This one was like few others in Tulane history. The Green Wave destroyed Tulsa, scoring touchdowns all seven times it had the ball in the first half en route to a 62-28 win that provided more evidence the program is turning the corner under second-year coach Willie Fritz, who notched his 200th career victory.
Here is what Fritz and his players said about the rout:
FRITZ
"I'm very happy with our administration and everybody involved in game day operations. To be able to get this game and play it. We had to change the time of the game a couple of times, and it takes a lot of people to coordinate that. I appreciate everybody doing a good job with getting that taken care of. We came out of the box and played extremely hard and well and smart. We wanted to have the wind in the very beginning, and it worked out well. We got a three and out and a short field for the offense. We score, and the same thing happened on the next series. Aside from that one bust in coverage, we played extremely well defensively in the first half against a very potent offense. It was a good job in all three phases. I think almost everybody on our squad who was eligible to play, played today, so I'm really excited about that."
Jonathan Banks looked like he exuded confidence off that game-winning drive against Army. What is your assessment of his play today?
"Yeah, he was kind of fired up. He had a look in his eye before the game that he was ready to go, and he played extremely well. He's a tough competitor. He enjoys it, and he saw how this thing can work. We obviously ran the ball a heck of a lot more in the second half and the second quarter so we could run clock, but he was 9 of 13 for 165 yards and a couple of them were improvising plays. He's a good quarterback."
Was this your earliest game?
"Yes it was."
Did your shorten your pre-game or move it back?
"We just backed everything up. We're fortunate we practice in the mornings, so our guys are used to getting up at 5;30 every morning. We eat breakfast at 6. We get into meetings at 7 and we start practicing at 8:15, so this game time was about like period number 20 for practice. I told the guys last night you get to sleep in an extra half hour. We'll get you up at 6 instead of 5:30."
Are you going to ask for more games to be moved up to 10 (joking)?
"Yeah, 10 or 11, right. We won't see that happen, but as a coach you hate sitting around all day. We play when we're scheduled to play."
Fans were leaving at halftime laughing in disbelief about how far you were up instead of being discouraged by another loss. Is that another step in the maturation of your program?
"Yeah, but when you start doing this, you have to do it every day. That's the thing we were really trying to emphasize to our guys on Monday. We are going to be very critical of the game tape and see the areas that we can improve on because there are a lot of mistakes we made today, and we need to keep getting better. It's tough to be mentally tough every day. A lot of guys get challenged by that and start fading away a little bit. We're trying to have that upward trajectory and improvement on a daily basis. You start doing that, you start getting really good."
Tulsa has an excellent running game. How happy were you with stopping the run?
"I thought we did a really good job with our run fits. Coach (Jack) Curtis and the defensive staff came up with a really good game plan. We tackled pretty well. It left us open because we were playing a lot of zero coverage, but we really fit the run well because that's an excellent running back. (Tulsa's D'Angelo Brewer had seven carries for 41 yards)."
Having an open date after a big win could lead to distractions. Were you pleased with the way the team reacted?
"Yeah, we just came out and played hard. We played well. They ought to get excited about this. Tulsa's kind of had their way with Tulane over the last 13 years. We played well against them. We did a good job."
What are your thoughts on Dontrell Hilliard's performance?
"He played great. He had 175 yards and four touchdowns and just did a nice job of seeing creases and seams. The play right before the half, we just ran the power and he hit it vertical. I know that sounds easy to do, but a lot of guys are looking to find stuff. All those guys played well. Sherman Badie had 68 yards. Darius Bradwell had 71. Banks had 93 yards, so a good job by all the guys."
There was that play in the first half where a defender had Banks wrapped up for a would-be sack, and he threw a pass into the flat to Bradwell even though the guy had two hands around him. How about that play?
"He's a strong guy. He's 22 pounds and has great lifting numbers. He did a good job. He led us well today."
What are your thoughts on getting your 200th win?
"I put it in perspective for our guys in the locker room. I've got 360 to go to catch (John Curtis coach) J.T. Curtis. If I win 10 games a year for the next 36 years and he quits coaching tomorrow, I'll catch him. Sometimes people around here lose sight of the fact there's a guy in town here with 560 wins. They had something the other day about all the winningest high school coaches in the country and I said wow, that's 10 wins a year for 56 years. God almighty. We're on to 201."
Here is what Fritz and his players said about the rout:
FRITZ
"I'm very happy with our administration and everybody involved in game day operations. To be able to get this game and play it. We had to change the time of the game a couple of times, and it takes a lot of people to coordinate that. I appreciate everybody doing a good job with getting that taken care of. We came out of the box and played extremely hard and well and smart. We wanted to have the wind in the very beginning, and it worked out well. We got a three and out and a short field for the offense. We score, and the same thing happened on the next series. Aside from that one bust in coverage, we played extremely well defensively in the first half against a very potent offense. It was a good job in all three phases. I think almost everybody on our squad who was eligible to play, played today, so I'm really excited about that."
Jonathan Banks looked like he exuded confidence off that game-winning drive against Army. What is your assessment of his play today?
"Yeah, he was kind of fired up. He had a look in his eye before the game that he was ready to go, and he played extremely well. He's a tough competitor. He enjoys it, and he saw how this thing can work. We obviously ran the ball a heck of a lot more in the second half and the second quarter so we could run clock, but he was 9 of 13 for 165 yards and a couple of them were improvising plays. He's a good quarterback."
Was this your earliest game?
"Yes it was."
Did your shorten your pre-game or move it back?
"We just backed everything up. We're fortunate we practice in the mornings, so our guys are used to getting up at 5;30 every morning. We eat breakfast at 6. We get into meetings at 7 and we start practicing at 8:15, so this game time was about like period number 20 for practice. I told the guys last night you get to sleep in an extra half hour. We'll get you up at 6 instead of 5:30."
Are you going to ask for more games to be moved up to 10 (joking)?
"Yeah, 10 or 11, right. We won't see that happen, but as a coach you hate sitting around all day. We play when we're scheduled to play."
Fans were leaving at halftime laughing in disbelief about how far you were up instead of being discouraged by another loss. Is that another step in the maturation of your program?
"Yeah, but when you start doing this, you have to do it every day. That's the thing we were really trying to emphasize to our guys on Monday. We are going to be very critical of the game tape and see the areas that we can improve on because there are a lot of mistakes we made today, and we need to keep getting better. It's tough to be mentally tough every day. A lot of guys get challenged by that and start fading away a little bit. We're trying to have that upward trajectory and improvement on a daily basis. You start doing that, you start getting really good."
Tulsa has an excellent running game. How happy were you with stopping the run?
"I thought we did a really good job with our run fits. Coach (Jack) Curtis and the defensive staff came up with a really good game plan. We tackled pretty well. It left us open because we were playing a lot of zero coverage, but we really fit the run well because that's an excellent running back. (Tulsa's D'Angelo Brewer had seven carries for 41 yards)."
Having an open date after a big win could lead to distractions. Were you pleased with the way the team reacted?
"Yeah, we just came out and played hard. We played well. They ought to get excited about this. Tulsa's kind of had their way with Tulane over the last 13 years. We played well against them. We did a good job."
What are your thoughts on Dontrell Hilliard's performance?
"He played great. He had 175 yards and four touchdowns and just did a nice job of seeing creases and seams. The play right before the half, we just ran the power and he hit it vertical. I know that sounds easy to do, but a lot of guys are looking to find stuff. All those guys played well. Sherman Badie had 68 yards. Darius Bradwell had 71. Banks had 93 yards, so a good job by all the guys."
There was that play in the first half where a defender had Banks wrapped up for a would-be sack, and he threw a pass into the flat to Bradwell even though the guy had two hands around him. How about that play?
"He's a strong guy. He's 22 pounds and has great lifting numbers. He did a good job. He led us well today."
What are your thoughts on getting your 200th win?
"I put it in perspective for our guys in the locker room. I've got 360 to go to catch (John Curtis coach) J.T. Curtis. If I win 10 games a year for the next 36 years and he quits coaching tomorrow, I'll catch him. Sometimes people around here lose sight of the fact there's a guy in town here with 560 wins. They had something the other day about all the winningest high school coaches in the country and I said wow, that's 10 wins a year for 56 years. God almighty. We're on to 201."
