By ADAM P. BARR
apb007@latech.edu
Still unable to play in
“It was a tale of two halves,” Tulane head coach, Chris Scelfo, said.
Quarterback Lester Ricard was
12 of 32 for 117 yards and two touchdowns while Houston’s Kevin Kolb was 11 of
22 for 192 yards for this Conference USA game.
Houston took the lead early when Ryan Gilbert got a
40-yard pass from Kolb, making it 7-0 in the first quarter.
Answering 10 minutes later, Ricard
connected with Preston Brown on a 13-yard pass play to tie the game 7-7.
Tulane defense kept the game tied until the third quarter
when Houston scored 21 points, with Ryan Gilbert rushing for two touchdowns.
Tulane’s senior linebacker Anthony Cannon said, “In the
second half of the game we definitely could have tackled better.”
“We really came out flatfooted, everyone else was just
waiting for someone else to make the play,” Cannon said.
Scelfo said there were a lot of
missed opportunities on offense that they did not execute.
“This put our defense in bad situations,” Scelfo said.
Scelfo said there were a lot of
missed tackles on the defense as well.
“I was disappointed in the defense; one thing we have is
a lot of pride in our defense, and it didn’t show up in the second half,” Scelfo said.
“When your strength lets you down like that, it means you
have a long night ahead.”
Tulane’s last drive of the game, which was encouraging, Scelfo said, ended in a touchdown, making the final score
35-14.
Friday, Tulane will be hosting the University of Texas-El
Paso at Joe Aillet Stadium with kickoff set for 7
p.m.
Scelfo said, “I really want to
get this out: Tech, Grambling and ULM students are all invited to the game and
the entrance is free with a student ID.”
“We will be giving T-shirts out at the gate,” Scelfo said.
Friday’s game will be nationally televised by the largest
ESPN television crew ever to come to Tech’s campus.
“I can’t ask for a better setting,” Scelfo
said.
Scelfo said the preseason
favorites are not real fancy; they are real disciplined.
“They had an open week last week and we’re coming off a
short one, but we’ve overcome a lot more than this,” Scelfo
said.
Scelfo said UTEP has a strong
offense with tall receivers and a good running back.
“Defensively, they don’t do anything special there, they
just line up and whoop you,” Scelfo said.
“They’re a good football team, but so are we.
“Our players are very excited about the home game.
“I’m only going to have to drive for 15 minutes versus
five and a half hours to get home.
“It’s a big emotional boost for me,” Scelfo
said.
Cannon said it is only a ten minute walk from their dorm
to the field house.
Cannon said, “That’s big because we’ve been traveling
every week for five or six hours, we’re all excited to play as close to home as
possible.”