Chris Klieman postgame Tulane Press Conference | 09.07.24

um great resolve by our guys uh I think two Lane's a really good football team uh they had a really good plan uh I thought they executed the plan really well in the first half they had us on our heels hit a lot of what we call Dober or over routes off of vertical uh looks that we kind of knew were coming we just didn't cover them and and we've got to Shore that up uh or people are going to continue to expose it so that was a really a poor on defense we'll get that fixed um offens I thought in the second half we played much much better um didn't help on offense the first half we couldn't get off the field on defense I challenge the guys at halftime not not upset or anything I just said we can play better we can play better on both sides and uh Maris seagull Avery uh Hadley Austin Moore some of the older guys and captains they stepped up and and that was player L and I told the guys at the end of the game that was a culture win um discipline toughness uh commitment to be selfless and that's what that was today and we've did a good two-lane team dang good two-lane team on the road so happy to escape with wind what went so right for you guys those big defensive plays we got after the quarterback a lot more and that was one of the things we talked about in some of the big zones we were playing they were Max protecting and clearing our safety out and bringing somebody back underneath and we just weren't getting there so we brought more people we had to um we knew we were going to maybe give up a play uh here or there um but um we had to bring pressure and uh hey we were had to play tight man coverage the one play in the third quarter that that we didn't like was the third and long and we were in a big Zone coverage and the kid out all day and he completes a third and 20 something and then after that I know Joe's like heck with it we have to pressure these guys and if the quarterback beats us he beats us they did a great job on that last series um slipping the running back back out after he protected and U uh I said Joe keep bringing it you got to keep bringing it because um we we had to be able to keep getting hits on after the big play on the third and 20 you seem to have an extended conversation with the Reps what was that about it was an operational air in my opinion they they said they'd look at it um with a substitution that somebody ran on and so that should allow us to substitute with 8 seconds left they didn't see it so they didn't see it and and that's the explanation and and I got to live with that EXP ation uh uh regardless of how that went we can't give up a third and 20 um that that that just can't happen and it did you had some remarks about the offensive line how you assess to what they um it's a work in progress we we've got to continue to be better it helps to have a really mobile guy back there that can elude some pressure and and he did that um we got to shore up some things with people running stunts and stuff um we got better I think in the second half we had kids open we had guys open and sometimes we just didn't have time to throw it and so we've got to we've got to continue CU I kind of thought we were going to be a little bit of a work in progress on offense as the year went what happened today that didn't happen last week and one of them was special teams is we didn't turn the football over and we got two huge turnovers from them and in a in a close ball game on the road Austin rain maybe got the strip Jack fers picks it up and scores that was the game changer and then VJ intercepting the pass I didn't see the pass interference um but thankfully they called it and that gave us a new life we brought pressure they threw a couple out of the end zone where Jacob had really good coverage and then VJ makes the pick um but uh you know we we found a way to get out of here Dylan Edwards made a lot happen with the carries he had today you see his by stat line do you think may get a little bit more I don't think about that when it's a 20 to 20 and 27 27 game I'm trying to find different ways to try to win the game uh I was excited to see what what he did uh with the limited carries um and you know he has 13 yards of carry DJ had six yards carry we can run the football we just have to continue to let set up our pass game now we did hit a couple of shots the one to Keegan was huge after they they went up by by seven that was huge to get that on first down ay threw a great ball and Keegan made a great play after two games what do you think of your guys' the sequence sequence and com to calling place I got to keep looking at it obviously we're 2 and 0 so um we're able to win and still make Corrections and this is going to be a fast week of corrections as as you guys know because we plan a short week uh we've got to take care of the guys um I I told the players we have to coach better all of us me included we have to coach coach better and they have to allow us to coaching better and we didn't have the best week of practice in my opinion from an execution standpoint and that showed up in the first half but that's why I say our culture won in the fact that it's hard to overcome a poor week of practice in my mind from an execution not energy and all that other stuff execution but we did because of the guys that have been in the program for as long as they have to say you know what we got to step up and make some plays so I'm I'm happy with the win we still got to make some corrections both sides another slow Offensive start same thing we just got to we got to keep making Corrections and we've got to see what our identity is bit I mean that's what we're trying to figure out what our identity is from a from a run game and from a pass game and um you know it's not getting late it's SE I told you guys it's September 7th I don't want to have any um panic but we've got to do some things and figure out what we're going to be on both sides of the ball really are we going to be a big Zone team like we've been in the past or are we going to be a man pressure team are we going to be a play action team an RPO team we goingon to be a gap scheme Zone scheme there's a lot of things we've got to get figured out um unfortunately we've got it figure it out by Friday night how did DJ get this overall performance run get into how productive he's been for you guys you know going back to last season kid was turn today um that play where he scored the touchdown it was supposed to be a bubble to him and that's the experience of DJ and the patience of Avery of letting them say okay it's not there that was that a fourth down play yeah and he just continued on and extended the play and Avery did a great job extending the play that's fun to see for me because it was the play broke down and both those two kids responded an older kid and a young guy made some big time play made a big time play there um and so DJ is just a great football player you say this is a culture man how good the sign is that that the guys are steing up um I think you got to keep reminding of what wins games a lot of times is guys sticking together um I don't know what our what our penalties were we had eight for 65 that's a little bit too many um but we didn't turn the football over culture is is holding each other accountable and one of our Awards we gave to Avery and Avery gave it to Maris seagull because Maris seagull challenged Avery and challenged his leadership that's awesome to see um because we have kids that are that are holding each other to the standard that they expect that's a culture you mentioned the scoop and score with Roma and back was that really the turning point of the game absolutely it was you know cuz they were driving and we needed to make a turnover we hadn't created one the whole season and what a better time to have it happen and and you know Jack brers as a red shirt freshman hasn't played a lot a lot of kids would dive on that and Jack because he's a coach's kid smart enough to pick it up and score and that was huge that was a turning point and then obviously they had a chance to come back I was disappointed we didn't get a first down or two and take more time off the clock they stuffed us and then you know they had a nice drive but we hung in there and BJ made the big pick