Tulane will get a break from the unrelenting hot weather when it travels to New York to face Army this weekend, and a "cold" front finally will cool things down in New Orleans next Monday, but the start of October brought with the same stifling conditions for the Green Wave's Tuesday morning practice.
It was hot and humid when I arrived, and Jeffery Johnson did not practice again today along with Alfred Thomas. I don't expect Thomas to play Saturday, but Johnson's status will be determined by how he feels later in the week. Clearly, Tulane's depth would take a hit without Johnson, the quintessential nose tackle for defending the dive play. Mike Hinton, a graduate transfer from Columbia who made five of his six tackles against Missouri State, worked with the first team today and will need to step up if Johnson is not available. The coaches liked him a lot in preseason drills, and this is why they added him to a roster that appeared stacked along the defensive front. The rest of the starting unit is fine with the underrated De'Andre Williams, whose 15 tackles lead Tulane's linemen, manning the other tackle spot and ends Cameron Sample and Patrick Johnson doing their thing.
The second-team line today was Juan Monjarres, Davon Wright, Jamiran James and walk-on Noah Seiden. Seiden will not play against Army unless Tulane has a big lead, Depending on how the game goes early, Tulane could go with a rotation of three outside. Carlos Hatcher, who has played in two games, is another guy who did not practice today. I did not see Torri Singletary, who is listed as having played his first game against Houston. Caleb Thomas, by the way, is listed as having plaed against Houston, but I have a hard time believing it. I've never seen him practice. He had an injury when preseason camp started.
There were no changes on the offensive line. Tyler Johnson, who has been practicing since before the Houston game, remained with the second unit at left tackle while the starting unit was the same as in the last three weeks. Nik Hogan was nowhere in evidence, but today was not a good day to ask about the backup injured players since they brought Willie Fritz to the podium for his weekly Tuesday press conference and several TV reporters were asking questions, too.
I'm working on a story about the offense today for The Advocate, and here are some interesting nuggets. Through four games, Tulane is averaging 454.8 yards, which is on pace to be the second-highest average in school history behind the 507.1 in 1998. The Wave has gained more than 500 yards in three of its four games after doing it only twice in Willie Fritz's first three years. Yet, offensive coordinator Will Hall expects his group to get a lot better as the year goes along and he is not even close to satisfied with the production to this point. That's where people are sleeping on Tulane. With Amare Jones and Darius Bradwell and Corey Dauphine and Darnell Mooney and Jalen McCleskey and Justin McMillan, the playmaking ability is tremendous. If McMillan cleans up some of his throws and reads, there's no telling what the limit is for this group, which won't face a defense anything like Auburn's for the rest of the year.
A receiver who is not in the rotation, freshman Tyrek Presley, turned in the play of the day while working with the offensive scout team. Covered tightly on a pass down the sideline, he almost nonchalently hauled it it with one hand near his helmet. Tulane needs more plays like that in games from its receivers, who have dropped a few too many balls through four games.
Center Christian Montano, who will spend time this weekend with the man whose live he saved by donating his bone marrow, came in for interviews along with Jones and McMillan. Fritz talked, too, of course, but I will wait until Tulane sends out the transcript of his quotes tonight.
MONTANO
When you watch Army's defense, what are your thoughts?
"They have a great team and an excellent defense. We have to play our best in order to beat them, and we've shown that if we can play our best, we can play with anyone."
How would you grade yourself through four games?
"I can easily say that I would like to have played better. I don't really remember the good ones too much. I remember the bad ones. It's easy to sit there and smile when you're blocking someone, but when you look back at the quarterback and saying, my God, he's running because I missed someone or the running back only gets a 1-yard gain instead of what could have been a big one, those ones stick with me more. I wish I'd had some better blocks but I think I'm improving."
What has been the biggest adjustment for you?
"Just the level of athlete at this level. The teams we play, particularly in the American Athletic Conference, they are great athletes. There's a reason why they were recruited and there's a reason why they are going to college on scholarship. There are some great players in this league."
JONES
How much notoriety have you gotten since the play?
"I've gotten a lot. Everybody after the game was telling me that was an awesome play. I have to give the credit to coach Hall because he's the one who called it. We just executed it."
How much had you practiced it?
"We probably practiced it once or twice every two weeks. It's kind of just a play that's always going to be there. You don't have to practice it too much because either you know it or you don't."
When had you broken your nose in the game, and how much did it hurt?
"I broke my nose at the beginning of the third quarter. It was hurting real bad, but I felt like the team needed me. I feel like I bring something to the table that the team needs and those are my brothers and I couldn't let them down at the time."
How much more potential does this offense have for growth?
"This offense is still real young. We have a couple of seniors on offense, but we have a lot of opportunity to grow. We have a lot of sophomores and freshmen that don't play now, but they have the potential to be great. When they finally realize that and step up, that's when we'll start to grow as an offense."
This team has fed off the underdog role. Now everyone is saying how great you are. Is there a message coach Fritz gave you to get you back level-headed after the Houston game?
"1-0. That's really it. We take every game week by week and play that game one at a time. You can't really focus on what you have ahead of you because you still have to play in the present."
Do you feel underestimated at the college level?
"Yeah, I could say I've been underestimated. I don't know how else to put it. It just keeps me going. I like to prove people wrong. Whatever they say I can or can't do, I know I can do it, so I'm going to prove it to you."
What is the next thing people say you can't do that you're gonna do?
"Win a conference championship."
It was hot and humid when I arrived, and Jeffery Johnson did not practice again today along with Alfred Thomas. I don't expect Thomas to play Saturday, but Johnson's status will be determined by how he feels later in the week. Clearly, Tulane's depth would take a hit without Johnson, the quintessential nose tackle for defending the dive play. Mike Hinton, a graduate transfer from Columbia who made five of his six tackles against Missouri State, worked with the first team today and will need to step up if Johnson is not available. The coaches liked him a lot in preseason drills, and this is why they added him to a roster that appeared stacked along the defensive front. The rest of the starting unit is fine with the underrated De'Andre Williams, whose 15 tackles lead Tulane's linemen, manning the other tackle spot and ends Cameron Sample and Patrick Johnson doing their thing.
The second-team line today was Juan Monjarres, Davon Wright, Jamiran James and walk-on Noah Seiden. Seiden will not play against Army unless Tulane has a big lead, Depending on how the game goes early, Tulane could go with a rotation of three outside. Carlos Hatcher, who has played in two games, is another guy who did not practice today. I did not see Torri Singletary, who is listed as having played his first game against Houston. Caleb Thomas, by the way, is listed as having plaed against Houston, but I have a hard time believing it. I've never seen him practice. He had an injury when preseason camp started.
There were no changes on the offensive line. Tyler Johnson, who has been practicing since before the Houston game, remained with the second unit at left tackle while the starting unit was the same as in the last three weeks. Nik Hogan was nowhere in evidence, but today was not a good day to ask about the backup injured players since they brought Willie Fritz to the podium for his weekly Tuesday press conference and several TV reporters were asking questions, too.
I'm working on a story about the offense today for The Advocate, and here are some interesting nuggets. Through four games, Tulane is averaging 454.8 yards, which is on pace to be the second-highest average in school history behind the 507.1 in 1998. The Wave has gained more than 500 yards in three of its four games after doing it only twice in Willie Fritz's first three years. Yet, offensive coordinator Will Hall expects his group to get a lot better as the year goes along and he is not even close to satisfied with the production to this point. That's where people are sleeping on Tulane. With Amare Jones and Darius Bradwell and Corey Dauphine and Darnell Mooney and Jalen McCleskey and Justin McMillan, the playmaking ability is tremendous. If McMillan cleans up some of his throws and reads, there's no telling what the limit is for this group, which won't face a defense anything like Auburn's for the rest of the year.
A receiver who is not in the rotation, freshman Tyrek Presley, turned in the play of the day while working with the offensive scout team. Covered tightly on a pass down the sideline, he almost nonchalently hauled it it with one hand near his helmet. Tulane needs more plays like that in games from its receivers, who have dropped a few too many balls through four games.
Center Christian Montano, who will spend time this weekend with the man whose live he saved by donating his bone marrow, came in for interviews along with Jones and McMillan. Fritz talked, too, of course, but I will wait until Tulane sends out the transcript of his quotes tonight.
MONTANO
When you watch Army's defense, what are your thoughts?
"They have a great team and an excellent defense. We have to play our best in order to beat them, and we've shown that if we can play our best, we can play with anyone."
How would you grade yourself through four games?
"I can easily say that I would like to have played better. I don't really remember the good ones too much. I remember the bad ones. It's easy to sit there and smile when you're blocking someone, but when you look back at the quarterback and saying, my God, he's running because I missed someone or the running back only gets a 1-yard gain instead of what could have been a big one, those ones stick with me more. I wish I'd had some better blocks but I think I'm improving."
What has been the biggest adjustment for you?
"Just the level of athlete at this level. The teams we play, particularly in the American Athletic Conference, they are great athletes. There's a reason why they were recruited and there's a reason why they are going to college on scholarship. There are some great players in this league."
JONES
How much notoriety have you gotten since the play?
"I've gotten a lot. Everybody after the game was telling me that was an awesome play. I have to give the credit to coach Hall because he's the one who called it. We just executed it."
How much had you practiced it?
"We probably practiced it once or twice every two weeks. It's kind of just a play that's always going to be there. You don't have to practice it too much because either you know it or you don't."
When had you broken your nose in the game, and how much did it hurt?
"I broke my nose at the beginning of the third quarter. It was hurting real bad, but I felt like the team needed me. I feel like I bring something to the table that the team needs and those are my brothers and I couldn't let them down at the time."
How much more potential does this offense have for growth?
"This offense is still real young. We have a couple of seniors on offense, but we have a lot of opportunity to grow. We have a lot of sophomores and freshmen that don't play now, but they have the potential to be great. When they finally realize that and step up, that's when we'll start to grow as an offense."
This team has fed off the underdog role. Now everyone is saying how great you are. Is there a message coach Fritz gave you to get you back level-headed after the Houston game?
"1-0. That's really it. We take every game week by week and play that game one at a time. You can't really focus on what you have ahead of you because you still have to play in the present."
Do you feel underestimated at the college level?
"Yeah, I could say I've been underestimated. I don't know how else to put it. It just keeps me going. I like to prove people wrong. Whatever they say I can or can't do, I know I can do it, so I'm going to prove it to you."
What is the next thing people say you can't do that you're gonna do?
"Win a conference championship."
