The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly of Tulane's 37-13 Win over Temple
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Tulane left the LINC in Philadelphia this weekend with a convincing 37-13 win over American Conference foe, Temple. Here is the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of that game.
The Good
Tulane has found its feature back: freshman Jamauri McClure. In his first game against Florida Atlantic, the redshirt freshman averaged 9.4 yards every time he touched the ball on his way to 94-yards. Not to be outdone, McClure carried the rock 17-times against Temple, surpassing the century mark for the first time in his young Tulane career: 122-yards, with his longest a 25-yarder that showed incredible balance, speed, and strength all in one run. Tulane coach Jon Sumrall believes the frosh is just scratching the surface of what he can do.
We know the coaches and players don't agree, but we believe a defense that holds its opponent to 20-yards on the ground and a total of 167-yards in the game is doin' good. Add to that a team that just doesn't turn the ball over, did. Yeah, it was during one of those lateral for ages plays at the end of the first half, but that almost turned into a defensive touchdown for the Wave. Maybe the only thing that will make the players and coaches on defense happy is a shutout. The last time that happened, November 16, 2024 when Tulane blanked Navy, 35-zip.
The Bad
The Wave missed Bryce Bohanon this game. Tulane's leading receiver was injured midweek and sat out the game against Temple. Though the statistics say Green Wave receivers dropped two passes against the Owls, we counted three in the first half alone. Maybe it was nervousness by the Wave receivers, having to fill-in for Tulane's best wideout. Maybe there was good enough pressure from Temple to make TU receivers make mistakes. The old saying is, "If it hits your hands, you gotta catch it." That's it in a nutshell.
We have complained about American Conference officiating this year a few times. Now we know it's not just us. We got to listen to part of the radio broadcast this past Saturday. The Voice of the Wave, Corey Gloor, is known for calling like it is. If Tulane isn't up to par, he'll say it. He rarely uses the word incredible, because, truthfully, it should be rarely used. So, when we heard Gloor calling out the officials in the Temple game, we felt vindicated. He is quick to give credit to the officiating when credit is due. However, he nailed it on a few calls by the zebras that were obviously wrong, and, when Tulane coach Jon Sumrall had to tell the officials that Temple had an illegal formation on a play, it took a gaggle of officials meeting on the field to figure out the rule book. If the American expects to compete with Power Four leagues, it can start by improving on its officiating.
The Ugly
Nothing from this game was truly ugly to us.
However, this will be: Yulman Stadium should be packed for this Saturday's game against Charlotte. With the students gone for Thanksgiving break, this will give New Orleans a chance to support the college football team with the best record in the state of Louisiana. To not pack Yulman on Saturday night would be downright ugly.
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.