Alex Bauman and Caleb Ransaw practiced fully today, and Tulane will need both of them against North Texas. The offense clearly missed Bauman as much for his blocking as his receiving, and he might have stabilized the receiving corps when dropped passes became contagious against Rice. Ransaw is Tulane' best cover guy and should play a huge role in trying to slow down the Mean Green's explosive offense, which scored 75 yard touchdowns on its first and second snaps against Memphis (one on an end around by DT Sheffield, the other on a pass to Sheffield). Javion White has played well in his absence, but there's no way to know how a true freshman will react against a pass offense that is light years better than any other Tulane has faced. North Texas is third in total offense and passing. Tulane's other FBS opponents are 30th (ULL), 43rd (Kansas State), 83rd (UAB), 99th (Rice), 101st (South Florida) and 128th (Oklahoma) in total offense, and only the Cajuns are in the top 50 in passing offense (33rd).
I'm not sure what to make of Tulane's defense, which has gotten better as the year went along, but it is notable that it held six of its seven opponents to under their season average for yards. The exception was Oklahoma, and Hurricane Francine had a lot to do with that in my opinion.
Here are the numbers:
Kansas State 346 yards (averages 428.1)
Oklahoma 349 yards (averages 288.1)
ULL 413 yards (averages 443.4)
USF 201 yards (averages 349.4)
UAB 305 yards (averages 372.9)
Rice 344 yards (averages 349.6).
Shazz Preston was in uniform but I did not see him taking reps at the end of practice.
Sumrall, Vincent Murphy and Tyler Grubbs talked after practice. I will transcribe the two players later.
SUMRALL
"A better Tuesday practice than last Tuesday. A lot better. The intent was a lot better, and I think you could see by the way we played last Saturday was maybe impacted by how average our Tuesday practice was in some areas, but I saw some good things today. I'm excited about the matchup. They are a really good team. Top 10 in the country in scoring, top 10 in total yardage. They are opportunistic on defense, make a lot of big plays. They are good in the kicking game. That No. 10, the receiver, and he returns some kicks, too, he's off the charts good. We've got a really big-time challenge this week with these guys. We've got to go on the road and do it."
On North Texas's explosiveness:
"The first play of last week and the second play of last week were 75-yard touchdowns. First two plays of the game were 150 yards of offense. Pretty potent. The tempo they run affects you, but the players and the plays they run are good. They've got great schemes, and they have a fantastic athletes to get the ball to in space. The quarterback's playing at a really high level, and then this No. 10, the slot receiver, is probably as explosive as anybody in the country right now. It is a really good challenge for our defense. We've got to make sure we stay on top of things. We'll have to tackle well in space and leverage the football, play clean with our eyes. They kind of get some guys lost with some motion or some vertical stuff they do, so we have to be on top of things and be assignment detailed, sound. They are a challenge, though. They've scored more than 40 points in five of their seven games, and in one of the games they didn't, they scored 35, and they scored 21 against Texas Tech. So far playing great defense against them has been a 21-point outcome and a 35-point outcome. That wins a lot of games for most people, so real challenge."
On Kevin Adams chasing down Dean Connors on long run:
"When you look back through the year, a couple of plays Johnathan Edwards has strained to tackle a ball-carrier that's broken free, and them understanding like, get the ball down and let's play the next snap and see what happens and make them earn it. Don't concede. Don't give up. The way the guys practiced today, they did a good job of running to the ball and getting set, but you can't ever assume anything. You have to make the stop and make them earn the opportunity to score. Defense is about effort half of the time. The schemes are the schemes, but it's about playing hard. We've got to continue to play hard on defense. That covered up some mistakes last week. We didn't play real clean or flawless in any manner, but the guys played really hard on defense and that made up for some mistakes along with the turnovers."
On first offense like this Tulane has faced this year:
"It's very unique. The tempo is like South Florida, but South Florida was more of a quarterback-run oriented team. This team will run the ball for 160 yards a game, too, but they're so explosive in the passing game. They've got multiple receivers that can beat you, and the quarterback is playing at an elite level right now. He was the starter at TCU the year they went to the national title and got injured. He's a big-time player. He's not just some Johnny Come Lately. He's Chad Morriss's son and he's a phenomenal player, knows where to go with the ball, has a really good arm and is a better runner than people probably give him credit for. You don't see people just stop him, so it's a real problem. We have to play really well to have a chance to slow them down at all."
On Hughes big fourth quarter against the Rice:
"Obviously a lot ofhe story of the day was the drops we had on offense, but when the pass game's not going good, you have to be able to hang your hat on the running game. Our offensive line and Makhi really took the game over in the fourth quarter. That drive when we went 70 yards on seven runs, Makhi had five of them and they sort of imposed their will on how we were going to finish the game. That was a gritty way to finish the game. By no means was it a great performance by us, but our guys finding a way to win and really just on the ground methodically creating big play after big play after big play to take the lead. It's encouraging. If your O-line is playing at a high level and your running back is playing at a high level, it makes everybody's job easier, and it makes your defense's job easier. The run game needs to continue to do what it did at the end of the game. We need to throw and catch a lot better than we threw and caught last week."
On Tyler Grubbs pass defense:
"Grubbs is a phenomenal player. I think he would tell you the work coach Polk puts in with him, I think Tayler Polk's as good a linebackers coach as there is. He's like a son to me, and him and Grubbs have a great relationship. The detail whch Grubbs has really addressed in his drops, in the coverage game, in a lot of areas, he's taken some huge strides forward in a lot of areas in his game. The pass coverage area has been fun to watch. He got the pick last week. He had an opportunity to get the other one. He's making plays and doing some things at a high level. He's elevating his game each and every week."
On if having short week next week changes this week's preparation:
"It changes really more into the next week. This week is somewhat a normal schedule for us. We might pull back on a thing or two, but not a lot. It affects me and our ops people as much as anybody to plan how we're using next week. Very fortunate to have been in situations the last couple of years when you play on a Saturday and then a Thursday, and it's worked most of the times so we have a formula. But my mind's so focused on this week. We do have a plan, really going back to May and June is really when I already sat down and worked through what does that plan look like (for a Saturday/Thursday stretch). If you wait until this week and figure out what are we going to do next week, you're not doing your job very well. We've planned what this week and next week looks like going back to the summer. It is a challenge, going on the road back to back and at the end of it a short week is not easy, but we can only control what's right in front of us. The them this week is going to be where you feet are. Saturday will control itself, but I want to make sure we have a great week of preparation."
On Javion White:
"You're always a little nervous when you're playing a true freshman for his first extended snaps. It's one thing if he's playing spot duty within the flow of the game, playing three or four snaps here and there and maybe spelling a guy. For him to take the lion's share of the snaps and start the game and play at the level he played is very impressive. It will pay dividends for him the rest of the year and fast track his development this week. We're excited to have Caleb (Ransaw) back this week, but Javion's really stepped up. Caleb only played like three snaps in the UAB game. It wasn't many. and then Javion and Jayden Lewis played the majority for the rest of the game and last week, so those guys really for the last couple weeks have held that position down. Ransaw's an elite-level player. It's good to have him back but I'm excited about those young players getting some opportunities to go play. I's fun to watch their development."
I'm not sure what to make of Tulane's defense, which has gotten better as the year went along, but it is notable that it held six of its seven opponents to under their season average for yards. The exception was Oklahoma, and Hurricane Francine had a lot to do with that in my opinion.
Here are the numbers:
Kansas State 346 yards (averages 428.1)
Oklahoma 349 yards (averages 288.1)
ULL 413 yards (averages 443.4)
USF 201 yards (averages 349.4)
UAB 305 yards (averages 372.9)
Rice 344 yards (averages 349.6).
Shazz Preston was in uniform but I did not see him taking reps at the end of practice.
Sumrall, Vincent Murphy and Tyler Grubbs talked after practice. I will transcribe the two players later.
SUMRALL
"A better Tuesday practice than last Tuesday. A lot better. The intent was a lot better, and I think you could see by the way we played last Saturday was maybe impacted by how average our Tuesday practice was in some areas, but I saw some good things today. I'm excited about the matchup. They are a really good team. Top 10 in the country in scoring, top 10 in total yardage. They are opportunistic on defense, make a lot of big plays. They are good in the kicking game. That No. 10, the receiver, and he returns some kicks, too, he's off the charts good. We've got a really big-time challenge this week with these guys. We've got to go on the road and do it."
On North Texas's explosiveness:
"The first play of last week and the second play of last week were 75-yard touchdowns. First two plays of the game were 150 yards of offense. Pretty potent. The tempo they run affects you, but the players and the plays they run are good. They've got great schemes, and they have a fantastic athletes to get the ball to in space. The quarterback's playing at a really high level, and then this No. 10, the slot receiver, is probably as explosive as anybody in the country right now. It is a really good challenge for our defense. We've got to make sure we stay on top of things. We'll have to tackle well in space and leverage the football, play clean with our eyes. They kind of get some guys lost with some motion or some vertical stuff they do, so we have to be on top of things and be assignment detailed, sound. They are a challenge, though. They've scored more than 40 points in five of their seven games, and in one of the games they didn't, they scored 35, and they scored 21 against Texas Tech. So far playing great defense against them has been a 21-point outcome and a 35-point outcome. That wins a lot of games for most people, so real challenge."
On Kevin Adams chasing down Dean Connors on long run:
"When you look back through the year, a couple of plays Johnathan Edwards has strained to tackle a ball-carrier that's broken free, and them understanding like, get the ball down and let's play the next snap and see what happens and make them earn it. Don't concede. Don't give up. The way the guys practiced today, they did a good job of running to the ball and getting set, but you can't ever assume anything. You have to make the stop and make them earn the opportunity to score. Defense is about effort half of the time. The schemes are the schemes, but it's about playing hard. We've got to continue to play hard on defense. That covered up some mistakes last week. We didn't play real clean or flawless in any manner, but the guys played really hard on defense and that made up for some mistakes along with the turnovers."
On first offense like this Tulane has faced this year:
"It's very unique. The tempo is like South Florida, but South Florida was more of a quarterback-run oriented team. This team will run the ball for 160 yards a game, too, but they're so explosive in the passing game. They've got multiple receivers that can beat you, and the quarterback is playing at an elite level right now. He was the starter at TCU the year they went to the national title and got injured. He's a big-time player. He's not just some Johnny Come Lately. He's Chad Morriss's son and he's a phenomenal player, knows where to go with the ball, has a really good arm and is a better runner than people probably give him credit for. You don't see people just stop him, so it's a real problem. We have to play really well to have a chance to slow them down at all."
On Hughes big fourth quarter against the Rice:
"Obviously a lot ofhe story of the day was the drops we had on offense, but when the pass game's not going good, you have to be able to hang your hat on the running game. Our offensive line and Makhi really took the game over in the fourth quarter. That drive when we went 70 yards on seven runs, Makhi had five of them and they sort of imposed their will on how we were going to finish the game. That was a gritty way to finish the game. By no means was it a great performance by us, but our guys finding a way to win and really just on the ground methodically creating big play after big play after big play to take the lead. It's encouraging. If your O-line is playing at a high level and your running back is playing at a high level, it makes everybody's job easier, and it makes your defense's job easier. The run game needs to continue to do what it did at the end of the game. We need to throw and catch a lot better than we threw and caught last week."
On Tyler Grubbs pass defense:
"Grubbs is a phenomenal player. I think he would tell you the work coach Polk puts in with him, I think Tayler Polk's as good a linebackers coach as there is. He's like a son to me, and him and Grubbs have a great relationship. The detail whch Grubbs has really addressed in his drops, in the coverage game, in a lot of areas, he's taken some huge strides forward in a lot of areas in his game. The pass coverage area has been fun to watch. He got the pick last week. He had an opportunity to get the other one. He's making plays and doing some things at a high level. He's elevating his game each and every week."
On if having short week next week changes this week's preparation:
"It changes really more into the next week. This week is somewhat a normal schedule for us. We might pull back on a thing or two, but not a lot. It affects me and our ops people as much as anybody to plan how we're using next week. Very fortunate to have been in situations the last couple of years when you play on a Saturday and then a Thursday, and it's worked most of the times so we have a formula. But my mind's so focused on this week. We do have a plan, really going back to May and June is really when I already sat down and worked through what does that plan look like (for a Saturday/Thursday stretch). If you wait until this week and figure out what are we going to do next week, you're not doing your job very well. We've planned what this week and next week looks like going back to the summer. It is a challenge, going on the road back to back and at the end of it a short week is not easy, but we can only control what's right in front of us. The them this week is going to be where you feet are. Saturday will control itself, but I want to make sure we have a great week of preparation."
On Javion White:
"You're always a little nervous when you're playing a true freshman for his first extended snaps. It's one thing if he's playing spot duty within the flow of the game, playing three or four snaps here and there and maybe spelling a guy. For him to take the lion's share of the snaps and start the game and play at the level he played is very impressive. It will pay dividends for him the rest of the year and fast track his development this week. We're excited to have Caleb (Ransaw) back this week, but Javion's really stepped up. Caleb only played like three snaps in the UAB game. It wasn't many. and then Javion and Jayden Lewis played the majority for the rest of the game and last week, so those guys really for the last couple weeks have held that position down. Ransaw's an elite-level player. It's good to have him back but I'm excited about those young players getting some opportunities to go play. I's fun to watch their development."
