Tulane head coach Willie Fritz looks ahead to Top-25 matchup with Rebels: ‘Ole Miss is a very strong team’
Tulane head football coach Willie Fritz held his weekly press conference Tuesday and discussed the Green Wave’s win Saturday and their upcoming game against No. 20 Ole Miss.
“(Ole Miss is) a big ballgame for us. Our deal is we want to win every week. We want to be 1-0 every week. It’s going to be a tremendous challenge. We’re going to have to play better than we did last week,” Fritz said.
Tulane, ranked No. 24 in the AP Top 25, is coming off a 37-17 win over South Alabama — and AAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for quarterback Michael Pratt.
QB Michael Pratt is in the discussion to be a top 5 QB in the 2024 draft.
He always keeps his cool in the pocket since Freshman year.
A great scan of the field with multiple reads.
Quick decision-making under pressure.
Great touch and NFL arm power.This is a Sunday play ! pic.twitter.com/I52ovc7XxX
— Valentin (@ScoutValentin) September 6, 2023
Pratt went 14-of-15 in the game for 294 yards with four touchdowns.
“Michael played really well. Conference player of the week,” Fritz said. “I thought towards the end of the ballgame we ran the ball well. Did a good job with the offensive line, got a good push. I thought defensively we were very opportunistic. We had five takeaways which is outstanding. Didn’t give up very many big plays. I think we had one play (we gave up) over 20 yards defensively,” Fritz added on his team’s performance last weekend.
Coach Fritz soon turned his attention to his team’s next opponents, head coach Lane Kiffin’s Rebels.
“Obviously we have a tough ball game this weekend. We’ve got a sellout here at Yulman Stadium. Ole Miss is a very strong team. They’re big, tall, long and fast. They really, really took care of business last Saturday. We’re going to have to play a lot better than we did last Saturday.”
Tulane head coach Willie Fritz on playing Ole Miss
Although Pratt was visibly limping during and after the Green Wave win Saturday, Coach Fritz said Tuesday that his quarterback is “fine.” The Green Wave will, however, be without their star linebacker Saturday.
“Unfortunately, Corey Platt is going to be out this weekend,” Fritz noted. Platt tallied 15 tackles for Tulane Saturday.
Fritz on Dart and Rebel offense
Coach Fritz was asked his thoughts on Ole Miss quarterback Jaxson Dart and the offense.
“(Dart) can run really well too,” Fritz commented. “At one point in time, people would consider that style of offense to be a passing offense. I think they were third in the nation last year rushing the ball. They really run the ball effectively, and the quarterback is a big part of that. And then, he throws it great, too. A lot of experienced guys back there. Their second team guy (Spencer Sanders) is one of the top quarterbacks in the history of Oklahoma State. The third team guy (Walker Howard) is a really player good too. They’ve got some excellent depth there,” Fritz continued.
With Louisiana Tech transfer Tre Harris setting an Ole Miss school record for most touchdown receptions in a game (4), Fritz knows how important it will be to try and contain the Rebel wide receiver and his offense.
Tre Harris, AGAIN!
3 catches, 86 yards, 3 TDs in just 3:20 of game clock! 🤯🤯 pic.twitter.com/4EV2VM1fun
— Cam Mellor (@CamMellor) September 2, 2023
“The one thing that you want to try to do is stay over the top,” Fritz said about guarding Harris.
“There’s three types of leverage — over the top, outside and inside out. The most important one is over the top leverage. We have to do a good job of playing with leverage, tackling. They’re going to run the ball at us a bunch. Make them earn their yards throwing the ball — easier said than done.”
Willie Fritz on defending the Ole Miss offense
Not looking back
Two years ago, Coach Fritz brought his Tulane team to Vaught-Hemingway where they were pounded, 61-21, by a Matt-Corral-led Ole Miss team.
The Green Wave coach was asked about that game and what the differences are in this year’s matchup.
“I thought we had a tough time lining up with the tempo. We’ve worked on that a bunch. So that’s probably one thing. There’s a lot of differences (between now and then). There’s a new play caller on offense (Charlie Weis, Jr.), their head coach’s scheme, a new play caller and a new defensive coordinator (Pete Golding) and on special teams. It’s a lot of different philosophies they’re doing right now. People on the other sides are calling things, and you’ve got to look where they were last year and before that.”
Coach Willie Fritz
One thing that is definitely different in this year’s contest is the Green Wave enters the game against Ole Miss Saturday as the reigning Cotton Bowl Champions.
No. 16 Tulane beat No. 10 USC and Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams, 46-45, on a touchdown with nine seconds remaining to get the victory back on January 2. That was the Green Wave’s first lead of the game.
Kickoff for Saturday’s game in New Orleans is set for 2:30 p.m. CT and will be broadcast on ESPN2.
Evelyn Van Pelt
Evelyn has covered sports for over two decades, beginning her journalism career as a sports writer for a newspaper in Austin, Texas. She attended Texas A&M and majored in English. Evelyn’s love for Ole Miss began when her daughter Katie attended the university on a volleyball scholarship. Evelyn created the Rebel Walk in 2013 and has served as publisher and managing editor since its inception.
