As I explained in the other thread, part of the spring game was a rumor to me as I had to write my story for The Advocate and file it by 9:45. I thought I would have to send before I got quotes, so I wrote an entire story without quotes, but when it ended early, I had to race down, get quotes and go back up to the press box, add the quotes and delete other stuff I'd written to make it fit the space they'd given me.
A few thoughts:
Darius Bradwell ran with his pad level too high on the third-and-short and fourth-and-short that got stopped, but I thought he got screwed out of a first down on the second one by the new down and yard markers that confused the offense about how many yards it needed. They thought they had gotten the first down. I don't think Bradwell was 100 percent healthy by the end of spring.
Corey Dauphine looked like he did last August--sensational. He was the third best running back in spring practice in my opinion, but what really matters for running backs is what happens in live drills. You can't coach the speed and acceleration he has.
Banks played well in my book. He's never going to hit every throw, but he started 6 of 8 and had the two big plays to Encalade. He also did not get a chance to show what he can do with his feet.
The defense was extremely aggressive. Clearly they had been waiting for the opportunity to hit people because there were some surprisingly hard hits for a spring game a few more times when they tried to deal a major blow and did not quite get there in time.
I expect this team to win as many as eight games, but I'd be more confident if Junior Diaz had stayed. Tulane really could not afford to lose one of its best linemen. Unless Bailey Granier is the real deal, and my intel has told me he may not be, Tulane will have a hole on an offensive line that already had some question marks.
My belief on the potential for eight wins based on the offensive playmakers and the coaching staff's ability--experienced senior quarterback, outstanding senior receiver and a staff that always gets the most out of its talent in the ground game. But this team is still not as talented from top to bottom as the average AAC team--small at some spots and lacking speed at others. The latest recruiting class will help in that department if it develops as expected, but it needs to be backed up by at least two more as good or better before Tulane is competing on a level playing field.
Tulane is thin at receiver. The three starters (Encalade, Mooney when healthy and Clewis) are the only trustworthy guys at this point. No one else consistently makes plays, and Clewis needs to be more consistent, too.
I liked what I saw from Jeffery Johnson last night. He made a difference on those two Bradwell running plays, doing what a dependable nose guard is supposed to do. Tulane allowed a whopping 5.6 yards per carry last year and lost its best interior lineman in Sean Wilson, so Johnson, who will be the real deal down the road, needs to get there quickly. Last night was a good start.
FRITZ
Did this one go a lot smoother than the last two spring games?
"Oh, it was a different format. We had a few guys out and we just don't have enough bodies to do a true, one team versus another in all phases and all that kind of stuff. I thought we got a lot of good work for situations that occurred that we're going to be able to teach from. There were some explosive plays on the offensive side of the ball but also the defense closed the door a few times when the offense had some opportunities to score some points."
Where are you at the end of spring?
"I think we're ahead of where we've been in the past just because we have so many veterans. It's a long way to go to the first game."
Were you pleased with the level of execution?
"We work on a lot of different situations during practice--red zone, goal line, 4-minute offense, 2-minute offense, all those different situations. We're getting better and the kids understand what we're looking for because they've been in the program for a period of time."
Dauphine had two explosive runs.
"Yeah, the track coach was out here. He's been running track. Him and Devin Glenn and Jaetavian Toles were three legs on the 4 X 100 and they are real close to the school record. I told coach Peterson he needs to grab that guy who tracked Corey down and run him instead of Corey (not sure what run he is talking about; Teamer barely got him on the near touchdown run). Yeah, he had some good plays."
What is your comfort level with Banks?
"It was a good situation for him down in the end zone. He had a safety (on an intentional grounding call when he threw the ball away with no one in the area), and that's something he has to learn from. You don't get to practice that situation very often. Now he'll know what to do."
Talk about the goal-line stand the defense had down here.
"Yeah, it would have been nice to punch it in. We have to know where the sticks are. We were having a little bit of confusion with the new down markers. It took a little while for that to get in synch and know exactly what the down and distance was, but I thought we ran high pads a couple of times when we should have lowered the pads."
"I have a couple of other things, too. I don't know if you know it or not, but we retired Devon Walker's No. 18 jersey in all sports here at Tulane. We did that today, so we're excited about that. He's an unbelievable representative of our university, and then we also announced we're going to have the 1998 team 20-year reunion in the second game against Nicholls, which is on Sept. 8, 9-8. We're excited about it. Coach Bowden is coming back. Coach Rodriguez is coming back. I'm sure a ton of the players (will be back). It was really neat. We have 120 or 130 former lettermen who came for an event we had, so that was good,"
A few thoughts:
Darius Bradwell ran with his pad level too high on the third-and-short and fourth-and-short that got stopped, but I thought he got screwed out of a first down on the second one by the new down and yard markers that confused the offense about how many yards it needed. They thought they had gotten the first down. I don't think Bradwell was 100 percent healthy by the end of spring.
Corey Dauphine looked like he did last August--sensational. He was the third best running back in spring practice in my opinion, but what really matters for running backs is what happens in live drills. You can't coach the speed and acceleration he has.
Banks played well in my book. He's never going to hit every throw, but he started 6 of 8 and had the two big plays to Encalade. He also did not get a chance to show what he can do with his feet.
The defense was extremely aggressive. Clearly they had been waiting for the opportunity to hit people because there were some surprisingly hard hits for a spring game a few more times when they tried to deal a major blow and did not quite get there in time.
I expect this team to win as many as eight games, but I'd be more confident if Junior Diaz had stayed. Tulane really could not afford to lose one of its best linemen. Unless Bailey Granier is the real deal, and my intel has told me he may not be, Tulane will have a hole on an offensive line that already had some question marks.
My belief on the potential for eight wins based on the offensive playmakers and the coaching staff's ability--experienced senior quarterback, outstanding senior receiver and a staff that always gets the most out of its talent in the ground game. But this team is still not as talented from top to bottom as the average AAC team--small at some spots and lacking speed at others. The latest recruiting class will help in that department if it develops as expected, but it needs to be backed up by at least two more as good or better before Tulane is competing on a level playing field.
Tulane is thin at receiver. The three starters (Encalade, Mooney when healthy and Clewis) are the only trustworthy guys at this point. No one else consistently makes plays, and Clewis needs to be more consistent, too.
I liked what I saw from Jeffery Johnson last night. He made a difference on those two Bradwell running plays, doing what a dependable nose guard is supposed to do. Tulane allowed a whopping 5.6 yards per carry last year and lost its best interior lineman in Sean Wilson, so Johnson, who will be the real deal down the road, needs to get there quickly. Last night was a good start.
FRITZ
Did this one go a lot smoother than the last two spring games?
"Oh, it was a different format. We had a few guys out and we just don't have enough bodies to do a true, one team versus another in all phases and all that kind of stuff. I thought we got a lot of good work for situations that occurred that we're going to be able to teach from. There were some explosive plays on the offensive side of the ball but also the defense closed the door a few times when the offense had some opportunities to score some points."
Where are you at the end of spring?
"I think we're ahead of where we've been in the past just because we have so many veterans. It's a long way to go to the first game."
Were you pleased with the level of execution?
"We work on a lot of different situations during practice--red zone, goal line, 4-minute offense, 2-minute offense, all those different situations. We're getting better and the kids understand what we're looking for because they've been in the program for a period of time."
Dauphine had two explosive runs.
"Yeah, the track coach was out here. He's been running track. Him and Devin Glenn and Jaetavian Toles were three legs on the 4 X 100 and they are real close to the school record. I told coach Peterson he needs to grab that guy who tracked Corey down and run him instead of Corey (not sure what run he is talking about; Teamer barely got him on the near touchdown run). Yeah, he had some good plays."
What is your comfort level with Banks?
"It was a good situation for him down in the end zone. He had a safety (on an intentional grounding call when he threw the ball away with no one in the area), and that's something he has to learn from. You don't get to practice that situation very often. Now he'll know what to do."
Talk about the goal-line stand the defense had down here.
"Yeah, it would have been nice to punch it in. We have to know where the sticks are. We were having a little bit of confusion with the new down markers. It took a little while for that to get in synch and know exactly what the down and distance was, but I thought we ran high pads a couple of times when we should have lowered the pads."
"I have a couple of other things, too. I don't know if you know it or not, but we retired Devon Walker's No. 18 jersey in all sports here at Tulane. We did that today, so we're excited about that. He's an unbelievable representative of our university, and then we also announced we're going to have the 1998 team 20-year reunion in the second game against Nicholls, which is on Sept. 8, 9-8. We're excited about it. Coach Bowden is coming back. Coach Rodriguez is coming back. I'm sure a ton of the players (will be back). It was really neat. We have 120 or 130 former lettermen who came for an event we had, so that was good,"
