I had to send all my stories to The Advocate before I went down for interviews because of the interminable replay reviews (why did they take so long when most were obvious decisions?) and the overtime, which means I got to take my time conducting the interviews instead of rushing them.
Talked to Fritz, Hilliard, Lewis and Banks. Did not ask about injuries because questions would not have been answered with substantive info. Wish I had asked Fritz about Briggs' penalty and the personal foul after the sack, but hey, Tulane won, so it wasn't much about negativity.
FRITZ
What was the though process on the fake punt, which would have been the key play of the game if not for all the miscues at the end of regulation?
"Obviously we thought it would work. You have to have the right time. I was screaming out there at Darnell (Mooney), you've got to make sure you hit the sticks, and he did by about a foot. It was supposed to be a 12- (yard route) and he hit it at about 10 1/2. But good execution by everybody on the punt team. We snuck Glen (Cuiellette) out on the field and he threw a nice strike."
You only had six turnovers all year and then you had three in the second half tonight and still were able to come up with the win. What does that say?
"It was tough. Thank goodness we're going to be able to learn from them (with a win). It's stuff we don't need to do. All of them were really unforced. We'll learn from it, plain and simple. We were real close in the passing game, particularly in the first half. We just missed a couple of big, big plays but ran the ball pretty effectively."
The secondary had struggled for a while but did a solid job tonight. What are your thoughts?
"I thought they did a great job of battling. We put them out on an island a bunch, and they really did a good job on 50-50 balls. We won more than our share."
In the third quarter, Donnie Lewis already had defensed six passes. Is that something you've always known he was capable of?
"Yeah, he really did a good job of playing the ball tonight. He's had a couple of tough deals this season, but he's a very fine corner, and he's getting better every week."
What about Parry Nickerson's leaping interception?
"What an interception! What a big play. We needed it then. The momentum had kind of gone to their side. What an athletic play."
Dontrell Hilliard is almost to a thousand yards for the year and had a career-best 189 yards tonight. How huge was he?
"He doesn't surprise me. He's just a workhorse. He's got a tremendous work ethic. He's just a ball player. He's what you're looking for."
It was a kick in the gut to have to go to overtime after their receiver made a shoestring catch on fourth down and then they threw a perfect fade to the back of the end zone. How nice was it to see the resilience in overtime?
"It was good. We've been on the short end of these kind of games. It's been tough. I'm just glad we came out on the good side of the ledger and got at W. We needed that. It will get the kids believing a little more."
What about Jonathan Banks' 16-yard score on fourth down in OT?
"It was fourth and about a foot. We needed to go for it there. Jonathan did a real nice job of pulling the ball and making that play."
On the fourth-and-1 stuff that ended the game, were you hoping they would try to run it up the middle?
"They got under center. They got in a power football formation and the guy (the running back) was sitting about seven yards deep and they ran it. We did a good job of gang tackling, keeping them out of the end zone. They ran it right up the gut. (Sean) Wilson was in on it. Rae Juan (Marbley) was in on it. I didn't see anybody else, but it looked like four or five guys were in on the tackle."
DONTRELL HILLIARD
What does this win mean for you guys after losing four in a row?
"Yeah, it means a lot. I just came to the team and Rae Juan came and we told them do us a favor and go out with a bang and give us all that you've got each and every play. Just focus on one play at a time and one game at a time and we'll be fine. We came out and did that. It's tremendous motivation and tremendous momentum that we can take over to next week going against Houston. We are going to enjoy this win and stay focused and finish the season off right."
You had a career-high 189 yards tonight. How much does that mean since it obviously helped you guys get the win?
"I told (running backs) coach Fo (Jamaal Fobbes) I'm going to give it my best, I'm going to give all I've got, regardless of what's going on. It means a lot to me."
Banks faked to you on the fourth down in OT and everybody on defense went to you. How nice was it to see it open up for him the way it did?
"It's good to know that you are a key that everybody's locking on to you, so when the quarterback does pull the ball, nobody's over there to guard him, he's taking no big hits. That's a good thing."
Where were you on the sideline before the final play, and what was your reaction?
"I was almost on the field. I was standing right there by them, so we could have gotten a flag (joking). I was like right there."
When your coach calls a fake punt on fourth-and-11 and it works, how much does that excite everybody on the sideline?
"It excites everybody. Everybody's riled up. Coach Fritz is an amazing coach. You've got to give his due to him. He comes in every day and works and dials up the plays, and you've got to give him his due."
How frustrating were the turnovers, including the one where Banks tried to pull it from you and coughed it up?
"It was frustrating. It kind of came at a crucial moment, but we just had to stay focused. That was just a mental mistake by us."
LEWIS
At one point, you had six passes defensed liked midway through the third quarter. How did you feel you guys did against their talented receivers?
"Oh yeah, we knew they were going to come in and throw the ball more than they ran like they did last week, when they threw the ball about 70 times (a school-record 72). All week the DBs had in our mind, this game is on us. That's what we said. This game is on us. If we can stop the pass and make them one-dimensional, we win."
Did you agree the secondary was not playing as well as it should have been during the losing streak?
"Oh, yeah. A lot of that was miscommunication on our part. Now I say we've been over-killing on communication. Once we get the play, once you know what you're doing, we can have fun with it."
What was your view on the monstrous stop that ended the game?
"Oh man. Rae Juan got the defense together and he said, hey, leave it all out here right now, so that's what we did. We played for one another and we got it done."
Now you still have a chance to go to a bowl game. How much does it mean?
"This win means a lot. Hopefully we can take this momentum and carry it on next week. We're just taking it one game at a time right now, so yeah."
How much did the fake punt excite everyone on the sideline?
"Yeah, we just believe in it. The coaches coached it up, and we went through it during the week and we finally pulled it out at a crucial time."
What about Parry Nickerson's spectacular interception?
"Yeah, I was right there. I watched him. Once I saw him look back at the ball, I said, yeah, it's over with."
He wagged his finger at the Duke sideline, telling them not to throw his way again.
"Yeah, me and Parry have that bond. We're trying to compete at who has the better stats after the game."
How cold did it feel when you were on the sideline?
"It was cold. It wasn't as cold as I expected. I feel like the Memphis game was colder (and hopefully he won't read my game note in The Advocate where I wrote it was much colder tonight than there.)"
BANKS
It's fourth down, you fake the handoff to Hilliard and took off for the touchdown. Did you see how open it was right away?
"Us running the read zone option, Hilliard did a good job running the ball, so the defense was able to follow him most of the game. I knew one moment I'd be able to pull it and make a big play off of it, and it just happened to be overtime."
After all these losses, how huge was it to get this win?
"You know, it was a little shaky. We came out strong but we had a few mental errors. Just to be able to come back with a win to get some momentum because we had been on a drought with a lot of losses."
How much did it show about this team that after the adversity at the end of regulation, you got th job done in overtime?
"Like I said, we've been facing adversity all year, so it really didn't surprise me. We were all ready for the moment. We were able to score offensively. The offensive line did a good job. The receivers did a good job catching the ball. Our defense did a good job of stopping them. It was a team effort and it's always good when you get a team win like that."
What do you to improve on to give yourselves a chance at 6-6?
"We just have to take it one game at a time. We can't look further than Houston. We have Houston to play for, and we'll take it one game at a time and one play at a time."
How frustrating were the three turnovers after you'd only had six as a team all year?
"It's always frustrating to have turnovers, but we got the win, so that's all that matters."
Talked to Fritz, Hilliard, Lewis and Banks. Did not ask about injuries because questions would not have been answered with substantive info. Wish I had asked Fritz about Briggs' penalty and the personal foul after the sack, but hey, Tulane won, so it wasn't much about negativity.
FRITZ
What was the though process on the fake punt, which would have been the key play of the game if not for all the miscues at the end of regulation?
"Obviously we thought it would work. You have to have the right time. I was screaming out there at Darnell (Mooney), you've got to make sure you hit the sticks, and he did by about a foot. It was supposed to be a 12- (yard route) and he hit it at about 10 1/2. But good execution by everybody on the punt team. We snuck Glen (Cuiellette) out on the field and he threw a nice strike."
You only had six turnovers all year and then you had three in the second half tonight and still were able to come up with the win. What does that say?
"It was tough. Thank goodness we're going to be able to learn from them (with a win). It's stuff we don't need to do. All of them were really unforced. We'll learn from it, plain and simple. We were real close in the passing game, particularly in the first half. We just missed a couple of big, big plays but ran the ball pretty effectively."
The secondary had struggled for a while but did a solid job tonight. What are your thoughts?
"I thought they did a great job of battling. We put them out on an island a bunch, and they really did a good job on 50-50 balls. We won more than our share."
In the third quarter, Donnie Lewis already had defensed six passes. Is that something you've always known he was capable of?
"Yeah, he really did a good job of playing the ball tonight. He's had a couple of tough deals this season, but he's a very fine corner, and he's getting better every week."
What about Parry Nickerson's leaping interception?
"What an interception! What a big play. We needed it then. The momentum had kind of gone to their side. What an athletic play."
Dontrell Hilliard is almost to a thousand yards for the year and had a career-best 189 yards tonight. How huge was he?
"He doesn't surprise me. He's just a workhorse. He's got a tremendous work ethic. He's just a ball player. He's what you're looking for."
It was a kick in the gut to have to go to overtime after their receiver made a shoestring catch on fourth down and then they threw a perfect fade to the back of the end zone. How nice was it to see the resilience in overtime?
"It was good. We've been on the short end of these kind of games. It's been tough. I'm just glad we came out on the good side of the ledger and got at W. We needed that. It will get the kids believing a little more."
What about Jonathan Banks' 16-yard score on fourth down in OT?
"It was fourth and about a foot. We needed to go for it there. Jonathan did a real nice job of pulling the ball and making that play."
On the fourth-and-1 stuff that ended the game, were you hoping they would try to run it up the middle?
"They got under center. They got in a power football formation and the guy (the running back) was sitting about seven yards deep and they ran it. We did a good job of gang tackling, keeping them out of the end zone. They ran it right up the gut. (Sean) Wilson was in on it. Rae Juan (Marbley) was in on it. I didn't see anybody else, but it looked like four or five guys were in on the tackle."
DONTRELL HILLIARD
What does this win mean for you guys after losing four in a row?
"Yeah, it means a lot. I just came to the team and Rae Juan came and we told them do us a favor and go out with a bang and give us all that you've got each and every play. Just focus on one play at a time and one game at a time and we'll be fine. We came out and did that. It's tremendous motivation and tremendous momentum that we can take over to next week going against Houston. We are going to enjoy this win and stay focused and finish the season off right."
You had a career-high 189 yards tonight. How much does that mean since it obviously helped you guys get the win?
"I told (running backs) coach Fo (Jamaal Fobbes) I'm going to give it my best, I'm going to give all I've got, regardless of what's going on. It means a lot to me."
Banks faked to you on the fourth down in OT and everybody on defense went to you. How nice was it to see it open up for him the way it did?
"It's good to know that you are a key that everybody's locking on to you, so when the quarterback does pull the ball, nobody's over there to guard him, he's taking no big hits. That's a good thing."
Where were you on the sideline before the final play, and what was your reaction?
"I was almost on the field. I was standing right there by them, so we could have gotten a flag (joking). I was like right there."
When your coach calls a fake punt on fourth-and-11 and it works, how much does that excite everybody on the sideline?
"It excites everybody. Everybody's riled up. Coach Fritz is an amazing coach. You've got to give his due to him. He comes in every day and works and dials up the plays, and you've got to give him his due."
How frustrating were the turnovers, including the one where Banks tried to pull it from you and coughed it up?
"It was frustrating. It kind of came at a crucial moment, but we just had to stay focused. That was just a mental mistake by us."
LEWIS
At one point, you had six passes defensed liked midway through the third quarter. How did you feel you guys did against their talented receivers?
"Oh yeah, we knew they were going to come in and throw the ball more than they ran like they did last week, when they threw the ball about 70 times (a school-record 72). All week the DBs had in our mind, this game is on us. That's what we said. This game is on us. If we can stop the pass and make them one-dimensional, we win."
Did you agree the secondary was not playing as well as it should have been during the losing streak?
"Oh, yeah. A lot of that was miscommunication on our part. Now I say we've been over-killing on communication. Once we get the play, once you know what you're doing, we can have fun with it."
What was your view on the monstrous stop that ended the game?
"Oh man. Rae Juan got the defense together and he said, hey, leave it all out here right now, so that's what we did. We played for one another and we got it done."
Now you still have a chance to go to a bowl game. How much does it mean?
"This win means a lot. Hopefully we can take this momentum and carry it on next week. We're just taking it one game at a time right now, so yeah."
How much did the fake punt excite everyone on the sideline?
"Yeah, we just believe in it. The coaches coached it up, and we went through it during the week and we finally pulled it out at a crucial time."
What about Parry Nickerson's spectacular interception?
"Yeah, I was right there. I watched him. Once I saw him look back at the ball, I said, yeah, it's over with."
He wagged his finger at the Duke sideline, telling them not to throw his way again.
"Yeah, me and Parry have that bond. We're trying to compete at who has the better stats after the game."
How cold did it feel when you were on the sideline?
"It was cold. It wasn't as cold as I expected. I feel like the Memphis game was colder (and hopefully he won't read my game note in The Advocate where I wrote it was much colder tonight than there.)"
BANKS
It's fourth down, you fake the handoff to Hilliard and took off for the touchdown. Did you see how open it was right away?
"Us running the read zone option, Hilliard did a good job running the ball, so the defense was able to follow him most of the game. I knew one moment I'd be able to pull it and make a big play off of it, and it just happened to be overtime."
After all these losses, how huge was it to get this win?
"You know, it was a little shaky. We came out strong but we had a few mental errors. Just to be able to come back with a win to get some momentum because we had been on a drought with a lot of losses."
How much did it show about this team that after the adversity at the end of regulation, you got th job done in overtime?
"Like I said, we've been facing adversity all year, so it really didn't surprise me. We were all ready for the moment. We were able to score offensively. The offensive line did a good job. The receivers did a good job catching the ball. Our defense did a good job of stopping them. It was a team effort and it's always good when you get a team win like that."
What do you to improve on to give yourselves a chance at 6-6?
"We just have to take it one game at a time. We can't look further than Houston. We have Houston to play for, and we'll take it one game at a time and one play at a time."
How frustrating were the three turnovers after you'd only had six as a team all year?
"It's always frustrating to have turnovers, but we got the win, so that's all that matters."