Key(s) to Victory for Tulane vs Texas-San Antonio
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Tonight, the Tulane Green Wave put their unbeaten American Conference mark on the line against another unbeaten mark that belongs to the team they will be playing, the University of Texas-San Antonio. The Wave are unbeaten in their three league games this year, coming in at 6-1 overall, 3-0 in the American. UTSA has a 3-4 record on the year, 1-2 in the conference, but that's not the record people are pointing to when talking about the Road Runners.
As has been talked about (for some, ad nauseum), Texas-San Antonio hasn't lost a conference game in their home, the Alamodome, in five years. Twenty-three straight games for UTSA since they've lost in their stadium. That covers their last two years in Conference USA and the entire three years they've populated the American. Road Runners head coach Jeff Traylor has an almost New Orleans voodoo affect over visiting teams, aided by an almost overwhelming barrage of sound from speakers that may not have an off button.
Not only does the Wave have to battle that record, they have to battle the rumors swirling around their head coach. In case you were under a rock this week, Jon Sumrall has been connected with almost every coaching vacancy you may have heard about. So, this week, instead of KEYS to victory, there really is only one thing to do.
KEY to Victory: Avoid Distractions
From the overbearing sound system, to the incredible home conference record, to the rumors about their head coach, the key to victory is as simple as avoiding the distractions. Sumrall has alluded to that since this Summer, when he told his troops that avoiding those distractions last football season could have led to some different outcomes.
He made it a mantra of sorts since before Fall practice ever got underway. He won't let his players have cell phones out during team dinners. Though he won't say it out loud, you get the feeling he abhors social media. It's almost like an evil he puts up with because he has to.
He talked about it this week when he told the media that these distractions are just that. They take away from his and his team's goal: going 1-0 this week.
So, the key to victory in this game is a simple one: avoid distractions.
Of course, that might be easier said than done.
Tulane and UTSA play a prime time game on ESPN tonight at 6:30 in the Alamodome in San Antonio, TX.
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.