Tulane Green Wave College Football Pregame Quote, 12/29/2022

What has Kurt Hester meant to this program for you guys this year?

QB MICHAEL PRATT: I think the intensity he brings. Every day he’s super consistent. Since he first got here, he’s done really good things within the team, you know, especially the event we had over the summer. It was really cool, just like a team bonding thing, pushing everybody to their limits. Like I said, he was just super consistent every day. Brings the energy. Gets everybody going.

That event was off the charts, to see the buy-in, the way he was –

QB MICHAEL PRATT: Oh, yeah, absolutely, just implementing the culture and every single day 110 percent. He’s been a part of that.

It’s been a good season to finish it off here.

QB MICHAEL PRATT: Super important. I think, you know, we’ve done a lot and made some real history at Tulane over the season that we’ve had. But it means the world to us to be able to come in here and finish this off and get a win at the Cotton Bowl.

Obviously, you’re here, there’s a lot of rumors about transfer portal. I’ve got to ask, how tempting was it knowing there are so many people interested in having you there? How tempting was it?

QB MICHAEL PRATT: I think when you have success, opportunities present themselves, but I wouldn’t say it was super tempting because this is my squad. These are my guys. The coaches that recruited me into the culture and everything, Coach [Willie] Fritz. Obviously, coming back, being here next year is huge for us. The work we’ve done so far is a huge interest for everybody, buying back in, doing well in the transfer portal. We’ve got a lot of guys coming in. A lot of guys are going to accept up, some younger guys. So it was a pretty easy decision to stay.

How important is it to this program? Obviously, last year was disappointing, and I know there’s a lot to what happened last year. How important for what Coach [Willie] Fritz was doing this year for this season to happen?

QB MICHAEL PRATT: It’s been super important. My first year here, we were 6-6. My second year, we went 2-10. And now this year we’re sitting at 11-2. So kind of just seeing, you know, every different aspect of success and knowing what it takes to be successful and seeing the steps everybody has made to get to this point.

What can you say about Tyjae Spears and what it means and the development you’ve seen getting ready for the next level?

QB MICHAEL PRATT: He’s an awesome dude. The best thing about him is his work ethic. He comes to practice every single day going 110 percent. His attitude and effort every day, he’s super consistent. There’s never a day that he’s not the same guy, which I think is huge in any team sport you play. He’s an example to the young guys. He inspires me every day, pushes me harder. And, obviously, you guys see what he does on the field. He’s a huge asset to the team on and off the field. And, you know, whatever team is going to get him is going to be really lucky.

Where did you see him kind of break through the season, you guys rotating a little more? When did you kind of see him kind of break through and realize?

QB MICHAEL PRATT: Beginning to mid season, I think is when he got a lot of his confidence back. You know, obviously, in this game we play of football, it’s all about confidence. And having success and continuing to build on that every single week. You’ve seen what he has done, and he’s just continued to get better week by week. So I would say closer to mid season is when he really, really started to break out and be a huge difference maker.

You guys are used to stadiums. What do you see the difference in what you’ve been in this building so far that you’ve had to adjust to?

QB MICHAEL PRATT: I think just kind of the lighting for the receivers. I think being able to practice here for the five days that we have to practice is huge. I think that’s the only adjustment for those guys.

You’ve been really good at taking care of the ball all year long, and USC has been really good at taking the ball away. It’s a huge emphasis every week. Has that been emphasized a little more with this opponent?

QB MICHAEL PRATT: We emphasize that every day, ball security and whatnot. In terms of interceptions, I think ‚Ķ Coach Bone and those guys put us in really good positions. They don’t try to overcoach things. That’s something I’ve said all year. So it makes it easy. Progression one, two, three, four, tuck and run or throw the ball away. I think turnovers or takeaway is going to be a huge margin.

Is there anything in particular they’ve done to cause so many turnovers?

QB MICHAEL PRATT: I think a good job on pressure on the quarterback. Play their safeties deep and their guy 7 [Moss Miller] has good rake and can play the field really well. I think so many coverages that we play, being able to get pressure on the quarterback and put the quarterback in bad situations is what’s led to those.

Early on in the year you went on the road and played Kansas State. You didn’t play lights out in the game and still won in a tough environment. How much did that mean?

QB MICHAEL PRATT: It gave us a lot of confidence, being on the road, being in a big environment. It was loud. A lot of people there. Being able to go in that game, I don’t think we had our best performance at all. Their defense played lights out for sure, but I think there’s a lot of things to improve on the offensive side of the ball. Being able to be in these situations and come out with a win is huge for us.

You guys believed going into the year, but what gave you evidence on the field that you could?

QB MICHAEL PRATT: Oh, yeah, no doubt. I think those first two games, we did well. We executed what we needed to do. Kansas State was our first big opponent, and going into that game and coming away with it gave us a huge boost on into the rest of the season of we can win every game we play.

I don’t think many people knew exactly what Tulane is going to be or Kansas State. Four weeks ago Kansas State won the championship in the same building. What do you think of yourself, the best improvement for this year?

QB MICHAEL PRATT: I think definitely taking care of the football, you know, quickening up my progressions, seeing the field. Every year, you know, the game kind of slows down as a quarterback. Obviously, my first year everything was pretty fast coming out of high school. Year 2 was a little bit slower.

But at this point it’s knowing the offense, knowing what the coaches are looking for, communication with the offensive line and knowing what they’re going to do. Run being hot, blitzes they’re bringing, all those things. And knowing ‚Äì I wouldn’t say knowing, but having a pretty good idea what I’m going to do with the ball pre-snap. Film studies is huge on that and knowing what the defense is going to do. Kind of being able to eliminate some things from the progression based on what the defense is doing, being able to quicken up those reads.