Tulane coach Willie Fritz previews SMU game

[PonyPride]

From tulanegreenwave.com:

Opening Statement:
"I appreciate everyone coming out and I wish everyone a happy Thanksgiving. We had a tough one on Saturday, I talked to the guys on Monday and then after the ball game. For us to win those tough games, we have to be on point. We have to play hard, number one. Number two, you have to play physical and play tough. The last one, which I did not think we did to the best of our abilities, is to play smart. We cannot have assignment errors and be a quality team, like UCF, they are loaded with good players. If we do those three things that I talked about then we have the opportunity to win a bunch of ball games. I am disappointed, I liked our fight and effort throughout the game, but we need to come away with victories in those situations. SMU is another great team, they went on the road and played in some tough weather conditions against Navy. They almost came away with a win out there, another great team. All these teams in this conference are outstanding. We are going to have to do those three things I talked about. We are going to have to play smart. We are going to have to play tough. We are going to have to play with great effort. If we do all three of those things, we will have an opportunity to win on Saturday against a really great team who has been ranked in the Top 25 for a couple of weeks this year. They are probably going to be out of it this week I am guessing, but they have been in it about 8 or 9 weeks in a row."

On similarity of SMU's offensive style to UCF's…
"There will be a little bit of carryover. They are in different offensive systems. SMU is more from the Gus Malzahn tree. Their offensive coordinator worked for him, I think even in high school in Arkansas. UCF is more in the Baylor family of offensives. There is a bit of a difference. They are going to use more tight end than eleven personnel, sometimes you will have two tight ends in there as well. There are some similarities, especially with the pace of play. I think UCF is No. 1 and I think SMU is No. 9 in the country for pace of play."

On the challenge of SMU's offensive…
"It is a huge challenge. They have a great quarterback. They have some excellent, stable receivers. They have a really tough back and two good tight ends. They have a lot of weapons over there. They are averaging 500 yards a game for offensive. It is similar to the members of the team we played last weekend."

On the challenge of SMU's defense…
"They come after you. Again, some similarities of defensive style and philosophy of getting a lot of tackles for loss and sacks. They will come at you from a lot of different angles. They might give up some yards, but they also have a lot of big plays."

On the continuation of penalties for Tulane…
"I am disappointed. There are some reasons why you have penalties. One is sometimes an athlete has a tough time or they might use improper technique or you are not sure what is going on if you are locked in and focused. We had a few in each category on Saturday and that does not help us in any way, shape or form."

On whether teams are beginning to use different blocks against Tulane with their success…
"Yes. They definitely are. They are changing some things they are doing as far as protections. We had some pressure on Saturday. We hit the quarterback quite a few times, but it did not equate to sacks. Yes, they are doing a good job of nullifying some of our guys we are trying."

On whether teams are chipping more on Tulane players…
"A little bit, and more also turning their protection toward certain guys instead of what they do against other teams."

On possible injury of linebacker Malik Lawal…
"No, he is okay."

On whether a win against SMU would improve bowl position…
"I think we can improve it. I think you are right. I do not understand the ins and outs of how they decide a bowl game, but I think there is one guy that controls the whole thing. I think he makes the decision and then there are the six that go to the bowl championship series and the other bowls. They want good matchups, so the more you win, the better bowl you have the opportunity to play in. So, yes, this could help us out big time. We are looking for that seventh win. We have not played as well as we are capable and a lot of that is we have played some really good teams. In order to win these games, which we can do, we have to be on point in all the three areas that I talked about."

On significance of a win against SMU on the road…
"It would be a big win. A huge win. Going in there and playing a team that is 9-2 and has been ranked in the Top 25 most of the season, I think got as high as 15th, it would be a big win for us."

On difference Shane Buechele has made for SMU…
"You get a quarterback who knows what he is doing, and with their offensive, he fits what they are doing. He is smart and he can make all the throws very accurately."

[Insane_Pony_Posse]

this is going to be a nasty dog fight for two MUST WIN teams!

[peruna81]

Like most of our games this year, it will be a knife fight in a phone booth.

Be the last one standing Saturday night...Ford and on the soccer field...

[Kiper]

"They are probably going to be out of it this week I am guessing, but they have been in it about 8 or 9 weeks in a row."

When I read that, I thought he was talking about being out of it, like uninterested. Hope not.

Go football, go soccer. Looking forward to both.

[mrydel]

He is talking about being out of the top 25 this week. Which he is right, we are out of it.