Takeaways from Tulane's 24-17 Victory over Army

Trailing by a touchdown with just under six minutes to go in the game, the Tulane Green Wave football team was able to come back and beat Army 24-17. That puts TU at 6-1 on the year, 3-0 in American Conference play. The Black Knights slip to 3-4 on the season, 2-3 in league games.

Gritty and Tough

After the game, Tulane football coach Jon Sumrall called his team, "gritty and tough." He's right. In the last six minutes of their game against Army, trailing by seven, the Green Wave scored a touchdown, and the Wave D had to do something it hadn't done all game long: hold Army to a three-and-out, and score again. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff and his receivers were on the same wave length for both scoring drives near game's end. Retzlaff talked about loving the two-minute drill tempo instead of having to "establish the run" and other stuff like that.

Penalties were Down, Finally

You really can't tell where a lack of penalties will help a team. You can only tell when a penalty hurts. This time, instead of Tulane getting hurt by flags, an out-of-character occurrence occurred: Army was penalized as the game was on the line. A defensive holding call against the Black Knights on a pass attempt by Tulane placed the ball at the Army 26. The next play, a tipped, juggling catch by Shazz Preston gave Tulane the lead with only 27-seconds remaining. The Wave was penalized a total of four times in the game, the least amount of flags accepted by their opponents in a Tulane win this season.

Not Stopping the Army Run Game, Until They Absolutely Had To

Triple option offenses are hard to stop. Just ask anyone who had to play Army or Navy this year. The Black Knights piled up 233-yards on the ground against Tulane. However, give credit where credit's due: when the Green Wave had to stop Army in the last two minutes of the game, they did.

Giving Up the Big Pass Play

We quoted the coaches in our Keys to Victory article Saturday morning, saying the Tulane defense had to be disciplined and patient. The Green Wave defensive backfield was caught looking in the Army offensive backfield too often. A dropped pass earlier in the game by wide open Black Knight wide receiver Brady Anderson could have spelled a different ending. In fact, that same Anderson got wide open enough to catch a very similar pass for 39 yards later. Tulane coach Sumrall said after the game his team is not playing pretty, yet. Giving up those big pass plays is a portion of that not-so-pretty part.

Putting the Ball in the End Zone

Army held on to the ball for over 38-minutes in the game. That gave the Green Wave only eight opportunities to even touch the ball in 60-minutes of play. Tulane had to make the most of those chances. The Wave scored four times in those eight occasions, and only one of those was a field goal. That's improvement.

Rushing Game Improves

After not hitting the century mark as a team last week against East Carolina, the Green Wave piled up 141-yards on the ground against a Army defense that tackles extremely well. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff led the way, rushing the ball eight times for 62-yards, including a 37-yard designed quarterback draw for a touchdown.

American Conference Top Standings are Shuffling

While Tulane was finding a way to come back and defeat Army, the presumptive favorite at the top of the American Conference, Memphis, was being upset by bottom-feeding UAB, 31-24. Navy, who leads the league with a 4-0 mark, had a bye this weekend. South Florida crushed Florida Atlantic, 48-13, keeping them tied with the Green Wave at 3-0 in the American. And North Texas clobbered Tulane's next opponent, UTSA, 55-17, to bounce back from their loss to South Florida the week before. The Mean Green stand at 2-1 with Memphis.

Next week's big game: South Florida at Memphis. Then, on November 1, Navy travels to North Texas. And, the game most Tulane fans are waiting on, November 7, the Green Wave are at Memphis.

The American Conference planets are aligning for some exciting contests.