Darion Monroe said all the right things after the Memphis game, and so did Royce LaFrance, but they did not reflect the feelings of the entire defense when they refused to blame the offense for a tough night that turned a good defensive effort into a 31-0 deficit by the end of the third quarter.
I'm hearing the defensive players had some heated discussions with the offensive players during the game, which is understandable and unavoidable when one unit is outperforming the other so dramatically. As usual, everything is OK three days later, in part because players respect Tanner Lee. He had a awful, awful night, but it wasn't for lack of preparation or anything outside of football. For whatever reason, he struggled from start to finish after having a good week of practice and entering with a lot of confidence.
I talked to CJ briefly after the coldest practice of the year today. His thoughts on the practice:
"The offense practiced really well today," he said. "On defense there were too many mistakes, but they'll get it ironed out."
Although Tulane can't get to a bowl now and is guaranteed a losing record, CJ said it would not affect preparation for East Carolina this week.
"No. We never even talked about it all year. We never mentioned it once in a meeting. Never. We just gotta keep playing."
With freshman contributing at every offensive skill position, I asked CJ if he was disappointed with the production of his freshman defensive ends. Aside from starters Tyler Gilbert and Royce LaFrance (who has been up and down himself), the Wave has not gotten much from the rest of its ends, including redshirt freshmen Ade Aruna (six tackles) and Quinlan Carroll (two tackles, now injured) and true freshmen Daren Williams (eight tackles) and Peter Woullard (redshirting).
CJ disagreed with the premise.
"No, not at all (am I disappointed)," he said. "Tyler was playing so well and Royce is playing so well. You look at the stats and you have to play those guys."
I'm hearing the defensive players had some heated discussions with the offensive players during the game, which is understandable and unavoidable when one unit is outperforming the other so dramatically. As usual, everything is OK three days later, in part because players respect Tanner Lee. He had a awful, awful night, but it wasn't for lack of preparation or anything outside of football. For whatever reason, he struggled from start to finish after having a good week of practice and entering with a lot of confidence.
I talked to CJ briefly after the coldest practice of the year today. His thoughts on the practice:
"The offense practiced really well today," he said. "On defense there were too many mistakes, but they'll get it ironed out."
Although Tulane can't get to a bowl now and is guaranteed a losing record, CJ said it would not affect preparation for East Carolina this week.
"No. We never even talked about it all year. We never mentioned it once in a meeting. Never. We just gotta keep playing."
With freshman contributing at every offensive skill position, I asked CJ if he was disappointed with the production of his freshman defensive ends. Aside from starters Tyler Gilbert and Royce LaFrance (who has been up and down himself), the Wave has not gotten much from the rest of its ends, including redshirt freshmen Ade Aruna (six tackles) and Quinlan Carroll (two tackles, now injured) and true freshmen Daren Williams (eight tackles) and Peter Woullard (redshirting).
CJ disagreed with the premise.
"No, not at all (am I disappointed)," he said. "Tyler was playing so well and Royce is playing so well. You look at the stats and you have to play those guys."