Wave loses opener 7-3

[Aberzombie1892]

No takers on this?

UConn when it played Tulane in 2015.

[bananax07]

Bottom line....If Fritz played for the field goals we win this game!

he did, and it got blocked. otherwise, we go for the win with another FG rather than trying to convert on 4th down towards the end of the game.

[JerseyWave]

Bottom line....If Fritz played for the field goals we win this game!

he did, and it got blocked. otherwise, we go for the win with another FG rather than trying to convert on 4th down towards the end of the game.

The block happened after Cuillette was sacked for a big loss. Should have gone conservative on 3rd down, try to gain positive yards on the ground and protect for easier field goal attempt.

[GreenPuddleSplash]

Bottom line....If Fritz played for the field goals we win this game!

he did, and it got blocked. otherwise, we go for the win with another FG rather than trying to convert on 4th down towards the end of the game.

The block happened after Cuillette was sacked for a big loss. Should have gone conservative on 3rd down, try to gain positive yards on the ground and protect for easier field goal attempt.

Jersey, that drive that you're talking about looks like this:

1st and 10 on WF 21: GC throws a 1 yard pass to Encalade.

2nd and 9 on WF 20: Badie runs for 1 yard gain.

3rd and 8 on WF 19: GC sacked for 7 yard loss. Looked like 4-5 man rush and line wilted at the snap of the ball. I believe GC was in shotgun and didn't have any time to react besides running for his life.

4th and 15 on WF 26: FG blocked.

I'm not sure how much more conservative you can go there. It was just bad blocking that led to us being in an unfortunate position. I still don't agree with you on kicking the fg when we went for it on our second 4th down attempt. We were down by 4 at that point, and we just had a fg blocked. Our team hasn't been able to move the ball all night and when we finally get some sort of momentum, he goes for the win with 6min on the clock left in the 4th. Nothing showed Fritz that he could replicate the same drive, seeing we couldn't do it for 3.5 quarters, what makes us think in the last 6 minutes, our offense will click?

I still think Fritz made the right call last night, and I believe he will have our O-line in better shape and not straight up offensive. I am definitely going to readjust my expectations based on how woeful our O-line was last night, but I am still very optimistic about our team. We still have a lot of questions that need to be answered, but last night showed, we are on the right track for once.

0 and I repeat, 0 Special teams turn overs. No long snap debacles. Our first fg looked smooth and good. No punting blown coverage woes and our punter looks good. The future is bright. Roll wave!

[JerseyWave]

Bottom line....If Fritz played for the field goals we win this game!

he did, and it got blocked. otherwise, we go for the win with another FG rather than trying to convert on 4th down towards the end of the game.

The block happened after Cuillette was sacked for a big loss. Should have gone conservative on 3rd down, try to gain positive yards on the ground and protect for easier field goal attempt.

Jersey, that drive that you're talking about looks like this:

1st and 10 on WF 21: GC throws a 1 yard pass to Encalade.

2nd and 9 on WF 20: Badie runs for 1 yard gain.

3rd and 8 on WF 19: GC sacked for 7 yard loss. Looked like 4-5 man rush and line wilted at the snap of the ball. I believe GC was in shotgun and didn't have any time to react besides running for his life.

4th and 15 on WF 26: FG blocked.

I'm not sure how much more conservative you can go there. It was just bad blocking that led to us being in an unfortunate position. I still don't agree with you on kicking the fg when we went for it on our second 4th down attempt. We were down by 4 at that point, and we just had a fg blocked. Our team hasn't been able to move the ball all night and when we finally get some sort of momentum, he goes for the win with 6min on the clock left in the 4th. Nothing showed Fritz that he could replicate the same drive, seeing we couldn't do it for 3.5 quarters, what makes us think in the last 6 minutes, our offense will click?

I still think Fritz made the right call last night, and I believe he will have our O-line in better shape and not straight up offensive. I am definitely going to readjust my expectations based on how woeful our O-line was last night, but I am still very optimistic about our team. We still have a lot of questions that need to be answered, but last night showed, we are on the right track for once.

0 and I repeat, 0 Special teams turn overs. No long snap debacles. Our first fg looked smooth and good. No punting blown coverage woes and our punter looks good. The future is bright. Roll wave!

On the 3rd and 8 at 19 I was looking for a safe run gain a couple of yards and settle for a field goal. Assuming a 3-4 yard gain it would have been 4 and 4 from the 15. Much easier kick. I wasn't surprised by the sack, the O'line was playing poorly in pass protection. Could have been 7-6 and our defense was dominating.

[Wave755]

Bottom line....If Fritz played for the field goals we win this game!

he did, and it got blocked. otherwise, we go for the win with another FG rather than trying to convert on 4th down towards the end of the game.

The block happened after Cuillette was sacked for a big loss. Should have gone conservative on 3rd down, try to gain positive yards on the ground and protect for easier field goal attempt.

Jersey, that drive that you're talking about looks like this:

1st and 10 on WF 21: GC throws a 1 yard pass to Encalade.

2nd and 9 on WF 20: Badie runs for 1 yard gain.

3rd and 8 on WF 19: GC sacked for 7 yard loss. Looked like 4-5 man rush and line wilted at the snap of the ball. I believe GC was in shotgun and didn't have any time to react besides running for his life.

4th and 15 on WF 26: FG blocked.

I'm not sure how much more conservative you can go there. It was just bad blocking that led to us being in an unfortunate position. I still don't agree with you on kicking the fg when we went for it on our second 4th down attempt. We were down by 4 at that point, and we just had a fg blocked. Our team hasn't been able to move the ball all night and when we finally get some sort of momentum, he goes for the win with 6min on the clock left in the 4th. Nothing showed Fritz that he could replicate the same drive, seeing we couldn't do it for 3.5 quarters, what makes us think in the last 6 minutes, our offense will click?

I still think Fritz made the right call last night, and I believe he will have our O-line in better shape and not straight up offensive. I am definitely going to readjust my expectations based on how woeful our O-line was last night, but I am still very optimistic about our team. We still have a lot of questions that need to be answered, but last night showed, we are on the right track for once.

0 and I repeat, 0 Special teams turn overs. No long snap debacles. Our first fg looked smooth and good. No punting blown coverage woes and our punter looks good. The future is bright. Roll wave!

Encalade tried to make a lot more out of the play than its design and turned a 8 yard gain into a one yard gain, but that's football.

[GreenPuddleSplash]

Bottom line....If Fritz played for the field goals we win this game!

he did, and it got blocked. otherwise, we go for the win with another FG rather than trying to convert on 4th down towards the end of the game.

The block happened after Cuillette was sacked for a big loss. Should have gone conservative on 3rd down, try to gain positive yards on the ground and protect for easier field goal attempt.

Jersey, that drive that you're talking about looks like this:

1st and 10 on WF 21: GC throws a 1 yard pass to Encalade.

2nd and 9 on WF 20: Badie runs for 1 yard gain.

3rd and 8 on WF 19: GC sacked for 7 yard loss. Looked like 4-5 man rush and line wilted at the snap of the ball. I believe GC was in shotgun and didn't have any time to react besides running for his life.

4th and 15 on WF 26: FG blocked.

I'm not sure how much more conservative you can go there. It was just bad blocking that led to us being in an unfortunate position. I still don't agree with you on kicking the fg when we went for it on our second 4th down attempt. We were down by 4 at that point, and we just had a fg blocked. Our team hasn't been able to move the ball all night and when we finally get some sort of momentum, he goes for the win with 6min on the clock left in the 4th. Nothing showed Fritz that he could replicate the same drive, seeing we couldn't do it for 3.5 quarters, what makes us think in the last 6 minutes, our offense will click?

I still think Fritz made the right call last night, and I believe he will have our O-line in better shape and not straight up offensive. I am definitely going to readjust my expectations based on how woeful our O-line was last night, but I am still very optimistic about our team. We still have a lot of questions that need to be answered, but last night showed, we are on the right track for once.

0 and I repeat, 0 Special teams turn overs. No long snap debacles. Our first fg looked smooth and good. No punting blown coverage woes and our punter looks good. The future is bright. Roll wave!

On the 3rd and 8 at 19 I was looking for a safe run gain a couple of yards and settle for a field goal. Assuming a 3-4 yard gain it would have been 4 and 4 from the 15. Much easier kick. I wasn't surprised by the sack, the O'line was playing poorly in pass protection. Could have been 7-6 and our defense was dominating.

I have to watch film on that play again when GC was sacked, but from my memory, he was in Gun, and by the time the ball reached his hands, you had an edge rusher from the left side streaking at him and one from the interior. I believe he was met by 3 different WF players. That play could have been a qb draw, read option, or any sort of run, but by the time the ball reached GC from the snap, any play at that point was dead with 3 WF pass rushers barreling down on GC.

[GreenPuddleSplash]

I'm sure you all have seen the box score from last night, but to recap, these are the stat lines:

TU: 34:56 total time of possession WF: 25:04

First Downs Gained: TU 14, WF 10. TU went 8-20 on 3rd down attempts, and WF went 7-15.

Turnovers: TU 1 fumble loss, WF 0

TU: 134 yards in the air (12-23), 146 yards on the ground (47 attempts) WF: 96 yards in the air (12-21) , 79 on the ground (34)

TU: Offensive play calling: 27 passes, 47 runs (Passing to Run Ratio: 57% run, 43% pass, pretty balanced attack)
WF: Offensive play calling: 21 passes, 34 runs (Passing to Run Ratio: 61% run, 39% pass)

TU: Total Offensive Snaps: 76 WF: 55 Offensive Snaps

On paper, we should have won, but that's not how football games always go. I do see lots of improvement and hopefully we build on this and BEAT SOUTHERN! Roll Wave!

Penalties: TU: 4 for 30 yards, WF 5 for 45 yards.

[Wave QB]

Man. What a tough game to drink. We outplayed Wake and still lost. Never thought I would see this many people excited about a 7-3 loss to a team that might not win 4 to 5 games this year. I don't believe in moral victories. I am very worried about this offense. I saw nothing to make me believe that we will win 2 or 3 games this year. Our offensive line might keep Southern in the game. They just don't have what it takes. I hope Fritz brings in a good offensive line class.

[HoustonWave]

OL is still a disaster zone. I also don't think GC will get it done--he's just not quick enough, even if he does start making better pitch/keep decisions. Wake's QB ran the option better than our QB, and that was the difference in the game. With our OL, it may be tough for any of our QBs to be successful, but we have to get the ball in the hands of our running backs and hope for the best. Hopefully Brantley will be ready by the third or fourth game.

[GreenPuddleSplash]

Man. What a tough game to drink. We outplayed Wake and still lost. Never thought I would see this many people excited about a 7-3 loss to a team that might not win 4 to 5 games this year. I don't believe in moral victories. I am very worried about this offense. I saw nothing to make me believe that we will win 2 or 3 games this year. Our offensive line might keep Southern in the game. They just don't have what it takes. I hope Fritz brings in a good offensive line class.

There absolutely are no moral victories in football, but after the 4 year stink we had here with CJ, last night is definitely a great change. Not seeing a bad long snap, blown punt return coverage, or penalty after penalty was a plus. The o-line definitely needs major improvement. GC didn't seem comfortable with game speed till the end. He was hesitant pitching the ball outside and he made some very questionable reads or lack of read on those QB read-options which typically ended up being a qb draw. It seems like he was just gun shy, which without doing it game speed, is very hard and this might also be why he looked slow. When you hesitate, you look slow right? I think we will see GC improve greatly, especially with GT under his belt.

If we got to the edge more, especially with our backs, I think it would have been a different game. We got speed on the edges and when we actually worked the edges, we had big gains. But everything was hampered by the lack of pitching the ball to the outside back when the D/E comes crashing down.

Our Defense looked good. They looked more disciplined than any of CJ's defenses.

Our ST was another team completely from the last few years. Our long snapper did very well and our punter had good punts on the night.

I think we did see glimpses of what Fritz' offense can do once he gets the players. It's only a matter of time, and last night reinforced the notion that I really think Fritz is the man to bring us back to relevance. Yes, our offense looked a bit vanilla, but we need to know that we are capable of running a vanilla offense before spicing things up. I'm not sure if he were capable of that under CJ.

It was also very refreshing that Fritz kept adapting to the way the game was going instead of trying to cram a square peg into a circle. We still have a long ways to go, but I am confident that we will get there with Fritz.

[NOLABigSteve]

It was also very refreshing that Fritz kept adapting to the way the game was going instead of trying to cram a square peg into a circle. We still have a long ways to go, but I am confident that we will get there with Fritz.

Pretty much agreed with your post up to this last sentence. I know we passed more in the 2nd half than the 1st, but if that damn QB draw wasn't cramming a square peg into a round hole, then I don't know what was.

[golfnut69]

to quote some Coach who's name I have forgotten ( most probably on purpose) " the Biggest improvement of your Football team comes after game 1 and before game 2" ...personally I see a few JUCO lineman on campus next spring as well as a JUCO or Grad Transfer QB.....as the ole coach use to say.." 'ya can make chicken salad out of chicken shit, but it ain't goin' to taste too damn good"

[GreenPuddleSplash]

It was also very refreshing that Fritz kept adapting to the way the game was going instead of trying to cram a square peg into a circle. We still have a long ways to go, but I am confident that we will get there with Fritz.

Pretty much agreed with your post up to this last sentence. I know we passed more in the 2nd half than the 1st, but if that damn QB draw wasn't cramming a square peg into a round hole, then I don't know what was.

Steve, I have to go back and watch the second half again, but do you think those qb draws were actually called up qb draws? or were they the product of a possible read option and GC just made a half ass attempt to make a read and just took off running? I thought they were closer to the latter than the former? I couldn't tell cause they all ended up being qb draws with WF linemen running full steam and basically untouched at GC?

[jonathanjoseph]

We are definitley better coached by a wide margin, but some of Fritz decisions tonight are mind boggling. This was a field goal game. We should be up at least 9-7!!!

+1. We at least look like a college coached team but there have been some head scratchers. Not looking good.

I can't agree just yet. We look no different from the CJ era. I am not bashing Fritz.

Says the guy who thought Devin Powell should start.

Lol. Oh, so Tanner Lee would have won the game tonight huh? Please! We would have tossed at least 2 picks together and would have been sacked a few times as well

Let's get the story straight. I said Powell should start if your boyfriend Tanner Lee stunk up the joint just like Wave QB told us he would. I saw Tanner at practice and actually agreed with you and a few others that he had the tools to be good and wanted him to start. On game day, he sucked! He missed reads. He threw picks, and beat A Houston team that refused to blitz and two other FCS programs in his Tulane career. The kid sucked on the field. So get your story together while Tanner allows you to come up for air.

Back to the game, Frtiti didnt coach a great game and it resulted in a L. Kicks should have been kicked. QB shouldn't have been shuffled once you are in a groove.

We were coached down and regressed each week under CJ telling our QB to stay in the pocket. Had either stayed we may win this one because WF plays to his QB strength and puts him in a position to succeed. We just don't have the experience at QB. It's just the way I see it. We can't pass with any success with the current QB cast that's why our best chance to win is to run run run.
After Southern I believe teams are going to put 9 in the box and dare us to pass.

I can respect your thoughts on this and you do make great points. However, I just watched Tanner Lee just tossed the ball into coverage to many times for me to believe that we would have beaten Wake with him. The kid made terrible decisions as our starter and I wanted him to do well. Powell never showed me greatness or anything, but in this offense, I am more confident that he could have hit receivers and move the offense across the goal line.

Woulda, coulda, shoulda had been our story for a while. Hopefully Fritz can get things going, but anyone encouraged off a 3-7 defeat to a very weak ACC team doesn't know anything about football. The defense played a good game, but we have seen them do this plenty of times in games we didn't turn the ball over since 2012. We look like the same team. I will be watching the Southern-ULM game tomorrow to see if I need to be worried.

It is mindblowing that the Devin Powell truthers are still continuing. This coaching staff demoted Devin Powell to 4th string behind Brantley before he even stepped foot on campus.

[nawlinspete]

Just As Bad As Last Year: OL. Lack of talent. Not lack of coaching.

Worse Than Last Year: RBs. They got in each other's way and looked totally confused.

Better Than Last Year: ST. No dropped snaps. No snaps over the punter's head.

Hugely Better Than Last Year: QB. No Interceptions. Only fumble on last play of game. Considering how
horribly the OL played actually quite good.

[winwave]

I was just looking again at the 46 yard pass to Josh Rounds. I'm not so sure that the fault should be with the QB. Rounds slowed down and turned around, then had to reach over his head to catch it. If he keeps running, that pass would have been right on target. Could have been more a matter of not being in sync with the QB than any accuracy issue on Glen's part. It takes time to know how your QB throws.

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=17444624

If Rounds kept running the pass would have been incomplete landing on the sideline. He did what he had to do to make that catch. He didn't twist and turn for the fun of it. Glen did a good job of escaping and getting us a big gain but it sure would have been nice to get the TD.

[GreenPuddleSplash]

I couldn't find any post game interviews of Fritz, and the only post game write up with quotes I could find came from WF, which wasn't much.

Tulane Head Coach Willie Fritz

On missed opportunities:
“It was very disappointing. We had a few passing situations, and obviously that is not our strength. We had a tough time protecting tonight and it was a four-man rush most of the time. The whole last series was a two or three-man rush. It was just a lot of guys playing their first ball game. Everybody has to do their job, and someone has to make a play.”

On defensive stand:
“The one touchdown they scored, I think we missed three tackles on that drive. If we held them to a field goal we pitch a shutout. It’s all so different. We don’t have a ton of guys that will fit in a few spots. We just don’t know how to tackle. At practice, I can work all the drills I want, but it’s different when you go out there and do it. I think we’ll be better tackling in game two rather than game one.”

On getting the job done:
“When we get into these types of situations, we have to do our job and make a play. There’s probably about 20 plays we’ll go back and look at. If we would have made the play we would have a chance. We’ll get better. We’re going to improve, and we’ll get better.”

http://www.wakeforestsports.com/sports/ ... 16aag.html

[RobertM320]

It was also very refreshing that Fritz kept adapting to the way the game was going instead of trying to cram a square peg into a circle. We still have a long ways to go, but I am confident that we will get there with Fritz.

Pretty much agreed with your post up to this last sentence. I know we passed more in the 2nd half than the 1st, but if that damn QB draw wasn't cramming a square peg into a round hole, then I don't know what was.

But Steve, was Coach Ruse calling the QB Draw, or was GC making bad reads. The whole concept of the option implies even the coach doesn't know which of the options will be the proper one until the play is run. Its up to the QB to make the proper read, and I just wonder if Glen froze a few times and just tucked and ran. We did pass more in the second half but if trying to determine how balanced we were, I think you need to throw out those last 8 passes in the final 1:30, along with the last tackle. So its more like 46-19 Closer to 70/30 than 57/43. Now the first half was 24/4, so the second half was 22/15 which is much better.

[nawlinspete]

It was also very refreshing that Fritz kept adapting to the way the game was going instead of trying to cram a square peg into a circle. We still have a long ways to go, but I am confident that we will get there with Fritz.

Pretty much agreed with your post up to this last sentence. I know we passed more in the 2nd half than the 1st, but if that damn QB draw wasn't cramming a square peg into a round hole, then I don't know what was.

Absolutely correct. Tried, and failed, way too many times.

[RobertM320]

I was just looking again at the 46 yard pass to Josh Rounds. I'm not so sure that the fault should be with the QB. Rounds slowed down and turned around, then had to reach over his head to catch it. If he keeps running, that pass would have been right on target. Could have been more a matter of not being in sync with the QB than any accuracy issue on Glen's part. It takes time to know how your QB throws.

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=17444624

If Rounds kept running the pass would have been incomplete landing on the sideline. He did what he had to do to make that catch. He didn't twist and turn for the fun of it. Glen did a good job of escaping and getting us a big gain but it sure would have been nice to get the TD.

Go back and look again. He slowed down, and then had to reach over his head. No reason to reach up like that if he's still running. Maybe its more of he slowed down too much and then misjudged it. I didn't mean to imply he should have still been streaking downfield. But its clear he comes to a stop then has to reach up over his head.

[winwave]

I was just looking again at the 46 yard pass to Josh Rounds. I'm not so sure that the fault should be with the QB. Rounds slowed down and turned around, then had to reach over his head to catch it. If he keeps running, that pass would have been right on target. Could have been more a matter of not being in sync with the QB than any accuracy issue on Glen's part. It takes time to know how your QB throws.

http://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=17444624

If Rounds kept running the pass would have been incomplete landing on the sideline. He did what he had to do to make that catch. He didn't twist and turn for the fun of it. Glen did a good job of escaping and getting us a big gain but it sure would have been nice to get the TD.

Go back and look again. He slowed down, and then had to reach over his head. No reason to reach up like that if he's still running. Maybe its more of he slowed down too much and then misjudged it. I didn't mean to imply he should have still been streaking downfield. But its clear he comes to a stop then has to reach up over his head.

The throw was off and he made the necessary adjustment to make the catch.

[NOLABigSteve]

Steve, I have to go back and watch the second half again, but do you think those qb draws were actually called up qb draws? or were they the product of a possible read option and GC just made a half ass attempt to make a read and just took off running? I thought they were closer to the latter than the former? I couldn't tell cause they all ended up being qb draws with WF linemen running full steam and basically untouched at GC?

But Steve, was Coach Ruse calling the QB Draw, or was GC making bad reads. The whole concept of the option implies even the coach doesn't know which of the options will be the proper one until the play is run. Its up to the QB to make the proper read, and I just wonder if Glen froze a few times and just tucked and ran. We did pass more in the second half but if trying to determine how balanced we were, I think you need to throw out those last 8 passes in the final 1:30, along with the last tackle. So its more like 46-19 Closer to 70/30 than 57/43. Now the first half was 24/4, so the second half was 22/15 which is much better.

I know I'm being hard on them, and this was the first game with new players in a new system, but damn I really thought we would be more productive on offense. I hear what y'all are saying, but when the option and draw all begin to blend and the end result appears (to me) to be the same play, then maybe it's time to stop running those plays. Besides Wake Forest shutting the option down, it just appeared to me that GC almost never really ever considered tossing to the pitch man. Coaching and game experience should/better correct these issues... one would hope.

[RobertM320]

I think that's what we all saw - it looked like GC never planned on pitching. I understand ball security, but not to the point of being afraid to pitch, especially since our offense is predicated on being able to run that play.

[GreenPuddleSplash]

I think that's what we all saw - it looked like GC never planned on pitching. I understand ball security, but not to the point of being afraid to pitch, especially since our offense is predicated on being able to run that play.

I agree with you 100% on this. Those plays definitely started blending together and I couldn't make out if it was a designed read option or a qb draw, cause, well, they all ended up being a qb draw. I think it might be a confidence issue with GC and not considering the pitch during those options. I say this because we heard from Fritz all summer long, the person that will win the qb battle is the one who makes the least amount of mistakes, and so GC might have been gun shy due to the fear of making mistakes and you add in the factor of our O-line woes, I can see why GC was extra scared to pitch it. I hope this is a case of the game moving too fast and being a blur for GC, which hopefully will slow down once he gets more live reps.