Tulane growing pains at forefront of Fritz’s second season at helm

It was Homecoming. For a change, there were a substantive number of students on hand. The opponent had lost five straight games. The table was set. The home team failed to take advantage.

Losing at Memphis was a no-brainer. The Tigers are a good, potent football team, clearly better than Tulane. Of course, the final margin was an issue, giving up 56 points is never a good thing in football.

Tulane needs a more talented, dependable attack.

When your best play is your quarterback scrambling and improvising, you have issues.

Of course, the conversation may be different if sophomore walk-on Merek Glover had not badly hooked a potential game-winning field goal attempt from 36 yards out with 1:21 remaining in the game.

While the offense lacks balance and continuity, the real issue of concern is the fact that the defense is simply not as good as a year ago and not good overall.

Cincinnati amassed 456 yards. They ran it well. They threw it well. They are not very good.

Then again, neither is Florida International and the Panthers had 478 yards of offense against the Green Wave. Memphis had 557 yards against the Green Wave while South Florida had 505 yards. Tulsa finished with 412 yards and Oklahoma amassed 631 yards. Army rushed for 371 yards against Tulane.

Other than a 53-yard run by Jonathan Banks, Tulane could not run the ball against the Bearcats Saturday. If Tulane cannot run the ball and stop the opposition, it has no chance.

Where does Willie Fritz go from here?

Tulane must win out, including victories at East Carolina (2-7) and SMU (6-3), along with a home win over Houston (6-3) to be bowl-eligible. Tulane has three wins and one was against Grambling, an FCS program, with all due respect.

I said at the start of the season that progress would be measured by more than four wins, the total of a year ago.

The Pirates are not a good team but Tulane will be on the road. The Mustangs and Cougars are better than the Green Wave.

The likelihood of running the table is minimal. The likelihood of winning one more game is good. The likelihood of winning two more games is problematic. Tulane will be underdogs in two of the games.

At season’s end, Fritz loses his best player in Dontrell Hilliard to graduation and loses Sherman Badie as well. Running backs in a running offense are at a premium. Fritz must recruit better wide receivers, though Darnell Mooney has emerged to join Terren Encalade as a dependable target. Banks must learn to let plays develop before departing the pocket quickly and prematurely but you cannot take away his biggest asset, his ability to improvise and make plays with his legs.

While Jesuit’s Corey Dublin is a solid freshman with a bright future, his false start prior to the missed field goal by Glover really hurt. Tulane is still not good enough up front on offense. The Green Wave front could not block the Cincinnati front.

Ultimately, it is all about recruiting. Tulane still lacks good enough players to win in the American Athletic Conference. The growing pains continue.