One of the staples of Willie Fritz's tenure at Tulane is his belief in keeping an even keel. Tulane's practice today in preparation for Saturday's likely beatdown of FCS also-ran Missouri State was just as intense as the workouts before the Auburn game, with assistant coaches getting on the players to play through the unseasonably hot conditions. The message on the scoreboard read "Beat MSU," and one defensive assistant got really angry when the defense allowed two consecutive completions to the scout-team offense. The guys responded with two consecutive interceptions one by Tirise Barge on a pass that was deflected by Nick Anderson and another by Larry Brooks.
Meanwhile, offensive coordinator Will Hall tried to buck up his the receivers' confidence after a rough night at Auburn when Tulane went 10 of 34 in the passing game and dropped as many as five passes according to Fritz. "We are a good football team," Hall said at one point. "We can complete passes." Hall then demonstrated the proper technique on routes to some of the receivers, running the entire route himself to show them what he wanted them to do.
Brooks made a really nice play in 11-on-11 work, picking off a deep ball from Keon Howard that was intended for Kevin LeDee. Brooks will play a big role against Missouri State with Macon Clark suspended for the first half due to his targeting penalty against Auburn, maybe getting time at both safety spots as a backup. Tulane does not have a fourth safety getting playing time.
Tyler Johnson did not practice today but was moving around better. I don't expect him to play against Missouri State because he will not be needed, but he looks on course to play against Houston. The starting offensive line was the same as against Auburn, with Ben Knutson at right guard, Keyshawn McLeod at right tackle and Joey Claybrook at left tackle. The scout-team offensive line is Trace Oldner, Michael Remondet, Ben Bratcher, Colby Orgeron and Jackson Fort.
"Wave don't beat the Wave," Fritz yelled at one point, which is one of his constant refrains. Tulane definitely needs to cut down on its penalties since it is tied with Vanderbilt for last place among 130 FBS teams with 23 after two games. As counterintuitive as it seems, there is not a strong correlation between penalties and losing--more years than not, the 10 teams with the most penalty yards per game have a better overall record than the 10 teams with the fewest penalty yards per game--but obviously there's not benefit to getting multiple false start penalties.
Fritz's teams usually are in the middle of the pack in penalties. Tulane's rank was 64 in 2016, 48 in 2017 and 94 in 2018. Georgia Southern was 30th in 2015 and tied for 14th in 2014, but triple option teams, which Georgia Southern truly was in Fritz's two years there, almost always commit fewer penalties than teams with regular offenses.
Tulane's kickoff unit is Chris Joyce, Jaylon Monroe, Chase Kuerschen, Malik Lawal, Dorian Williams, Merek Glover (I forgot to ask why he had replaced Sterling Stockwell but will do it tomorrow), Larry Bryant, KJ Vault, Tirise Barge, Brooks and P.J. Hall. The group has good athletic ability.
I will transcribe all of the quotes from Fritz, Justin McMillan, Cameron Sample and Jalen McCleskey from the Tuesday press conference and get them up here in about an hour.
Meanwhile, offensive coordinator Will Hall tried to buck up his the receivers' confidence after a rough night at Auburn when Tulane went 10 of 34 in the passing game and dropped as many as five passes according to Fritz. "We are a good football team," Hall said at one point. "We can complete passes." Hall then demonstrated the proper technique on routes to some of the receivers, running the entire route himself to show them what he wanted them to do.
Brooks made a really nice play in 11-on-11 work, picking off a deep ball from Keon Howard that was intended for Kevin LeDee. Brooks will play a big role against Missouri State with Macon Clark suspended for the first half due to his targeting penalty against Auburn, maybe getting time at both safety spots as a backup. Tulane does not have a fourth safety getting playing time.
Tyler Johnson did not practice today but was moving around better. I don't expect him to play against Missouri State because he will not be needed, but he looks on course to play against Houston. The starting offensive line was the same as against Auburn, with Ben Knutson at right guard, Keyshawn McLeod at right tackle and Joey Claybrook at left tackle. The scout-team offensive line is Trace Oldner, Michael Remondet, Ben Bratcher, Colby Orgeron and Jackson Fort.
"Wave don't beat the Wave," Fritz yelled at one point, which is one of his constant refrains. Tulane definitely needs to cut down on its penalties since it is tied with Vanderbilt for last place among 130 FBS teams with 23 after two games. As counterintuitive as it seems, there is not a strong correlation between penalties and losing--more years than not, the 10 teams with the most penalty yards per game have a better overall record than the 10 teams with the fewest penalty yards per game--but obviously there's not benefit to getting multiple false start penalties.
Fritz's teams usually are in the middle of the pack in penalties. Tulane's rank was 64 in 2016, 48 in 2017 and 94 in 2018. Georgia Southern was 30th in 2015 and tied for 14th in 2014, but triple option teams, which Georgia Southern truly was in Fritz's two years there, almost always commit fewer penalties than teams with regular offenses.
Tulane's kickoff unit is Chris Joyce, Jaylon Monroe, Chase Kuerschen, Malik Lawal, Dorian Williams, Merek Glover (I forgot to ask why he had replaced Sterling Stockwell but will do it tomorrow), Larry Bryant, KJ Vault, Tirise Barge, Brooks and P.J. Hall. The group has good athletic ability.
I will transcribe all of the quotes from Fritz, Justin McMillan, Cameron Sample and Jalen McCleskey from the Tuesday press conference and get them up here in about an hour.