Quarterback Justin McMillan understood exactly where offensive coordinator Will Hall was coming from last week when he labeled Tulanes performance against Auburn humiliating.

McMillan, who went 10 of 33 passing against the Tigers, agreed.

Me and coach Hall talked on the phone a little bit that next day (after Tulanes 24-6 loss to Auburn), he said. I was sick to my stomach myself, so we had the same mindset. Having a guy like that as a leader for us on this offense, I'd run through a brick wall for him.

McMillan encountered much less resistance on Saturday night against Missouri State, rushing nine times for 49 yards and two scores while completing 13 of 16 passes for 122 yards and another touchdown before sitting out the entire second half of the Green Waves 58-6 romp. He will need to be similarly sharp Thursday when Tulane (2-1) opens American Athletic Conference play with a big game against Houston (1-2) at Yulman Stadium on ESPN.

He says Halls passion is driving him.

This is fun for him, McMillan said. This is his life, so when he says (critical) stuff like that, I don't take it as a joke, so I'm going to work my butt off for him in that situation. I feel like the offense all took in on the chin (against Auburn). Were not going to have games like that again just for the fact that coach Hall won't allow us to.

In his rant, Hall criticized his own play-calling, emphasized the offense had plenty of talent and added he would remember the disappointment from the Auburn game for the rest of his life.

After the bounce-back outing against Missouri State, McMillan pointed out the offense was still a work in progress, saying growing pains were inevitable. Hall began coaching his system in spring practice and now has a body of work of three games at Tulane.

Having failed to connect of a multiple vertical routes at Auburn, Tulane hit Missouri States soft coverage with plenty of quick-hitting passes.

We got back to our base offense and pretty much our bread and butter and tried to work that a lot more and get an identity for this team and keep working in that direction, McMillan said. At the end of the day this is still a new offense with a lot of young players. This offense is a nonstop progress for us, and we hope to continue to grow.

McMillan improved to 7-2 as a Tulane starter, and he will get the chance to atone for his other loss against Houston. He threw two interceptions in the second quarter against the Cougars last November as a battle for first place in the AAC West spiraled into a lopsided, 48-17 defeat.

Almost nothing is the same 10 months later. Houston (1-2) is 0-4 against rugged FBS competition since then, losing 52-31 to Memphis and 70-14 to Army in the Armed Forces Bowl last season and to Oklahoma 49-31 and Washington State 31-24 this year (with a win against Prairie View in between).

Tulane has a new offensive coordinator in Hall, and McMillan has been in the program for more than a year rather than three months.

Of course its going to be a different result as far as our effort and our ability to make plays, McMillan said. Like coach (Willie) Fritz said, we have better players. No crack on the guys in the past, but we have a better team this year.

Missouri State provided no real competition, but Tulane improved in one huge area of emphasis, getting only four penalties after racking up 23 through its first two games.

That was much better, Fritz said. We could have gotten away with (penalties) in this game, but we just want to be one of those teams that plays disciplined all the time. We certainly need to do that Thursday evening.

The Wave should be fresh for that game even off a short week. Almost none of the starters played in the second half of a stress-free night against Missouri State, maybe giving them a slight advantage on Houstons front-line guys, who played all the way Friday night against Washington State.

"It was good that we could get up off our feet early and be able to rest, wide receiver Darnell Mooney said. They (Houston) played yesterday, so they are a day ahead of us.

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Tulane QB Justin McMillan: Will Hall's offense a work in progress but improving rapidly - NOLA.com