Amare Jones returned to practice today but did not participate in a majority of the drills that I saw. Jacob Robertson remained out, but Sorrell Brown practiced and Jaylon Monroe returned to his spot as first-team cornerback opposite Willie Langham. Josh Remetich and Joey Claybrook continued to sit out, leaving Caleb Thomas and Ben Knutson as likely starters for the second week in a row. Knutson gave up a sack on the opening possession against SMU when he was too slow-footed but played OK the rest of the way. Thomas graded out pretty well. Two of SMU's sacks came on blitzes where nobody touched the blitzer, although right tackle Trey Tuggle got knocked to the ground on the first one, allowing early pressure.
UCF has been a better running team than people realize, averaging well over 200 yards on the ground the past two years and close to 200 this season, but after watching Tulane in the first five games, everyone knows the Wave will have to play better pass defense to give itself a shot on Saturday. Tulane did a good job against UCF in last season's 34-31 loss, holding the Knights to 5.4 yards per play, their second lowest total of the season. They always pile up plenty of yards because they operate at hyper speed offensively, but they failed to run for 4.0 yards per carry and had a relatively low completion percentage. Duplicating that performance will be incredibly difficult because UCF is on an NCAA-record pace for yards through four games, Tulane's defense is not playing as well as last season , the game is on the road and the Knights are hopping mad about blowing their game against Memphis on Saturday despite gaining 798 yards, a mind-blowing fact I cannot wrap my brain around.
It (the UCF game from 2019) is a good film for us to watch, but it's also a good film for them to watch," Willie Fritz said. "They are a very unique offense. You talk about stretching the field horizontally and vertically. A lot of team do that with plays. They do it with alignments where they are out there real wide outside the numbers. They'll throw it deep at any given movement. They have a very dynamic passing attack, but they run the ball. Coach (Art) Briles when he was running this offense, they ran the ball well, but this is a little bit different. This is coach (Josh) Huepel's stamp on it. (Fritz is wrong there--Baylor put up ridiculous rushing totals at the end of Briles' last season after losing all of its top QBs to injuries). He is going to run more than maybe some teams with this particular style of offense (that part is accurate)."
Asked what the biggest challenge was to slow down UCF, Fritz mentioned tackling.
"They are going to complete balls," he said. "You have to tackle them after they complete a ball. If they throw underneath or to the back or on a crossing route, you've got to make that, if it's caught at 7-yard gain. That's the issue and the problem. With all the man we play, we are going to be chasing some guys. We've just got to get them down and tackle them. That's the most athletic thing in sports right now in my opinion is tackling a guy with great movement in the open field, and we are going to have to do that on Saturday."
Clearly, Tulane struggled with exactly that against SMU's version of the spread. Fritz reiterated what he said yesterday and added a little bit when asked what the Wave needed to do differently to improve its open-field tackling against UCF.
"Number one it's just maintain leverage and not let the ball cross your face," he said. "That's the number one no-no in not allowing a play to become a big play. We have some vets who lost leverage last week, and then they have to replicate that in practice with receivers trying to cross the guys' face. We did some open-field drills and things like that, but that's number one. And then number two, you've got to get close enough to be able to get two arms around two legs or two arms around torso. Sometimes guys try to throw a little bit too early, and I've been taught and that's how I coach it, any open-field tackle is a good tackle. You get them down, it's a good tackle, and a lot of that is knowing where the help's at. We have to do a great job of that on Saturday."
UCF's pace is a problem for opponents, who have a hard time getting set up defensively before the snap. Again, Tulane did pretty well in that department a year ago but will need to be just as good or better on Saturday.
"Our offense does it as well on occasion. We kind of change tempos, but I believe they are the second fastest pace in play team in the country right now. You've got to get lined up and ready to go, and if you have a bad last play, you've got have amnesia and get ready for the next one. See the call, play the call, do the call, all those things."
Monroe had a rough game against SMU, but in fairness to him, some of the throws and catches were spectacular. Opponents and Tulane fans alike have picked on him this year, but he is the Wave's best cover corner and has had his share of good moments. I wondered in my write-up previewing the game for the SMU Rivals website why opponents went after him more than the other corners, and then SMU took advantage of his height big time. He needs to bounce back and win those neutral balls on Saturday because UCF figures to target him as well. Safety play is a bigger issue and harder to fix in my view, and Fritz agreed about Monroe being up for the challenge.
"Heck, one of them they caught right in front of me," Fritz said. "He was all over the guy. That happens sometimes when there's a great throw and a great catch and you're right there and you just have to win your share of the battles. Most of the games he's been winning his share of the battles."
I went over all of SMU's big pass plays and here's what went wrong for Tulane.
1) tight end Kylen Granson gets 42 yards after a 12-yard pass.
What went wrong: Nickelback Macon Clark was slow to react after the catch and safety Larry Brooks lost leverage, allowing Granson to accelerate past them to the inside. Both of them looked slow in pursuit, and Chase Kuerschen made a diving tackle to prevent it being an even bigger gain.
2) 31-yard reception by WR Danny Gray on a fly pattern
What went wrong: Monroe had perfect coverage, but it was a gorgeous pass and great extension by Gray to pull it in. I don't think Lorenzo Doss, Parry Nickerson or Thakarius Keyes would have defended that pass, either.
3) 23-yard gain by Gray on pass that went 8 yards.
What went wrong: Kevaris Hall missed the open-field tackle even though it should have been an easy play because Gray was stationary when he caught it, Dorian Williams pushed him out of bounds.
4) a 41-yard gain by Tyler Page on a third-and-11 pass that traveled 9 yards.
What went wrong: Shane Buechele had a clean pocket, and Page beat nickelback Ajani Kerr to the inside. Kerr missed the diving tackle, and Page cut inside of Brooks before freshman safety Cornelius Dyson finally finished him off.
5) 37-yard gain by WR Rashee Rice on a deep post
What went wrong: Poor coverage by Monroe, who was beaten by a yard and never looked for the ball. Willie Langham made the tackle right after the catch.
6) 55-yard gain by Rice on on reverse pass by Page.
What went wrong: No one stayed home. Rice went into motion from the right side, slowed down as the reverse happened and then took off with no one anywhere near him as Page lofted a 17-yard pass. Langham, who had run deep with a clear-out receiver, missed a diving tackle at midfield, allowing him another 30 yards before Brooks pushed him out of bounds. Kerr came up to play the run and covered no one. It likely was his responsibility.
7) 61-yard gain by Gray on a third-and-21 underneath pass.
What went wrong: This was a good play design against a man defense. Hall got picked, legally, by the tight end because the pass was one yard behind the line of scrimmage. Kerr had a chance to stop him from getting the first down but did not run hard enough, a recurring problem in the secondary this year. He thought Gray was going to continue running away from him to the outside and would have been in position to stop him when he cut inside if he had been running hard. Gray cut inside of Langham and Kuerschen, who made a flailing, off-balance tackle attempt after losing leverage. Monroe finally pushed him out of bounds after he crossed the field to the SMU sideline.
8) 22-yard gain by Rice on third-and-8.
What went wrong: Langham had good coverage down the sideline. Rice held him with one hand and caught the ball with the other hand. It could have been flagged for offensive interference, but that call is rarely if ever made.
9) Page 40-yard catch on pass that traveled 12 yards on third-and-11
What went wrong: Page beat Clark with an inside move that guaranteed a first down. Kuerschen should have tackled him at the SMU 40 but let him cut past him to the outside, barely laying a hand on him despite being in a good position a second earlier, allowing him to run for another 22 yards. Ultimately it did not hurt Tulane because SMU missed a field goal, but the free safety needs to make that play.
Every defensive back who played significant downs had a rough night. The same guys are going to have to play better Saturday. Maybe Kyle Meyers, who did not play at all, and Dyson, who played infrequently, will have bigger roles, too, but I'm not sure that would solve anything.
UCF has been a better running team than people realize, averaging well over 200 yards on the ground the past two years and close to 200 this season, but after watching Tulane in the first five games, everyone knows the Wave will have to play better pass defense to give itself a shot on Saturday. Tulane did a good job against UCF in last season's 34-31 loss, holding the Knights to 5.4 yards per play, their second lowest total of the season. They always pile up plenty of yards because they operate at hyper speed offensively, but they failed to run for 4.0 yards per carry and had a relatively low completion percentage. Duplicating that performance will be incredibly difficult because UCF is on an NCAA-record pace for yards through four games, Tulane's defense is not playing as well as last season , the game is on the road and the Knights are hopping mad about blowing their game against Memphis on Saturday despite gaining 798 yards, a mind-blowing fact I cannot wrap my brain around.
It (the UCF game from 2019) is a good film for us to watch, but it's also a good film for them to watch," Willie Fritz said. "They are a very unique offense. You talk about stretching the field horizontally and vertically. A lot of team do that with plays. They do it with alignments where they are out there real wide outside the numbers. They'll throw it deep at any given movement. They have a very dynamic passing attack, but they run the ball. Coach (Art) Briles when he was running this offense, they ran the ball well, but this is a little bit different. This is coach (Josh) Huepel's stamp on it. (Fritz is wrong there--Baylor put up ridiculous rushing totals at the end of Briles' last season after losing all of its top QBs to injuries). He is going to run more than maybe some teams with this particular style of offense (that part is accurate)."
Asked what the biggest challenge was to slow down UCF, Fritz mentioned tackling.
"They are going to complete balls," he said. "You have to tackle them after they complete a ball. If they throw underneath or to the back or on a crossing route, you've got to make that, if it's caught at 7-yard gain. That's the issue and the problem. With all the man we play, we are going to be chasing some guys. We've just got to get them down and tackle them. That's the most athletic thing in sports right now in my opinion is tackling a guy with great movement in the open field, and we are going to have to do that on Saturday."
Clearly, Tulane struggled with exactly that against SMU's version of the spread. Fritz reiterated what he said yesterday and added a little bit when asked what the Wave needed to do differently to improve its open-field tackling against UCF.
"Number one it's just maintain leverage and not let the ball cross your face," he said. "That's the number one no-no in not allowing a play to become a big play. We have some vets who lost leverage last week, and then they have to replicate that in practice with receivers trying to cross the guys' face. We did some open-field drills and things like that, but that's number one. And then number two, you've got to get close enough to be able to get two arms around two legs or two arms around torso. Sometimes guys try to throw a little bit too early, and I've been taught and that's how I coach it, any open-field tackle is a good tackle. You get them down, it's a good tackle, and a lot of that is knowing where the help's at. We have to do a great job of that on Saturday."
UCF's pace is a problem for opponents, who have a hard time getting set up defensively before the snap. Again, Tulane did pretty well in that department a year ago but will need to be just as good or better on Saturday.
"Our offense does it as well on occasion. We kind of change tempos, but I believe they are the second fastest pace in play team in the country right now. You've got to get lined up and ready to go, and if you have a bad last play, you've got have amnesia and get ready for the next one. See the call, play the call, do the call, all those things."
Monroe had a rough game against SMU, but in fairness to him, some of the throws and catches were spectacular. Opponents and Tulane fans alike have picked on him this year, but he is the Wave's best cover corner and has had his share of good moments. I wondered in my write-up previewing the game for the SMU Rivals website why opponents went after him more than the other corners, and then SMU took advantage of his height big time. He needs to bounce back and win those neutral balls on Saturday because UCF figures to target him as well. Safety play is a bigger issue and harder to fix in my view, and Fritz agreed about Monroe being up for the challenge.
"Heck, one of them they caught right in front of me," Fritz said. "He was all over the guy. That happens sometimes when there's a great throw and a great catch and you're right there and you just have to win your share of the battles. Most of the games he's been winning his share of the battles."
I went over all of SMU's big pass plays and here's what went wrong for Tulane.
1) tight end Kylen Granson gets 42 yards after a 12-yard pass.
What went wrong: Nickelback Macon Clark was slow to react after the catch and safety Larry Brooks lost leverage, allowing Granson to accelerate past them to the inside. Both of them looked slow in pursuit, and Chase Kuerschen made a diving tackle to prevent it being an even bigger gain.
2) 31-yard reception by WR Danny Gray on a fly pattern
What went wrong: Monroe had perfect coverage, but it was a gorgeous pass and great extension by Gray to pull it in. I don't think Lorenzo Doss, Parry Nickerson or Thakarius Keyes would have defended that pass, either.
3) 23-yard gain by Gray on pass that went 8 yards.
What went wrong: Kevaris Hall missed the open-field tackle even though it should have been an easy play because Gray was stationary when he caught it, Dorian Williams pushed him out of bounds.
4) a 41-yard gain by Tyler Page on a third-and-11 pass that traveled 9 yards.
What went wrong: Shane Buechele had a clean pocket, and Page beat nickelback Ajani Kerr to the inside. Kerr missed the diving tackle, and Page cut inside of Brooks before freshman safety Cornelius Dyson finally finished him off.
5) 37-yard gain by WR Rashee Rice on a deep post
What went wrong: Poor coverage by Monroe, who was beaten by a yard and never looked for the ball. Willie Langham made the tackle right after the catch.
6) 55-yard gain by Rice on on reverse pass by Page.
What went wrong: No one stayed home. Rice went into motion from the right side, slowed down as the reverse happened and then took off with no one anywhere near him as Page lofted a 17-yard pass. Langham, who had run deep with a clear-out receiver, missed a diving tackle at midfield, allowing him another 30 yards before Brooks pushed him out of bounds. Kerr came up to play the run and covered no one. It likely was his responsibility.
7) 61-yard gain by Gray on a third-and-21 underneath pass.
What went wrong: This was a good play design against a man defense. Hall got picked, legally, by the tight end because the pass was one yard behind the line of scrimmage. Kerr had a chance to stop him from getting the first down but did not run hard enough, a recurring problem in the secondary this year. He thought Gray was going to continue running away from him to the outside and would have been in position to stop him when he cut inside if he had been running hard. Gray cut inside of Langham and Kuerschen, who made a flailing, off-balance tackle attempt after losing leverage. Monroe finally pushed him out of bounds after he crossed the field to the SMU sideline.
8) 22-yard gain by Rice on third-and-8.
What went wrong: Langham had good coverage down the sideline. Rice held him with one hand and caught the ball with the other hand. It could have been flagged for offensive interference, but that call is rarely if ever made.
9) Page 40-yard catch on pass that traveled 12 yards on third-and-11
What went wrong: Page beat Clark with an inside move that guaranteed a first down. Kuerschen should have tackled him at the SMU 40 but let him cut past him to the outside, barely laying a hand on him despite being in a good position a second earlier, allowing him to run for another 22 yards. Ultimately it did not hurt Tulane because SMU missed a field goal, but the free safety needs to make that play.
Every defensive back who played significant downs had a rough night. The same guys are going to have to play better Saturday. Maybe Kyle Meyers, who did not play at all, and Dyson, who played infrequently, will have bigger roles, too, but I'm not sure that would solve anything.
