Tulane conducted its first of two bye-week practices on Tuesday morning at Yulman Stadium, doing the usual Willie Fritz stuff like a long tackling drill for the defense that had coaches rolling a donut and the guys having to bring them down with proper tecnique as Fritz offered commentary. There was no 11-on-11 work when I was there, with a seven-on-seven drill finishing the workout.
Terren Encalade turned in the play of the day, leaping in the back for a touchdown that drew cheers and high fives from his offensive mates. Jonathan Banks threw a nice fade to Jacob Robertson for a score near the goal line but missed tight end Charles Jones on a designed roll-out pass one play later. Parry Nickerson came up with an interception of Khalil McClain at the goal line. Jonathan Brantley, who was left on the sideline in favor of McClain for one play on the final drive when Banks got hurt, threw a ball to the corner of the end zone that traveled about 30 yards, so his shoulder appears better even though there has been no official confirmation he had a problem there. Jaetavian Toles dropped a pass, another indication the freshman receivers are not ready to contribute.
Larry Bryant and Eric Lewis dressed but did not participate in the tackling drill, and neither did Rod Teamer, who practiced in every other situation.
The Wave will be back to practice tomorrow morning before taking a long weekend off, getting needed rest in anticipation of an important conference game with Tulsa on Oct. 7.
We talked to three players and Fritz. Here's what they said:
TERREN ENCALADE
How much fun was that raucous locker room scene with players passing coach Fritz over their heads and he surfed the room after the Army win?
"Oh man, it's amazing. He's a real passionate guy. You can tell he loved football when he was playing and he still loves it as a coach, so for him to be excited just makes us even more excited."
When you have a coach that does that, can you relate to him?
"Oh yeah, we relate to him a lot. There's a lot of enthusiasm that goes on with football and he's a very enthusiastic coach."
Is that the first time it's happened here?
"No, we always have at little after-game (win) celebration. That's just something we like to do."
Can you talk about building on that last drive with Jonathan Banks?
"We preach about finishing in the fourth quarter, and the O-line did a great job, Banks came in and made unbelievable plays, unbelievable throws and everybody just played their part and we came out with the win."
What does he bring to the passing game?
"He can scramble. He has that ability to make somebody miss or make two people miss. He's real smart and he stays in the film room and he just wants everybody to be on the same page. It works out well."
You've been 2-2 before, but is this a more confident 2-2 the way it happened?
"It's a different 2-2. Last year we were 3-2 and went into the bye week, but this year it feels a whole lot different. We're on the right track. We've been ready for some big things."
Why is it different?
"It's a different culture. It's a different vibe that everybody's giving off. It's more positive things. Nobody has his head down. Nobody's pouting. It's just guys trying to be leaders. Guys are trying to make plays, guys want to make plays and it just works out at the end."
ROD TEAMER
You guys have been 2-2 quite a bit since you've been here, but does this feel like a different 2-2?
"Honestly, yes we do feel like we're ready for some big things, but we try not to dwell on the past too much. Everybody within our program knows how the past couple seasons have turned out below expectations for us, for our fans and everybody involved with Tulane. We try not to look at that, but it is exciting, the direction we feel like we're going."
The drive the offense had to win the Army game, how much does that help with confidence for the whole team?
"It's amazing for us. Around our program everybody always talks about defense and stuff like that and the years that we've had defensively, but it's exciting for the offense to score. That makes me more excited than us getting a stop. Jonathan coming over here has been huge for us, his leadership and he displayed all of that on that drive and did what he needed to do and those guys rallied around him and they made it happen."
Like you said, the offense has not had many big moments since you've been here. How much does that help unify the whole team to know the offense is capable of handling its end of the load?
"It helps a lot. That was part of the reason we had division in our team in the past even prior to coach Fritz being here. For them to be doing well, the defense loves that because the best defenses are the ones that get to sit on the side and watch. If you're not out there, you can't get scored on. We push those guys and they push us and we want them to be successful."
Is Coach Fritz always that excited in the locker room after a win?
"Absolutely. After every victory he's excited. Every win is important to him. There's always the next game. No win's bigger than another."
It's hard to get a gauge on the defense after two games against triple-option teams, Oklahoma and Grambling. Where do you feel like you guys are?
"I feel like we are getting better defensively. Our communication has to improve. Missed tackles, we have to get that down. We try to have zero missed tackles in a game but we'll accept single digits. We just try to focus on the little things--tackling, communication and our cover skills."
Army gashed the defense pretty good Saturday, but you got some key stops. How important was that and can you take positives out of that?
"It is very important. Army did a great job running the ball and they really did what they wanted to do against us, but luckily our offense hung in there and did what they had to do. We hung in there and we battled the whole game and a couple of things went our way. We got some stops. Donnie (Lewis) had the big turnover down here in the red zone, so would you call it luck, I don't know, but whatever it is, I hope we keep it."
Terren Encalade turned in the play of the day, leaping in the back for a touchdown that drew cheers and high fives from his offensive mates. Jonathan Banks threw a nice fade to Jacob Robertson for a score near the goal line but missed tight end Charles Jones on a designed roll-out pass one play later. Parry Nickerson came up with an interception of Khalil McClain at the goal line. Jonathan Brantley, who was left on the sideline in favor of McClain for one play on the final drive when Banks got hurt, threw a ball to the corner of the end zone that traveled about 30 yards, so his shoulder appears better even though there has been no official confirmation he had a problem there. Jaetavian Toles dropped a pass, another indication the freshman receivers are not ready to contribute.
Larry Bryant and Eric Lewis dressed but did not participate in the tackling drill, and neither did Rod Teamer, who practiced in every other situation.
The Wave will be back to practice tomorrow morning before taking a long weekend off, getting needed rest in anticipation of an important conference game with Tulsa on Oct. 7.
We talked to three players and Fritz. Here's what they said:
TERREN ENCALADE
How much fun was that raucous locker room scene with players passing coach Fritz over their heads and he surfed the room after the Army win?
"Oh man, it's amazing. He's a real passionate guy. You can tell he loved football when he was playing and he still loves it as a coach, so for him to be excited just makes us even more excited."
When you have a coach that does that, can you relate to him?
"Oh yeah, we relate to him a lot. There's a lot of enthusiasm that goes on with football and he's a very enthusiastic coach."
Is that the first time it's happened here?
"No, we always have at little after-game (win) celebration. That's just something we like to do."
Can you talk about building on that last drive with Jonathan Banks?
"We preach about finishing in the fourth quarter, and the O-line did a great job, Banks came in and made unbelievable plays, unbelievable throws and everybody just played their part and we came out with the win."
What does he bring to the passing game?
"He can scramble. He has that ability to make somebody miss or make two people miss. He's real smart and he stays in the film room and he just wants everybody to be on the same page. It works out well."
You've been 2-2 before, but is this a more confident 2-2 the way it happened?
"It's a different 2-2. Last year we were 3-2 and went into the bye week, but this year it feels a whole lot different. We're on the right track. We've been ready for some big things."
Why is it different?
"It's a different culture. It's a different vibe that everybody's giving off. It's more positive things. Nobody has his head down. Nobody's pouting. It's just guys trying to be leaders. Guys are trying to make plays, guys want to make plays and it just works out at the end."
ROD TEAMER
You guys have been 2-2 quite a bit since you've been here, but does this feel like a different 2-2?
"Honestly, yes we do feel like we're ready for some big things, but we try not to dwell on the past too much. Everybody within our program knows how the past couple seasons have turned out below expectations for us, for our fans and everybody involved with Tulane. We try not to look at that, but it is exciting, the direction we feel like we're going."
The drive the offense had to win the Army game, how much does that help with confidence for the whole team?
"It's amazing for us. Around our program everybody always talks about defense and stuff like that and the years that we've had defensively, but it's exciting for the offense to score. That makes me more excited than us getting a stop. Jonathan coming over here has been huge for us, his leadership and he displayed all of that on that drive and did what he needed to do and those guys rallied around him and they made it happen."
Like you said, the offense has not had many big moments since you've been here. How much does that help unify the whole team to know the offense is capable of handling its end of the load?
"It helps a lot. That was part of the reason we had division in our team in the past even prior to coach Fritz being here. For them to be doing well, the defense loves that because the best defenses are the ones that get to sit on the side and watch. If you're not out there, you can't get scored on. We push those guys and they push us and we want them to be successful."
Is Coach Fritz always that excited in the locker room after a win?
"Absolutely. After every victory he's excited. Every win is important to him. There's always the next game. No win's bigger than another."
It's hard to get a gauge on the defense after two games against triple-option teams, Oklahoma and Grambling. Where do you feel like you guys are?
"I feel like we are getting better defensively. Our communication has to improve. Missed tackles, we have to get that down. We try to have zero missed tackles in a game but we'll accept single digits. We just try to focus on the little things--tackling, communication and our cover skills."
Army gashed the defense pretty good Saturday, but you got some key stops. How important was that and can you take positives out of that?
"It is very important. Army did a great job running the ball and they really did what they wanted to do against us, but luckily our offense hung in there and did what they had to do. We hung in there and we battled the whole game and a couple of things went our way. We got some stops. Donnie (Lewis) had the big turnover down here in the red zone, so would you call it luck, I don't know, but whatever it is, I hope we keep it."
