Takeaways from Tulane's 34-21 AAC Championship Win over North Texas
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Friday night, almost 24-thousand fans packed into Yulman Stadium to see the Tulane football team wrap up their 2025 American Conference journey with a convincing 34-21 victory over North Texas. Here is what we saw from the Greenie win.
Somebody Must Have Read Our Keys to the Game
Not to say we told you so...but we did. Here are the steps we outlined before the game that Tulane had to accomplish to beat a very good North Texas team and if the Wave followed through with our advice.
Pressure the UNT Quarterback
The Green Wave did just that, forcing Drew Mestemaker out of any type of rhythm for most of the game, and sacking the redshirt freshman five times. sometimes rushing just four, other times putting five on the line. Sacks are a product of a number of things, the two most important being getting a push from the defensive front and good coverage in the secondary. Both happened much more often than not.
Don't Miss Tackles
If you were there, you saw what we meant by this. The few times Green Wave tacklers did miss tackles, big plays occurred for North Texas. Tulane didn't let that happen often.
Rely on Your Running Game
Take away the kneel downs at the end of the game when Tulane was in "victory formation" to finish things off, and the Greenies were above the two-century mark on the ground, led by freshman running back Jamauri McClure's 121-yards on 22-carries.
Don't Rely on Your All-Conference Kicker
Patrick Durkin was called on three times to kick field goals. He made two from 30-yards out, missing on a 50-yarder. We don't know if this one counts or not, since there was only 6-points on the board off Durkin's toe. We'll give this one a pass.
Protect the Football
Zero turnovers for the Greenies. The Wave did fumble the ball twice, but got both of them back. That's protection.
Not Good, OUTSTANDING Line Protection on Offense
TU quarterback Jake Retzlaff wasn't sacked once. The past few games, it came down to his ability to escape trouble to not get sacked. Not this time. Retzlaff could have cooked a meal, served it, and probably cleaned up after dinner considering the amount of time he had in the pocket.
Get on Top Early and Pour It On
The Green Wave led 31-7 before the third quarter was complete, dominating North Texas in all phases of the game. Mission accomplished.
Carry That Chip Proudly
There is no doubt Tulane veterans spoke loudly and clearly to the "newbies." They did not want that bitter taste from last year's trophy game loss to Army to be anywhere near their mouths. It wasn't.
Tulane is now officially in the College Football Playoffs. They'll find out where, when, and who they'll play when the CFP makes the announcement Sunday morning at 11:00 a.m. The first round game will be played the weekend of December 19th and 20th.
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.