Tulane Press Conference Analysis (9/6/11)

By John Owens, The Tulane Hullabaloo

It can be hard to gauge exactly what to expect in the coming week from coaches. In the case of Coach Toledo this week, that was not the case. It seems that he realizes how daunting of a challenge the Tulsa game will present the Green Wave this week. And it will be daunting, Tulsa is a very fast, potent team. The overall feeling is that Tulane will probably lose this week. While this is a blunt analysis, there was no chest beating in the press conference this week, but rather a lot of caution, and 'wait and see.'

Toledo mentions that the week will be an indicator of how far this team has come. They are undoubtedly better, but a number of key players are hurt, so actually getting an indication of the progress they've made will be difficult. The safety corps is decimated, and that fact was evident during the Southeastern game. If players don't step up, the defense could be in for a long day, which Toledo recognizes.

More importantly, he recognizes that the offense needs to help the defense. They'll do this by running a slower pace and eating up clock by establishing the run. This will give Kinne and Co. from Tulsa fewer opportunities to burn Tulane deep. Toledo also mentions that the defense will have to put pressure on Kinne. Seven sacks against Southeastern definitely shows that they can, but it will be interesting to see if that level of pressure can be maintained against Tulsa, a vastly superior team.

Toledo was raving about special teams. Rightfully so, as this proved to be undoubtedly the most effective unit for Tulane. Certainly the offense was strong against Southeastern, but the performance of Freshman Robert Kelly in the return game really allowed the offense to shine. He'll have to have another strong performance, so that Tulane's offense won't have to work as hard to keep pace with Tulsa on the scoreboard.

The overall impression is that Toledo knows that getting a win this week will be an uphill battle, but it's one that Tulane is in a better position to handle than in previous years.

The full transcript can be found here:http://www.tulanegreenwave.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/090611aaa.html