Tulane practiced for two hours this morning at Yulman Stadium with the hope that its first normal week since Hurricane Ida hit in late August will result in a better performance this Saturday at East Carolina. Michael Pratt was limited in practice after not really practicing at last week, but he definitely will start against East Carolina and after shaking off the rust, played pretty well in the 28-21 loss to UAB, throwing for 297 yards in what probably would have been a 350-yard night if he had gotten a little more help from his receivers. Nick Anderson, who will miss another two to three games after sustaining a high-ankle sprain against Ole Miss, was in a walking boot on his left leg and had a scooter to get around..
The depth chart looked pretty similar to what it was the last time I saw practice (late August) and in the first four games, but Noah Seiden has been promoted to first-team defensive tackle after registering two sacks against UAB. He will start Saturday alongside Jeffery Johnson, his current roommate.
The dropped pass were there again, too, although it was not the main guys. Freshman T.J. Huggins dropped one off his fingertips in 7 on 7. Ryan Thompson appeared to haul in a long pass on the sideline with a leaping grab, but the ball popped away from him when he hit the ground. Huggins dropped another one in a receiver drill in the end zone with no defender on the field.
Other quick notes:
--Rudy Dyson, who played pretty well against UAB, intercepted a deflected pass.
--Duece Watts is clearly the best receiver on the team with Jha'Quan Jackson struggling. Yes, Watts missed that pass that turned into an interception on Saturday, but he made two outstanding catches while well covered on the sideline, and he beat Kevaris Hall easily for a deep ball today. I'm not sure Hall, who has played only in the Morgan State game, has recovered totally from his knee injury last season. He slammed a tackling dummy (cushion variety, not the hard type) as he walked on the sideline after the play.
--Christian Daniels is practicing. He was out with an injury for much of preseason camp and never was mentioned as a potential contributor, so I'm not sure he will crack the rotation at receiver.
--The starting offensive line and second-team line is exactly the same as in August and through the first four games, although Corey Dublin got some reps as the backup center rather than Caleb Thomas.
--Shi-Keem Laister served as the scout-team quarterback.
--Tyjae Spears practiced. Obviously something is holding him back in games as he returns from ACL surgery, but he looks healthy in no-contact practices.
WILLIE FRITZ
"This was really our first normal week. We got out of the hotel on Friday and moved into the residence and had class in-person again yesterday. The second day will be today. We are getting some lifting in as well back in the weight room. Some guys went Sunday-Tuesday and some guys Monday-Wednesday. We had a good practice. This is our heavy practice here on Tuesday, so it'a always a good workout. We're working on ECU, a good opponent. They had a tough schedule also, played some good schools--South Carolina, Appalachian State, Marshall and had a tough game last weekend against Charleston Southern but came out victorious. It's another big challenge for us."
On issues in run game:
"Sometimes it's been the score (Tulane trailed Oklahoma 37-14 at halftime, Ole Miss 40-14 in the second quarter and UAB 21-0 early). You have to score quick and it's more difficult to score quickly if you run the ball in a series, and we've got to do a better job of it. We have to run the ball more effectively. We have to get some run plays we can hang our hat on, a run play we know we can gain some yards on every time we call it."
On longest stretch without good run game in his tenure:
"We've got a few new guys in a few new spots, and a little bit of it has been the score of the game dictated a little about running the ball and when we could run it. Sometimes at the end of halves we've had very little time and have had to go two-minute. Some of it is situation, and some of it is score."
On Booker's performance:
"He's going to keep playing more and more and more. The issue's always been with YG is just health. He's been banged up the last couple of years. When he was healthy, the guys in front of him were healthy. We have some good backs. We need to exploit their ability a little bit more."
On how defense can improve:
"Yeah, we did a poor job tackling last week and have to get better at tackling. We're certainly working on it a bunch. We have a few guys out right now, some of our better tacklers, and hopefully we'll get one or two of those guys back this week (I have no idea who he is talking about). We just have to tackle better. If we had tackled better, we really would have played darn good defense, but we didn't tackle well (laughs ruefully). To play good defense, you have to tackle good. You can't have one without the other."
On missing Nick Anderson:
"He's obviously a great tackler and a really good player for us, so it certainly doesn't help us that he didn't play for us."
On if he could see UAB performance coming:
"No, I knew UAB's a good team. I believe they won their conference three out of the last four years (two out of three). We knew we were going to have to play real well to win the game. We didn't start off well and then in the second half we had a couple of crucial plays we needed to make, and we didn't make them, and it made us play catch-up for the rest of the game. They are probably the frontrunner to win that league again. They are a good team. We felt like we were capable of beating them, but we had to play well in order to do it. We didn't play a great game."
On any similarities to turning around 2-5 start in 2018:
"Every year is different. We just need to keep pressing and keep playing hard and not worry about the rest of the season. Once you get into it, you've got to go one at a time. I've got a 24-hour pout rule. It was a hard one this week, but you've got to turn the page and move on."
On Seiden:
"He has great technique. He earned himself a starting job. He'll start this week, but he's got excellent technique and get off of block. He's not a rep guy at all. When you tell him something, he's able to do it immediately."
On transition from Sample and Johnson:
"Those two guys are great players. Cam just had a sack in the NFL the other day and Patrick played quite a few snaps for Philadelphia, so I heard. They are both excellent players, but you have to be able to replace guys. We lost some guys the year before that and the year before that and the year before that. Guys have an opportunity to step up and show what they can do, and they need to take advantage of it. We need some guys to step up, and it doesn't necessarily have to be at that position. It might be at another position. It might be a linebacker or a safety that all of a sudden elevates his play."
The depth chart looked pretty similar to what it was the last time I saw practice (late August) and in the first four games, but Noah Seiden has been promoted to first-team defensive tackle after registering two sacks against UAB. He will start Saturday alongside Jeffery Johnson, his current roommate.
The dropped pass were there again, too, although it was not the main guys. Freshman T.J. Huggins dropped one off his fingertips in 7 on 7. Ryan Thompson appeared to haul in a long pass on the sideline with a leaping grab, but the ball popped away from him when he hit the ground. Huggins dropped another one in a receiver drill in the end zone with no defender on the field.
Other quick notes:
--Rudy Dyson, who played pretty well against UAB, intercepted a deflected pass.
--Duece Watts is clearly the best receiver on the team with Jha'Quan Jackson struggling. Yes, Watts missed that pass that turned into an interception on Saturday, but he made two outstanding catches while well covered on the sideline, and he beat Kevaris Hall easily for a deep ball today. I'm not sure Hall, who has played only in the Morgan State game, has recovered totally from his knee injury last season. He slammed a tackling dummy (cushion variety, not the hard type) as he walked on the sideline after the play.
--Christian Daniels is practicing. He was out with an injury for much of preseason camp and never was mentioned as a potential contributor, so I'm not sure he will crack the rotation at receiver.
--The starting offensive line and second-team line is exactly the same as in August and through the first four games, although Corey Dublin got some reps as the backup center rather than Caleb Thomas.
--Shi-Keem Laister served as the scout-team quarterback.
--Tyjae Spears practiced. Obviously something is holding him back in games as he returns from ACL surgery, but he looks healthy in no-contact practices.
WILLIE FRITZ
"This was really our first normal week. We got out of the hotel on Friday and moved into the residence and had class in-person again yesterday. The second day will be today. We are getting some lifting in as well back in the weight room. Some guys went Sunday-Tuesday and some guys Monday-Wednesday. We had a good practice. This is our heavy practice here on Tuesday, so it'a always a good workout. We're working on ECU, a good opponent. They had a tough schedule also, played some good schools--South Carolina, Appalachian State, Marshall and had a tough game last weekend against Charleston Southern but came out victorious. It's another big challenge for us."
On issues in run game:
"Sometimes it's been the score (Tulane trailed Oklahoma 37-14 at halftime, Ole Miss 40-14 in the second quarter and UAB 21-0 early). You have to score quick and it's more difficult to score quickly if you run the ball in a series, and we've got to do a better job of it. We have to run the ball more effectively. We have to get some run plays we can hang our hat on, a run play we know we can gain some yards on every time we call it."
On longest stretch without good run game in his tenure:
"We've got a few new guys in a few new spots, and a little bit of it has been the score of the game dictated a little about running the ball and when we could run it. Sometimes at the end of halves we've had very little time and have had to go two-minute. Some of it is situation, and some of it is score."
On Booker's performance:
"He's going to keep playing more and more and more. The issue's always been with YG is just health. He's been banged up the last couple of years. When he was healthy, the guys in front of him were healthy. We have some good backs. We need to exploit their ability a little bit more."
On how defense can improve:
"Yeah, we did a poor job tackling last week and have to get better at tackling. We're certainly working on it a bunch. We have a few guys out right now, some of our better tacklers, and hopefully we'll get one or two of those guys back this week (I have no idea who he is talking about). We just have to tackle better. If we had tackled better, we really would have played darn good defense, but we didn't tackle well (laughs ruefully). To play good defense, you have to tackle good. You can't have one without the other."
On missing Nick Anderson:
"He's obviously a great tackler and a really good player for us, so it certainly doesn't help us that he didn't play for us."
On if he could see UAB performance coming:
"No, I knew UAB's a good team. I believe they won their conference three out of the last four years (two out of three). We knew we were going to have to play real well to win the game. We didn't start off well and then in the second half we had a couple of crucial plays we needed to make, and we didn't make them, and it made us play catch-up for the rest of the game. They are probably the frontrunner to win that league again. They are a good team. We felt like we were capable of beating them, but we had to play well in order to do it. We didn't play a great game."
On any similarities to turning around 2-5 start in 2018:
"Every year is different. We just need to keep pressing and keep playing hard and not worry about the rest of the season. Once you get into it, you've got to go one at a time. I've got a 24-hour pout rule. It was a hard one this week, but you've got to turn the page and move on."
On Seiden:
"He has great technique. He earned himself a starting job. He'll start this week, but he's got excellent technique and get off of block. He's not a rep guy at all. When you tell him something, he's able to do it immediately."
On transition from Sample and Johnson:
"Those two guys are great players. Cam just had a sack in the NFL the other day and Patrick played quite a few snaps for Philadelphia, so I heard. They are both excellent players, but you have to be able to replace guys. We lost some guys the year before that and the year before that and the year before that. Guys have an opportunity to step up and show what they can do, and they need to take advantage of it. We need some guys to step up, and it doesn't necessarily have to be at that position. It might be at another position. It might be a linebacker or a safety that all of a sudden elevates his play."
