New Orleans — Two seasons ago, Tulane lost to Florida International in the first ever meeting between the two schools. While there are only a handful of guys on this year’s roster who played in that game, there are still things to use from that last match-up in Miami.
“I remember them,” said Tulane junior defensive end Patrick Johnson. “They had a lot of skill guys, a lot of good football players. I remember they had a very experienced quarterback. It’s not the same guys returning but there’s a lot of the same abilities. We can’t overlook them at all. They’re a very good program. They’ve been having a lot of good, winning seasons just like last year, a bowl winning team.”
“They’ve got a lot of things that are the same,” said Tulane Head Coach Willie Fritz. “Coach Davis is still the head coach. They’re running the same style defense, we assume. That’s one thing about the first game– you just don’t know for sure what everybody’s going to do. We’re going to throw a lot of new wrinkles that they haven’t seen before– offense and defense and kicking game. They’ll be doing the same thing so you’ve gotta be prepared for everything and be very flexible in what you’re running.”
Thursday night will be the first look at Will Hall’s new offense, which has been pumped-up by the players and coaches to be very dynamic. So has it all come together through camp the way they’d hoped?
“Oooo man. It most defintely is,” Johnson said. “They’re most definitely. Coach Hall, Justin, Coach Kennedy, all those new guys on that side of the ball, they are working very, very well together and it shows-up at practice every day. I know they have my mind twisting around, making me better as a player myself. So it’s exciting. Everybody’s going to enjoy watching that.”
“Like I said this whole spring and summer and everything, it’s going to be very exciting,” said Tulane senior running back Darius Bradwell. “It’s going to be very different. I think we’re going to put a lot of people in the stands this year.”
