Caleb Thomas, Rashad Green

(the receivers depend on what formation they use to start. The top four wideouts are Shae Wyatt, Jaetavian Toles, Duece Watts and Jha'Quan Jackson. The two tight ends are Tyrick James and Will Wallace)

2ND-TEAM OFFENSE

QB: Kai Horton
RB: Tyjae Spears
OL: Cameron Jackel, Jackson Fort, Caleb Thomas, Josh Remetich, Michael Lombardi

(Phat Watts, Christian Daniels and Tyrek Presley are other receivers who might be used)

--Tulane is pretty healthy right now with the return of Anderson (missed last three games) and Lance Robinson (missed last two games) defensively. Alfred Thomas is the only rotational lineman who definitely will not play, although one other one who is practicing with the second unit (not naming names) could be a game-time decision with a cast on his hand. Ajani Kerr made some nice plays against Houston, which combined with Robinson probably not being 100-percent healthy has him remaining with the first team.

--Jha'Quan Jackson looks good, but at this point he has to prove it in a game. It is harder to judge Spears because they did not have much or any contact in practice the last two days, but he did not miss any reps.

--Wyatt practiced well today.

--Tulane is down to two healthy quarterbacks at practice--Pratt and Horton. I don't know where walk-on Cameron Dartez is, but the scout-team QB today was DB Shi"Keem Laister. Not sure how well he can prepare the defense for the nation's leader in touchdown passes, which Tanner Mordacai is with 26.

--I did not see a dropped pass today.

--I was beginning to wonder if Elijah Champaigne was hurt, but he got a few reps with the second team today.

--Pratt threw the ball well today. The open date should have benefited him more than anyone. He was still hobbled in practice before the Houston game. Not so this week.

So here are our new brethern...let the grousing begin.


Good Ideas...

UAB - No brainer. New stadium, football crazy Birmingham market, good program too. State of Alabama recruiting and good basketball team. They check all the boxes.

UTSA - No much wrong with this choice either, nice stadium, only D-1 team in San Antonio, a large market. Brand new $41 million football ops center so the investment is there.

Potential?

Charlotte - It's in Charlotte, uh they beat Duke. Lots of potential I guess. Their baskball team is good? Smallest D-1 stadium at 15K, but it is brand new.

North Texas - It's in Texas. Newish stadium, with a lot of investment in their program. Decent basketball team tho.

HUH? WHY?

FAU - South florida recruiting? We get that anyways, but I saw this coming. They have a newish stadium, a bit of a tradition of success...no one in miami watches them, but oh well. Makes no sense, I'd rather of had Marshall.

Rice - You cannot say that anyone in Houston watches this team. Tiny school, with small alumni base, oh and the team isn't very good either. But I guess they are a kindred instituion with us, SMU and Tulsa. We do have a long history with them, and the potential is there for a rivalry, oh and a great baseball program.


So there you have it sports fans...ESPN has mandated and Aresco has delivered. Although from what I'm hearing our TV contract will not change much...AND we and other existing AAC members will be getting a larger share than the new additions for a while. Also you gotta love that we left out la. tech, ul-l and usm. Especially ul-l, don't like those guys. Although one of my sources say that we didn't touch the SBC because ESPN said so.

Obviously there are a lot of things going wrong for Tulane in its 1-5 start that will soon be 1-7 without an unlikely upset of No. 23 SMU on the road (Tulane's last win against a top-25 team away from home was Vandy in 1984) or a nearly inconceivable upset of No. 3 Cincinnati at home (Tulane's last win against a team ranked in the top five was never).

But I will start this review with a positive--the five-play, 73-yard touchdown drive that cut the deficit to 14-8 in the second quarter and featured some outstanding calls by Chip Long and top-notch execution from the players. If Tulane could protect Michael Pratt, this offense would be so much better despite having mediocre at best wideouts and the least impressive group of running backs in Willie Fritz's tenure (because Tyjae Spears is not 100 percent back from his ACL tear in terms of durability).

This was a beautiful drive, which was helped at the beginning by a face mask penalty on.a Pratt scramble that moved the ball to the Tulane 48. From there:

I will add to the post periodically during the week, focusing next on the sacks that killed Tulane.

1) Pratt hit tight end Will Wallace for 25 yards.

--Jaetavian Toles, lined up to the far left, went in motion to the right, taking on cornerback out of the area.

--Shae Wyatt, lined up inside Toles, ran a streak route, taking the other cornerback out of the area.

--Tight end Tyrick James, lined up a yard off the line to the right of Wallace, ran to the outside, taking the middle linebacker with him.

--Cam Carroll, lined up to the right of Pratt in the backfield, ran a wheel route and was picked up by the linebacker on the side of the field where the pass was thrown.

--Wallace, lined up in the traditional tight end spot, held his block for more than a second, really selling it well before releasing and running to his left and catching the ball at the Houston 45. Only one Houston player was within 10 yards of him, and that guy was busy chasing Carroll and had his back turned to Wallace, who ran 15 yards before meeting resistance and being brought down at the 27. He likely would have gone considerably farther if Wyatt had not failed to block his man when the defender finally figured out what was happening.

It is not often you see a play that takes every defender completely away from the route and leaves a guy as lonesome as Wallace.

2) Pratt hits Wyatt for 13 yards on a back-shoulder throw to the sideline

--This one is notable because it is a staple of Long's offense. Pratt worked on this throw with all of his outside receivers in 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills from day 1 in preseason camp, and practice makes perfect. He threw the ball exactly where it needed to go, and Wyatt made the grab while falling backward.

3) After a short run, Pratt threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Tyrick James

--Pratt rolled to his right, taking two inside linebackers with him and totally out of the intended target zone.

--Wyatt, lined up wide left, went in motion to his right, and with Houston in zone coverage, the cornerback on that side took a few steps to the inside and followed the only receiver on that side, tight end Will Wallace, to the middle of the field. The safety on that side moved to the middle, too, to defend Wallace, who did not run particularly hard on his route but accomplished exactly what he was supposed to do, clearing the area of defenders where the ball was headed.

--James, lined up in the traditional tight end spot, purposely fell to the ground, waited a beat, and then took off to his left after everyone forgot about him. Only one player was within 10 yards of him when he caught the ball at the 6, and that was the linebacker who had been suckered to the middle by Wallace's route. All he could do at that point was pursue half-heartedly as James cruised into the end zone with no one near him. James sold his fall-down as well as Wallace had sold his block on his big catch. Another excellent play design and execution.

4) After Houston was called for illegal substitution on the extra point, Fritz took the point off the board and went for 2 from 1 1/2 yards out. Christian Daniels took a reverse and threw to an uncovered Pratt for the conversion.

--I watched them work on this play several times in a row in practice on Tuesday and thought they were nuts. It never worked because the scout-team defense knew it was coming, and Pratt was hobbling as he tried to make a grab he never could quite reach. I knew they would run it if they had a chance in the game (this team runs the plays it practices) and was waiting for the debacle. Man, was I 1,000-percent wrong.

---Tyjae Spears lined up at the 4 to the left like an off-set tight end and went in motion just before the snap, taking a handoff from Pratt.

--Christian Daniels, lined up as the receiver to the right on the hash, curled into the backfield and took a pitch from Spears just before Spears was tackled. If the timing had been a little off, Spears would have been hammered before he pitched it, busting up the play,

--Ygenio Booker, lined up to the right in the same position as Spears ran to his right as if were blocking for Spears. So did Carroll, who was in the backfield.

--After handing off to Spears, Pratt paused, bumped slightly into a Houston defender pursuing Spears and then took off to his left, running right by an unsuspecting safety who had his eyes on Spears and realized far too late that Pratt was heading to the end zone.

--Daniels, who was recruited as a quarterback but played his way out of the position and was moved to tight end and then wideout, almost blew the play, passing to the uncovered Pratt from the 11 and throwing it low. Pratt had to make a sliding catch when he should have been able to catch it with ease, but the throw still got the job done.

The plays on that drive are what good offensive coordinators are supposed to do--take advantage of the talents of their players and scheme to get them open, but this sequence worked like a dream. You'll almost never see three plays in a sequence where the intended receiver was this wide open.

It was not an officially open practice to reporters, but Tulane let me in for Sunday's workout that started around 10:30 and ended at 12:30. I got there at 11:30, and I really appreciate the invitation.

Tbe Green Wave had good news on the injury front Sunday when Nick Anderson and Tyjae Spears practiced in preparation for Thursday's game at SMU. Willie Fritz said both would play, and the Green Wave desperately needs Anderson back after he missed the past three games with a high ankle sprain and the defense fell apart. Spears left the Houston game with an injury that appeared to be in his shoulder area rather than his knee after having two outstanding runs earlier. If he is healthy, and it was impossible to tell from practice, he is a difference-maker.

It would not be a practice without a dropped pass, and Duece Watts dropped an easy one late near the goal line.

I talked to Fritz and Chip Long after practice. Long, by the way, still talks to former offensive coordinator and close friend Will Hall every day. He could have bought Hall's house in Metairie, but he and his wife wanted to live closer to campus and bought a house a few blocks from the stadium. HIs wife attends most of the practices with their 2-year-old and 5-year-old daughters. They clearly like it here, and Long still believes there is time to turn the season around. Obviously that would require.a win at 21st-ranked, undefeated SMU, a team Tulane has not beaten since it joined the AAC despite leading in the fourth quarter in 2016, 2017 and 2018 and taking last year's game to overtime.

FRITZ

On open-week schedule:

"We practiced on Wednesday, we lifted on Monday and Thursday. We took off Tuesday and Friday and then we started back up again on Saturday. Saturday was like a Monday for us.

On open date coming at good time:

"I tried to give the guys a lot of time off. I think it helped probably mentally more than anything else. We were beat up pretty good, too. It allowed some guys to come back and get healthy."

On Nick Anderson:

"He's not only a really good player, but he's a really good teammate, too, a great leader for us. He'll have anywhere from seven to 12 opportunities to tackle guys this week, and he either misses one or none. He's a good, sure tackler."

On SMU's offense:

"They are doing a good job running the ball now, too. They've always thrown it well, but they are really running it effectively. They've just got a lot of good, veteran players, two or three good backs and six or seven good receiver, a good quarterback, a good offensive line. They are a very talented offense."

On defense:

"We need to play good. I thought we tackled better last week, but it's complementary football. We haven't done a good job of playing complementary football--special teams, the offense, the defense."

On Devin Brumfield leaving:

"We got certain things that we do, and if a guy wants to leave our program, we wish him well. We are going to run our program and run it the right way with these guys."

On if he discussed leaving before it happened:

"He discussed it with us the day before the game."

On Spears:

"He's ready to go."

CHIP LONG

On how close offense is to clicking:

"I think they are very close. Getting guys healthy has been huge this week just seeing them getting fresher and a little bit brighter eyes, especially in our quarterback room. It's been a grind, and they are doing a really nice job this week coming back. You can see the excitement in their eyes for the second season and getting some of the wideouts healthy and the O-line. With the Houston game, I saw signs. Tyjae's getting more comfortable with himself out there, Cam's getting more comfortable with himself out there and we keep bringing YG along just so we have a three-man, so we can run the ball. Just getting those guys healthy, it hasn't been the case all year, just taking care of them and patch our run game together and hopefully we can start cranking that thing up a lot more, which will help protect Mike and bring more balance to the offense."

On the dream drive for the touchdown and 2-point conversion to cut deficit to 14-8 against Houston (which I detailed in film study):

"We had field position after Pratt did a nice job scrambling and slid for the first time and got hit for a personal foul. The next play we went to just a speed sweep and getting the tight end leaking out and just making the defense violate with their eyes. Then we went a little tempo play that could have been a quarterback draw or a throw depending on the coverage we got, and we got man and Mike made a great throw to Shae. Then we came back and ran our roll-right juice, which is fake, cut (Tyrick James purposely falling down), then get up and score. We had an offsides penalty on the extra point and coach Fritz said he'd like to go for 2 from there. Really I'd like to run the ball, but I just felt so good about the play. Once CD (Christian Daniels) got healthy, I felt a lot more comfortable. CD's a left-hander and a good thrower over there. He's been hurt for a long time, so I hadn't been able to really call it. He was a little nervous. It the first time he was out there and being asked to do that. He threw his glove off mid-play, which I don't like them doing, but they did a great job executing and made the plays. That's just the theme of where we have to get, is each guy doing their job and the points will take care of itself."

On open date at best time:

"There's no doubt just from what they have all gone through. Played a brutal schedule and heck they eventually are going to have played three top-six teams (current No. 2 Cincinnati, No. 3 Oklahoma and No. 12 Ole Miss) here. They've had a great schedule and got banged up, and the hurricane was a lot on them, so just getting them a break (was ideal). We have to keep progressing. I like the way our guys have worked on offense. They haven't gotten disgruntled. They know the plays are there to be made. We just have to make them when we have our opportunities, and Mike is starting to get healthier and feeling better, so I would expect his game to go back to where it was earlier in the year."

On sacks against Houston happening to veteran guys (Joey Claybrook was the victim on at least three):

"It's just unfortunate. They were in great position and just getting bull rushed, and then a lot of it Mike has to do a better job of setting the pocket and climbing up in there and working. He can't just sit there. In a situation where you have to come back, it's obviously not conducive to what we want to do, but we have to do that. We have to block those kind of guys if we want to be an elite team, and we can't just always protect with the tight end because they are some of our better playmakers right now. It's a whole group effort. It's not all on the offensive line. One thing they did was block for the run a lot better, so we're getting better there. But yeah, we've got to be able to sustain our blocks longer and Mike has to do a better job of working the pocket and getting it out, so it's a whole group effort."

On wide receivers:

:"They just have to get healthy and keep making plays. You've got to be able to beat man-to-man and win your one-on-ones, and when the ball's there, we have to catch them. It always seems like guys have been injured here and there. Someone has a good week and then their hammy (gets injured) or something like that. There just hasn't been a consistency right there, and hopefully with this off week we can get them all healthier to really attack this second half. I like the way our backs are trending. The tight ends have obviously done a nice job for us and we just have to keep stacking successes in each position group to get to where we want to get."

On Jha'Quan Jackson:

"He came up me and was like, coach, I'm finally feeling the best I've ever felt. Once he got hurt in fall camp, he's just been fighting it left and right. Some guys can play with it and some guys it's always in the back of their mind, but he's doing great this week and I expect him to start being his normal self."

On sack-fumble that changed momentum against Houston:

"That was a lousy call by me. I should never have called it. i was expecting the defensive end to squeeze a little bit. Now obviously you can't fumble the ball. It could be second-and-20 and we'll be all right there, but we're moving the ball with a chance to do something with it. Bad call by me and then obviously we have to take care of it, but that's really on myself. I shouldn't have called it. We should have kept running the ball."

Talked to them today before Tulane's basketball practice.

HUNTER'

On getting Jalen Cook

"It's funny because the very first kid I saw when I took the job for recruiting was Jalen. He was the first kid I went to go see I remember walking in and said yeah, I want that guy, and then everybody said so does everyone in the country (laughing). I'm glad I did it. I knew that when you take a job like this, you've always got to have a guy, especially if he's in-state, that can really be that one guy in the origram that you can really say, OK, now we're for real."

On process:

"He noticed we've had great success with our transfers. That's part of it also, and then he also understands that the best players I've had that have bene NBA guys have been guards, whether it's George Hill or R.J. And then we needed a point guard. All the things he wanted, we had."

On "it" factor

"He's one of those kids, and you can't say this all the time, but you either have it or you don't. He's one of those kids that has it. You can go put him on a football field or a baseball diamond, he's going to be exceptional. He's a great kid, also, which really helps, but from an athletic point of view he's just extremely talented."

On fitting into system:

"What helps him is that we've got a lot of guys that have been in the system. If he were new with a lot of other guys like we've been, it would have been a struggle for him. He's picking it up, and what we're trying to do is make it easier for him so he can just go play. Having a guy like Sion (James) next to him really helps because Sion went through those battles. He understands, so it helps both of those guys together."

On perfect fit:

"We couldn't score last year. That was just a major concern, especially from that position. You don't win in college basketball without good guards. You just don't. We've now put ourselves in that position. Will he make mistakes? Yes. But he is what we're building this program around, and the beauty of it is we'll have him for four years."

On how he gets his points:

'He's explosive with the ball and he can really shoot the 3, so you can't say I'm going to back off of him because he can really shoot it. And if you get up on him, he's so quick with his first step and he's strong. He uses his football abilities sometimes on the basketball court. He's not the tallest kid in the world, but he's extremely strong and extremely explosive."

On first two weeks of practice:

"It's been great,, and it's great because Im not starting over. The first year I was starting over and then last year I was starting over. To have all these guys, whether it's R.J. (McGee) or TY (Tylan Pope) or Sion, now I feel like honestly it's my program and we're ready. it takes time. That's why I'm excited. Now we've got my kids in this program."

On guys who have impressed him:

"The veterans are doing great. The two guys that are doing really god are TY and R.J. They understand. Both of them have won games for us. if I had to say the biggest two surprises, it might be those guys with Oton (Jankovic). Those three guys are going to be in the rotation. One of them may start. Having that experience, especially with a guy like R.J. We were laughing. He averaged 15 minutes his first year and then played a lot of minutes and won some games for us last year. Every time I'm trying to recruit over him, but at the end of the day he's still there."

JALEN COOK

Why Tulane:

"The key factors was it's a great school, a great academic school, coaches kept in touch ever since coach Hunter game, so I always knew the relationship was there, and especially with Jaylen Forbes playing here, my old teammate from AAU, (Louisiana Elite) was a big factor, too. Just the coaches, the team is good and I just wanted to leave a mark here and win some games. It wasn't a very easy (decision), but at the end of the day I'm very proud of the decision I made."

On process:

"It's been great. Everything has been going smooth. We've been having great practices. It's been good."

On improvement:

"My game has taken a leap. I put in a lot of work over the summer to put in a lot of shots. The first year at LSU helped me being around a lot of top, high-level guys, practicing against them every day and competing. My game is at a great place right now."

On what he does best;

"I defend good. I can shoot it great. Score. Just playing the right way."

On being a big scorer:

"What makes me such a good scorer is knowing when to score, knowing when to place the ball and just staying locked in and just trusting in the work I put in every day on my shop and remembering to have fun playing the game."

On learning the matchup defense:

"It's difficult to learn for sure, but as time goes on and we keep practicing and working with the team, it's going to get easier."

On defense:

"I always looked at it at the end of the day as defense wins championships, so me being sharp on the defensive side will be way more valuable that offense."

On leaving LSU:

"I considered staying, but Will Wade is a real great recruiter, so he brings in a lot of guys. I wanted to take another step."

On not playing much at LSU:

"I don't really like sitting on the bench, so it was tough. Just getting back onto the floor and into the groove of things is going to be great."

On basketball or football:

"It wasn't easy at all. Football was my first love, so it was a very hard decision. I chose basketball because I've bene excelling in it, I've been playing it a lot. I love it, I work hard at it way more than football. I love basketball more."

On his role:

"My role is going to be to lead the team, play defense, get people involved and just make big shots."

On being successful as team:

"I feel very confident. We should definitely finish top in the American Conference and make a run at the March Madness."

On teammates:

"I feel pretty good. We've got a great team, great leadership and a lot of guys who've been here before, so that helps me. We have a good group and we are going to have a lot of success."

On Sion James:

"Sion is the real deal. Big guard, he always communicates, he's always working hard. He has a bright future. Him alongside with me, we're going to be very tough."

On Birmingham:

"It was a lot of distractions, very different going to Birmingham. Birmingham was good, though. It was a good little vibe for us getting away two weeks. Kind of isolating from everything was good for us and we came together as a team."

On key for team to be successful:

"The key for this team to be successful is playing defense, getting rebounds, just laying it on the line on the defensive end and making shots and being aggressive on offense. That's really what's going to get us over the hump."

Six of the eight point spreads were decided in the final few minutes, with four in the final minute. The only ones that weren't close were Kentucky over LSU and Georgia over Auburn. Michigan-Nebraska was a push. Charlamange8 leaped into first place in the overall standings by winning his second straight week outright.


WEEK 6 RESULTS

7.5

charlamange8

6.5

chigoyboy
Kettrade1
DrBox

5.5

Guerry
tacklethemanwiththefootball
winave
Wavetime

4.5

2DatWzAGoodDay2
diverdo

3.5

ny oscar

2.5

MNAlum
WaveON


OVERALL STANDINGS

28.5

charlamange8

26.5

2DatWuzAGoodBoy2
DrBox
diverdo

25.5

tacklethemanwiththefootball
Kettrade1

24.5

chigoyboy

22.5

MNAlum
winwave

20.5

ny oscar

17.5

Guerry
WaveOn

13.5

Wavetime (missed 2 weeks)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

Houston 6 of 13
Iowa 7
Oklahoma 7
Georgia 11
Kentucky 8
Arkansas 4
Michigan/Nebraska push
Notre Dame 11

If Kansas State had not run a kickoff back for a touchdown with less than two minutes left against Oklahoma, I would have lost every game. It's been that kind of a year for me in this contest. And there were not even any close calls on the ones I missed. Then again, no one got more than four games right.


WEEK 5 RESULTS

5

charlamange8

4

MNAlum
2DatWzAGoodDay2
tacklethemanwiththefootball

3

ny oscar
WaveON
DrBox
winwave
diverdo

2

Wavetime

1

Guerry
chigoyboy
Kettrade1


OVERALL STANDINGS

22

2DatWuzAGoodBoy2
diverdo

21

charlamange8

20

MNAlum
tacklethemanwiththefootball
DrBox

19

Ketrrade1

18

chigoyboy

17

ny oscar
winwave

15

WaveON

12

Guerry
paliii (missed 2 weeks)

11

p8kpev (missed 3 weeks)

8

Wavetime (missed two weeks)

7

MMBEE (missed 3 weeks)


GAME-BY-GAME RESULTS

East Carolina 3 of 13
Cincinnati 3
Alabama 2
Georgia 3
Auburn 7
Michigan 9
Kentucky 1
Kansas State 6

No Message.

The defense played much better for three quarters, missing few tackles. The offense was up and down as usual but ran better than in recent weeks and once again got the tight ends wide open for some big plays under coordinator Chip Long.

But at the end, all the Wave had to show for it was an 18-point loss in a game in which it was a 6-point underdog, leaving it 1-5 for the first time since 2012. The defense played poorly in the fourth quarter. The wide receivers could not make plays. And the offensive line broke down again.

FRITZ

"We're disappointed. I sound like a broken record, but ever since we got here we understood that our margin for error was small. We have to play well and we have to coach well. We didn't make the plays. Thee were plays to made out there--offense, defense and kicking game. We had some opportunities for some big plays and we didn't fit it up well or weren't gap sound or dropped the ball. There were some times calling things--special teams, offense, defense--where you have to know what your guys are capable of doing sometimes. It's just tough on us getting behind and having to sit back there and throw it. And they are good pass rushers. We knew that coming into the game, but when you get behind, you have to do that stuff, so it's just disappointing. We don't have to play perfect, but we have to play good and we haven't done that many times this year."

On the sack and fumbled that changed the momentum of the game:

"That was a good play. we were hoping they were going to squeeze the tackle down and they didn't. They jetted him up the field. We were trying to run a boot, and he got there before the quarterback did and Michael didn't see him coming. Sometimes that's the best way to get outside is having them squeeze the blocks in kind of a run situation down and distance (second-and-9, but Tulane had run on its previous four downs, including an 11-yard gain by Cam Carroll on the previous play), but they jetted up the field, so good call by them."

On fourth-down decision that backfired:

"We need to make it. If was fourth-and-5 we were going to go for it there, and it was fourth-and-2 and we have to make the play. But there were plenty of other plays besides that one."

On Pratt's health and arm:

"I think he's all right. This will be a good bye week for him. He's been beat up. There were a couple of weeks in there for him that he didn't practice for us at all and leading up to the game this past week he practiced most of the time. I was a little more worried about his legs and upper body this week. This week will be a good time for him to heal up."

On if injuries affected his throwing:

"Yeah, one time he threw short when we were supposed to be running a 5-yard hitch and we ran a 10-yard hitch. But I thought overall if we could protect him, he does an excellent job. We just need to do a good job of not being so one-dimensional at times. It is tough for us to protect for a long period of time."

On if this was moral victory (not my question):

"I don't know. It's disappointing. We're all disappointed. We knew Houston's a good team and we'd have to play well to beat them, and there were tines during the game we played extremely well, but just not enough. Our guys are getting to understand, and I talked about that many times, our margin for error is very slim. It's been like that all the time. We've just got to play smart. We have to play good. We don't have to play perfect, but we have to play good. We haven't done that enough this year"

On approach to open date:

"We're going to take quite a bit off. The difference between us and the NFL is we've got class, but we are going to take some time off and heal up and kind of get Birmingham out of our system and address this second half of the season and wash this first half away. We've had a unique first half of the year with some things we've had to face. It's been unique to us, but we are going to give them a lot of time off We'll come in tomorrow and lift and heal up a little bit and give them the weekend off and cut back quite a bit next week and do a lot of recruiting, us as coaches."

On defense being good tackling and stopping the run for three quarters but not the fourth:

"We did a good job for the three quarters and then the last quarter we just got knocked off the ball= or didn't fit it up. I hadn't seen it the first three quarters, but I saw it the last quarter--some of the guys blocking a little bit and getting confused they are on defense. That was disappointing. We hadn't done that the first three quarters"

On Devin Brumfield entering transfer portal and if they had had conversation before he entered it:

"I'll talk about that later."

On best thing about offense tonight:

"At times we ran the ball well. We had some big plays. There were some good things, but we have to do a better job of executing. It was disappointing when we had a timeout and went out the first play and had gone over the play in elaborate detail and had a hard time lining up. That's disappointing. That happened on two occasions. There were some good things offensively we did and some things we've got to improve on. The same thing with defense and special teams. All three phases played well at times and all three phases played poorly."

On Tyjae Spears having two big runs:

"I think he's full speed. He's got to get more touches."

Getting this up early since Tulane plays Thursday. As always, home teams are listed first, the Tulane game counts double, neutral sites are designated and the point spreads come from VegasInsider.com consensus.

Tulane (+6) Houston
Iowa (-2) Penn State
Oklahoma (-3) Texas (Dallas)
Auburn (+14.5) Georgia
Kentucky (-3) LSU
Ole Miss (-6.5) Arkansas
Nebraska (+3) Michigan
Virginia Tech (+1.5) Notre Dame

We barely knew ya

Tulane's practice was closed today because it is the equivalent of a Friday practice, but here is some information from yesterday.

I arrived when scout team work was just about to begin The first-team defensive line was Angelo Anderson, Noah Seiden, Jeffery Johnson and Jojo Dorceus. The first-team linebackers were Dorian Williams and Marvin Moody. The first-team cornerbacks were Jaylon Monroe and Jadon Canady, with Ajani Kerr at nickelback. The first-team sfafeties were Derrion Rakestraw and Macon Clark.

The second-team defensive linemen were Darius Hodges, Eric Hicks, Adonis Friloux and Keith Cooper. The second-team linebackers were Jesus Machado and Mandel Eugene, although I was told Kevin Henry, who was in uniform, had practiced earlier and was just being given a rest. The second-team cornerbacks were Kevaris Hall, who has been invisible while recovering from last year's serious injury, and Kiland Harrison. Maybe Hall is ready tor real game action. The second-team safeties were Larry Brooks and Bailey Despanie (Rudy Dyxon is out), with D.J. Douglas at nickel.

There are no changes on offense from the norm, although Christian Daniels got some reps at wide receiver after missing the beginning of the year with an injury. Since Tulane does not have a backup center, Corey Dublin took those reps yesterday, with Timothy Shafter getting some reps at first-team left guard while Dublin rested. I did not see Cameron Jackel get any reps, with Michael Lombardi the second-team right tackle.

Dropped passes continue to be a theme. T.J. Huggins dropped one with no one around him in the end zone on a throw by Kai Horton. Neither one of them will play Thursday barring injury, so that one can be dismissed, but Shae Wyatt dropped an easy one in the end zone, and Will Wallace dropped one, too.

I see no issue with Pratt's arm at this point. He threw a ball about 55 yards. He is a little gimpy in the legs, though.

Justin Ibieta remains out, so Horton is the backup.

The practice ended about 10 minutes earlier than expected because of the short period in between games.

FRITZ

"We had a combination Wednesday-Thursday practice. A little bit different. We came in pads. I've played a lot of Thursday games and you have to have a different format. We came back on Sunday and we got our one lift of the week done and watched the film of Saturday and also got ready to turn the page for Houston and then had a big practice yesterday. We cut back a little bit today and will cut back a whole lot tomorrow. The last thing we want is for guys to be tired on game day. There's not a lot of time right now. We always talk about the final 48 yours--eating right, sleeping right, staying off your feet, hydrating, getting rid of distractions, but you can rest up. We have more like 56, 57 hours.

"Moving forward, it's a big challenge. Houston's got a very good team. Their defense is playing extremely well right now, very aggressive up front and a lot of tight man coverage. The safeties do a good job of triggering down and playing the run against you and then offensively they've got a lot of weapons. The running back (Allon McCaskill, whose numbers are nowhere near as good as ECU's Keaton Mitchell) ran a 10.4 100 meters in high school. Their other back is a very good player as well. They have a very experienced quarterback (Clayton Tune), good skill set with the receives and a very potent kicking game. They've got the best punt returner in the country, Marcus Jones, and their kick returner is dynamic as well, so we've got to play well in all three phases."

On protecting the QB:

"They got after us (last year). You have to pick your spots when you're going to throw third-level, long-developing routes. Sometimes you've got to keep some people in, but you also have to do it because when people are playing man coverage, sometimes it takes a little bit to get loose, so it can't just be all quick throws. They are on you if you get the ball out quick. We've got to mix it up and do both and we have to establish a run game, too. We have to get them to crowd the box and see if we can do some things behind them as well off play action."

On if he and his team's mettle are being tested;

"Yeah you do,. It's difficult. We knew coming into it that we had a really tough schedule without question, and you've gotta play really well. I've told our guys our margin for error is very small. We've got to play good, and I don't think we've played very well. Sometimes it's the offense. Sometimes it's the defense. Sometimes it's the kicking game. We've won a lot of games around here with all three phases playing well. That allows you to get an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter. We have to do things right to have an opportunity to win in the fourth quarter."

On the reason for slow starts:

"Some of it's adjustments. Some of it is execution. We've got the right call and they are in exactly what we thought they were going to be in Iand still give up a big play). Offensively and defensively that happened to us a bunch last week. Sometimes you get away with nine of the 11 guys doing the right thing. When the two dudes doing the wrong thing are at the point of attack, offensively or defensively, you can't overcome it. That happened to us a few times defensively where they were running the ball, we had a guy out of a gap. He's supposed to be in the D and he got in the C gap. We're supposed to have an edge fitter and he fit inside. That really gets you. If they had gone the other way, you can overcome that mistake, but they didn't. The same thing with the offense. We had a couple of play calls early in the game where if we had blocked at the point of attack, we had a nice play, but we needed the block. It's a combination of both things, and then you have to make adjustments. We are going to do some things a little different than what they prepared for, and they are going to do some things a little bit different. Both the coaches and the players have to adjust to it."

On if was harder to replace Patrick Johnson and Cam Sample than he thought:

"Without question they were great players. Both are playing a ton in the NFL right now. But we've got a lot of guys back. Part of our slogan for our team is recruit, retain, develop. We feel like we've got guys stepping into those spots. Are they going to be as good as those two guys right now? No, they are going to have to get a little bit better, but we have other guys that are a year older. They should be improved and should be better. Any time you lose a great player, it's difficult to replace him, but I feel like we still have enough to still have a good defense.."

On if Larry Brooks would be available:

"I hope so."

On underestimating intensity of ECU:

"No. They have a bunch of big, tall, long, fast athletes. They are very talented. We knew we were going to have to play really well in order to win. I followed the book and went after it there at the end of the first half with some timeouts trying to get the ball, and it went from 24-7 to 31-7. We were receiving the kickoff in the second half. That was one of the few times I wish I hadn't followed the book. We came within striking distance, got down two scores, had the fake punt and then we throw a pick on the next play. We just didn't play with momentum throughout the game. You've got to make plays and we didn't. We had a couple of calls defensively where we were supposed to be over the top and were not over the top. We have to do a better job calling and we have to do a better job executing. It's both. I'm going to point the finger at the coaches, the players, the trainers, the managers, it's everybody involved in our program. We've got to get better. The head coach. We've got to get better."

He hasn't played in two games.