Aside from the defensive line, which is really impressive, it is hard to tell how good Tulane is after five games. South Alabama and Southern Miss, two of the Wave's victims, keep losing. Ole Miss beat LSU but gave up a gajillion yards in the process. Tulane struggled against UAB today as a three-touchdown favorite, although the Blazers are more talented than their 1-4 record suggests.
This much we know. Makhi Hughes is the Wave's bellwether back and should be the guy for the rest of the season. He's been better than anyone else on running plays all year and he carried the team as it rallied from a 20-7 deficit to go ahead.
This much I think: Michael Pratt's passing is affected by his balky knee, but he still has toughness and the abiiity to excel under pressure. With 13 days in between games, he should play better against Memphis in what is shaping up as the most pivotal contest for the rest of the regular season. His 26-yard run on the gimpy leg was the third longest of his career, and after missing Yulkeith Brown badly on a key third down one possession earlier, he dropped a dime to Lawrence Keys for the clinching TD in the final minute. That fourth-down pass was reminiscent of his three consecutive throws in the fourth quarter at Cincinnati last year after the Bearcats went ahead for the first time.
Tulane does not have to play great to win the AAC, but it will need to play better than it did today, and I certainly believe it will happen as Pratt gets healthier.
Willie Fritz, Hughes, Jared Small, Devean Deal and Pratt talked after the game.
WILLIE FRITZ
“We didn’t play real good in the first half. I was disappointed. We had some untimely turnovers, fumbles, and we had one in the second half as well. If we don’t do that, we probably are able to score a couple more touchdowns and put the game out of reach a heck of a lot earlier than we did.. We ran the ball successfully most of the game. Makai Hughes really ran the ball tough, hardnosed. We ran the clock out there at the end. It was fourth down and we had to get 10 yards and why not take a shot. We knew they were going to be pressing us. Mike threw a really nice ball to Lawrence Keys for the touchdown that put the game out of reach. Defensively we had a tough time early in the game. We didn’t tackle great and didn’t play with great leverage. They did a nice job of running a lot of mesh routes underneath, and it seemed like they were kind of one step ahead of us in the first half. If we were playing man or we were playing zone, they held the ball for a while until someone got open. They’ve got good players. I’ve said that all week. Coach Dilfer’s going to do a great job there.”
On not pooch punting instead of going for the TD:
“You’re only going to gain 11 yards. We thought we could take off at the very least 5, 6, 7 seconds, and you also have the opportunity for pass interference, too. I’ve seen that happen before. It’s one of those in between spots where if you punt it in the end zone, you gain 11 yards. At that point in time maybe 6, 7 seconds is better, but perfect throw and catch. Good protection.”
On Hughes:
“He did it today. He sure did. I was very impressed. In crunch time I wanted to make sure he was in the game.”
On confidence in Pratt for decisions like that:
“We have a lot of trust in him and a lot of guys on the team. There was a throw earlier that he wanted to get back, and I just thought it was a perfect throw in the back of the end zone. If he doesn’t catch that, the other guy’s not catching it. Great throw by Michael.”
On overcoming slow start:
“Well there was a big score at the end of the first half to make it 20-14 and then obviously we knew we were receiving the opening kickoff in the second half and had a great drive to go up 21-20, and it got everybody’s confidence up quite a bit then.”
On sticking to run on key drives:
“It just kept being successful. A lot of times coordinators want to get a little too cute, and Slade did an excellent job of staying with what was working.”
On why Hughes is good:
“When it’s not blocked, he still gets 2 or 3 yards, which is a big deal. Second-and-7 is a lot better play than second-and-10, and when it is blocked, he does an excellent job of running behind his pads. He doesn’t go down with the first tackle. He’s always falling forward. He’s probably a 200-pound guy but he’s really powerful and has good movement. He got to the second level a couple of times, and we talk about see two, split two when you’ve got two guys (defenders) stretching them, go between them, and he did that quite a ffew times today as well.”
On Hughes' 12-yard run to start clinching TD drive:
“He had three or four of those today where he got 12 or 13 yards and broke tackles. There’s got to be a crease in there. The offensive line has to do a good job of making something happen, the tight ends, receivers down the field blocking. The thing about Mahki is he did his ACL last year up before the first game, so he had a tough year rehabbing. A lot of guys give up, and he never gave up. He worked extremely hard, had a positive attitude and you like when good things happen to good people.”
On players getting upset at calls:
“We had a couple of breaks we didn’t get in the first half, but we had a couple of breaks in the second half. Right?”
On goal-line fumble:
“There was one of them right there. He jumped over the top (and lost the ball). Quarterback sneaks are tougher than you think. I’m sure he wishes he would have run behind his pads. When you jump over the top, a lot of times good things don’t happen. We got fortunate with 12 guys on the field (in the first half).”
On Shadre Hurst:
“He played well. They called a hold on him on a quick screen and we’ll have to come back and look at it. For his first start in Division I football, I thought he really handles himself well.”
On Keys TD:
“You’ve got to give yourself some room, and he stacked and Michael threw it over his outside shoulder. It was a really nice throw and catch. Those guys work on it all the time.”
On Tyler Grubbs:
“I watched him. He wanted to play so bad, and he just didn’t look like he was moving around very well. That’s going to be good this week to get him healthy because he’s a hell of a player, but Jared (Small) stepped in and got an opportunity and played his butt off.”
On open date:
“It’s coming at a good time for us. It will help Michael get a little more healthy. Prince Pines might be able to go. We talked about Tyler Grubbs. Those are three really good players there, and all of them will be a lot more healthy after a week off.”
This much we know. Makhi Hughes is the Wave's bellwether back and should be the guy for the rest of the season. He's been better than anyone else on running plays all year and he carried the team as it rallied from a 20-7 deficit to go ahead.
This much I think: Michael Pratt's passing is affected by his balky knee, but he still has toughness and the abiiity to excel under pressure. With 13 days in between games, he should play better against Memphis in what is shaping up as the most pivotal contest for the rest of the regular season. His 26-yard run on the gimpy leg was the third longest of his career, and after missing Yulkeith Brown badly on a key third down one possession earlier, he dropped a dime to Lawrence Keys for the clinching TD in the final minute. That fourth-down pass was reminiscent of his three consecutive throws in the fourth quarter at Cincinnati last year after the Bearcats went ahead for the first time.
Tulane does not have to play great to win the AAC, but it will need to play better than it did today, and I certainly believe it will happen as Pratt gets healthier.
Willie Fritz, Hughes, Jared Small, Devean Deal and Pratt talked after the game.
WILLIE FRITZ
“We didn’t play real good in the first half. I was disappointed. We had some untimely turnovers, fumbles, and we had one in the second half as well. If we don’t do that, we probably are able to score a couple more touchdowns and put the game out of reach a heck of a lot earlier than we did.. We ran the ball successfully most of the game. Makai Hughes really ran the ball tough, hardnosed. We ran the clock out there at the end. It was fourth down and we had to get 10 yards and why not take a shot. We knew they were going to be pressing us. Mike threw a really nice ball to Lawrence Keys for the touchdown that put the game out of reach. Defensively we had a tough time early in the game. We didn’t tackle great and didn’t play with great leverage. They did a nice job of running a lot of mesh routes underneath, and it seemed like they were kind of one step ahead of us in the first half. If we were playing man or we were playing zone, they held the ball for a while until someone got open. They’ve got good players. I’ve said that all week. Coach Dilfer’s going to do a great job there.”
On not pooch punting instead of going for the TD:
“You’re only going to gain 11 yards. We thought we could take off at the very least 5, 6, 7 seconds, and you also have the opportunity for pass interference, too. I’ve seen that happen before. It’s one of those in between spots where if you punt it in the end zone, you gain 11 yards. At that point in time maybe 6, 7 seconds is better, but perfect throw and catch. Good protection.”
On Hughes:
“He did it today. He sure did. I was very impressed. In crunch time I wanted to make sure he was in the game.”
On confidence in Pratt for decisions like that:
“We have a lot of trust in him and a lot of guys on the team. There was a throw earlier that he wanted to get back, and I just thought it was a perfect throw in the back of the end zone. If he doesn’t catch that, the other guy’s not catching it. Great throw by Michael.”
On overcoming slow start:
“Well there was a big score at the end of the first half to make it 20-14 and then obviously we knew we were receiving the opening kickoff in the second half and had a great drive to go up 21-20, and it got everybody’s confidence up quite a bit then.”
On sticking to run on key drives:
“It just kept being successful. A lot of times coordinators want to get a little too cute, and Slade did an excellent job of staying with what was working.”
On why Hughes is good:
“When it’s not blocked, he still gets 2 or 3 yards, which is a big deal. Second-and-7 is a lot better play than second-and-10, and when it is blocked, he does an excellent job of running behind his pads. He doesn’t go down with the first tackle. He’s always falling forward. He’s probably a 200-pound guy but he’s really powerful and has good movement. He got to the second level a couple of times, and we talk about see two, split two when you’ve got two guys (defenders) stretching them, go between them, and he did that quite a ffew times today as well.”
On Hughes' 12-yard run to start clinching TD drive:
“He had three or four of those today where he got 12 or 13 yards and broke tackles. There’s got to be a crease in there. The offensive line has to do a good job of making something happen, the tight ends, receivers down the field blocking. The thing about Mahki is he did his ACL last year up before the first game, so he had a tough year rehabbing. A lot of guys give up, and he never gave up. He worked extremely hard, had a positive attitude and you like when good things happen to good people.”
On players getting upset at calls:
“We had a couple of breaks we didn’t get in the first half, but we had a couple of breaks in the second half. Right?”
On goal-line fumble:
“There was one of them right there. He jumped over the top (and lost the ball). Quarterback sneaks are tougher than you think. I’m sure he wishes he would have run behind his pads. When you jump over the top, a lot of times good things don’t happen. We got fortunate with 12 guys on the field (in the first half).”
On Shadre Hurst:
“He played well. They called a hold on him on a quick screen and we’ll have to come back and look at it. For his first start in Division I football, I thought he really handles himself well.”
On Keys TD:
“You’ve got to give yourself some room, and he stacked and Michael threw it over his outside shoulder. It was a really nice throw and catch. Those guys work on it all the time.”
On Tyler Grubbs:
“I watched him. He wanted to play so bad, and he just didn’t look like he was moving around very well. That’s going to be good this week to get him healthy because he’s a hell of a player, but Jared (Small) stepped in and got an opportunity and played his butt off.”
On open date:
“It’s coming at a good time for us. It will help Michael get a little more healthy. Prince Pines might be able to go. We talked about Tyler Grubbs. Those are three really good players there, and all of them will be a lot more healthy after a week off.”