Wow! Despite a slew of mistakes, Tulane dominated Memphis tonight, serving notice it can be a contender in the AAC West.
Here's what Willie Fritz had to say:
FRITZ
"I'm really proud of our guys. It's been a tough week of practice. I thought our guys responded well. That was a big opening drive by our offense to go down and get points. We ran the ball very effectively tonight. We had 318 yards and threw for 178. I think we had four or five drop probably during the game as well. I'm just happy that it was a complete and total team win. The defense played extremely well. That is a tough team to hold under 300 yards (it has not happened since Auburn limited Memphis to 205 yards in the 2015 Birmingham Bowl). I think they are third and fourth in the country in offense, very explosive. And I thought we did some good things in the kicking game. It was a total team win. We made some mistakes, though, so we'll be able to go over those on Monday."
When you dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, how much easier does it make this sport?
"It really was. We've been trying to get a pass rush for the first four games, and I thought there at the end, and obviously when you know they are going to be throwing the ball every down, you can tee off on them, but I thought we got some good pressure in the fourth quarter, and that makes it a heck of a lot easier to cover on the back end. I thought up front we did a really nice job of creating seams and creases with the inside zone and also on the stretch play. It was a very good job by the O-line and D-line."
Justin McMillan comes in and throws a touchdown on his first play. How big was that?
"It was money. He came in and we had to throw the ball. I forget the down and distance. It was third and pretty long I believe. He did a nice job of hitting Darnell (Mooney) and he made a guy miss. It was a huge play for us."
How comfortable are you with him?
"You know what he does a good job of is he stands over there and he's really into the game and really processing what's going on. A couple of times I went over to talk to him and he's really locked in on what's going on, so that's great. You gotta do that when you're on the sideline, particularly if you're the quarterback."
How did he handle coming in and fitting in with this team?
"I think he's done a good job. The tough part was he got here so late. He got here maybe four days before the first game, and every week he's learning a little bit more about the offense."
What was wrong with Jonathan Banks when he limped off?
"He cramped up pretty good. Justin (McMillan) came in and did a nice job and we went with him the rest of the way."
After Darrell Henderson's big run at the beginning of the game, you did a good job shutting him down. What adjustments did you make?
"They ran a counter play, and when they pull two guys they really create four new gaps and we just didn't fit it properly. We were trying to spill it with the first guy, and he boxed and the second guy boxed and there was a crease in there and our corner lost leverage. If he had kept leverage, I think it would have been a gain of 6 or 7. If we do a good job of fitting it right, it might not be a play, and the rest of the game we did a pretty good job of fitting it up right."
There were some bad moments that could have turned the game the other way--the onside kick and the fourth-down failure on the long pass--but both times the team responded. What did that say to you?
"Well, we just knew we needed to be aggressive and tried to limit their possessions. We didn't really do that with the onside kick and some other things, but our defense played lights out. I think they ran 16 plays in the first half. That's playing pretty good defense, except on the first one. We just limited their plays and a big reason why was our offense, we had the ball over 21 minutes in the first half."
All three of your primary running backs had huge plays. Is that the way you want to see it?
"Yeah, we're going to run the ball quite a bit and play a bunch of guys in there. You call certain plays for certain guys, but you want the guys to be able to run everything so you don't have to sit there and figure out on every single play who's out there. I thought all the backs did a nice job."
What did you see from the defensive ends so that they put so much pressure on Brady White?
"Well number one we knew they were going to throw it every down. You pin your ears back and come. It was a package the defensive coaches came up with that gave them a few problems, particularly on the inside. We hadn't really gotten the pass rush we wanted in the last few weeks. I think this will give our front confidence to be able to do that every week."
Was this one of coach Curtis's better birthdays?
"Yes. The defense played great. The offense played well. I'm really proud of the coaching staff and all of the players."
What did you see from the offensive line today?
"Good creases. We didn't get behind the chains much. That was a bugaboo for us the first few weeks where we have gotten second and long, third and long. Those are tough to convert, particularly with the style of play we have. It was a good job of not allowing penetration and getting those minus plays."
You put Tyler Johnson in as a starter. He made some mistakes but the offensive line had by far its best performance overall. What was the thought on starting him?
"He did a good job in practice all week and we wanted to give him an opportunity. I thought with the exception of a couple of plays he played well."
Here's what Willie Fritz had to say:
FRITZ
"I'm really proud of our guys. It's been a tough week of practice. I thought our guys responded well. That was a big opening drive by our offense to go down and get points. We ran the ball very effectively tonight. We had 318 yards and threw for 178. I think we had four or five drop probably during the game as well. I'm just happy that it was a complete and total team win. The defense played extremely well. That is a tough team to hold under 300 yards (it has not happened since Auburn limited Memphis to 205 yards in the 2015 Birmingham Bowl). I think they are third and fourth in the country in offense, very explosive. And I thought we did some good things in the kicking game. It was a total team win. We made some mistakes, though, so we'll be able to go over those on Monday."
When you dominate the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball, how much easier does it make this sport?
"It really was. We've been trying to get a pass rush for the first four games, and I thought there at the end, and obviously when you know they are going to be throwing the ball every down, you can tee off on them, but I thought we got some good pressure in the fourth quarter, and that makes it a heck of a lot easier to cover on the back end. I thought up front we did a really nice job of creating seams and creases with the inside zone and also on the stretch play. It was a very good job by the O-line and D-line."
Justin McMillan comes in and throws a touchdown on his first play. How big was that?
"It was money. He came in and we had to throw the ball. I forget the down and distance. It was third and pretty long I believe. He did a nice job of hitting Darnell (Mooney) and he made a guy miss. It was a huge play for us."
How comfortable are you with him?
"You know what he does a good job of is he stands over there and he's really into the game and really processing what's going on. A couple of times I went over to talk to him and he's really locked in on what's going on, so that's great. You gotta do that when you're on the sideline, particularly if you're the quarterback."
How did he handle coming in and fitting in with this team?
"I think he's done a good job. The tough part was he got here so late. He got here maybe four days before the first game, and every week he's learning a little bit more about the offense."
What was wrong with Jonathan Banks when he limped off?
"He cramped up pretty good. Justin (McMillan) came in and did a nice job and we went with him the rest of the way."
After Darrell Henderson's big run at the beginning of the game, you did a good job shutting him down. What adjustments did you make?
"They ran a counter play, and when they pull two guys they really create four new gaps and we just didn't fit it properly. We were trying to spill it with the first guy, and he boxed and the second guy boxed and there was a crease in there and our corner lost leverage. If he had kept leverage, I think it would have been a gain of 6 or 7. If we do a good job of fitting it right, it might not be a play, and the rest of the game we did a pretty good job of fitting it up right."
There were some bad moments that could have turned the game the other way--the onside kick and the fourth-down failure on the long pass--but both times the team responded. What did that say to you?
"Well, we just knew we needed to be aggressive and tried to limit their possessions. We didn't really do that with the onside kick and some other things, but our defense played lights out. I think they ran 16 plays in the first half. That's playing pretty good defense, except on the first one. We just limited their plays and a big reason why was our offense, we had the ball over 21 minutes in the first half."
All three of your primary running backs had huge plays. Is that the way you want to see it?
"Yeah, we're going to run the ball quite a bit and play a bunch of guys in there. You call certain plays for certain guys, but you want the guys to be able to run everything so you don't have to sit there and figure out on every single play who's out there. I thought all the backs did a nice job."
What did you see from the defensive ends so that they put so much pressure on Brady White?
"Well number one we knew they were going to throw it every down. You pin your ears back and come. It was a package the defensive coaches came up with that gave them a few problems, particularly on the inside. We hadn't really gotten the pass rush we wanted in the last few weeks. I think this will give our front confidence to be able to do that every week."
Was this one of coach Curtis's better birthdays?
"Yes. The defense played great. The offense played well. I'm really proud of the coaching staff and all of the players."
What did you see from the offensive line today?
"Good creases. We didn't get behind the chains much. That was a bugaboo for us the first few weeks where we have gotten second and long, third and long. Those are tough to convert, particularly with the style of play we have. It was a good job of not allowing penetration and getting those minus plays."
You put Tyler Johnson in as a starter. He made some mistakes but the offensive line had by far its best performance overall. What was the thought on starting him?
"He did a good job in practice all week and we wanted to give him an opportunity. I thought with the exception of a couple of plays he played well."