Keys to Victory for Tulane versus North Texas
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Friday night, the American Conference championship and a possible slot in the College Football Playoffs is on the line as Tulane and North Texas battle at Yulman Stadium at 7:00 p.m. The game will be nationally telecast on ABC. Here are what we think the Green Wave will need to do to claim a W.
Pressure the UNT Quarterback
We know you've heard about it: the North Texas offense isn't just the best in the American Conference. It's the best on the planet. The Tulane defense was susceptible to giving up the big plays earlier this season. That has flipped as of late, as the defensive front has gotten more penetration and the secondary has matured. The Mean Green will get their yardage, but to keep it to a minimum the Green Wave defensive front will need to make itself known early and often. Don't let redshirt freshman quarterback Drew Mestemaker get comfortable. It would be ideal to get pressure just from the front four. That is how South Florida handled the Mean Green in North Texas' lone loss of the season, forcing Mestemaker into throwing three interceptions.
Don't Miss Tackles
UNT likes to throw short and make your defenders miss their attempts to tackle the receiver, resulting in chunk plays. The Mean Green can throw long, but, if we go by the past, their preference is to the former. So, the secondary and linebackers must have their tackling gear sorted out and ready to go.
Rely on Your Running Game
In the only loss by North Texas, USF ran for over 300-yards against the Mean Green defense. Though the Bulls did not win the time of possession, missing that by less than a minute, it did keep the ball out of the hands of the high-powered UNT offense. The Tulane rushing game has topped 200-yards as a team once this year, hitting 241 in a win against South Alabama. The last time TU topped 300-yards was over a year ago versus Temple. Match that game on the ground and your chances of winning increase exponentially.
Don't Rely on Your All-Conference Place Kicker
Congratulations to Patrick Durkin. The redshirt freshman won Special Teams Player of the Year honors in the American. You don't want him to prove that against North Texas. The Mean Green average a little under a million points a game. Okay, not that much, but it sure seems like it. The Green Wave are going to have score touchdowns, so, please take a seat Patrick, except for extra points and kickoffs.
Protect the Football
Protecting the football did not happen against a team that was not that good, Charlotte. Make those same mistakes against North Texas and your season ends Friday night. The coaches have said this; the players have said it, too. Keep that football "high and tight" when you're running the football, and don't force anything in the passing game. Tulane quarterback Jake Retzlaff is a gun slinger. He has shown this often this season. The senior redshirt will need to tone it down just a little bit. Though he's important to this Wave offense, he must be patient and rely on his running game to set up his passing game.
Not Good, OUTSTANDING Line Play by the Offense
Even against Charlotte, the offensive line showed some holes in the second half, allowing Retzlaff to be pressured. This isn't the first time this has happened this season. If the Green Wave expect to win, the pressure Retzlaff feels must be at a minimum. Meanwhile, the aforementioned reliance upon the run speaks for itself. Get your running backs that century mark, gentlemen, and a win will almost be assured.
Get on Top Early and Pour It On
Remember: both coaches are leaving at the end of their respective team's season. Score early and often and the other team will collapse. That's for both sides. We sometimes forget, these are 18 and 19-year old kids playing, for the most part. Get a young kid's mind down early and you're over halfway to a victory. If it's a back-and-forth affair, it is anybody's game.
Carry that Chip Proudly
Coaches and players alike have talked about the sour taste in their mouth after last year's loss to Army in the American trophy game. As Tulane's Jon Sumrall has said, though, over half of this year's team wasn't even on the 2024 roster. It is imperative those "seasoned veterans" from previous years share the chip that is on their shoulder from last year's experiences with the "newbies."
Tulane and North Texas tangle for the American Conference championship Friday night at 7:00 p.m. in Yulman Stadium on the Tulane campus.
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.