Tulane's practice was delayed for 30 minutes today because the bus transporting the 50 or so dorm residents who have to stay in a hotel until campus re-opens this weekend got blocked in, Willie Fritz said on his Zoom call. This team has dealt with a lot of stuff since evacuating for Hurricane Ida 25 days ago.
UAB is the fifth Group of Five /independent non-conference opponent Tulane will face at Yulman Stadium. The Wave is 4-0 to this point, winning two close games with Army (2017, 2020), beating ULL in OT in 2016 and crushing FIU to open 2019.
Yesterday I posted that Tulane probably was the last team playing a home game in the country, but of course UAB has not played a home game yet because its new on-campus stadium will not be ready until its debut the first Saturday of Oxtober, so that's al least one team right off the bat.
Fritz and Sincere Haynesworth spoke today, I requested Dorian Williams the past two days to get his take on the targeting ejection, but he was not made available either time. I was the only reporter on the call.
FRITZ
On if things were getting back to normal:
"Well, there's still nobody else at the building. We've got all the guys who live in residence halls staying in a hotel downtown and the bus got blocked in, so (practice) started a half-hour later. We had to wait about a half-hour for it. If it's not one thing, it's the other, right? We're getting there."
On how many players are staying at hotel:
"At least 50."
On UAB replacing QB on third series each game and then going from there (Tyler Johnston III starts, Dylan Hopkins relieves):
"There are a lot of similarities. We broke it down and the plays are fairly consistent. I'm sure when you get a whole body of work over the course of the season, you'll see some trends, but right now there are a lot of similarities."
On how similar UAB is to program Tulane lost to three years ago in Birmingham:
"A lot of similarities. They are a veteran team. They were a veteran team when we played the last time. I think they had the most experienced team in the nation and they are a veteran team now. Tjhey are always going to be loaded with (upperclassmen) because they have a lot of JC transfers and four-year transfers, so they are going to be a little bit junior and senior laden."
On needing to be better in run game:
"There's a lot of room for improvement. We need to get better at it. Last week obviously the score dictated what we did. Trying to get back into it, we probably threw a little bit more than we wanted to, but you're right, we have to run the ball more effectively. It's very, very important for us."
On Tyjae Spears getting limited carries:
"He's ready to go. I think he's full speed. He had a great week of practice (before the Ole MIss game) and he's really ready to go."
On Rashad Green struggling early against Ole Miss:a
"He played really well week 1 and week 2 and had a little bit of a hiccup in week 3, which a lot of guys did. Some of the times we were trying to get help with backs and tight ends as well, and I know on a couple of occasions the help that should have been provided wasn't provided very well. He's a work in progress. He's a great athlete, a super kid, a hard worker. He's only going to get better."
On Michael Pratt not throwing the ball in the second half, repeatedly tucking it and running:
"It was a combination of a lot of things. Pressure making him get out of the pocket, him not going through his possessions. There were some guys that came open after he decided to tuck it and run it. Receivers not getting open. There were a lot of things. Each one of them was a little different, but we have to do a good job of understanding when to sit in the pocket. There were times they rushed three and I thought we had it protected pretty well and we tucked it and ran instead of letting the play develop. There were some times they rushed three and we should have had it blocked and they got some pressure on us and he had to tuck it and run, so each play's different."
On everyone having to look in mirror and get better:
"Yeah. Coaches, players, managers, trainers, everybody. We obviously didn't prepare our guys very well. Some guys played well. I hate it when you get your butt kicked, but there were some guys that played awfully well. Not enough."
On Darius Hodges:
"He's like a lot of guys. He has up moments and down moments. He's a really good athlete. The guy's 6-1, 6-2, 280 with great speed and great movement. When he puts his mind to it and plays hard every down, he's a very good player for us."
On pass rush:
"A lot of room for improvement. We've got to do a good job number one of not allowing the quarterback to escape the pocket. We've got to collapse the pocket and have leverage on the quarterback whether you're on the left side or the right side, keeping him on your inside shoulder compressing the pocket. We'll get better. We have a lot of young guys playing right now and they are kind of learning. You've got to understand a lot of things. If you really did a good job throughout the week, you'd have a pretty good idea on every play based on down and distance and stance of not only your offensive lineman but adjacent offensive linemen of whether or not it's going to be a pass. You have to understand those things."
On getting out of gaps on pass rushes against Matt Corral:
"Well, we've got to corral him and do a good job of keeping him in the pocket. You know, there's only about 15 or 20 quarterbacks who are real comfortable sitting in the pocket play after play after play and being able to keep their eyes downfield, and one of them retired last year. His name is Brees. There's not 100s of them. The college game is so different than.the pro game. A lot of college quarterbacks do their best work outside the pocket rather than inside the pocket. We have to do a good job in rush lanes of keeping them in that pocket with pressure in their faces to see if they're patient enough and disciplined enough to keep their eyes downfield and throw the ball."
SINCERE HAYNESWORTH
On being back in New Orleans practicing on home field:
"It's great to be home. It's starting to get back into a routine, just figuring things out. and getting to who we are and it feels great."
On first home game coming up:
"It's great to be back in our environment. I think it's going to be really good for us coming off a hard loss to be back at home and everything starting to get back to normal. It will be big for us to come back and get a welcoming energy and just be able to perform and hopefully give everyone the game they want to see."
On improving the run game:
"There's a ton of room to improve. We're just getting started. Of course we have to start quicker. We have to really establish ourselves in the run game as an offensive line and be comfortable seeing the whole defense with one set of eyes and really execute at a high level."
On Rashad Green:
"He's gonna adjust. As a player you have your good days and you have your bad days, and it's all about how you respond. Win, lose or draw, it's about how you respond and I think he's a good responder. He's been working real hard this week trying to perfect everything that he messed up in the game, and that's true for all of us."
On third-quarter woes:
"Just like the start of the game, we didn't get started fast enough and unfortunately sometimes against really good teams if you don't get started early, you won't get started at all, and that's what we fell victim to."
On what saying to make sure loss doesn't linger:
"We know we're a good team right now. We're working to be a great team, an elite team. It's all about how we handle ourselves during practice, the little things, and making sure we're practicing being an elite team and not practicing good and then expecting to be elite on game days. We have to practice at a high level and play at a high level every time we get the chance, and we're really working on that, including myself, being able to play at an elite level and then help keep guys around me playing at an elite level is really important."
On Spears:
"Tyjae is a person to keep his head down and keep pushing no matter the situation, whether he's getting all the reps or none of the reps, so he's got something big coming soon,. He's been working very hard."
UAB is the fifth Group of Five /independent non-conference opponent Tulane will face at Yulman Stadium. The Wave is 4-0 to this point, winning two close games with Army (2017, 2020), beating ULL in OT in 2016 and crushing FIU to open 2019.
Yesterday I posted that Tulane probably was the last team playing a home game in the country, but of course UAB has not played a home game yet because its new on-campus stadium will not be ready until its debut the first Saturday of Oxtober, so that's al least one team right off the bat.
Fritz and Sincere Haynesworth spoke today, I requested Dorian Williams the past two days to get his take on the targeting ejection, but he was not made available either time. I was the only reporter on the call.
FRITZ
On if things were getting back to normal:
"Well, there's still nobody else at the building. We've got all the guys who live in residence halls staying in a hotel downtown and the bus got blocked in, so (practice) started a half-hour later. We had to wait about a half-hour for it. If it's not one thing, it's the other, right? We're getting there."
On how many players are staying at hotel:
"At least 50."
On UAB replacing QB on third series each game and then going from there (Tyler Johnston III starts, Dylan Hopkins relieves):
"There are a lot of similarities. We broke it down and the plays are fairly consistent. I'm sure when you get a whole body of work over the course of the season, you'll see some trends, but right now there are a lot of similarities."
On how similar UAB is to program Tulane lost to three years ago in Birmingham:
"A lot of similarities. They are a veteran team. They were a veteran team when we played the last time. I think they had the most experienced team in the nation and they are a veteran team now. Tjhey are always going to be loaded with (upperclassmen) because they have a lot of JC transfers and four-year transfers, so they are going to be a little bit junior and senior laden."
On needing to be better in run game:
"There's a lot of room for improvement. We need to get better at it. Last week obviously the score dictated what we did. Trying to get back into it, we probably threw a little bit more than we wanted to, but you're right, we have to run the ball more effectively. It's very, very important for us."
On Tyjae Spears getting limited carries:
"He's ready to go. I think he's full speed. He had a great week of practice (before the Ole MIss game) and he's really ready to go."
On Rashad Green struggling early against Ole Miss:a
"He played really well week 1 and week 2 and had a little bit of a hiccup in week 3, which a lot of guys did. Some of the times we were trying to get help with backs and tight ends as well, and I know on a couple of occasions the help that should have been provided wasn't provided very well. He's a work in progress. He's a great athlete, a super kid, a hard worker. He's only going to get better."
On Michael Pratt not throwing the ball in the second half, repeatedly tucking it and running:
"It was a combination of a lot of things. Pressure making him get out of the pocket, him not going through his possessions. There were some guys that came open after he decided to tuck it and run it. Receivers not getting open. There were a lot of things. Each one of them was a little different, but we have to do a good job of understanding when to sit in the pocket. There were times they rushed three and I thought we had it protected pretty well and we tucked it and ran instead of letting the play develop. There were some times they rushed three and we should have had it blocked and they got some pressure on us and he had to tuck it and run, so each play's different."
On everyone having to look in mirror and get better:
"Yeah. Coaches, players, managers, trainers, everybody. We obviously didn't prepare our guys very well. Some guys played well. I hate it when you get your butt kicked, but there were some guys that played awfully well. Not enough."
On Darius Hodges:
"He's like a lot of guys. He has up moments and down moments. He's a really good athlete. The guy's 6-1, 6-2, 280 with great speed and great movement. When he puts his mind to it and plays hard every down, he's a very good player for us."
On pass rush:
"A lot of room for improvement. We've got to do a good job number one of not allowing the quarterback to escape the pocket. We've got to collapse the pocket and have leverage on the quarterback whether you're on the left side or the right side, keeping him on your inside shoulder compressing the pocket. We'll get better. We have a lot of young guys playing right now and they are kind of learning. You've got to understand a lot of things. If you really did a good job throughout the week, you'd have a pretty good idea on every play based on down and distance and stance of not only your offensive lineman but adjacent offensive linemen of whether or not it's going to be a pass. You have to understand those things."
On getting out of gaps on pass rushes against Matt Corral:
"Well, we've got to corral him and do a good job of keeping him in the pocket. You know, there's only about 15 or 20 quarterbacks who are real comfortable sitting in the pocket play after play after play and being able to keep their eyes downfield, and one of them retired last year. His name is Brees. There's not 100s of them. The college game is so different than.the pro game. A lot of college quarterbacks do their best work outside the pocket rather than inside the pocket. We have to do a good job in rush lanes of keeping them in that pocket with pressure in their faces to see if they're patient enough and disciplined enough to keep their eyes downfield and throw the ball."
SINCERE HAYNESWORTH
On being back in New Orleans practicing on home field:
"It's great to be home. It's starting to get back into a routine, just figuring things out. and getting to who we are and it feels great."
On first home game coming up:
"It's great to be back in our environment. I think it's going to be really good for us coming off a hard loss to be back at home and everything starting to get back to normal. It will be big for us to come back and get a welcoming energy and just be able to perform and hopefully give everyone the game they want to see."
On improving the run game:
"There's a ton of room to improve. We're just getting started. Of course we have to start quicker. We have to really establish ourselves in the run game as an offensive line and be comfortable seeing the whole defense with one set of eyes and really execute at a high level."
On Rashad Green:
"He's gonna adjust. As a player you have your good days and you have your bad days, and it's all about how you respond. Win, lose or draw, it's about how you respond and I think he's a good responder. He's been working real hard this week trying to perfect everything that he messed up in the game, and that's true for all of us."
On third-quarter woes:
"Just like the start of the game, we didn't get started fast enough and unfortunately sometimes against really good teams if you don't get started early, you won't get started at all, and that's what we fell victim to."
On what saying to make sure loss doesn't linger:
"We know we're a good team right now. We're working to be a great team, an elite team. It's all about how we handle ourselves during practice, the little things, and making sure we're practicing being an elite team and not practicing good and then expecting to be elite on game days. We have to practice at a high level and play at a high level every time we get the chance, and we're really working on that, including myself, being able to play at an elite level and then help keep guys around me playing at an elite level is really important."
On Spears:
"Tyjae is a person to keep his head down and keep pushing no matter the situation, whether he's getting all the reps or none of the reps, so he's got something big coming soon,. He's been working very hard."
