Keys to Victory for Tulane vs Ole Miss
In this story:
This Week's Coverage of Tulane's First CFP Appearance
Monday: Two Words for Those Who Think TU & JMU Should Not Be in the CFP
Tuesday: Tulane offense vs Ole Miss
Wednesday: Wave defensive angle against the Rebels
Thursday: Hear from Some Fans making their way to Oxford.
Friday: What are Fans Doing Who are Not Going to the Game
Saturday afternoon, the Tulane football team is back in Oxford, Mississippi for the second time this season, this time with much more on the line. Back in September, the Green Wave had their butts handed to them by then 11th ranked Ole Miss, 45-10. These two teams meet again, but this time in a first round matchup between the 11th seeded Wave and the 6th seed Rebels in a first for both teams: a berth in the College Football Playoffs. Here is what we see as the keys to victory for Tulane.
Neither team is the same team you saw back in September. The Green Wave has improved exponentially, while Ole Miss has become more of a well-oiled machine.
The Three Most Important Words against an SEC Offense: Defense, Defense, Defense
Last time against Ole Miss (you will notice a theme here...), the TU defense gave up 548-yards and 45-points. Some would say it was the worst defensive effort of the year, maybe tied with the UTSA debacle a little over a month later. Things need to be different, of course.
Different, as in not giving Rebel quarterback Trinidad Chambliss an inordinate amount of time to throw; he was only sacked once.
Different, as in keeping that same Chambliss in the pocket; he was their leading rusher clearing the century mark.
Different, as in not giving up the big play; four completions of 35-plus yards and that Chambliss guy using his legs for a 41-yard sprint.
Different, as in the way the defense played against the best offense in college football two weeks ago in North Texas.
The Three Most Important Words when Playing an SEC Defense: Run, Run, Run
Tulane ran the ball well against Ole Miss the first time around, averaging 4.6-yards per carry. The Green Wave doesn't need to double that (even though it is something that has crossed our minds), but piling up 250 or 300-yards on the ground would keep the ball out of the Ole Miss offense's hands and set up a rhythm that will make the passing game much more efficient. The name Jamauri McClure should be mentioned at least a fifteen times.
Own the Line of Scrimmage
That's on BOTH sides of the ball.
In September, the Tulane offensive line didn't give up a sack and opened up enough lanes for the Green Wave to pile up 178-yards on the ground with quarterback Jake Retzlaff and running backs Arnold Barnes III and Javin Gordon accounting for 135 of them.
In that other game we probably haven't mentioned yet, the defensive front was not at its best, giving up too many big runs, including almost a half-dozen of at least 10-yards, and giving the elusive Chambliss free reign to do what he desired.
Tulane's Third Down Efficiency
The Green Wave offense was a shell of what you see now. The Wave O totaled 282-yards. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff was not on the same page as his receivers, completing only 5 of his 17 passes. When it counted, third down, Tulane was 6-of-15, a measly 40%. TU offensive coordinator Joe Craddock didn't even let a media rep finish his question when Craddock was asked what the offense has to do better Saturday. "Third down," Craddock blurted out. "We've got to do better on third down."
Don't Get Cute
This is an SEC team. They usually don't make mistakes. Unless it is called at the exact right moment, an end around, flea-flicker, whoopsie-daisy, whatever you want to call it will NOT catch them off-guard. You beat an SEC team by being tougher than them. This Tulane team CAN be tougher without being cute.
Take Advantage of the Confusion
As we've pointed out before, these are mostly teenagers playing this game. There is no way either team is not affected by what is happening on their team.
For Tulane, their coach is leaving, but Jon Sumrall has handled his situation in as classy a way any coach could ever have done: made it a stipulation to his future employer that he will coach this Tulane team until they are done; told his coaches and players not to worry about what happens next, just worry about this week; donated $100K to his future former school, saying he loves Tulane and New Orleans.
For Ole Miss, there is Lane Kiffin. The animosity between him and Ole Miss with the way Kiffin left Oxford is palpable. He took almost the entire offensive staff with him to LSU, but "allowed" them to come back and coach the Rebels in the playoffs. Now, rumors are swirling that their rising star quarterback, Trinidad Chambliss, will be entering the transfer portal, and that the team is divided on whether or not Chambliss should play on Saturday.
Teenagers.
Even NCAA coaches across the nation are doubting the Rebels. In a recent anonymous poll reported on by ClutchPoints, the highest percentage of coaches labeled Ole Miss as the biggest "fraud" in the College Football Playoffs: 29% of them.
If Tulane wants the shambles Kiffin left behind to become tangible, the Green Wave must get on top early, play smash-mouth football, and there's a very good chance you will see this Ole Miss team fall apart.
Don't Let the Hype Hurt You
There are a lot of nevers for Tulane:
They've never been to the playoffs, never been on this big of a stage, never had 60-new players join them in a roster turnover for the ages.
Then again, Tulane has never had a coach who's leaving to stick around and coach you in the post-season, never had a team play so many ugly games and still win, never raised this much money this quickly.
Between Nov. 12th & Dec. 16th of this year, @TulaneAthletics received $1.68M in donations from 519 donors. That’s an 83% increase in donors & a 373% increase in dollars over the same time period last year. Major impact from all the @GreenWaveFB excitement & momentum! #RollWave
— David Harris (@DavidHarrisAD) December 17, 2025
If the Wave concentrate on the right nevers, they have a chance to put the hype of this game behind them.
Tulane and Ole Miss play their first round College Football Playoff game Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CST in Oxford, MS on TNT and HBO Max.
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.