Tulane primed for bounce back season in 2022

NEW ORLEANS (WVUE) - It’s officially a new chapter of Green Wave football as fall camp begins Uptown.

Head coach Willie Fritz returns 15 players on each side of the ball who have started in at least one Division I game, one of those being quarterback Michael Pratt.

He’s started in 20 games in his two seasons in New Orleans so far.

After battling injuries last year, he’s fully healthy and confident headed into 2022.

“I think that the biggest thing is the way the game slows down from year to year. The first year, you know that’s a big adjustment from high school to college. Going into my second year things started to slow down. So now it’s at the point, where it’s like the little things, like the blitzes all that kinda stuff, you can just pick up a lot faster. It’s just habit at this point. Game slows down and that helps you to be confident,” said Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt.

“He’s played a lot of football games for us. When you start getting into started or played in, 20-25 games, you know it really helps us out. There’s situations or scenarios in games that they’ve seen before. You don’t have to explain it to them over and over again. Practice reps are fantastic but there’s nothing like learning from a game rep,” said head coach Willie Fritz.

The Ponchatoula native was the Green Wave’s top back in the 2021, rushing for 9 touchdowns in 12 games.

Even with those numbers, Spears wasn’t quite himself after returning from an ACL injury he suffered in 2020.

He says he feels even better now.

“I’m kinda getting emotional about it now because of all the work I put in. I don’t normally brag on myself. It’s special to be here now, to keep on elevating. I felt really good there too, yall saw that little jump at the end?”, said Tyjae Spears.

Tulane begins the 2022 campaign in just over four weeks against the University of Massachusetts on September 3rd.

The Green Wave are currently 30-point favorites over the Minutemen.

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