That was a complete performance tonight, the best I have seen from Tulane since I returned to New Orleans in 2008. It wasn't perfect because of the penalties, but this team has a boatload of playmakers on both sides of the ball and the excellent schemes to go with them. It's been since 1998 that anyone could say that.
WILLIE FRITZ
"I'm just really impressed with our guys coming out of the box. It was a great first drive, but we didn't finish. We had some penalties and that was probably the only non-bright spot for us today. I think we had 12 penalties, which is 12 too many. We have to do a better job in that area, but we came right back on the next drive and scored. Really if we stayed away from the one turnover we had and just all the penalties, we might have scored every time up through the end of the third quarter. That's a good team (FIU). They are going to compete for the Conference USA championship. They've got good players and a great quarterback. He's a pro prospect. Defensively we really shut down the run. We made them pretty one-dimensional. Their quarterback was hard to sack, but we got a lot of pressure on him throughout the night. So it was good. That first game, you're always a little leery about just running on and off the field and being assignment sound and all those different kind of things. We are going to get a lot better from it. You try to replicate all this in practice but it's hard to do. It was an excellent job by the coaching staff but better by the players. They did a super job in all three phases."
You've said several times that you like the way Will Hall attacks the field vertically and horizontally. Was this the perfect example?
"Yeah, we ran the ball for 350 yards. That's hard to do. That's a good front. They've got a pretty good defensive line and linebackers. When they crowded the box, we were getting the ball out there on the perimeter. We need to improve in that area, too. Our perimeter blocking needs to improve. A couple of times they blew us up out there on the side, but Will did a great job of calling the plays and our offensive coaches were in synch. It's good for all of us to get this game under our belt to see how it really happens in a game."
This was supposed to be a close game. How impressed were you that you won soundly?
"As I said before, I think they've got a good squad. We went down there and played a couple of years ago and we have some different guys playing for us right now. We've got some good players. We're bigger on the offensive and defensive line. And they probably didn't know exactly what we were doing, either. We weren't quite sure what they were going to do, but they did do what we anticipated for the most part. I'm sure there was indecision on their part as to what we were going to do offensively."
Justin McMillan went 14 for 18 for 199 yards and ran well, too. How well did it work out tonight for him and this offense?
"It worked out great. I'm really proud of Justin. He fought through a lot of adversity. His grandpa passed away last night getting ready to come to the game, and he handled that as well as he could possibly handle it. The guys rallied around him and he played an excellent game. I just want to extend our well wishes to the McMillan family going through this tough time right now."
You had a long conversation with him on the field. Was that your message to him?
"Yeah, that was part of it. We just talked about it. It was a tough deal for him. He's kind of kept it inside the last 24 hours. It was pretty tough for him."
How big was the turnover you got right after Darius Bradwell's fumble near the end of the first half?
"That was big. We were on our way to go down and score, and they've got the type of offense they felt like they could get another touchdown, and we were able to get that takeaway with Cam Sample on the quarterback and then go in and score right before the half. That's a pretty big letdown for them."
WILLIE FRITZ
"I'm just really impressed with our guys coming out of the box. It was a great first drive, but we didn't finish. We had some penalties and that was probably the only non-bright spot for us today. I think we had 12 penalties, which is 12 too many. We have to do a better job in that area, but we came right back on the next drive and scored. Really if we stayed away from the one turnover we had and just all the penalties, we might have scored every time up through the end of the third quarter. That's a good team (FIU). They are going to compete for the Conference USA championship. They've got good players and a great quarterback. He's a pro prospect. Defensively we really shut down the run. We made them pretty one-dimensional. Their quarterback was hard to sack, but we got a lot of pressure on him throughout the night. So it was good. That first game, you're always a little leery about just running on and off the field and being assignment sound and all those different kind of things. We are going to get a lot better from it. You try to replicate all this in practice but it's hard to do. It was an excellent job by the coaching staff but better by the players. They did a super job in all three phases."
You've said several times that you like the way Will Hall attacks the field vertically and horizontally. Was this the perfect example?
"Yeah, we ran the ball for 350 yards. That's hard to do. That's a good front. They've got a pretty good defensive line and linebackers. When they crowded the box, we were getting the ball out there on the perimeter. We need to improve in that area, too. Our perimeter blocking needs to improve. A couple of times they blew us up out there on the side, but Will did a great job of calling the plays and our offensive coaches were in synch. It's good for all of us to get this game under our belt to see how it really happens in a game."
This was supposed to be a close game. How impressed were you that you won soundly?
"As I said before, I think they've got a good squad. We went down there and played a couple of years ago and we have some different guys playing for us right now. We've got some good players. We're bigger on the offensive and defensive line. And they probably didn't know exactly what we were doing, either. We weren't quite sure what they were going to do, but they did do what we anticipated for the most part. I'm sure there was indecision on their part as to what we were going to do offensively."
Justin McMillan went 14 for 18 for 199 yards and ran well, too. How well did it work out tonight for him and this offense?
"It worked out great. I'm really proud of Justin. He fought through a lot of adversity. His grandpa passed away last night getting ready to come to the game, and he handled that as well as he could possibly handle it. The guys rallied around him and he played an excellent game. I just want to extend our well wishes to the McMillan family going through this tough time right now."
You had a long conversation with him on the field. Was that your message to him?
"Yeah, that was part of it. We just talked about it. It was a tough deal for him. He's kind of kept it inside the last 24 hours. It was pretty tough for him."
How big was the turnover you got right after Darius Bradwell's fumble near the end of the first half?
"That was big. We were on our way to go down and score, and they've got the type of offense they felt like they could get another touchdown, and we were able to get that takeaway with Cam Sample on the quarterback and then go in and score right before the half. That's a pretty big letdown for them."