TU's Sumrall Scouts 1-and-10 Charlotte
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Saturday, the Tulane football team wraps up its regular season against the one-win-in-eleven games Charlotte 49ers. As we told you earlier this week, the Green Wave are guaranteed to host the American Conference championship game on Friday, December 5th if they can beat Charlotte.
Though the Wave's opponent is not written in stone, North Texas looks like Tulane's likely opponent on that first Friday in December. However, nothing is certain, as the Mean Green found out this week their coach is leaving Denton, TX and heading to Oklahoma State at the end of the season. Eric Morris will coach any remaining games for North Texas this season.
But First, the Charlotte 49ers
Tulane football coach Jon Sumrall, who has been the subject of coaching rumors for weeks now, continues to hammer home he is employed by Tulane and is only thinking about that, which is why he spoke to the media again this week, asking for city-wide support.
"We are playing a very important football game," Sumrall reiterated, "and this team deserves the city, the state, whoever to show up and support it. We have an opportunity to do something really special," he said referring to locking up a fourth consecutive American Conference championship game, something never done in league history.
"I think our players deserve it," Sumrall continued. "Man, I don't care who you're a fan of, (even if) you don't like college football. Show up and support our young men who have given a lot of positive experiences to our local community. (Give them) the opportunity to be recognized and play for something important."
One Game at a Time
Looking toward the Charlotte game Saturday, Sumrall continued his "1-and-0" mantra.
"We've got to keep getting better," Sumrall said. "I'm not a hype speech (kind of coach). I've been saying it for weeks: nearest target. What is it? Charlotte. U.N.C. Charlotte. I told our team, I don't want to hear about any records. Nobody wins a game because of what your previous experience has been. Previous success has nothing to do with future success."
When looking at the 49ers, he emphasized the positives of this 1-10 team.
"This team (Charlotte) was tied with North Texas at the half," Sumrall points out the statistics. "It was 7-nothing at half (in Charlotte's game) against UTSA. UTSA kicked our butt. No hype speech, just near target. Go play good football."
The 49er Offense has a Wideout Who Can Play
When asked who stands out for him on the Charlotte offensive side, Sumrall responded quickly.
"It's number 5, who's from New Orleans," Sumrall said, referring to wide receiver Javen Nicholas, who prepped at St. Aug. "Baller. Actually baller. Like real deal, big time player, receiver, also a really good punt returner. He jumps off the tape. I've talked to a couple of coaches in our league, and everyone of them has been, 'Number 5,' 'Number 5,' 'Number 5.'"
Tulane and Charlotte square off Saturday at 6:30 p.m. in Yulman Stadium.
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.