3 Keys to Victory: Tulane vs. Rice
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Tulane 2026 Football Schedule
Opponent | Time/Date | Result | Score | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
at Duke | 2:30PM, 9/5 | L | 17-3 | 0-1 |
Sou Alabama | 6PM, 9/12 | W | 28-24 | 1-1 |
@ K-State | 11AM, 9/19 | L | 31-20 | 1-2 |
Sou Miss | 6PM, 9/26 | W | 24-21 | 2-2 |
OPEN | 10/3 | -- | -- | -- |
@ Army | 11AM, 10/10 | L | 20-17 | 2-3 (0-1) |
Memphis | 6:30PM, 10/16 | W | 31-17 | 3-3 (1-1) |
UTSA | TBD, 10/24 | L | 42-19 | 3-4 (1-2) |
@ Charlotte | 6PM, 10/30 | W | 38-31 OT | 4-4 (2-2) |
Tulsa | 11AM, 11/7 | L | 60-10 | 4-5 (2-3) |
@ Rice | 3:30PM, 11/14 | |||
Nor Texas | TBD, 11/21 | |||
@ Sou Fla | TBD, 11/27 |
Today, the Tulane football team is back on the road to take on the Rice Owls.
All sorts of craziness happened Friday afternoon. As the team's charter was in line to take off for Houston, the FAA cancelled all flights across the United States due to a "communication issue impacting all Air Route Traffic Control Centers." Thus, the team deplaned and headed back to Uptown. The school chartered busses that left the campus at 7:52 p.m. Friday night, meaning they did not arrive in Houston until after 1:00 a.m. today. So, both schools and ESPN+ moved the game back two-and-a-half hours. Kickoff is now set for 3:30 p.m. CT at Rice Stadium in Houston.
The Green Wave come in 4-5 on the season, 2-3 in American Conference play. The Owls are 1-8 for the year and have yet to win a league game in five tries. Rice was an early 2.5-point favorite over the Greenies. Here are our keys to victory.
#Key 1: Block Out the Noise
Not only are these players human, they are kids, 18-to-21 year olds kids. Each one of them has the Internet at their fingertips. So we can guarantee they've all been exposed to the negativity about their team, their coach, their record, that blowout last weekend (and the reaction) at homecoming. It's part of life today.
So to ask kids to do what we as adults have a hard time doing might be asking a little much. However, that is task number one: block out all the crap that is swirling around about your team, your coach, your athletic director, your school. Go out and play like there is no tomorrow. Truth is, win out and you're in a bowl game. That's what needs to be the focus, not some airplane with a banner that encourages firings of higher ups that might buzz the stadium when you get back home.
Key #2: Prove Tulsa Was a Fluke (and Memphis Was Not)
And the way to do that is go back to basics. Coach Will Hall said he will be simplifying things this week. That's good, especially for an ever-shifting offensive front and a still-young defensive line. Get the running game going, let quarterback Trace Johnson (or Dagan Bruno) set up quick slants and outs, let your kickers do their thing, get those defensive backs on those receivers tight. Get basic.
Key #3: Lead by Example
The rest of this season rests on the shoulders of the seniors on this squad. Whether they have been here forever or just transferred in, the men who are playing their last game in Olive Green and Blue are the ones who must step up and show by example how to play from whistle to whistle, down to down, all sixty minutes. It sounds cliché, but these young people need to be shown the way by the seniors.
Quarterback Zeon Chriss-Gremillion may not play another down, but he needs to be a shining example on the sidelines. Linebacker Chris Rodgers might still be hobbling around with that foot injury, but he needs to be in every huddle off the field, giving guidance and support. Wide out Garrett Mmahat may have to put another shoulder on someone, showing how seniors at Tulane do things. The list goes on and on, but these young men are the keys to winning out for the rest of this season. Their leadership will determine whether or not the 2026 version of Tulane football is bowl-bound or not.
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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.