This was a good win. Grambling will probably be one of the better FCS teams this year and we beat them convincingly. Overall, several FBS teams had much more trouble with lesser FCS opponents and despite an overall 42-4 record against FCS teams, four FBS teams actually lost led by Baylor’s upset at the hands of Liberty, 48-45. Howard, a 45 point underdog, beat UNLV 43-40; Tennessee State beat Georgia State 17-10; and James Madison humiliated our AAC rival and opponent this year, ECU, by a 34-14 score. Yes, beating Grambling was much better than the results inflicted on several of our peers.
Our future opponents faired pretty well going 8-3 with Tulsa, FIU, and ECU falling, while the rest were victorious, if not always impressively. Our next three opponents all looked good. For those thinking Navy will fall off at the QB slot, this past week might give one pause. Their “new” QB was only 3 for 10 passing for 110 yards, but he rushed 32 times for 235 yards (7.3 yds/carry). Of course, the opponent, FAU, is generally rated near the bottom of FBS schools, so who knows. Oklahoma looked like the top tier team they are. And Army mauled a mismatched Fordham, which doesn’t prove a lot other than, as we already knew, they can run the ball.
As for our game, itself, it’s hard to complain about a running attack that racked up 297 yards and three TD’s on 51 carries (5.8 yds/carry). But, 112 of those yards in 17 carries were accomplished by reserves, much of which were against Grambling reserves. That’s not to say those yards shouldn’t count, but they weren’t against the best competition. The 69 net yards contributed by Banks and Encalade’s 58 yard TD were also important to our overall numbers. Encalade’s speed surprised me. I thought their backs would run him down; didn’t happen. On the downside, Hilliard and Badie, our “bell-cow” backs gained 57 yards in 17 carries (3.35 yds/carry). Much of that was individual effort to turn no gains into 3-4 yards. Our run-blocking 1st team against 1st team was not that great. It will need to improve.
Banks had a terrific debut as the Wave QB. 10 for 15, 185 yards and three TD’s passing was a great start. He missed on a couple of long passes, had at least one pass dropped (Clewis), and could have gotten much bigger numbers had the game been closer. As a runner, he may be our best at QB since at least Losman or Terrance Jones, and, though one game does not make a career, could be our best ever runner at the position. He’s big, strong, quick, and decisive. That’s a lot in one package and resulted in 69 yards rushing in 16 carries (79 yards in 15 carries if you delete the one ten yard sack). Again, a great start to his Tulane career.
It’s very early to judge our offensive line, especially in a game like this. Pass protection was generally OK, but Banks’ ability to scramble out of trouble helped a lot. Run blocking was only adequate when our 1st team faced their starters. Our backs make yards that are not there based on the blocking. Future opponents will be tougher.
Except for the 49 yard pass completion near the end of the first half, our defense was dominant while the starters were in, and against their starters. The long TD drive we allowed after going up 31-0 may have been due to a lack of continued intensity though even that depended on a couple of questionable calls by the referees. The long TD run at the beginning of the 4th quarter when we inserted an entire reserve unit suggests our depth (or at least experience) may not be what we like. On the other hand, those same reserves dominated the field in Grambling’s only other possession of the quarter.
Special teams on the whole were disappointing. Badie made a couple of nice kickoff returns which was the highlight. Despite Graff commenting on each punt as being “good,” Block’s longest was 37 yards and he averaged 36 yards on his three punts ( a pretty tight window), which is well below average. Punt coverage was fine but we lost containment a couple times on kickoff returns and had one long return negated by a penalty. That must be corrected soon. Neenan’s kicking was particularly bad. He had seven kick opportunities including a 35 yard extra point and a 21 yard field goal (both made) plus five other extra points of which he missed two. That’s REALLY bad. My guess is the kicking competition is wide open again.
I liked the fact that a lot of kids got into the game—66 according to the game’s box score. This included a number of walk-ons and eleven true freshmen. on scholarship. 12 true freshmen sat out either due to injury or the expectation of a redshirt. The next couple of games should tell us more about that. Best I can tell, of the kids listed on our current roster who are on scholarship, only six did not play who are not true freshmen: Dauphin, who is sitting out a transfer year; McLeod, Kennedy, and Strickland who are hurt, and Lofton and Jacob Robinson who may also be hurt, I don’t know.
I thought attendance was disappointing. The announced crowd of 15,940 appeared on TV to be a generous estimate. I wasn’t there but large swaths of near empty sections were visible at times. Of course, an FCS opponent, Decadence Weekend, and an LSU game only a few miles away could have kept attendance down. But potential excuses will be available every week. We need to string together a few wins to start filling up our little stadium.
Anyway. It’s a good start and a game we had to win to keep bowl prospects clearly in focus.
Roll Wave!!!
Our future opponents faired pretty well going 8-3 with Tulsa, FIU, and ECU falling, while the rest were victorious, if not always impressively. Our next three opponents all looked good. For those thinking Navy will fall off at the QB slot, this past week might give one pause. Their “new” QB was only 3 for 10 passing for 110 yards, but he rushed 32 times for 235 yards (7.3 yds/carry). Of course, the opponent, FAU, is generally rated near the bottom of FBS schools, so who knows. Oklahoma looked like the top tier team they are. And Army mauled a mismatched Fordham, which doesn’t prove a lot other than, as we already knew, they can run the ball.
As for our game, itself, it’s hard to complain about a running attack that racked up 297 yards and three TD’s on 51 carries (5.8 yds/carry). But, 112 of those yards in 17 carries were accomplished by reserves, much of which were against Grambling reserves. That’s not to say those yards shouldn’t count, but they weren’t against the best competition. The 69 net yards contributed by Banks and Encalade’s 58 yard TD were also important to our overall numbers. Encalade’s speed surprised me. I thought their backs would run him down; didn’t happen. On the downside, Hilliard and Badie, our “bell-cow” backs gained 57 yards in 17 carries (3.35 yds/carry). Much of that was individual effort to turn no gains into 3-4 yards. Our run-blocking 1st team against 1st team was not that great. It will need to improve.
Banks had a terrific debut as the Wave QB. 10 for 15, 185 yards and three TD’s passing was a great start. He missed on a couple of long passes, had at least one pass dropped (Clewis), and could have gotten much bigger numbers had the game been closer. As a runner, he may be our best at QB since at least Losman or Terrance Jones, and, though one game does not make a career, could be our best ever runner at the position. He’s big, strong, quick, and decisive. That’s a lot in one package and resulted in 69 yards rushing in 16 carries (79 yards in 15 carries if you delete the one ten yard sack). Again, a great start to his Tulane career.
It’s very early to judge our offensive line, especially in a game like this. Pass protection was generally OK, but Banks’ ability to scramble out of trouble helped a lot. Run blocking was only adequate when our 1st team faced their starters. Our backs make yards that are not there based on the blocking. Future opponents will be tougher.
Except for the 49 yard pass completion near the end of the first half, our defense was dominant while the starters were in, and against their starters. The long TD drive we allowed after going up 31-0 may have been due to a lack of continued intensity though even that depended on a couple of questionable calls by the referees. The long TD run at the beginning of the 4th quarter when we inserted an entire reserve unit suggests our depth (or at least experience) may not be what we like. On the other hand, those same reserves dominated the field in Grambling’s only other possession of the quarter.
Special teams on the whole were disappointing. Badie made a couple of nice kickoff returns which was the highlight. Despite Graff commenting on each punt as being “good,” Block’s longest was 37 yards and he averaged 36 yards on his three punts ( a pretty tight window), which is well below average. Punt coverage was fine but we lost containment a couple times on kickoff returns and had one long return negated by a penalty. That must be corrected soon. Neenan’s kicking was particularly bad. He had seven kick opportunities including a 35 yard extra point and a 21 yard field goal (both made) plus five other extra points of which he missed two. That’s REALLY bad. My guess is the kicking competition is wide open again.
I liked the fact that a lot of kids got into the game—66 according to the game’s box score. This included a number of walk-ons and eleven true freshmen. on scholarship. 12 true freshmen sat out either due to injury or the expectation of a redshirt. The next couple of games should tell us more about that. Best I can tell, of the kids listed on our current roster who are on scholarship, only six did not play who are not true freshmen: Dauphin, who is sitting out a transfer year; McLeod, Kennedy, and Strickland who are hurt, and Lofton and Jacob Robinson who may also be hurt, I don’t know.
I thought attendance was disappointing. The announced crowd of 15,940 appeared on TV to be a generous estimate. I wasn’t there but large swaths of near empty sections were visible at times. Of course, an FCS opponent, Decadence Weekend, and an LSU game only a few miles away could have kept attendance down. But potential excuses will be available every week. We need to string together a few wins to start filling up our little stadium.
Anyway. It’s a good start and a game we had to win to keep bowl prospects clearly in focus.
Roll Wave!!!
