Keys to Tulane Victory over Tulsa Saturday
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This weekend, Tulane travels to Tulsa for the Green Wave's American Conference opener against the Golden Hurricane. Game time is set for Saturday, September 27th at 3:00 p.m. at Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium. ESPNU will televise the game. The Tulane Radio Network, as usual will carry the game in its entirety.
After a "come back to Earth" loss at Ole Miss last weekend, the Tulane Green Wave continue this short, two-game road trip as they head to Tulsa this weekend. DraftKings installed the Wave as an early 14.5-point favorite, which had changed on Wednesday to a 15.5 point advantage for Tulane.
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First Key to Victory for the Green Wave is Line Play
Tulane line play on the offensive side against Ole Miss had some glamorous ones and others that didn't sit well. There was some shuffling on the left side of the line in that game against the Rebels. Starting left tackle Derrick Graham was on the sideline with an injury. That moved starting left guard Shadre Hurst to the vacated tackle position and redshirt freshman Elijah Baker to the left guard slot. That is not by any stretch of the imagination meant to take anything away from the O-line. Tulane piled up 178 yards on the ground against Ole Miss, almost a third of which were from the legs of quarterback Jake Retzlaff. However, this week, the line is expected to be back intact with Graham back at left tackle and Hurst back at guard. Look for +200 yards on the ground for Tulane this week.
The defensive line gave up some big plays against the Rebels, allowing 548 yards for the game, 307 of which were through the air. Two long passes of 53-yards were surrendered by the Wave D, while the Ole Miss quarterback used his legs to lead the Rebs with 112 yards on the ground, the longest of which was 41. This weekend's opponent is not Ole Miss. Tulsa has some very good players, but nothing like the speed and physicality the Rebels showed last weekend.
Jon Sumrall knows how to challenge his kids and get them to see what a loss means to them.
Second Key to Victory for Tulane is Stopping the Tulsa Run Game
This Tulane defensive line is better than what they showed against the Rebels. There were sizable holes opened in the TU defense that led to those 241-yards rushing for Ole Miss. That is not what the standard has been for Jon Sumrall. Tulsa averages 406.8 yards on the offensive side of things, 187.2 of which is on the ground. The Golden Hurricane's are led by running back Dominic Richardson, who piled up 146-yards against Oklahoma State last weekend in Mike Gundy's last game as the Cowboys head coach.
The Tulsa offensive line averages 313-pounds, topping out at 330-pounds at right guard. That's some big bodies. However, the Tulane defensive front is in constant rotation, shifting in players constantly to keep them fresh. The play of Green Wave linebackers, Dickson Agu and Sam Howard will be the key to victory for the Tulane D.
Third Key to Victory for Tulane is Getting into an Offensive Rhythm
Jon Sumrall pointed to this at his weekly press conference. During early possessions, Green Wave receivers had first down catches in their hands on third down attempts and couldn't come down with the reception. Some of that credit can go to the Ole Miss defenders, but Sumrall pointed out that if it hits the receiver in the hands, it has to be caught. It totally wiped out any offensive rhythm the Tulane O could have had. The Green Wave is not playing the Ole Miss defense this weekend.
The Tulane ground game must be established early and often, no matter if its by design or by a Jake Retzlaff scramble. Set up the ground and the passing game becomes that much easier
Fourth Key to Victory is Getting Past That First Loss
The question is how this Tulane team responds to being taken to the woodshed by Ole Miss this past weekend. Last year, the Wave opened with a pair of tough losses against Kansas State and Oklahoma. Tulane responded with an eight-game win streak before falling in the regular season finale. If Wednesday's practice is any indicator, the prerequisite 24-hour turnaround after any game is done.
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.