Three Keys for a TU Victory over TU
With the possibility of making their fifth straight American Conference championship game this year still not completely out of reach (they'd need a lot help along the way to get there), the Tulane football team has made every game from here on out a must win situation. Standing 4-4 on the year, 2-2 in league play, the Green Wave entertain Tulsa this morning at Yulman Stadium. The Golden Hurricane are also 4-4 on the season, but 1-3 in the American. Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.m. CT.
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If the Wave want even the slightest possibility of remaining in the hunt for five in a row in the trophy game, here is what we believe Tulane must do to top the favored Hurricane.
Key #1: Run the Ball REALLY Well
Though this Tulsa defense is good, they are below the middle of the defensive pack in the American. They can just as easily give up a big run as much as a big pass. However, the key for this Tulane offense is to do something all game long they've only been able to do in spurts: run the ball, and run it really well.
The Wave has the stable of running backs to do it, and this young offensive line seems to be jelling. Use Johnnie Daniels, Mo Turner, Jaylin Lucas, DJ Dugar, and throw in a healthy dose of a healthy Jamauri McClure. Then your freshman quarterback can pick apart this Golden Hurricane defense.
Key #2: Play Defense the Way You Did in the 2nd Half vs Charlotte
The second half of the Charlotte game was, without a doubt, the best 30-minutes of football this Tulane team has put together this year. And it all started with the defense.
After giving up 24-points in the first half, the Wave D gave up only a touchdown in the final periods of play, stopping the 49er run game, covering receivers like a blanket of wumbo snow, and harassing the Charlotte quarterback into hurries and sacks.
That kind of effort needs to be stretched across an entire game for this team to continue to grow.
#3: Take Care of (and Take Away) the Ball
No one has recovered more fumbles in the American than Tulsa. They're averaging one-per-game. Add to that their 7-interceptions, and you have a turnover producing machine. As coach Will Hall and his coaches have reminded the team since the Spring: Rub the nipple, which means to hold the football against your chest tightly, so much so that you can feel the ball through your pads.
On the other side of the ball, the Tulane defense did not claim one turnover last week. That's after producing nine the previous two games. The Wave needs to make sure the turnover margin is in their favor to win this game.
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Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.