Sumrall, Tchienchou, and Retzlaff Give Gleaming Post-Game Press Conference After Conference Championship Win

Tulane Impresses with a 34-21 victory of North Texas

On Friday, the Tulane Green Wave butted heads with the North Texas Mean Green for the American Conference Championship title. TU jumped out to a fast start, going up 24-7 by halftime. They’d add additional points with a pick-six in the 3rd, making it 31-7 with 7:32 remaining.

Tulane’s offense, however, would go stagnant for the rest of the second half, only scoring three points across both quarters. This allowed the Mean Green to claw their way back to make the score 31-21. A Green Wave field goal would extend the lead by three, producing a 34-21 score. North Texas would attempt to drive down the field before throwing a late interception in the end zone, making the final score 34-21.

A Beaming Table

After a lengthy lockeroom celebration, coach Sumrall, award winning Jack Tchienchou, and Quarterback Jake Retzlaff were all smiles as they sat with us to answer a few questions.

In coach Sumrall’s opening statement, he said, “Good teams can be coach-led, (but) great teams have to be player-led.” Sumrall's pride for his players wasn’t just showing on his face, as his words were conveying the feeling just as well as his smile was.

An Outstanding Performance

After a long, 6:28 touchdown drive to open the game for North Texas, Most Outstanding Player, Jack Tchienchou didn’t seem to be bothered, “We knew they couldn’t do that the whole game, you know seventeen plays, that’s not like them.”

Tchienchou has come a long way for Tulane. He started at Troy with Sumrall as a special teams player, but coach Sumrall had something else in mind for the starting safety, “When (Sumrall) brought me over here, he told me he had a vision for me, and I’ve just worked my ass off to get here.”

When the MOP was asked how it felt to receive such a prestigious award, he said, “Surreal. It’s a blessing. We’ve worked so hard to get in this position, and like I said earlier, ‘the opportunity of a lifetime must be seized within the lifetime of an opportunity.’”

The play that seemed to shake the game to its core came on the second North Texas offensive drive, when the sophomore forced a fumble on a completion. Tchienchou walked us through the play. “I kind of got out of my break a little earlier than the ball was released… I tried to get outside leverage (to) force him back in, and (to) just put my head on the ball.”

Tchienchou made a number of incredible plays throughout the game. When asked to choose his favorite, the starting safety opted for his touchdown-saving goal line interception. “It felt like our backs were against the wall, they were driving on us pretty good… I happen to get picked (and) I’m a little late to the spot, I see the ball tipped, and if I break that tackle there’s no one stopping me.”

Tchienchou was asked what sparked the defense, he said, “It’s our mindset from the start… you (have got to) come show us that you’re the number two, the number three, the number one (offense).” He moved on to turnovers, mentioning, “Those turnovers are crucial, the one with Chris (Rodgers), that was the one that really sparked us (and) set us loose.”

Molding a Leader

Retzlaff came into Tulane this year as a transfer from BYU, so being thrust into a position of leadership as he has comes with its hardships. However, Retzlaff has taken his leadership role to heart, fully embracing it as it came to fruition throughout the year. “In order to have team success, you need a team,” he said after being asked about his leadership role. He continued, “If you don’t have a team, that’s what it takes to win games down the stretch.”

Coming into a brand new school with new expectations and new people can be challenging. Retzlaff would face the latter problem head on, “I try to have lunch with a different guy every day… different position group… I’m just (going to) jump in.”

Retzlaff had a lot of praise for his freshmen running back, Jamauri McClure, who finished the game with 121-yards and a touchdown while averaging 5.5 yards per carry. “(He’s) been so fun to play with this year, to be able to see his progression, I mean he’s a completely different guy.” He kept on, “I had a couple of great conversations with him about what this takes to be a great player. He took that to heart, and he improved on it day after day.”

“Watching Jamauri run is incredible. He’s (a) super tough, relentless runner.” Retzlaff continued.

Coaching with Class

The elephant in every press conference room with coach Sumrall seems to be the looming Florida job that he’s already taken. However, Sumrall doesn’t let that affect him as a person in the slightest, “Just as important, if not more important than how you start at a place, it’s very important how you finish.”

The Wave was swamping North Texas quarterback, Drew Mestemaker, sacking him five times across the game, while also holding the Mean Green to 3.6 yards per carry. “For our (defensive) front to be able to control the run game and affect the passer, that makes (the jobs of) the second and third levels of the defense a lot easier.

“It’s been a complete privilege and honor for me to be the head football coach here.” Sumrall said. "In my introductory press conference two years ago, I said ‘we’re (going to) win the conference championship (and) we’re (going to) the College Football Playoffs, and I also said we’re (going to) win it. So, (we’ve) got work to do. Job’s not done.”

Coach Sumrall spoke on how he’s cherished every moment he can with the team he has, “This week was so fun. I could tell we were (going to) play the way we played tonight all week… I was just in awe of the player leadership of this team.”

A Team in Unity With Their Coach

Coach Sumrall continued to emphasize the importance of his team in today’s win and during the entire season, “It’s all about the players, if there weren’t any players, you wouldn’t need a coach. It’s not about me, it’s about them.”

Retzlaff followed up on his answer, despite not being asked the question himself, “There’s nobody else in the country that (I) want leading this team right now. This guy has been unbelievable.” He finished with, “Us finishing the job with coach is too important to put words to.”