There's not much to say that isn't obvious about a game where Tulane was on pace to give up more than 1,000 yards early in the second quarter and on pace to gain less than 100 at the same time.
I talked to Willie Fritz one-on-one and Jonathan Banks nearly one-on-one after the game. Fritz was as frustrated as I've seen him.
FRITZ
What did you see going on during the terrible start?
"Oh, we played awful defensively. They had over 400 yards in the first half. We just really did a poor job of tackling."
That's something you stress more than anything else. How frustrating was it?
"You've got to get up and do it, get up and get your arms around them and take them frickin' down. Some guys did OK. I think Donnie Lewis has gone from an average tackler to a good tackler."
There were too many big plays. Did guys start getting demoralized?
"Way too many big plays. The other part, too, is we lost contain, they had what we call a pump and go and go and they blocked out the perimeter and just took off. Easy play. They had a little wheel route. Easy play. We repped those plays. but like I told those guys, it's a team loss. We didn't coach very good and didn't execute very good. There were some good things playing and coaching, but where we're at right now we've just got to be on point. When we play one of the top teams in our conference and the country, we're not good enough to play below average and beat those teams."
The offense had one first down in the first six series. You didn't have Junior Diaz, so what adjustment did that force you to make?
"We'd love to have Junior in there but he's injured and wasn't able to play."
Jonathan Banks did not practice much this week. How much was he affected by not being able to practice?
"Oh, I think he got better as the game progressed, but it's a whole team effort. We played poorly on offense and we'd miss a block, a couple of times in protections the backs just weren't firm at all. We don't get the ball out in time, we don't run the right route. There's a lot of things involved with it. It's not one guy. It's a lot of guys. I wish it was just one. We could fix that."
You put Brantley in for the third series and he tried to reverse field on an option and lost seven yards. Would you have liked to see him run the play the way it was called?
"Johnathan Brantley had a good week of practice. We wanted to play him a little bit. We'd already planned to do that."
What positives can you take out of making it a game in the third quarter? If Banks had hit Mooney for the long touchdown that was open, it might have been a one-score deficit.
"Well, obviously woulda, coulda, shoulda. We just have to play better in all aspects. You can point to all three areas and see some good things that we did and certainly in all three areas see some really poor things we did."
What is the first step to getting this team to play better in the final four games?
"We have to limit our missed assignments. We're just not good enough to have a lot of missed assignments. We have to do a better job of coaching them."
Do you know whether Junior Diaz will be back next week?
'I hope he's back. We'll find out."
You said earlier this week you don't believe in brow-beating players. Will that be necessary now?
"That's not going to do anything. I told the guys, shoot, you gotta look in the mirror. I'm disappointed how I executed as a head coach. I'm going to have some long discussions with our coaching staff. There were some fundamental things I was disappointed in. You have to do the same thing as a player. You just can't have 'my bad.' We just can't make those mistakes."
BANKS
What made the offense start so slowly?
Memphis did a good job. They are a well coached team. They did a good job controlling the momentum, so we had troubles getting going at first, but we stayed with a positive attitude. We were down 35-0 zero and were able to get something going. That was a good thing."
You threw three touchdown passes after the big deficit, but how disappointed were you in the one you missed to Darnell Mooney that could have gone for an 88-yard touchdown and closed the gap to 35-25 or 35-27? Do you feel like it could have been a different outcome?
"Oh yeah, no doubt. If I could have been able to connect with Darnell Mooney on that one, we probably would have been sitting down (eight or 10 points). I've just gotta go to practice and get better."
You didn't practice much this week. Was it a little harder for you to get in the flow early?
"Not really. I was comfortable. Like I said, Memphis is a well coached team and did a good job of controlling the tempo with their offense. It's hard to beat an undefeated team, well not an undefeated team but a ranked team."
What allowed you to pick up your game after the bad start?
"We were able to throw the ball a little more. When they were in man coverage, we were able to take advantage of them. We just stayed positive that something would get going, and we took it from there."
This could be a demoralizing loss. How do you make sure not to let it affect you going forward?
"Practice. We just have to go out there on Monday and Tuesday and get ready for Cincinnati. We can't really look back on Memphis. We were down 35, but we can't really look at that. Like I said, they are a well coached team. We just have to come out better next week."
You did throw for three scores and more than 200 yards. How can you ensure that you start that way next week?
"That's a pretty tough question. It's out of my reach. I get the plays and I just run them."
Junior Diaz wasn't available. How much did you guys miss him?
"He's an important aspect of our offense. Hunter (Knighton) did a good of stepping in and snapping. He's not even a center, but he came in and helped us out, so we really appreciate that."
The snap that turned into a touchdown bounced off Kendall Ardoin's knee when he was motion. What went wrong there?
"It was a miscommunication thing. Like I said, we can't do anything about it now. We fought back but we fell short, so we'll have to wait for next week."
You're not going to play another team as good as Memphis the rest of the way. How important is it to string together some wins and get to a bowl game?
"We just have to take it one game at a time. We've got to focus on Cincinnati. Without us beating Cincinnati, we can't go to a bowl, so we'll take them one game at a time, have faith and just keep going."
I talked to Willie Fritz one-on-one and Jonathan Banks nearly one-on-one after the game. Fritz was as frustrated as I've seen him.
FRITZ
What did you see going on during the terrible start?
"Oh, we played awful defensively. They had over 400 yards in the first half. We just really did a poor job of tackling."
That's something you stress more than anything else. How frustrating was it?
"You've got to get up and do it, get up and get your arms around them and take them frickin' down. Some guys did OK. I think Donnie Lewis has gone from an average tackler to a good tackler."
There were too many big plays. Did guys start getting demoralized?
"Way too many big plays. The other part, too, is we lost contain, they had what we call a pump and go and go and they blocked out the perimeter and just took off. Easy play. They had a little wheel route. Easy play. We repped those plays. but like I told those guys, it's a team loss. We didn't coach very good and didn't execute very good. There were some good things playing and coaching, but where we're at right now we've just got to be on point. When we play one of the top teams in our conference and the country, we're not good enough to play below average and beat those teams."
The offense had one first down in the first six series. You didn't have Junior Diaz, so what adjustment did that force you to make?
"We'd love to have Junior in there but he's injured and wasn't able to play."
Jonathan Banks did not practice much this week. How much was he affected by not being able to practice?
"Oh, I think he got better as the game progressed, but it's a whole team effort. We played poorly on offense and we'd miss a block, a couple of times in protections the backs just weren't firm at all. We don't get the ball out in time, we don't run the right route. There's a lot of things involved with it. It's not one guy. It's a lot of guys. I wish it was just one. We could fix that."
You put Brantley in for the third series and he tried to reverse field on an option and lost seven yards. Would you have liked to see him run the play the way it was called?
"Johnathan Brantley had a good week of practice. We wanted to play him a little bit. We'd already planned to do that."
What positives can you take out of making it a game in the third quarter? If Banks had hit Mooney for the long touchdown that was open, it might have been a one-score deficit.
"Well, obviously woulda, coulda, shoulda. We just have to play better in all aspects. You can point to all three areas and see some good things that we did and certainly in all three areas see some really poor things we did."
What is the first step to getting this team to play better in the final four games?
"We have to limit our missed assignments. We're just not good enough to have a lot of missed assignments. We have to do a better job of coaching them."
Do you know whether Junior Diaz will be back next week?
'I hope he's back. We'll find out."
You said earlier this week you don't believe in brow-beating players. Will that be necessary now?
"That's not going to do anything. I told the guys, shoot, you gotta look in the mirror. I'm disappointed how I executed as a head coach. I'm going to have some long discussions with our coaching staff. There were some fundamental things I was disappointed in. You have to do the same thing as a player. You just can't have 'my bad.' We just can't make those mistakes."
BANKS
What made the offense start so slowly?
Memphis did a good job. They are a well coached team. They did a good job controlling the momentum, so we had troubles getting going at first, but we stayed with a positive attitude. We were down 35-0 zero and were able to get something going. That was a good thing."
You threw three touchdown passes after the big deficit, but how disappointed were you in the one you missed to Darnell Mooney that could have gone for an 88-yard touchdown and closed the gap to 35-25 or 35-27? Do you feel like it could have been a different outcome?
"Oh yeah, no doubt. If I could have been able to connect with Darnell Mooney on that one, we probably would have been sitting down (eight or 10 points). I've just gotta go to practice and get better."
You didn't practice much this week. Was it a little harder for you to get in the flow early?
"Not really. I was comfortable. Like I said, Memphis is a well coached team and did a good job of controlling the tempo with their offense. It's hard to beat an undefeated team, well not an undefeated team but a ranked team."
What allowed you to pick up your game after the bad start?
"We were able to throw the ball a little more. When they were in man coverage, we were able to take advantage of them. We just stayed positive that something would get going, and we took it from there."
This could be a demoralizing loss. How do you make sure not to let it affect you going forward?
"Practice. We just have to go out there on Monday and Tuesday and get ready for Cincinnati. We can't really look back on Memphis. We were down 35, but we can't really look at that. Like I said, they are a well coached team. We just have to come out better next week."
You did throw for three scores and more than 200 yards. How can you ensure that you start that way next week?
"That's a pretty tough question. It's out of my reach. I get the plays and I just run them."
Junior Diaz wasn't available. How much did you guys miss him?
"He's an important aspect of our offense. Hunter (Knighton) did a good of stepping in and snapping. He's not even a center, but he came in and helped us out, so we really appreciate that."
The snap that turned into a touchdown bounced off Kendall Ardoin's knee when he was motion. What went wrong there?
"It was a miscommunication thing. Like I said, we can't do anything about it now. We fought back but we fell short, so we'll have to wait for next week."
You're not going to play another team as good as Memphis the rest of the way. How important is it to string together some wins and get to a bowl game?
"We just have to take it one game at a time. We've got to focus on Cincinnati. Without us beating Cincinnati, we can't go to a bowl, so we'll take them one game at a time, have faith and just keep going."