This was a butt-kicking, with Tulane's dominance not reflected in the final score. It likely would have been a blowout if Jeffery Johnson had played. As it was, a series of inexplicable mistakes made Tulane sweat out a 2-point conversion that never should have been attempted, regardless of what the analytics nerds say.
They brought in Willie Fritz, Amare Jones, Justin McMillan, Patrick Johnson and Lawrence Graham. As a gang of one, I asked every question. If you're wondering why I did not ask about injuries, Fritz rarely answers those questions with any substance, particularly after games. It's his philosophy.
FRITZ
"I'm really proud of the guys. We didn't start the game off very well. We had the fumble early, they got great field position, we're down 7-0 and that's right in their wheelhouse when they get a lead. Our guys just kept fighting and fighting and fighting and defensively we were within a whisker two or three times of shutting them down in the first half and we either missed a tackle or got a penalty or something. We did a good job with halftime adjustments and played extremely well defensively in the third quarter. And then we didn't finish them off. It got sloppy down there at the end. We're so fast on offense that milking (the clock) is a great learning experience. We made a couple of big stops on 2-point conversions to make it a two-score game there at the very end. That was huge. A big fumble recovery by Chase Kuerschen on the onside kick. We fumbled it, and most of the time when that happens, the other team gets it. A great job by Chase being over there getting on top of the ball. He came up with a bloody nose and the football, which is good.
"We have a lot to clean up, but a huge win for us. They'd won 15 in a row here at home, hadn't been beaten since 2016, so this was big for us without question. They are a good team, very well coached. I have a lot of respect for those guys, so we're excited about the win. Any time you go on the road and walk away with a win, especially against a quality program like Army, you feel good about it."
With the fourth game out of five with more than 500 yards of offense, what can you say about the job Will Hall is doing?
"Will did a great job executing. I like the fact he was a little disappointing at how things got at the end of the game. I told our guys, a lot of them were disappointed and we just won a game on the road against a very good team. We are going to clean this stuff up, but it's a whole lot better to lean lessons with a W than an L. Will and coach Kennedy and Fobbes and coach Conway and Coach Nagel, all the guys on offensive side of the ball are doing a sensational job. Our kids are believing in what we're doing. We've got a lot of weapons, both throwing and running. It all starts up front with our offensive line. I thought they created a lot of big holes today, so yeah, we had 330 yards rushing or something like that. It's hard to outrush them and we almost doubled them up. At one time we were."
What can you say about Amare Jones' performance?
"He's just a player. One time they punted the ball and the sun was in his eyes and he had to let it go. If he caught that one, he had about 30 yards. He's a guy you have to get the ball to. Coach Hal is doing a good job of finding and creating ways to get him the ball out in space."
Did you feel the defense held up pretty well with Jeffery Johnson?
"I thought they did. It's a physical game when you play those guys. You've got to tackle, and there were some parts of the game we really tackled well and there were some parts of the game we didn't tackle well. You have to be on point with that all he time."
Army tied it at 21 after it looked you had the game in control. You responded with 21 straight points. What does that say about the mental toughness of the team?
"We've got some tough kids and the coaches really do a good job of motivating these guys. They demand we practice at a high level every single week, but it doesn't mean anything if the players don't have that mindset."
It's the first time since the program has been 4-1 since the undefeated season of 1998. Do you feel like you're on the cusp of something special?
"Oh, we have to clean some things up. We have to learn how to finish and execute. There's a lot of things we need to clean up. I know I sound like a broken record in the four wins we have won and said that, but we certainly have a lot of things to fix."
What was it like meeting Jim Calhoun last night?
'Oh, it was awesome. Christian (Montano), I read that article you wrote on him and his mom had a quote in there that he's an old soul, and I had just talked about that a few weeks ago. He's 23 going on 50. He is very mature. I think our kids understand how important it is playing with a guy who saved a guy's life. It's a neat story, and Jim seems like a super guy. We had dinner with him and his wife last night. They are good people."
I questioned you on how you could use all of your running backs at the beginning of the year, but you used a ton of them today and they all produced.
"We have a bunch of backs. How about Cam Carroll coming in there at the end of the game and having that big (41-yard touchdown) run. He's been practicing extremely hard. It's good when a guy gets rewarded with success. Sometimes guys work hard for two or three weeks and start falling off a little bit when they don't have that success. He's been doing it every day this whole season, and he comes out and has a big run for us.
"Corey Dauphine had some big runs. Darius Bradwell ran the ball well. Obviously Amare. Stephon Huderson had some big runs. We did it by committee."
They brought in Willie Fritz, Amare Jones, Justin McMillan, Patrick Johnson and Lawrence Graham. As a gang of one, I asked every question. If you're wondering why I did not ask about injuries, Fritz rarely answers those questions with any substance, particularly after games. It's his philosophy.
FRITZ
"I'm really proud of the guys. We didn't start the game off very well. We had the fumble early, they got great field position, we're down 7-0 and that's right in their wheelhouse when they get a lead. Our guys just kept fighting and fighting and fighting and defensively we were within a whisker two or three times of shutting them down in the first half and we either missed a tackle or got a penalty or something. We did a good job with halftime adjustments and played extremely well defensively in the third quarter. And then we didn't finish them off. It got sloppy down there at the end. We're so fast on offense that milking (the clock) is a great learning experience. We made a couple of big stops on 2-point conversions to make it a two-score game there at the very end. That was huge. A big fumble recovery by Chase Kuerschen on the onside kick. We fumbled it, and most of the time when that happens, the other team gets it. A great job by Chase being over there getting on top of the ball. He came up with a bloody nose and the football, which is good.
"We have a lot to clean up, but a huge win for us. They'd won 15 in a row here at home, hadn't been beaten since 2016, so this was big for us without question. They are a good team, very well coached. I have a lot of respect for those guys, so we're excited about the win. Any time you go on the road and walk away with a win, especially against a quality program like Army, you feel good about it."
With the fourth game out of five with more than 500 yards of offense, what can you say about the job Will Hall is doing?
"Will did a great job executing. I like the fact he was a little disappointing at how things got at the end of the game. I told our guys, a lot of them were disappointed and we just won a game on the road against a very good team. We are going to clean this stuff up, but it's a whole lot better to lean lessons with a W than an L. Will and coach Kennedy and Fobbes and coach Conway and Coach Nagel, all the guys on offensive side of the ball are doing a sensational job. Our kids are believing in what we're doing. We've got a lot of weapons, both throwing and running. It all starts up front with our offensive line. I thought they created a lot of big holes today, so yeah, we had 330 yards rushing or something like that. It's hard to outrush them and we almost doubled them up. At one time we were."
What can you say about Amare Jones' performance?
"He's just a player. One time they punted the ball and the sun was in his eyes and he had to let it go. If he caught that one, he had about 30 yards. He's a guy you have to get the ball to. Coach Hal is doing a good job of finding and creating ways to get him the ball out in space."
Did you feel the defense held up pretty well with Jeffery Johnson?
"I thought they did. It's a physical game when you play those guys. You've got to tackle, and there were some parts of the game we really tackled well and there were some parts of the game we didn't tackle well. You have to be on point with that all he time."
Army tied it at 21 after it looked you had the game in control. You responded with 21 straight points. What does that say about the mental toughness of the team?
"We've got some tough kids and the coaches really do a good job of motivating these guys. They demand we practice at a high level every single week, but it doesn't mean anything if the players don't have that mindset."
It's the first time since the program has been 4-1 since the undefeated season of 1998. Do you feel like you're on the cusp of something special?
"Oh, we have to clean some things up. We have to learn how to finish and execute. There's a lot of things we need to clean up. I know I sound like a broken record in the four wins we have won and said that, but we certainly have a lot of things to fix."
What was it like meeting Jim Calhoun last night?
'Oh, it was awesome. Christian (Montano), I read that article you wrote on him and his mom had a quote in there that he's an old soul, and I had just talked about that a few weeks ago. He's 23 going on 50. He is very mature. I think our kids understand how important it is playing with a guy who saved a guy's life. It's a neat story, and Jim seems like a super guy. We had dinner with him and his wife last night. They are good people."
I questioned you on how you could use all of your running backs at the beginning of the year, but you used a ton of them today and they all produced.
"We have a bunch of backs. How about Cam Carroll coming in there at the end of the game and having that big (41-yard touchdown) run. He's been practicing extremely hard. It's good when a guy gets rewarded with success. Sometimes guys work hard for two or three weeks and start falling off a little bit when they don't have that success. He's been doing it every day this whole season, and he comes out and has a big run for us.
"Corey Dauphine had some big runs. Darius Bradwell ran the ball well. Obviously Amare. Stephon Huderson had some big runs. We did it by committee."