Some observations after watching the tape of the South Alabama game.
1) Tyjae Spears is the best running back Willie Fritz has has at Tulane,. Dontrell Hilliard was very good. Darius Bradwell had a terrific junior season. Corey Dauphine is a gifted breakaway threat. But Spears is the complete package. He almost popped a huge run on the first play Saturday night but was tripped up for a short gain. He followed with a diving catch of an off-target Keon Howard pass, but he really exploded in the second half after Tulane fell behind 21-6. I counted five missed tackles on his next run, and he broke three more on the play after that. That drive ended in a botched fourth-down run by Cameron Carroll when Corey Dublin pulled and blocked a man who already was being blocked, leaving a linebacker free to stuff Carroll untouched, but Spears had set the tone. He broke tackles on a reception on Tulane's first TD drive of the second half and broke two more tackles on a run on the same drive. He has speed, balance, vision, cutting ability and the knack for making tackles turn into glancing blows. He is equally effective running inside and outside, and those guys are rare.
2) Willie Langham had a brutal first half. He earned a starting spot at cornerback ahead of Kyle Meyers with a strong finish to camp, but he may have lost it just as quickly in the opener. He gave up a big pass on South Alabama's first offensive snap when he had decent coverage but did not find the ball, whiffed on a big early run by South Alabama, missed another tackle on the same drive and committed a benchable offense on South Alabama's first touchdown pass. He was picked at the the beginning but gave virtually no effort to make up the ground as he trailed the receiver across the field, literally jogging in pursuit while expecting someone else to make the play. No one did. That was one of the worst efforts I've seen from a Tulane defensive player in recent years. He has plenty of time to bounce back, but my starters would be Meyers at cornerback and Ajani Kerr at nickel with Langham playing in the dime package or when someone needed a rest.
3) Josh Remetich made some mistakes, but he is going to be a big-tine blocker. On Spears' first long run, he mauled his guy with a pancake block. He played more than Ben Knutson, although Knutson was on the field for the winning touchdown drive and made a good block on Amare Jone's knifing run for the go-ahead score. Remetich played the first two series. Trey Tuggle had some good moments as well, making a nice seal on a Howard run. Tuggle and Jaylen Miller each were on the field for two touchdown drives and are splitting time at right tackle, basically by series. Of all people, Christian Daniels had a nice block on Carroll's TD run in the first half, with Joey Claybrook and Corey Dublin clearing their men out of the way on the left side.
4) I was not thrilled with the short-yardage fourth down calls. Although the ESPN color analyst loved the sneak that converted one fourth down, saying it is easy to pick up a few inches, Howard actually needed to gain a full yard and it was close. To me, that was too far to go for a sneak, but it worked out. Fritz said the handoff to Carroll in the second half on fourth-and-2 would have worked if a lineman had not blocked the wrong guy (I identified it as Dublin), but Carroll was lined up awfully close to the line of scrimmage with no room to improvise if something broke down.
5) De'Andre Williams had an uncharacteristic night. He was engulfed on one run during a South Alabama touchdown drive and was blocked out of the play again on the next play. Defensive tackles do other things than make stops, but his having only one tackle was unusual. I'll have more later, but I have to head to practice.
6) Keon Howard was not accurate enough, and his receivers did not play well enough to help him get more comfortable. The next tough catch they make will be their first as a group this year. I'll cut Howard some slack for the time he threw out of bounds when Carroll was wide open in the flat because he was under duress and threw it away to avoid the sack before. Being able to see Carroll under pressure will come soon. But the mistakes that are more worrisome are the missed throws like the one on third down in the second half when Amare Jones was wide open on a crossing pattern and Howard threw it about five yards behind him. That can't happen for Tulane to get where it wants to go.
7) Maybe my eyes are off, but the shanked punt that gave Tulane the ball at the South Alabama 42 before the touchdown drive that cut the deficit to 24-19 was spotted horribly by the refs. The ball went out of bounds around the 35. It landed somewhere adjacent to the 42 well out of bounds, but the spot is supposed to be where the ball travels out of bounds in the air. Ultimately, it did not matter, but usually the refs are pretty good at marking punts. Not that time.
8) Amare Jones' kickoff return after Tulane fell behind 24-6 was a big spark. There was a big collision at the 40 when he was tackled, but he gave at least as good as he got and everyone was jumping around after the return. After the successful play that did not count because Jones was supposed to sit out a play because his helmet came off, Howad threw a nice pass to Mykel Jones, and the offense was very good the rest of the way,. Jha'Quan Jackson even made a nice block on Carroll's second TD run, barely touching his guy but shielding him from Carroll as he turned the corner. Carroll, by the way, is a lock to lead the team in TDs if he stays healthy. The coaches love giving the ball to him in the red zone.
9) Jaylon Monroe, as Fritz said after the game, did a heck of a job covering Jalen Tolbert in the second half. He was right on him every play and elevated to make the catches difficult, taking Tolbert out of the game. Opponents are going to start avoiding Monroe and testing Kyle Meyers or Langham more often after watching the video of the opener. I have no idea if South Alabama will be good this year, but its receivers are excellent, and Tolbert is the best of the bunch.
10) Patrick Johnson and Cam Sample have a variety of ways to get to the quarterback. That was a sweet spin move by Johnson for the sack that basically ended South Alabama's only good drive off the fourth quarter. And Sample's one-handed takedown of the QB after Tulane went ahead was sweet, too. His guy could not block him in the fourth quarter.
1) Tyjae Spears is the best running back Willie Fritz has has at Tulane,. Dontrell Hilliard was very good. Darius Bradwell had a terrific junior season. Corey Dauphine is a gifted breakaway threat. But Spears is the complete package. He almost popped a huge run on the first play Saturday night but was tripped up for a short gain. He followed with a diving catch of an off-target Keon Howard pass, but he really exploded in the second half after Tulane fell behind 21-6. I counted five missed tackles on his next run, and he broke three more on the play after that. That drive ended in a botched fourth-down run by Cameron Carroll when Corey Dublin pulled and blocked a man who already was being blocked, leaving a linebacker free to stuff Carroll untouched, but Spears had set the tone. He broke tackles on a reception on Tulane's first TD drive of the second half and broke two more tackles on a run on the same drive. He has speed, balance, vision, cutting ability and the knack for making tackles turn into glancing blows. He is equally effective running inside and outside, and those guys are rare.
2) Willie Langham had a brutal first half. He earned a starting spot at cornerback ahead of Kyle Meyers with a strong finish to camp, but he may have lost it just as quickly in the opener. He gave up a big pass on South Alabama's first offensive snap when he had decent coverage but did not find the ball, whiffed on a big early run by South Alabama, missed another tackle on the same drive and committed a benchable offense on South Alabama's first touchdown pass. He was picked at the the beginning but gave virtually no effort to make up the ground as he trailed the receiver across the field, literally jogging in pursuit while expecting someone else to make the play. No one did. That was one of the worst efforts I've seen from a Tulane defensive player in recent years. He has plenty of time to bounce back, but my starters would be Meyers at cornerback and Ajani Kerr at nickel with Langham playing in the dime package or when someone needed a rest.
3) Josh Remetich made some mistakes, but he is going to be a big-tine blocker. On Spears' first long run, he mauled his guy with a pancake block. He played more than Ben Knutson, although Knutson was on the field for the winning touchdown drive and made a good block on Amare Jone's knifing run for the go-ahead score. Remetich played the first two series. Trey Tuggle had some good moments as well, making a nice seal on a Howard run. Tuggle and Jaylen Miller each were on the field for two touchdown drives and are splitting time at right tackle, basically by series. Of all people, Christian Daniels had a nice block on Carroll's TD run in the first half, with Joey Claybrook and Corey Dublin clearing their men out of the way on the left side.
4) I was not thrilled with the short-yardage fourth down calls. Although the ESPN color analyst loved the sneak that converted one fourth down, saying it is easy to pick up a few inches, Howard actually needed to gain a full yard and it was close. To me, that was too far to go for a sneak, but it worked out. Fritz said the handoff to Carroll in the second half on fourth-and-2 would have worked if a lineman had not blocked the wrong guy (I identified it as Dublin), but Carroll was lined up awfully close to the line of scrimmage with no room to improvise if something broke down.
5) De'Andre Williams had an uncharacteristic night. He was engulfed on one run during a South Alabama touchdown drive and was blocked out of the play again on the next play. Defensive tackles do other things than make stops, but his having only one tackle was unusual. I'll have more later, but I have to head to practice.
6) Keon Howard was not accurate enough, and his receivers did not play well enough to help him get more comfortable. The next tough catch they make will be their first as a group this year. I'll cut Howard some slack for the time he threw out of bounds when Carroll was wide open in the flat because he was under duress and threw it away to avoid the sack before. Being able to see Carroll under pressure will come soon. But the mistakes that are more worrisome are the missed throws like the one on third down in the second half when Amare Jones was wide open on a crossing pattern and Howard threw it about five yards behind him. That can't happen for Tulane to get where it wants to go.
7) Maybe my eyes are off, but the shanked punt that gave Tulane the ball at the South Alabama 42 before the touchdown drive that cut the deficit to 24-19 was spotted horribly by the refs. The ball went out of bounds around the 35. It landed somewhere adjacent to the 42 well out of bounds, but the spot is supposed to be where the ball travels out of bounds in the air. Ultimately, it did not matter, but usually the refs are pretty good at marking punts. Not that time.
8) Amare Jones' kickoff return after Tulane fell behind 24-6 was a big spark. There was a big collision at the 40 when he was tackled, but he gave at least as good as he got and everyone was jumping around after the return. After the successful play that did not count because Jones was supposed to sit out a play because his helmet came off, Howad threw a nice pass to Mykel Jones, and the offense was very good the rest of the way,. Jha'Quan Jackson even made a nice block on Carroll's second TD run, barely touching his guy but shielding him from Carroll as he turned the corner. Carroll, by the way, is a lock to lead the team in TDs if he stays healthy. The coaches love giving the ball to him in the red zone.
9) Jaylon Monroe, as Fritz said after the game, did a heck of a job covering Jalen Tolbert in the second half. He was right on him every play and elevated to make the catches difficult, taking Tolbert out of the game. Opponents are going to start avoiding Monroe and testing Kyle Meyers or Langham more often after watching the video of the opener. I have no idea if South Alabama will be good this year, but its receivers are excellent, and Tolbert is the best of the bunch.
10) Patrick Johnson and Cam Sample have a variety of ways to get to the quarterback. That was a sweet spin move by Johnson for the sack that basically ended South Alabama's only good drive off the fourth quarter. And Sample's one-handed takedown of the QB after Tulane went ahead was sweet, too. His guy could not block him in the fourth quarter.
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