I have been behind all week and did not make it to practice today, but here is what Fritz said in his Zoom call plus some quotes from earlier this week.
FRITZ
"We always talk about the final 48 hours. Usually we have a few more hours than that and as many as 60 if we're playing a night game, but this one we're pretty close to a final 48. I just tell the guys to really lock in over the next two days, try to get rid of any distractions they might have and make sure they are eating the proper food that's going to fuel them to play the best they can, hydrate so that's not an issue. It's going to be close to 80 degrees on Saturday, so that's a little warmer than normal in mid-November. Study your playbook a little bit more, take care of tickets, all those things that happen. People all of a sudden start calling you the closer you're getting to the game and you're maybe not locked in on what you should be locked in on. Good workout today. We probably did a little bit more against the triple option on Monday than we normally do against the triple option, but I think we've had a good week and we need another good day of preparation tomorrow."
On Tim Shafter's performance in first career start at right guard against ECU?
"He did a nice job. He really did. He's one of those guys who came in and just worked extremely hard and loved being on the team but every day was trying to get a little bit better, and he went from a guy that, hey, this is a really good walk-on to this guy might be able to play for us some day to hey, this guy might start. We got a few guys banged up and he jumped in there. When you're prepared, it's easy to take advantage of a situation that occurs that is going to help you out. Some guys all of a sudden they throw you in a game, they weren't prepared and it's a disaster. He was completely and totally prepared. It didn't catch him off guard. Every game he's been involved in since he's been here, he's prepared like he was going to start. I'm really happy for Tim."
On how Shafter ended up at Tulane:
"He's a preferred walk-on, but if you ask the coaches, whenever anybody does well, everybody was responsible for it. Whenever a. guy doesn't do well, I was the guy who made the decision, so I've got two or three coaches who have taken credit for him. I'll let those guys fight it out later."
On Remetich status recovering from mono:
"He's getting much closer. I'm really proud of Josh. That was a significant illness that he endured. Heck, he tried to play in the Houston game and just couldn't, and it took him three or four weeks to get over this, but he's stayed involved and he's working. He's going to play a little bit on Saturday and then I think he's going to be full go. He lost quite a bit of weight. He's put a lot of it back on, but he's really handled this with a lot of class. It's a tough deal. A lot of guys would we woe is me and all that kind of stuff, so I'm really proud of Josh."
On Army's QB situation:
"Well, they are not going to tell us. You know, they've got some guys that are doing a good job. That's kind of what you do. If guys are doing a nice job, you keep rotating them. If one guy is clearly the dude, you play him more. It's not a bad thing when you rotate guys. That's a good thing most of the time. There's been some times I've done it just to make sure they stay fresh, but they've got some confidence in those guys. If one guy obviously plays a lot better than the other guy, they'll probably roll with the hot hand."
NICK ANDERSON
On facing Army:
"We have to be a disciplined team. We have to have little to zero mistakes. We have to play intelligent. We have to play physical because this team is very talented and they are going to come out playing tough and come out being a disciplined ball club. We have to play our type of football and play with a chip on on shoulder and continue the momentum that we gained these past two weeks and just play our style."
On fewer penalties:
"It has been better since last year, but we still have a good amount of penalties that we shouldn't have. It's just those little small mistakes and mental errors. We had a penalty last week for an illegal formation (on a punt, handing ECU a first down). It's things like those we have to eliminate because those are all in our control. We're not happy until we have zero penalties in a game."
On Marvin Moody coming back:
"it will definitely be helpful due to the fact it's going to be a physical game. We have to be able to stay fresh and keep everybody rolling. I'm just happy to see him back and see him running around."
On first impressions of Michael Pratt and whether Pratt has surprised him:
"I met Mike on his official visit, and I could see that fire in his eyes. He was ready to be a Wave, ready to come in, compete and battle with toughness. It hasn't shocked me. He got here in the spring, and for him to step up and become a starter and just continue to ball hasn't shocked me one bit. I remember the last day of spring practice, I actually blitzed and I hit him in the moment. He got up fired up, so I just knew he was going to be the tough guy we needed."
on Pratt enjoying contact:
"He scares me sometimes, but he's tough and you want that out of your quarterback, showing that he's a leader, that he's a fighter, and I like that, but sometimes he's got to get down and not take as many hits."
PATRIXK JOHNSON
On teammates celebrating when he set career sack record:
"It was most definitely a special moment for me. Looking back, it shows how much my teammates love me and how much I love them. They are excited for me. It just made me feel good. It was most definitely a special moment and something I'll never forget."
On wanting record:
"I've always wanted it ever since I've been here, but I want to say at the end of last year. (sports information director) Tom (Symonds) came up to me and said you're only 8 1/2 away, and I was like, shoot, that's reachable. If I didn't get hurt last year (labrum injury that curtailed his physicality for the second half of the season) I feel like I would most definitely have gotten closer, so it was definitely a goal of mine."
On excited to come back for senior year:
"I always wanted to come back and finish what I started here with the guys. Yeah, it was exciting, but it was not what was on my mind. What was on my mind was win a championship here and get another ring. The record is a personal accomplishment, but the main thing for me was just a win."
On experience against triple option:
"It helps tremendously. I know I've talked to guys like Armoni (Dixon) and Angelo (Anderson), some of my backups right now trying to teach them because it's really their first time getting a chance to play against them, and I'm trying to give them the smallest tips. The littlest things make the biggest difference with the triple option. It seems so simple when you're watching the game because they keep repeating the same things over and over again, but there are little details that coach Fritz always talks about. You've got to pick up on it, you;ve got to do your job over and over again."
On this Army team:
"There's always something special about these teams year in and year out. They are a very physical team. They are a lot more physical this year than they were last year. They have some vets. They have some talent. They have some really good talent on that team, so we just have to go out there and do our job, play physical and make them earn every single thing they get. That's all we can really do."
FRITZ
"We always talk about the final 48 hours. Usually we have a few more hours than that and as many as 60 if we're playing a night game, but this one we're pretty close to a final 48. I just tell the guys to really lock in over the next two days, try to get rid of any distractions they might have and make sure they are eating the proper food that's going to fuel them to play the best they can, hydrate so that's not an issue. It's going to be close to 80 degrees on Saturday, so that's a little warmer than normal in mid-November. Study your playbook a little bit more, take care of tickets, all those things that happen. People all of a sudden start calling you the closer you're getting to the game and you're maybe not locked in on what you should be locked in on. Good workout today. We probably did a little bit more against the triple option on Monday than we normally do against the triple option, but I think we've had a good week and we need another good day of preparation tomorrow."
On Tim Shafter's performance in first career start at right guard against ECU?
"He did a nice job. He really did. He's one of those guys who came in and just worked extremely hard and loved being on the team but every day was trying to get a little bit better, and he went from a guy that, hey, this is a really good walk-on to this guy might be able to play for us some day to hey, this guy might start. We got a few guys banged up and he jumped in there. When you're prepared, it's easy to take advantage of a situation that occurs that is going to help you out. Some guys all of a sudden they throw you in a game, they weren't prepared and it's a disaster. He was completely and totally prepared. It didn't catch him off guard. Every game he's been involved in since he's been here, he's prepared like he was going to start. I'm really happy for Tim."
On how Shafter ended up at Tulane:
"He's a preferred walk-on, but if you ask the coaches, whenever anybody does well, everybody was responsible for it. Whenever a. guy doesn't do well, I was the guy who made the decision, so I've got two or three coaches who have taken credit for him. I'll let those guys fight it out later."
On Remetich status recovering from mono:
"He's getting much closer. I'm really proud of Josh. That was a significant illness that he endured. Heck, he tried to play in the Houston game and just couldn't, and it took him three or four weeks to get over this, but he's stayed involved and he's working. He's going to play a little bit on Saturday and then I think he's going to be full go. He lost quite a bit of weight. He's put a lot of it back on, but he's really handled this with a lot of class. It's a tough deal. A lot of guys would we woe is me and all that kind of stuff, so I'm really proud of Josh."
On Army's QB situation:
"Well, they are not going to tell us. You know, they've got some guys that are doing a good job. That's kind of what you do. If guys are doing a nice job, you keep rotating them. If one guy is clearly the dude, you play him more. It's not a bad thing when you rotate guys. That's a good thing most of the time. There's been some times I've done it just to make sure they stay fresh, but they've got some confidence in those guys. If one guy obviously plays a lot better than the other guy, they'll probably roll with the hot hand."
NICK ANDERSON
On facing Army:
"We have to be a disciplined team. We have to have little to zero mistakes. We have to play intelligent. We have to play physical because this team is very talented and they are going to come out playing tough and come out being a disciplined ball club. We have to play our type of football and play with a chip on on shoulder and continue the momentum that we gained these past two weeks and just play our style."
On fewer penalties:
"It has been better since last year, but we still have a good amount of penalties that we shouldn't have. It's just those little small mistakes and mental errors. We had a penalty last week for an illegal formation (on a punt, handing ECU a first down). It's things like those we have to eliminate because those are all in our control. We're not happy until we have zero penalties in a game."
On Marvin Moody coming back:
"it will definitely be helpful due to the fact it's going to be a physical game. We have to be able to stay fresh and keep everybody rolling. I'm just happy to see him back and see him running around."
On first impressions of Michael Pratt and whether Pratt has surprised him:
"I met Mike on his official visit, and I could see that fire in his eyes. He was ready to be a Wave, ready to come in, compete and battle with toughness. It hasn't shocked me. He got here in the spring, and for him to step up and become a starter and just continue to ball hasn't shocked me one bit. I remember the last day of spring practice, I actually blitzed and I hit him in the moment. He got up fired up, so I just knew he was going to be the tough guy we needed."
on Pratt enjoying contact:
"He scares me sometimes, but he's tough and you want that out of your quarterback, showing that he's a leader, that he's a fighter, and I like that, but sometimes he's got to get down and not take as many hits."
PATRIXK JOHNSON
On teammates celebrating when he set career sack record:
"It was most definitely a special moment for me. Looking back, it shows how much my teammates love me and how much I love them. They are excited for me. It just made me feel good. It was most definitely a special moment and something I'll never forget."
On wanting record:
"I've always wanted it ever since I've been here, but I want to say at the end of last year. (sports information director) Tom (Symonds) came up to me and said you're only 8 1/2 away, and I was like, shoot, that's reachable. If I didn't get hurt last year (labrum injury that curtailed his physicality for the second half of the season) I feel like I would most definitely have gotten closer, so it was definitely a goal of mine."
On excited to come back for senior year:
"I always wanted to come back and finish what I started here with the guys. Yeah, it was exciting, but it was not what was on my mind. What was on my mind was win a championship here and get another ring. The record is a personal accomplishment, but the main thing for me was just a win."
On experience against triple option:
"It helps tremendously. I know I've talked to guys like Armoni (Dixon) and Angelo (Anderson), some of my backups right now trying to teach them because it's really their first time getting a chance to play against them, and I'm trying to give them the smallest tips. The littlest things make the biggest difference with the triple option. It seems so simple when you're watching the game because they keep repeating the same things over and over again, but there are little details that coach Fritz always talks about. You've got to pick up on it, you;ve got to do your job over and over again."
On this Army team:
"There's always something special about these teams year in and year out. They are a very physical team. They are a lot more physical this year than they were last year. They have some vets. They have some talent. They have some really good talent on that team, so we just have to go out there and do our job, play physical and make them earn every single thing they get. That's all we can really do."
