Here are several observations after watching every play again:
1) Some things that have already been pointed out are how well Joey Claybrook played in his first extensive action, and the film study bore that out. He entered on Tulane's fourth series and never left, providing some key blocks on some of the most important plays, including a run by Bradwell on the first touchdown drive, a fantastic block on Amare Jones' long burst and the springing block on Justin McMillan's winning TD run.
Noah Fisher also had a strong game. He looked like Tulane's best offensive lineman in preseason camp until he sprained his ankle. I particularly liked his simple block on Corey Dauphine's long run. He simply punched his man out of the way with one powerful blow, something you rarely see from Tulane's offensive linemen. He made a good block on Bradwell's short TD run for the first score and another good block on a McMillan scramble. This was Tulane's best tackle combination in a few years, so it will be interesting to see if they can duplicate that performance against South Florida's shaky defense.
2) I charted all of Tulsa's passes to see who the intended target was and came up with this:
Jaylon Monroe, 8 targets, 2 completions (one long, one insignificant)
Donnie Lewis, 6 targets, 3 completions (all short)
Ant
Willie Langham, 2 targets, 0 completions (one was dropped in the end zone)
Monroe had an outstanding game. I saw no play where there was even the possibility a flag could have flown, but I guess somebody might be referring to the one in the back of the end zone. What was the other one? Tulsa went after him repeatedly. He got burned only once while making a terrific play on a second-half deep ball down the sideline.
Rod Teamer was targeted five times, but the safeties aren't really in single coverage. He should have made a play on the touchdown pass in the first half but did not get there in time. P.J. Hall was targeted twice, giving up completions both times, including a big one when he was trailing badly. Taris Shenall and Will Harper were targeted once.
3) I'm not a fan of the blitzes because they rarely get home and leave the secondary vulnerable to big plays. Once, Teamer lined up 8 yards deep, blitzed and was knocked off his feet by a running back, freeing Seth Boomer up for a big scramble right up the vacated middle. Tulane is getting enough pressure with its front four that any blitz by a safety or corner tends to be counterproductive in my view.
4) McMillan showed outstanding pocket presence. It helped that Tulsa has a pitiful pass rush, but he kept plays alive with his feet and never panicked, unlike Jonathan Banks, who has some of the worst pocket presence I've ever seen. Even when Banks made big plays, which he was very capable of doing, he looked off balance and had zero ball awareness. McMillan had a beautiful completion to Terren Encalade when he scrambled to his left and threw across his body to Encalade. It was not a dangerous play because Encalade had plenty of separation. He also made a nice pass to Jabril Clewis on Tulane's opening possession and showed good patience in the pocket before hitting Amare Jones for a first down on third-and-7.
That said, McMillan was very poor overall with his accuracy. The passes he would love to have back: a throw behind Encalade early, a pass too high for Encalade, the lucky tipped third-down pass that
Encalade caught for a first down on the first touchdown drive which should have been intercepted (OK, I guess he would not like to have that one back because it led to a much needed TD), a deep ball for Encalade into triple coverage that was not close to being completed, the terrible pass to an open Mooney on third-and-goal in the end zone before the tying field goal and a pass too high and too hard for Mooney on fourth down midway through the fourth quarter. McMillan is capable of throwing much better than he did and will need to be more accurate today.
5) The misdirection option pitch to Jorrien Vallien came out of nowhere and worked perfectly. That one definitely needs to be used again whether it's Vallien or someone else.
6) Zach Harris ran out of position twice on big Tulsa gains. Otherwise, he was solid, but middle linebackers need to stay in their gaps.
7) The defense was aggressive and hit hard from start to finish, something we've rarely seen from Tulane on the road. Teamer set the tone early with a big hit, and Tirise Barge had a huge one on a run blitz. Tulane did not miss many tackles, limiting the big plays that have hurt it so much this year.
8) It may be time to file the wildcat with Amare Jones. He missed a snap on one and had the bad exchange with Bradwell that led to a lost fumble. I don't see enough upside on those plays to warrant their use, but maybe I'll be proved wrong.
9) Twice, Corey Dauphine moved the pile significantly after being hit. His first couple of runs were nothing plays, but when they kept feeding him the ball, he excelled.
10) Zach Block is a weapon on kickoffs. He had three touchbacks in five attempts, and the two that weren't were a squib kick that went out of bounds and a kick from the 20 after a penalty that would have gone 3 yards deep in the end zone if he had kicked off from the 35. His other kicks landed 4 yards in the end zone, 5 yards in the end zone and at the 1 before bouncing into the end zone.
11) If Tulane plays well today, a big if on the road, it can win. The people I know who cover South Florida say the defense has been as bad as its number suggest and is very vulnerable. But they expect Tulane to have a very hard time slowing down the Bulls' offense, so Cam Sample, Patrick Johnson and company need to have a dominant day, and the linebackers need to make plays. South Florida will be ready after getting housed by Houston (for the most part), and Tulane has to match that intensity from the start.
1) Some things that have already been pointed out are how well Joey Claybrook played in his first extensive action, and the film study bore that out. He entered on Tulane's fourth series and never left, providing some key blocks on some of the most important plays, including a run by Bradwell on the first touchdown drive, a fantastic block on Amare Jones' long burst and the springing block on Justin McMillan's winning TD run.
Noah Fisher also had a strong game. He looked like Tulane's best offensive lineman in preseason camp until he sprained his ankle. I particularly liked his simple block on Corey Dauphine's long run. He simply punched his man out of the way with one powerful blow, something you rarely see from Tulane's offensive linemen. He made a good block on Bradwell's short TD run for the first score and another good block on a McMillan scramble. This was Tulane's best tackle combination in a few years, so it will be interesting to see if they can duplicate that performance against South Florida's shaky defense.
2) I charted all of Tulsa's passes to see who the intended target was and came up with this:
Jaylon Monroe, 8 targets, 2 completions (one long, one insignificant)
Donnie Lewis, 6 targets, 3 completions (all short)
Ant
Willie Langham, 2 targets, 0 completions (one was dropped in the end zone)
Monroe had an outstanding game. I saw no play where there was even the possibility a flag could have flown, but I guess somebody might be referring to the one in the back of the end zone. What was the other one? Tulsa went after him repeatedly. He got burned only once while making a terrific play on a second-half deep ball down the sideline.
Rod Teamer was targeted five times, but the safeties aren't really in single coverage. He should have made a play on the touchdown pass in the first half but did not get there in time. P.J. Hall was targeted twice, giving up completions both times, including a big one when he was trailing badly. Taris Shenall and Will Harper were targeted once.
3) I'm not a fan of the blitzes because they rarely get home and leave the secondary vulnerable to big plays. Once, Teamer lined up 8 yards deep, blitzed and was knocked off his feet by a running back, freeing Seth Boomer up for a big scramble right up the vacated middle. Tulane is getting enough pressure with its front four that any blitz by a safety or corner tends to be counterproductive in my view.
4) McMillan showed outstanding pocket presence. It helped that Tulsa has a pitiful pass rush, but he kept plays alive with his feet and never panicked, unlike Jonathan Banks, who has some of the worst pocket presence I've ever seen. Even when Banks made big plays, which he was very capable of doing, he looked off balance and had zero ball awareness. McMillan had a beautiful completion to Terren Encalade when he scrambled to his left and threw across his body to Encalade. It was not a dangerous play because Encalade had plenty of separation. He also made a nice pass to Jabril Clewis on Tulane's opening possession and showed good patience in the pocket before hitting Amare Jones for a first down on third-and-7.
That said, McMillan was very poor overall with his accuracy. The passes he would love to have back: a throw behind Encalade early, a pass too high for Encalade, the lucky tipped third-down pass that
Encalade caught for a first down on the first touchdown drive which should have been intercepted (OK, I guess he would not like to have that one back because it led to a much needed TD), a deep ball for Encalade into triple coverage that was not close to being completed, the terrible pass to an open Mooney on third-and-goal in the end zone before the tying field goal and a pass too high and too hard for Mooney on fourth down midway through the fourth quarter. McMillan is capable of throwing much better than he did and will need to be more accurate today.
5) The misdirection option pitch to Jorrien Vallien came out of nowhere and worked perfectly. That one definitely needs to be used again whether it's Vallien or someone else.
6) Zach Harris ran out of position twice on big Tulsa gains. Otherwise, he was solid, but middle linebackers need to stay in their gaps.
7) The defense was aggressive and hit hard from start to finish, something we've rarely seen from Tulane on the road. Teamer set the tone early with a big hit, and Tirise Barge had a huge one on a run blitz. Tulane did not miss many tackles, limiting the big plays that have hurt it so much this year.
8) It may be time to file the wildcat with Amare Jones. He missed a snap on one and had the bad exchange with Bradwell that led to a lost fumble. I don't see enough upside on those plays to warrant their use, but maybe I'll be proved wrong.
9) Twice, Corey Dauphine moved the pile significantly after being hit. His first couple of runs were nothing plays, but when they kept feeding him the ball, he excelled.
10) Zach Block is a weapon on kickoffs. He had three touchbacks in five attempts, and the two that weren't were a squib kick that went out of bounds and a kick from the 20 after a penalty that would have gone 3 yards deep in the end zone if he had kicked off from the 35. His other kicks landed 4 yards in the end zone, 5 yards in the end zone and at the 1 before bouncing into the end zone.
11) If Tulane plays well today, a big if on the road, it can win. The people I know who cover South Florida say the defense has been as bad as its number suggest and is very vulnerable. But they expect Tulane to have a very hard time slowing down the Bulls' offense, so Cam Sample, Patrick Johnson and company need to have a dominant day, and the linebackers need to make plays. South Florida will be ready after getting housed by Houston (for the most part), and Tulane has to match that intensity from the start.
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