Photo by: Parker Waters
MEET THE PRESS: Fritz Previews Ohio State at Weekly News Conference
Sep 18, 2018 | Football
Listed below is the complete transcript from Green Wave head coach Willie Fritz's weekly press conference leading up to Tulane's matchup with Ohio State on Saturday.
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Opening statement:
"First of all, I appreciate everybody coming out today. I sound like a broken record at this point. Close, but didn't get it done. Started out poorly, dug ourselves a hole, came back and had an opportunity to win it and just didn't quite get it done. I was talking to the guys today, and we're a couple plays from being 3-0 and feeling really good about ourselves. But that's not the reality. Reality right now is we're 1-2, playing a great football team this weekend at their place, so we've got to focus in on the job at hand here with Ohio State."
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On quarterback's completion percentage being low and making adjustments to improve it:
"Well you know the tough part is everybody's got a hand in it. There's some times we're providing really good protection and there's some times we're not. And it's not just the offensive line. Sometimes we have the tight ends in protection, the running backs. Everybody's got to be firm in their protection, certainly when we're doing a seven-man protection we ought to be in pretty shape. An eight-man protection sometimes you've got to have really good protection. Sometimes we're not accurate throwing the ball, sometimes we're getting flushed out and sometimes there's not pressure. For us, we've got to run the ball effectively, and when we do that they can't pin their ears back and come after you. You've got to play gaps a little more lateral, and we didn't run the ball effectively enough throughout the game to make them do that."
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On whether it's a challenge to keep this week's game prep the same despite the opponent and location:
"I don't think so. I think the main thing is we've just got to worry about us. As I said, I told the guys after practice if we're 3-0 right now I wouldn't have to motivate anybody. Right now, we're having to push the right buttons. And that's with a few guys, not all of them. There's some guys ready to go every single day. You interviewed a couple of them here in the last few minutes. We've got to turn the page. You've got to do that during the season, and that's something that's very important you've got to do during a football year. You've got to move on. You heard me say it last week, I say it all the time: You sit and you celebrate on your past successes, you're not fully concentrated on the next opponent. You sit there and you feel bad about an outcome, you're not fully concentrating on the next opponent. So that's what I'm wanting to do."
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On Ohio State's crowd:
"We always play at least a couple of these games when I was coaching at Sam Houston each year. Our guys seemed to really enjoy it and like it. I'm sure our guys will enjoy the atmosphere. Heck, I'm looking forward to it. It's a big venue, you always hear a lot about playing in The Horseshoe. You've got to soak it in for a little bit, and then it's over and you play between the white lines."
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On piping in music in practice:
"We do it every week. We kind of did some crowd noise today, and we'll crank it up a little bit more just to have the guys concentrating on communication and hand gestures and all those kind of things."
On the return of Urban Meyer having a bearing on Ohio State's play:
"No idea. None of my business."
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On run/pass ratio:
"You know, we'd like to be somewhere around 60-40 run to pass, 50-50 run to pass. Sometimes a game doesn't allow you to do that, and they took away a lot of things last week. We had a tough time getting off the line of scrimmage sometimes, some of our routes, and then being one guy short in blocking. If they're packing the box, there's not very many teams out there who are still good enough to run the football. You've got to be able to throw the football. If they're sitting back playing zone, they're rushing three, you've got to be able to run. You've got to do a good job being able to do both. There's very few teams who can do one or the other exclusively."
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On the running game being further ahead when teams pack the box:
"You know, after last week, no. We've got to do a good job of being able to get bodies on bodies. When they draw up the defense, there's one extra guy there. You've got to make somebody miss or get somebody out of position by what you're doing as far as the action in the backfield or the quarterbacks or whatever. Some of our best plays this year have been when they just didn't fit it right. That's something that happened last week. A counter sweep, and they're pulling two guys and they're kicking a guy out and bringing a guy around, and we didn't fit it up right. It provides two more gaps you've got to defend. Sometimes you've just got to fit it up right. Sometimes it allows for us to have big plays offensively and it allowed big plays for them offensively last week because we didn't fit it up right."
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On talking to QB Jonathan Banks to improve his confidence after fumbles:
"We talked an awful lot about that last week, and he knows. When he gets into pressure situations, if he's going to run it he's got to be decisive. When he does that, he really does a good job running the football. There's times when they've got you, and it's 'live to fight another day and get down and don't try to keep the ball out wide and sling it.' We talked about it a little bit the other day after the game. It's fourth-and-7 and right on the edge of going for it for us analytically. We went for it. But if we throw it away or we take the sack, we see if they can drive down the field. He's made some big plays doing that. You've just got to cut your losses some times. We've got to do a better job."
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On if he would like to see Banks tuck and run more in those situations:
"Yeah I think sometimes if it doesn't look good, find an opening and go. When he takes off running, that's a good run play for us. He runs with a lot of power and has a good change of direction. He crosses a lot of people and makes them lose leverage. It doesn't hurt us when he does that at all."
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On receivers beating press coverage:
"You've got to do it. They were really letting them play out in the perimeter, and they're going to let them play out on the perimeter this week, too. So we've got to be able to do it. If they're playing man-to-man, you've got to be able to beat your opponent. And particularly to have a chance to throw the route, you've got to beat press pretty quick."
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On Banks' hesitance to tuck and run:
"Those plays are not scripted. They happen. Sometimes you overcoach and say, 'hey let the route develop.' If he holds onto the ball a little longer he might see an opening. They're plays you have to react to very quickly. But you can't live and die on that. That something that happens two, three times a game and late in the ball game he did a good job a couple times taking off and making plays for us. It's like I've said many times before, with the quarterback it's too much blame and too much credit when things don't go right offensively."
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Opening statement:
"First of all, I appreciate everybody coming out today. I sound like a broken record at this point. Close, but didn't get it done. Started out poorly, dug ourselves a hole, came back and had an opportunity to win it and just didn't quite get it done. I was talking to the guys today, and we're a couple plays from being 3-0 and feeling really good about ourselves. But that's not the reality. Reality right now is we're 1-2, playing a great football team this weekend at their place, so we've got to focus in on the job at hand here with Ohio State."
Â
On quarterback's completion percentage being low and making adjustments to improve it:
"Well you know the tough part is everybody's got a hand in it. There's some times we're providing really good protection and there's some times we're not. And it's not just the offensive line. Sometimes we have the tight ends in protection, the running backs. Everybody's got to be firm in their protection, certainly when we're doing a seven-man protection we ought to be in pretty shape. An eight-man protection sometimes you've got to have really good protection. Sometimes we're not accurate throwing the ball, sometimes we're getting flushed out and sometimes there's not pressure. For us, we've got to run the ball effectively, and when we do that they can't pin their ears back and come after you. You've got to play gaps a little more lateral, and we didn't run the ball effectively enough throughout the game to make them do that."
Â
On whether it's a challenge to keep this week's game prep the same despite the opponent and location:
"I don't think so. I think the main thing is we've just got to worry about us. As I said, I told the guys after practice if we're 3-0 right now I wouldn't have to motivate anybody. Right now, we're having to push the right buttons. And that's with a few guys, not all of them. There's some guys ready to go every single day. You interviewed a couple of them here in the last few minutes. We've got to turn the page. You've got to do that during the season, and that's something that's very important you've got to do during a football year. You've got to move on. You heard me say it last week, I say it all the time: You sit and you celebrate on your past successes, you're not fully concentrated on the next opponent. You sit there and you feel bad about an outcome, you're not fully concentrating on the next opponent. So that's what I'm wanting to do."
Â
On Ohio State's crowd:
"We always play at least a couple of these games when I was coaching at Sam Houston each year. Our guys seemed to really enjoy it and like it. I'm sure our guys will enjoy the atmosphere. Heck, I'm looking forward to it. It's a big venue, you always hear a lot about playing in The Horseshoe. You've got to soak it in for a little bit, and then it's over and you play between the white lines."
Â
On piping in music in practice:
"We do it every week. We kind of did some crowd noise today, and we'll crank it up a little bit more just to have the guys concentrating on communication and hand gestures and all those kind of things."
On the return of Urban Meyer having a bearing on Ohio State's play:
"No idea. None of my business."
Â
On run/pass ratio:
"You know, we'd like to be somewhere around 60-40 run to pass, 50-50 run to pass. Sometimes a game doesn't allow you to do that, and they took away a lot of things last week. We had a tough time getting off the line of scrimmage sometimes, some of our routes, and then being one guy short in blocking. If they're packing the box, there's not very many teams out there who are still good enough to run the football. You've got to be able to throw the football. If they're sitting back playing zone, they're rushing three, you've got to be able to run. You've got to do a good job being able to do both. There's very few teams who can do one or the other exclusively."
Â
On the running game being further ahead when teams pack the box:
"You know, after last week, no. We've got to do a good job of being able to get bodies on bodies. When they draw up the defense, there's one extra guy there. You've got to make somebody miss or get somebody out of position by what you're doing as far as the action in the backfield or the quarterbacks or whatever. Some of our best plays this year have been when they just didn't fit it right. That's something that happened last week. A counter sweep, and they're pulling two guys and they're kicking a guy out and bringing a guy around, and we didn't fit it up right. It provides two more gaps you've got to defend. Sometimes you've just got to fit it up right. Sometimes it allows for us to have big plays offensively and it allowed big plays for them offensively last week because we didn't fit it up right."
Â
On talking to QB Jonathan Banks to improve his confidence after fumbles:
"We talked an awful lot about that last week, and he knows. When he gets into pressure situations, if he's going to run it he's got to be decisive. When he does that, he really does a good job running the football. There's times when they've got you, and it's 'live to fight another day and get down and don't try to keep the ball out wide and sling it.' We talked about it a little bit the other day after the game. It's fourth-and-7 and right on the edge of going for it for us analytically. We went for it. But if we throw it away or we take the sack, we see if they can drive down the field. He's made some big plays doing that. You've just got to cut your losses some times. We've got to do a better job."
Â
On if he would like to see Banks tuck and run more in those situations:
"Yeah I think sometimes if it doesn't look good, find an opening and go. When he takes off running, that's a good run play for us. He runs with a lot of power and has a good change of direction. He crosses a lot of people and makes them lose leverage. It doesn't hurt us when he does that at all."
Â
On receivers beating press coverage:
"You've got to do it. They were really letting them play out in the perimeter, and they're going to let them play out on the perimeter this week, too. So we've got to be able to do it. If they're playing man-to-man, you've got to be able to beat your opponent. And particularly to have a chance to throw the route, you've got to beat press pretty quick."
Â
On Banks' hesitance to tuck and run:
"Those plays are not scripted. They happen. Sometimes you overcoach and say, 'hey let the route develop.' If he holds onto the ball a little longer he might see an opening. They're plays you have to react to very quickly. But you can't live and die on that. That something that happens two, three times a game and late in the ball game he did a good job a couple times taking off and making plays for us. It's like I've said many times before, with the quarterback it's too much blame and too much credit when things don't go right offensively."
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Players Mentioned
QB
/ FootballTulane Tuesday: S Jack Tchienchou - 9/9/25
Tuesday, September 09
Tulane Tuesday: QB Jake Retzlaff - 9/9/25
Tuesday, September 09
Tulane Tuesday: HC Jon Sumrall - 9/9/25
Tuesday, September 09
South Alabama Postgame: HC Jon Sumrall, SPEAR Javion White, RB Zuberi Mobley
Sunday, September 07
