coachrivero

[coachrivero]

Tulane season recap/ bye week

Oooh we are (almost) halfway there

Here we are… Man time sure does fly since those agonizing summer months counting down T minus how many weekends until we get football back. It’s nice to once again be in the thick of things. I know this is where everyone expected us to be but still I remember the days when Tulane would normally be eliminated from contending for anything at this point. I’m glad things are different now. May Tulane be relevant forever. From this day until the end of days.

When the season started it looked like the Wave didn’t miss a beat from last year’s Cotton Bowl team. South Alabama is no USC (and has definitely lost some luster recently) but they are solid enough that many were picking them to win the Sun Belt, and some people including Scott Van Pelt picked to beat us. That obviously didn’t happen as Tulane brought the fireworks in a 20 point rout that really wasn’t that close. Michael Pratt was sensational, shredding USA’s secondary completing 14-15 passes for 294 yards and 4 touchdowns, with the only blemish a dropped pass that should have been another touchdown. Tulane’s defense was incredible as well stifling one of the better offenses in the FBS allowing only 17 points and forcing 5 turnovers. We were firing on all cylinders… but sometimes in life adversity will happen. Late in the 4th quarter while Tulane was in the process of salting the game away, Pratt suffered a left knee injury. This big win came at a steep price of losing the services of our superstar QB (also lost emerging star LB Corey Platt to an Achilles injury earlier in the game). A lot of speculation can go into the why was Michael Pratt in there and the what ifs, the play-calling, and so forth. I won’t really get into that. It just sucks to have lost Pratt right before the biggest home game in 40 years and the toughest game on the schedule where we couldn’t afford to lose him.

It turns out Tulane really is a damn good football team. We lost Tyjae Spears and a lot from last year, plus we haven’t been playing as well as we could have, but we do have a solid nucleus of talented players and great coaches. The Ole Miss game was a loss. I’m not going to spin it into a moral victory, but I was encouraged with how we competed with them. We have the horses to play with one of the better teams in the SEC even without our senior NFL prospect Quarterback. It was unfortunate to squander that opportunity to get a statement win but it wasn’t the most disappointing thing I’ve ever seen as a Tulane fan. I was just eager to kick the shit out of Southern Miss and get the bell back, and so was Tulane. Not much to be said except we scored 3 Touchdowns and USM kicked one field goal. Nice relaxing game for Southern Miss’s band the Pride of Mississippi. They didn’t have to play the fight song except for a couple of times when the team ran out on the field and the Alma mater at the end. Do kind of feel bad for Will Hall though, he’s a good dude. He recruited Pratt and was a big part of changing the culture here and helping Tulane turn things around. I think he’s trying but the USM job is a lot tougher nowadays than people realize. Good news is they can’t afford to fire him so he’s at least got another season.

FCS Nicholls State was kind of blah. It wasn’t the best performance but we did win and got to ease Michael Pratt back into things. Kai Horton did OK filling in for Pratt IMO, but the drop off there is significant. I would have liked to see more development with Cobra Kai being in this system for 3 years but he’s been serviceable and I am thankful for his victories over Houston last year and of course the mustard buzzards this year. Game ball definitely goes to the defense for carrying us. Few college football teams have a better 1-2 combination of cover corners than Jairius Monroe and Lance Robinson. There are so many good players in this defense I could go on forever naming them all. I check under my bed at night for Patrick Jenkins because he is a monster. Devean Deal is also a force. Jesus Machado is Dorian Williams 2.0 a tackling machine. I hope Grubbs is healthy going forward. Despanie is so good and Jared Small has been a pleasant surprise in the LB group. If I missed anyone it’s because again there’s an abundance of talent in this unit. Defensively Tulane is a problem.

UAB at first glance was disappointing being in a dogfight with a 1-3 football team, but I like the resolve of this group. After falling into a 20-7 hole, Tulane outscored the upset-minded visitors 28-3 to go 1-0 in the American Conference. The first half reminded me a lot of my younger days as a Tulane football fan. Losing at home to a CUSA team… terrible officiating… my dad yelling at opposing fans. The only thing that was missing was being in a 65 degree climate-controlled indoor stadium with 1,000 people in attendance. Turns out this is not 2010, we were not in the Dome, and Tulane did not fold in the football game. I do give UAB credit they had the perfect game plan, they utilized quick passes and had some success moving the ball. However, Tulane put the clamps on in the second half, with Makhi Hughes further separating himself as RB1. I like that Duda Barnes still returned to the football game even after a costly fumble. It shows the staff has faith in him choosing not to cast him down into the Iverson Celestine fumblitis gallows. Michael Pratt threw an absolute dime to Lawrence Keys on 4th and 9 for a 32 yard touchdown to put the game on ice with 47 seconds. That was *chefs kiss* very nice. It was cool to see the reappearance of Alex Bauman who hadn’t really been featured since the ending of the Cotton Bowl. I need to also give Jaquan Jackson and Chris Brazzell the credit they deserve for being so dependable in the passing game. Adding speed threat Yulkeith Brown to the mix as well should help open up the offense too.

In conclusion, we are right where we need to be. We beat the teams we were favored against and dropped the one game that ultimately doesn’t hurt us that much (except for dropping like 30 spots out of the top 25). LSU can basically give up 1,000 yards of offense to Old Piss and still be ranked but what the fuck ever. Anyhow, I think Tulane might have lost a bit of its edge from last year. Part of this is natural regression that was honestly to be expected after the best season in school history (or second best depending on your personal preference), and Pratt not being 100% healthy. It’s also very possible that the best is yet to come. Make no mistake though it is still AAC Championship and New Year’s 6 or bust.  The recipe is still there: Explosive offense, salty defense, and very solid dependable special teams. Truthfully, the special teams are the unsung heroes of Tulane. We are one of the most efficient College football programs in terms of special teams and it shows up on Saturdays. We don’t talk about them enough, but they will be critical for our chances to win at Memphis. That… and not fumbling the ball.

Anyhow, thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed. I think the bye week came at the perfect time. Get everyone healthy with all team goals still very much attainable. I’m ready to kick back and enjoy my stress free football weekend!

Roll Wave! 🌊

[coachrivero]

Tulane Houston postmortem - rest of the season outlook

I normally write a blog about Tulane every week, but due to personal commitments I had to skip this game and focus my time on other endeavors. I’m kind of glad that I did.. I was feeling somewhat good about our chances and probably would have picked a Tulane victory. This was a defense we pushed around last year for 3 quarters plus had 3 complete games of 2020 college football experience to 0 for the Houston Cougars. It turns out none of that matters and UH is head and shoulders a better football team than Tulane. So much better in fact that they can cough up the football 5 times and it did not hurt them at all in the football game. All the warm and fuzzy feelings from the instant classic of last year’s meeting were put to rest as the Cougars rolled the Wave 49-31 in front of a socially distanced crowd of masked Houston fans. Standard procedure for attending sporting events in pre-election America. Unless your mayor is a fucking barnacle head and wont even allow the bare minimum sparse crowds that South Alabama, Houston, and USM can have. No matter, let’s talk about Tulane football and the pro’s and con’s of this program.

It’s really not all that bad. Not too long ago we were one of the worst programs in America. Right now we are average at best, or more accurately, slightly below average for an FBS program. Far from contending for a conference championship in a pretty good league... but also a far cry from the rubbish that Bob Toledo and Curtis Johnson put on the field. I’ll give Willie Fritz credit, we do resemble a division 1 football team. We are still overwhelmed by the speed of the better teams in our conference and struggle against most teams with a semblance of a rushing defense. Houston had an excellent game plan on both sides of the ball, stop the run first and foremost, and on offense spread the ball around to their athletes and attack our weaknesses at the safety position. As the game wore on Tulane’s defense became tired chasing around Houston’s playmakers and the Cougars began to run the ball effectively. SMU will watch this film and do the exact same thing. Unless the tackling improves tenfold and Tulane can generate a pass rush, expect a similar result or possibly even worse. It also would help to have better kick coverage.... The SMU Mustangs don’t usually play great defense but have been known to look like the 1976 Pittsburgh Steelers when playing Tulane. This is a team Willie Fritz has never beaten and each loss has been more frustrating than the last. Until I see a breakthrough I’m just going to assume we’re coming out of this game 2-3. Also there is a number next to their name which pretty much guarantees we won’t beat them... even though garbage programs like Tulsa somehow find a way to beat a few ranked teams this century.

If my blog comes across as a lot of complaining, I didn’t mean for it to sound that way. Willie Fritz’s Tulane teams have steadily improved each year since he arrived in New Orleans. I guess one season of regression would be natural, but it’s still very disappointing to go backwards instead of forward. I think Tulane will get it together just probably not this week. At this point I hope we can squeak out 5 wins so it won’t set us back in recruiting too bad and we have an offseason to develop Michael Pratt and give a go at this (being good at football) thing next season. I would say we’re dropping the next two (SMU and UCF), then Temple is a toss up (we don’t really know how good or bad they are yet). ECU might be worse than Southern Miss, this is the only game remaining I’m confident we will win. Army is a toss up just because of the style of offense they play, if Tulane puts on the chin straps and plays physical disciplined football we have a chance. If we play soft and “tackle” like we did against Houston or the second half against Navy then we have no chance. Tulsa is a toss up because they’re a little better than they have been but we still match up decently against them. Memphis is pretty much an automatic loss like always. Maybe we’ll play them in a tropical depression and they’ll show up to Yulman wearing zebra helmets and play the softest defense of all time, one can only hope.

We’ll (hopefully) win the ECU game and win a toss up or two. Winning all 3 toss ups would be an extraordinary feat for this football team and I would be very amazed. if they could win one of the un-winnable games against SMU, UCF, or Memphis then I will rejoice and with my next blog suggest a 15 year extension for Willie Fritz. No one on the remaining schedule sans ECU is as bad as Southern Miss, South Alabama, or Navy (who beat us).... so going 3-8 is definitely a possibility. I don’t think we lose out. Tulane will score more points than someone even if they miraculously drop the East Carolina game. Whatever happens I just hope Tulane plays hard for 4 quarters in every game and protects Michael Pratt as best as they can. Tackling a few people would be nice too....

Roll Wave! 🌊

[coachrivero]

Southern Miss recap/ bye week thoughts

That was much better

As painful and embarrassing as the previous week was, this game was a huge step in the right direction. The coaching was 100 times better and so was the effort. I bitched a lot last week and dumped on Tulane, which a lot of people did (especially gamblers) but right now I have no complaints. Southern Miss has obviously fallen on hard times and this is not the USM from the 90’s or mid 2000’s... but any time you can go on the road and win by 42 points that’s a damn good performance. This still feels kind of weird to me, Southern Miss was always the game you could just assume Tulane was going to lose by 30. Now in the span of 9 months we smacked them in a bowl game 30-13 and just obliterated them in Hattiesburg 66-24. I guess this is what they call the “new normal.” Let’s break down what we have learned.

What a player Michael Pratt is. If you don’t follow Tulane, you would have never known that was a true freshman playing in his first college game. While his numbers weren’t insane (8-18/ 142 yds/ 2 TD’s), he did not turn it over, showed his athleticism running the ball (7 carries/ 40 yards/ 1 TD) and performed well enough overall to earn the starting Quarterback job. I was really impressed with Pratt’s poise and toughness, the kid has almost a Joe Burrow-like quality to him. He took some shots from USM defenders from the pass rush or running the ball, and he got back up and made plays. The completion percentage would have been better if not for a few bad drops from his WR’s, but that’s something that should improve with more reps in practice as they get on the same page. I’m really excited to see how Pratt can grow in this offense as he continues to learn and improve.

A balanced Tulane offense with good Quarterback play could give teams some problems. They have so many talented running backs to account for, and the threat of the forward pass is only going to help open those running lanes. I really hope Tyjae Spears is going to be okay... we should find out the extent of his injury some time this week. The good news is even if he’s out for some time the RB corps is still loaded. Cam Carrol and Amare Jones could start for a lot of college teams. Now I don’t mean to overrate Tulane just because of one big win over a struggling USM team, but when the pieces come together this offense is one of the most explosive in college football. Now let’s review the defense.

The secondary still gives me some worries. They were torched in the early going, although got better as the game went on. Much like the Armed Forces Bowl, Jack Abraham lit them on fire in the first quarter (and actually a little bit into the second quarter). From then on the defense played extremely well. We need guys like Kevaris Hall to step up like he did against Southern Miss. As good as the offense can be, it’s tough to imagine us keeping pace with the the UCF’s, SMU’s, and Memphis’s of the world unless we can tighten up the pass defense. When the defensive line controls the LOS and can be disruptive (like they were against USM) it helps out the corners and safeties a lot. Cam Sample and Patrick Johnson are serious talents and when they can dictate the game it can be hell on opposing QB’s. I also give the linebackers a lot of credit for making good reads. Hopefully the defense can become a strength again like they were two years ago, but I’ll be happy if they can just be good enough to keep us in games.

We as fans tend to dwell on losses a little too much sometimes and put too much stock in wins. Tulane football hasn’t always given me a lot to be excited about, so I think it’s important to savor the wins when we do get them. Going 7-6 two years in a row shouldn’t be the golden standard for any football program but it sure as hell beats 2-10 and getting ass-blasted by ULM and Rice. Right now we are 2-1 and in decent shape. Would love to have the Navy game back but it is what it is and they did rebound in a big way. A meltdown like that would have destroyed a lot of teams’ seasons *cough Houston cough* who by the way we play in a couple of weeks and I’m fairly certain they have an axe to grind against us. I’ll worry about UH and the possibility of them avenging their horrific loss to us later on. Right now I’m just going to enjoy the fact that we killed Southern Miss twice in a row and have found a starting Quarterback. Life is pretty good. See y’all next week!

Roll Wave 🌊

[coachrivero]

Navy Post Mortem/ Southern Miss Preview

That was tough man.... I’ve seen Tulane play some bad football over the years... but the Navy game truly raised the bar. When you blow a 24 point lead and play that poorly, there’s plenty of blame to go around. It starts with the coaching staff. The playcalling in the second half made me long for the days of Bob Toledo. The one person I don’t blame is Keon Howard. He’s an exceptional young man and I wish him all the success in the world, but he shouldn’t be starting at the FBS level. Willie Fritz has done a lot of good things for Tulane football, but to be this bad at the QB position in year 5 is mind blowing. It is what it is though... until Tulane gets a Quarterback and learns how to play 4 quarters of football, this is who we are. I thought we were beyond stuff like this but apparently not. Moving on....

The good news (and potentially bad news) is that there are more football games to be played. Each one is an opportunity to get better. Although any talks of a conference championship can be dismissed as noise right now, gutting out 6 wins and a 3rd straight bowl would still be nice for this program. Lose to Southern Miss and you can dismiss that notion as well. I have lots of respect for USM and how they have run their program over the years, but they currently have some problems. Since starting 7-3 (6-1 CUSA) a year ago, the Golden Eagles are on a 5 game losing streak and none of them have been close except for a one point loss against a covid depleted Louisiana Tech team last weekend. The Armed Forces Bowl was obviously one of those losses and we saw first hand the issues with USM’s secondary and offensive line play. Make no mistake though, the Eagles have the Tulane game circled on their calendar. Revenge is a powerful motivator for a group of young people and the embarrassing 30-13 loss to the Green Wave is still fresh on their minds. On the flip side, Southern Miss hasn’t gotten any better since then and Tulane still dog walked them despite sleepwalking the entire first quarter. I think it’s safe to say USM is in rebuilding mode. Southern Miss has the youngest coach in the FBS in interim HC Scotty Walden (30) and he seems to be pumping some energy into their program following the resignation of Jay Hopson. Just like with any rebuild, coach Walden is trying to do things his way and get the players to buy in to his philosophy. USM is looking to get back on track and fortunately for them, Tulane is a team people get back on track against. Let’s look at a more in depth look at this matchup:

This game will be won or lost in the trenches. If Tulane can be disruptive up front and pressure USM QB (and former TU commit) Jack Abraham it will be a long day for the Golden Eagles. If USM can block somebody (something they haven’t done lately) and allow Abraham to dissect Tulane’s defense, it will be a long day for the Green Wave. USM has some talented WR’s including NFL prospect and NCAA Receiving yards leader Tim Jones. Jack Abraham is a good player but he also throws a lot of picks, which would be much appreciated for a struggling Tulane secondary. On the other side Southern Miss will be selling out to stop the run. I would like to assume that the Wave will be running the ball... but keep in mind the Tulane coaches are a bunch of stupid dicks that went pass happy with a 24 point lead and a QB that couldn’t complete a forward pass. That being said the defensive front for USM has been underwhelming and stopping Amare Jones, Tyjae Spears, and Cam Carroll could be tough for this group. By virtue of basically only having True freshmen and a bunch of walk-ons in the QB room, (former USM QB) Keon Howard will probably start for the Wave this weekend. If for whatever reason Tulane offensive coordinator Will Hall is reading this blog, please just run Flexbone the entire game and give the offense zero passing attempts. Someday you’ll get that SEC job and make assloads of money but until then please stop auditioning for better jobs and just help us win. In the even that Jack Abraham shreds Tulane’s defense and they fall behind, it could be ugly watching the Wave offense play catch-up.

I have no idea what to expect on Saturday until that score board hits double zeros at the end of regulation. I’m hesitant to pick Tulane to win any games after that display on Saturday, but I know there’s some good players in that locker room. Potential does not win football games though. Scoring more points than the other team does. Southern Miss might be reeling but as bad as they have been, they can still complete forward passes and only blew a 17 point lead. That’s what we call progress. I never bet on football and wouldn’t touch this game with a 35 1/2 foot pole. Both teams are 0-2 against the spread and coming off crushing home losses. Tulane is usually pretty bad on the road though and I think Southern Miss will be looking to make a statement. USM wins outright and take the over

Tulane 27

USM 38

[coachrivero]

Tulane - Navy preview

What a time to be alive! Tulane is 1-0 and just played in probably the first instant classic in 2020 College Football, overcoming an 18 point deficit on the road to beat South Alabama. It wasn’t always pretty but we are not the program to nitpick about wins. The challenge now is to sustain the success and carry it over to the conference opener against Navy, who (no pun intended) will be ready for war. Tulane is currently favored by 7 and a half points.

My biggest mistake in my last column was whipping up the South Alabama preview before they played Southern Miss and I could see the team they had. I underestimated them and had no idea how much better they were than last season. This is not the case with Navy... I have seen them quite a bit over the years and they did not resemble what I expect from Navy Football in the BYU game. I watched them get throttled for about 3 and a half quarters before getting bored and playing video games. They looked like a bad FCS team. There’s a few factors to consider though:

- BYU is a serious program (they’re basically the only team in the west that’s playing).

- Navy elected not to do full contact or any tackling drills in practice (their biggest mistake).

- Malcolm Perry was the heart and soul of Navy Football and he is no longer walking through that door.

That’s pretty much it. Navy was not prepared for the football game and did not have the QB who turned a 3-9 team into an 11-2 team. It’s early but right now Navy looks closer to the 3-9 version than what we saw last year in Annapolis. It’s important to remember that Navy is a winning program, and good programs find a way to bounce back. Navy is an exceptional group of young men who serve a higher purpose and they should be more prepared for Tulane than they were for the season opener. The question is will it matter?

There’s a lot to like about what we saw from Tulane. The Wave looked like a good football team. They don’t make a lot of mistakes, they’re conditioned very well, the defense is aggressive, and the offense is explosive when all the pieces are clicking. They are certainly not invincible though. If the defensive front does not get pressure, the secondary tends to get exposed. This is part of life playing man defense. I will say that South Alabama has way better receivers than Navy does, but Tulane will still be looking to make life hard for Navy Quarterback Dalen Morris. Morris looks alone at the top of Navy’s depth chart as his biggest competitor Perry Olsen just entered the transfer portal. This game is important for Tulane QB Keon Howard as well. The Laurel, MS native will be looking to start out quicker than he did against South Alabama. Along with every facet of the game, Navy’s defensive secondary also gave them trouble. Tulane prefers to run but this will be a good opportunity to throw all over the football field. There will probably also be lanes to run too.

After watching both teams play I can’t envision Tulane is going to lose this game but I’m also smart enough to realize that Navy isn’t going to lay down and it is still the year 2020. In my mind (which is wrong all the time) I am seeing a future where Tulane beats Navy by a minimum of 10 points. If Tulane would have played Navy the opening game we would have also killed them by a lot of points. Navy should be much better after practicing (with full contact) for Tulane for 2 weeks, and always has been a tough game for Tulane. This year could be different... teams usually make the biggest improvement from Game 1 to Game 2 and Tulane looked to be in much better shape than Navy on both sides of the football. It’s quite possible that the Wave could roll the Midshipmen. Tyjae Spears, Amare Jones, and Cameron Carroll are a lot for Navy to keep up with, and Tulane‘s receivers should be improved from the opener. Tulane should also be better against the run than they were in the Navy Game last year, without the threat of Malcolm Perry. The Fullback Carothers is still there and Tulane will be looking to close up those holes he ran through last year.

Prediction: based off data available to me and watching both Navy and Tulane play football. I would take Tulane to cover the spread of 7.5 points and take the over.

Tulane 38

Navy 20

[coachrivero]

Tulane vs South Alabama

9/12/2020

6:00 PM CT

Hancock Whitney Bank Stadium

Mobile, AL

(If you just want the football analysis skip this part)

Well I guess it’s time to fire up the ole blog again. For those who don’t know, for almost a year I ran a somewhat popular Tulane fan page called Fifth Quarter Tulane. Recently during the “WeWantToPlay” movement, I made a few memes about covid and the Big10 that some people took offense to. I was confronted about them by the Fifth Quarter network, refused to take them down and resigned. I am sad that it’s over and I enjoyed covering the team I have loved since childhood, but I stand with my convictions. The page is now being run by a Tulane grad and former New Orleans sports journalist. I wish Fifth Quarter and LeeShan nothing but the best and I hope they continue to grow what I built. Now let’s talk some football.

The South Alabama Jaguars

Football, like all sports, is a contest of which team can score more points. The University of South Alabama football team is not very good at that. Last season the Jaguars ranked 121st in Scoring offense (18 ppg) while also being 88th in scoring defense (30 ppg). This was the recipe for a disastrous 2-10 (1-7) season. The defense obviously didn’t do great but South Alabama’s offense was downright miserable for an FBS team. The Jaguars struggled to move the ball with any consistency, finishing the 2019 season 113th in total offense (330 ypg) while only running 791 offensive plays all season. For comparison; Tulane (minus the extra game) ran 91 more offensive plays than South Alabama did. In the next paragraph we’ll break down the Jaguars offensive scheme and how it’s supposed to work.

South Alabama runs a version of the “Power Spread” which is intended to be a balanced offense that runs/passes based on personnel groupings and what the defense gives them. They utilize the same basic run plays of any shotgun team (counter, trap, zone split, belly, jet sweep) and also run some elements of the zone read option. The goal is to establish the run first which forces the defenses to ignore the Tight Ends thus setting up play action passes and RPO’s. The Jaguar passing attack is mostly simple reads, swings passes to the tailbacks and intermediate passing concepts. They run “Smash” patterns a lot which is when the outside WR runs a hitch and the Slot runs a corner route. This creates a high/low mismatch where the cornerback in the flat has to choose which level of the field to defend. South Alabama also runs verticals to split the safeties forcing them to read and react to different areas of the field. The Jaguars use a lot of pre snap motion to try to diagnose coverages and gain leverage with blocking. Now we get to the part why it didn’t work.

The Starting Quarterback, Cephus Johnson, was terrible. He completely 51% of his passes and threw only 5 touchdowns, while tossing 7 picks and promptly getting benched. His replacement Desmond Trotter was actually much better; throwing 8 touchdowns to 2 interceptions, leading the Jaguars to a season ending victory against eventual bowl winner Arkansas State. Anyhow, the inconsistent passing game hindered South Alabama’s ability to extend drives (30% on 3rd downs) or score points. Teams could key in on the running game, which contributed to South Alabama finishing 122nd in the nation for Red Zone offense. Combine that with having one of the worst kickers in the FBS (7 for 12) (58%) ... and the end result is averaging 18 points a game.

Not going to spend a lot of time on South Alabama’s defensive numbers or scheme. They ranked 79th in total defense, which is obviously below average for 130 FBS teams. When scouting a Tulane football opponent, one must always look at run defense. The Jaguars ranked 98th in Rushing Defense, allowing 192 ypg and almost 4 1/2 yards a carry. Methinks Amare Jones, Cam Carroll, Stephon Huderson, etc are gonna eat. At least they should.... unless South Alabama warped into some space/time continuum over the offseason and emerged as the 1985 Chicago Bears. Regardless, even if the rushing lanes aren’t there for some reason, South Alabama is also vulnerable through the air. A Jaguars secondary ranked 103rd in Passing Efficiency Defense presents a good opportunity for Keon Howard to shake the rust off after not starting a college game since his USM days.

Synopsis

Tulane’s motto throughout the offseason has been “Good to Great.” It is repeated in the weight room, on the practice field, in the classroom, and during basically anything that they do. Tulane is a good football program seeking to take the next step towards being great. A great team would take a 2 hour bus ride to Mobile and burn South Alabama’s stadium to the ground, salting the earth so they are unable to build another new stadium. I don’t see any reason why this shouldn’t happen... South Alabama is really bad and Fritz usually handles the bad teams. Plus Tulane should be pretty good, the recruiting has been getting better all the time and there are no glaring roster holes. How often in the last 30 years have you been able to say that? It’s unfortunate that we didn’t get the FCS tune up game (or any game) on opening weekend... but it shouldn’t hurt us too bad and at least we aren’t the Big 10. Plus we get to simultaneously watch film on both South Alabama and USM on September 3rd.. Yee haw! Prediction time:

Tulane 39

South Alabama 17

[coachrivero]

Tulane football 2019 regular season recap

Hello football fans. I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend! As always thank you for your interest in this page.

2019 Tulane football will be remembered as a tale of two halves (of its season), racing out to a 5-1 start in its first 6 games then limping to a 1-5 finish in its last 6. In this segment we will look at Tulane's season as a whole and reflect on the things we learned. Let's go to the beginning, which is always a good place to start.

In the spring and summer there was something around Tulane's football program that hadn't been there in quite some time. Expectations. In the past expectations for Tulane were often very humble "I hope we can win 4 or 5 games" or "I hope we don't lose to everyone by 30." This year there were actual real life expectations for Green Wave football. Tulane was being picked near the top of the American Conference and was considered by some to be a dark horse to win the Western division. These high expectations were rightfully earned after going 5-3 in conference play and finishing in a 3 way tie for first in the AAC West last year. Tulane was also returning the deepest and most talented roster its had since probably 2002. You could feel the excitement around the program, could they live up to the hype?

The good times

Tulane's 42-14 thrashing of FIU in the season opener saw that hype increase tenfold. The win was impressive and also historically significant, snapping a 15 game losing streak for the Wave in FBS season openers. Even more impressive was new offensive coordinator Will Hall who revitalized a once stodgy and predictable offense. Justin McMillan and the Green Wave offense rolled up 545 yards on the Golden Panthers, including a whopping 350 on the ground. Tulane's defense was also dominant and looked just as salty and aggressive as it was the previous year. In hindsight nobody knew back then that FIU actually wasn't that good (yes I know they beat Miami U), but It was still a complete team win and a thorough beatdown of an FBS team. Next we have a road game against 5th ranked Auburn. As outmatched as the Wave was in this game, they played with a lot of heart to keep themselves in it longer than Auburn would have liked. In the end Auburn's superior talent won out as the Tigers defeated the Wave 24-6. I don't tout moral victories but nobody was too upset about this outcome. Tulane bounced back the next week with an easy win against FCS Missouri State. Missouri State is horrible (even for FCS standards) so we didn't learn much from this one. Now for the fun part, and easily the pinnacle of Tulane's 2019 season... the Houston game. Even if Tulane never wins another football game for the rest of my life I will always remember this one. Instant classics like 2019 Tulane vs Houston are why we love the game of football. In the second quarter it looked like Tulane was done. Houston had just went up 28-7 and the Cougar players were dancing on the sidelines and pointing at the scoreboard. We all know how the rest goes, Tulane dominated Houston the rest of the way scoring 24 unanswered points while allowing Houston just 3. A common misconception is that Amare Jone's 15 yard run on the trick play near the end of regulation was a "fake kneel down." There was nothing "kneel down" about it although it was deceptive and scheisty. It was really just a delayed misdirection jet sweep run out of a kneel down formation. Justin McMillan then completed a game winning 53 yard catch-and-run to Jalen McClesky with 3 seconds left and the rest is history. Uptown New Orleans was officially lit. Tulane then won convincingly on the road at Army in a game that wasn't as close as the final score indicated. They followed that up with a 49-7 thumping of weak sauce UConn to wrap up the first half of the season. Tulane was 5-1 and receiving top 25 votes. What a time to be alive!

ight imma head out

At this point the Tulane hype was close to reaching maximum overload. It seemed like the Wave couldn't be stopped. Then, on a partly cloudy October night in Memphis Tennessee, those top 25 dreams were laid to rest. As things turned out Tulane could be stopped. The Tigers didn't punt until late in the 3rd quarter and destroyed the Green Wave 47-17 in front of a national televised audience on ESPN2. There are talks amongst former players and people close to the program that something happened to the team after the Memphis game. Whether those rumors are true or not I don't know, but it certainly appeared to hurt their confidence. The important thing though for Tulane was to not let Memphis beat them twice. All of its goals were still intact with another big conference road game at vastly improved Navy. Unfortunately, the Memphis game did wind up carrying over into the first half against Navy. Tulane came out lethargic and spotted Navy 24 points before deciding to play football. The Wave mounted an incredible comeback but wound up losing anyway on a last second field goal. Okay so now Tulane is 5-3 and their conference championship hopes are hanging on by a thread. On to homecoming against Tulsa. This game was a lot of fun and was one of the most well attended Tulane home games I've ever been to. It wasn't perfect, but the Wave played well enough to get the win and secure bowl eligibility. It was a throwback to the good times earlier in the year, as this would mark the last time in the 2019 season that Tulane would score more points than the other team. All aboard the pain train. Now on tap is a road matchup in Philly against Temple. Tulane followed their season long trend of starting out flat on the road and dug themselves into a hole which they couldn't overcome. This is the most disappointing loss for me, even more so than Memphis. We were just beaten down by an incredible team in the Memphis game. Temple is good, but certainly not an incredible team by any standards. They shouldn't be able to push Tulane around on the line of scrimmage like they did, and despite that the Wave actually had a shot to force OT at the end. Overall though I felt like Temple was a weak performance. Next UCF comes to town fresh off a loss at Tulsa. Tulane of course lost, but I thought it was much a better effort than the previous week. The Wave actually could have won if they just played a little sharper and didn't give up as many big plays. Now for the grand finale! SMU has been taking Tulane's lunch money every year and this year was no different. This game was a throwback to the Bob Toledo days with special teams gaffes and questionable playcalling. Despite all of this it was still a close game until late in the 4th quarter thanks to some exceptional play by the defense. Tulane just failed to produce much and took another L to end the 2019 season with a 6-6 record after starting out 5-1.

What we learned

Tulane is building its program one brick at a time. While the direction in the second half of the season is concerning, I don't forsee a Charlie Strong USF-like collapse or anything. Willie Fritz has proven himself time and time again as a master program builder. It's kind of like playing NCAA football on the playstation and creating a coach to go to a small school and then you make them good. That's Willie Fritz. I think the late season AAC games will serve as a teaching point for this team that you have to play balls to the wall every week to win in this conference. The most important thing going forward of course is recruiting. Per 247, Tulane has the second highest rated recruiting class in the AAC. Last year it was ranked 8th and the year before that it was 4th, so the recruiting has definitely been good. Winning a bowl game is critical for the perception of the program and to keep our recruiting class in tact. Losing 6 out of the last 7 to finish with a losing record just wouldn't be a good look. While there is no such thing as tanking in college football, the bright side is we get to keep Fritz and we'll probably get a favorable bowl matchup against C-USA or the Sun Belt. All in all though, I would consider this season a success and something to build on moving forward. Roll Wave!

[coachrivero]

Tulane vs SMU - what’s at stake/ keys to the game -

Tulane (6-5, 3-4) at SMU (9-2, 5-2)

11/30/19 - 3:00 PM CT / Gerald J. Ford Stadium - Dallas, TX

TV: ESPNU

Radio: KTCK 1310 AM/96.7 FM

Here's what to watch for as Tulane (6-5, 3-4) visits SMU (9-2, 5-2) in an AAC Western division showdown and the season finale for both teams.

What's at stake for Tulane?

The Wave could clinch their second straight winning season, tangible progress for a program with only 7 winning seasons in the last 39 years. Tulane needs to win games like this to get the recognition that it wants so badly. A signature road victory against a team that spent much of the season in the top 20 is just what the doctor ordered. Even if they lose the Wave could still achieve a winning season by winning their bowl game, but why wait? There's no time like the present and this is a great opportunity to show people that Tulane is relevant again in major college football.

What's at stake for SMU?

The Mustangs were eliminated from the AAC title hunt and a potential NY6 bowl game with last weekend's loss at Navy, but that doesn't mean they have nothing to play for. A win over Tulane would give SMU their first 10 win season since 1984 and most likely would earn them a high profile bowl bid against a Power 5 opponent. Much like Tulane, SMU was once a struggling program that has seen its fortunes improve recently, but they are further along in the program-building process. SMU could gain a lot of momentum heading into next season by beating Tulane and winning their bowl game.

Keys to the game:

Road Warriors?

There are only 2 things in life that truly scare me:

1. The "flute lady" from It chapter 1 that comes out of the painting and tries to eat Stan's face. I almost soiled myself and couldn't sleep for like 3 days.

2. Tulane playing a football game on the road. Sometimes I wake up with night terrors and Tulane is playing at Memphis again.

You may think I'm making jokes, but Tulane really has been a nightmare on the road. Even in their lone road win at Army the Wave was not sharp, starting out slow and imploding at the end which almost let Army come back. Tulane has a habit of going through bad lapses on the road and SMU is the type of team that will make you pay dearly for it. It's time to change the narrative.

5 Headed Monster

Tulane does not have a 1,000 yard rusher in 2019, but that is not due to lack of success on the ground. The Wave have a stable of talented backs in Bradwell, Dauphine, Huderson, Jones, and Carroll, all of whom have unique running styles. The Wave has more depth than that even, I didn't include YG Booker and Tyjae Spears (although they probably will not burn Spears' redshirt for this game). Justin McMillan is always a threat to take off too of course. Add this all up and you have the nation's #13 Rushing offense (252 ypg), amassing 3,066 yards and 31 Touchdowns. This group will need to dominate and help Tulane control the game by keeping SMU's prolific offense off the field

Sack time!

Tulane went from 9th in the FBS in sacks (41) in 2018 to 109th in sacks (15) so far in 2019. That's a whopping 100 spots! I understand that last year they were amazing and it would be normal for there to be some regression, but I didn't think the pass rush would completely fall off a cliff like it has. Whatever the reason is, the Wave needs to fix it ASAP. Tulane plays a man coverage scheme that is predicated on its ability to pressure the Quarterback. The absence of a pass rush puts Tulane's Defensive Backs in a bad spot, technically speaking, to get burnt like some Popeye's Chicken. The Wave desperately needs its pass rushers to show up for this game. If they don’t, Shane Buechele will roast their secondary over an open fire. Let's hope they do!

Thanks for reading and Roll Wave!

[coachrivero]

SMU hatred week -

Check in here if your team has ever been screwed out of a victory and bowl eligibility at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Now that all the Wave fans have checked in, let's have a common sense discussion about the American Conference football game this Saturday between the Tulane Green Wave and SMU Mustangs. Well... actually we'll get to that part later, first I need you to channel that SMU hate and let it flow through your body like the rivers of ancient Babylon.

I really hate SMU... like a lot. Their fight song is super annoying (especially if you give up lots of points and they play it constantly). Mustang fans eat caviar at their tailgates and put cauliflower in gumbo. Their school is best known for cheating so blatantly that the NCAA was forced to step in and shut down the football program. They have like 400 D1 transfers on their roster, and last but certainly not least, Craig James killed 5 hookers while at SMU.

If Tulane is going to avenge those fallen hookers and win this game, they will need to contain AAC leading passer Shane Buechele. The former Texas Longhorn QB has thrown for 3,446 yards and 30 touchdowns and leads the conference in nearly every passing category. His favorite target James Proche (member him.... 😔 ) leads the AAC with 13 receiving TD's and is second in receiving yards with 1,068. SMU is the number 1 passing attack in the conference (328 ypg), but can also be effective running the ball when it needs to be. Senior RB Xavier Jones has the most rushing touchdowns in the conference (13) and is second in rushing yards (1,124). Long story short SMU's offense is really good... like top 10 in the NCAA good. It's probably too much to ask of Tulane's defense to stop them, but maybe the Wave can slow them down. Tulane's defensive unit hasn't exactly set the world on fire this season, although statistically they aren't terrible. Out of 130 FBS teams the Wave ranks 51st in total defense and 55th in scoring defense. Despite getting burned in the secondary at times the Wave still ranks a respectable 39th in both passing efficiency defense and passing yards allowed (206.9 ypg). Okay... those figures may be a little skewed due to playing 2 service academies, but numbers don't lie! (although sometimes they can be misleading). Let's just throw out the Army/Navy games and assume Tulane is around the middle of the pack in passing defense. It doesn't greatly help our cause, but at least it gives us a fighting chance in this game. Playing SMU without a serviceable pass defense would give us about the same shot as hooker surviving in Craig James' room in 1982. One of the major keys to this game is forcing turnovers, which the Wave hasn't done all that well this year (13 turnovers gained, -3 margin). This starts with creating havoc up front and pressuring Shane Buechele. If the Wave allows him to stand comfortably in the pocket and go through his progressions against their man defense, they will suffer the same fate as those 5 hookers who lost their lives at the hands of Craig James.

SMU is essentially UCF with a better offense and a worse defense. The Mustangs aren't that good at all on defense really, but I guess you don't have to be when you're scoring 45 points a game. Let's look at the defensive numbers for SMU - Total Defense: 91st. Scoring Defense: 103rd (33 ppg). Rushing defense: 30th (124 ypg). Passing efficiency defense: 98th. Passing yards allowed: 124th (302 ypg). Once again it's hard to always trust numbers because of the fact SMU plays in so many shootouts, forcing their opponents to abandon the running game and throw downfield to try and keep up. Clearly the Mustangs are no defensive juggernaut though and Tulane should move the ball on them. The Wave boasts the nation's #27 offense (454 ypg) and the #13 rushing attack (252 ypg). The problem Iies in Tulane's tendency to come out flat on the road and dig themselves into a hole early. If the Wave falls behind and has to depend on its 95th ranked passing offense things could get ugly, like the decomposing remains of a hooker in Craig James' basement. Justin McMillan is a gamer and I have the utmost respect for him, but he is not Peyton Manning. His game is quick run/pass reads, dump offs to his backs, short to intermediate safe throws, and rolling out the pocket, not traditional pocket passing. McMillan has a few bad habits including not setting his feet and staring down his primary receiver. These two things will often lead to interceptions. Tulane absolutely cannot afford to waste possessions and give SMU any more of them. Hopefully the Wave can just run it down their throats and keep their explosive offense on the sidelines. Tulane's offense has cooled off slightly since the torrid pace in the first half of the season, but they seemed to regain some of their groove against a good UCF defense. I know the Wave has dropped 4 out of the last 5 games, but I was actually somewhat encouraged by their performance against the Knights. They seemed to play with a bit more energy and urgency than in previous weeks. It also showed me that Tulane does have the talent to compete with SMU, provided they come out of the locker room ready to play.

Most people aren't giving the Wave much of a chance in this game though, and let's be honest... it is not an ideal matchup for us. Tulane's defense really struggles against passing offenses and SMU is the Popeye's Chicken Sandwich of passing offenses. Anything can happen in college football though and you still actually have to play the game. Can we win? Yes. Like I said, Tulane has talent, winning this game is certainly not an impossible feat. Also keep in mind that SMU just got eliminated from AAC West contention and may be going through the motions. Will we win? Probably not. I really do hope we pull it off (obviously), but at this point in the season you are who you are. Tulane hasn't played a complete game on the road all season and I don't forsee that changing in game 12. If the Wave comes out lifeless against a team like SMU they could find themselves down 4 touchdowns before they put their chinstraps on. Prediction time:

Tulane 40

SMU 49

[coachrivero]

Tulane 31 UCF 34, Wave comeback falls short -

When these young men signed their letter of intent to play football for Tulane University, they chose a path that wasn’t easy. I appreciate the hard work they put in every day to get better. It’s a tall order to rebuild a program that has struggled for most of the last 20 years (and many years before that). In due time I believe Tulane will turn the corner. Right now Wave fans need to “trust the process.”

I’m not trying to go full Rick Dickson, you should never go full Rick Dickson, but I have faith in Tulane and in the future of this program. There isn’t that big of a disparity between UCF and Tulane anymore. I member when they came to the dome that one time and scored every time they touched the football. Tulane obviously has a much better roster these days, but there are going to be some highs and lows with this team. Justin McMillan said it best a few weeks ago, Tulane is still growing as a program and is learning how to match the intensity of the better teams in the American conference.

I had a bad feeling that UCF would walk into Yulman and boat race us, obviously that didn’t happen. UCF punched and Tulane punched back. In the end the 2-time defending AAC champions had just a little more punch than Tulane. Sometimes you have to tip your cap to the other team, UCF is a really good football team and they made critical plays when it mattered. They are not invincible anymore though, the Knights made some mistakes that Tulane didn’t always capitalize on. They also had some really bad and inexplicable drops. The win was there for the taking and Tulane just couldn’t take it. The play of the Green Wave defense was actually encouraging despite their tendency to give up big plays at times. The pass rush was effective today after being MIA most of the year, the Wave was able to pressure UCF QB Dillon Gabriel and give themselves a chance in the game. I think the secondary showed some improvement as they were better in coverage today than last week. On offense Tulane moved the ball pretty well and didn’t turn it over, although McMillan struggled with his accuracy and had some passes sail on him. How about Corey Dauphine man? what a player. I’m gonna miss him next year, and also the physical running of Darius Bradwell. Those two really compliment each other well. Stephon Huderson’s kickoff return TD was really special and it gave Tulane life when it looked like UCF was putting the game away. That’s one thing I can say about this group, they never mail it in like Tulane teams of the past, the Wave plays hard to the very end. You can see that Tulane has talent and I think they’re close to being a contender in the conference. The recruiting has been good and I hope it will pay off in the coming years.

In conclusion, I’m not trying to feed you poop and call it strawberry shortcake. A loss is a loss. I’m not encouraged by losing this game, but I’m not really discouraged either. The season also isn’t over, there’s a still football game against SMU next week and a bowl game after that. These two games will be important for Tulane prove that it is heading in the right direction and the 5-1 start wasn’t just fools gold. Here’s hoping for a strong finish! Roll Wave!

[coachrivero]

Let’s talk UCF

When you did your preseason assessment of Tulane’s schedule you penciled this game in as a loss. I don’t have to ask cause I know you did. I don’t blame you either... UCF was a well oiled killing machine the last couple of years, winning 25 games in a row and beating the excrement out of most of their opponents in the process. UCF was expected to contend for the conference championship again and perhaps play in another New Year’s Day bowl game. Moreover, Tulane predictions were mostly modest, 6-7 wins and a second straight (early December) bowl game. 8 wins was most people’s best case scenario (still actually attainable). That would be splendid but right now I’m just focused on winning Saturday. Moving along...

UCF has quite the prolific aerial attack. Freshman QB Dillon Gabriel averages 280 passing yards per game, good for 14th best in the NCAA. He’s thrown 24 Touchdowns and just 7 interceptions. The Knights rank 10th in passing offense and 12th in passing efficiency. The Knights like to attack the secondary downfield early and often, averaging 15 yards per completion. These numbers don’t really bode well for a Tulane secondary that has been struggling. On the bright side the Knights are 82nd in the NCAA in 3rd down conversions (39%), so if you can get them to 3rd down you have a reasonable chance to get off the field. Tulane ranks around the middle of the FBS in 3rd down conversion allowed (38%). The biggest key for Tulane is generating a pass rush, which they have often struggled to do this season. The drop off in sacks has been puzzling because Tulane returned most of the defensive front which lived in the backfield last year. Anyhoo... the Wave better pressure Gabriel or they will be chasing around UCF receivers all day long. Not a good formula for winning.

UCF’s offense might get all the accolades but it has a solid defensive group (42nd in scoring defense). UCF also ranks 42nd in rushing defense (138 ypg) but they are often ahead in the game and force their opponents to abandon the run, so It’s hard to say if the running lanes will be there or not. Tulane obviously will want to sustain drives and control the clock to keep its defense from getting gassed. Ideally you don’t want to get into a shootout with UCF, but when you’re playing against an offense that good sometimes you have to. I’m not sure what Will Hall’s gameplan for Temple was, but he needs to burn it and spread the ashes at sea. I feel like the best bet is to give Justin McMillan those quick reads and check downs he’s so good at, slants/outs and swing passes to his backs. Downfield accuracy really isn’t his strong suit. I would keep the pocket moving and allow McMillian the option to make plays with his legs. Of course Tulane’s offensive success will depend on it’s ability to run the ball, but it’s important to incorporate the passing game early to loosen up their defense a bit. Like everyone we play, the Knights will come out bowed up against the run. The Wave offense will need to step up to give themselves chance in this game, as points will likely be at a premium.

This matchup looks really crappy on paper, but not all hope is lost. UCF kind of sucks on the road (2-3 this year with a loss to Tulsa). Conversely, Tulane has been a perfect 5-0 in the friendly confines of Yulman Stadium. I really hope UCF goes out on the town Friday night and enjoys plenty of Everclear and Jager Bombs. Now for my fearless prediction:

Heart:

UCF 33

Tulane 39

Head:

UCF 44

Tulane 28

[coachrivero]

Disclaimer

This blog is dedicated to Tulane University Football, Basketball, and Baseball, but mainly Football. I am not affiliated with Tulane University. All opinions expressed are solely my own and do not express the views of Tulane University.