Tulane Keys to Victory to Open League Play at Army
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Tulane 2026 Football Schedule
Opponent | Time/Date | Result | Score | Record |
|---|---|---|---|---|
at Duke | 2:30PM, 9/5 | L | 17-3 | 0-1 |
Sou Alabama | 6PM, 9/12 | W | 28-24 | 1-1 |
@ K-State | 11AM, 9/19 | L | 31-20 | 1-2 |
Sou Miss | 6PM, 9/26 | W | 24-21 | 2-2 |
OPEN | 10/3 | -- | -- | -- |
@ Army | 11AM, 10/10 | |||
Memphis | 6:30PM, 10/16 | |||
UTSA | TBD, 10/24 | |||
@ Charlotte | 6PM, 10/30 | |||
Tulsa | TBD, 11/7 | |||
@ Rice | TBD, 11/14 | |||
Nor Texas | TBD, 11/21 | |||
@ Sou Fla | TBD, 11/27 |
The Tulane football team opens the defense of its 2025 American Conference crown this morning with a league opener against Army. Kickoff is set for 11:00 a.m. CT on CBS Sports Networks.
Both teams are 2-2 on the year, but the Black Knights have already played two conference games: losing at home to South Florida and winning on the road at Temple. Tulane has won its two home matches against Sun Belt Conference opponents, losing on the road to Duke and Kansas State.
The Wave has won four straight league openers. You have to go back to their 2-10 season, 2021, for the last time Tulane lost an initial American Conference game.
Usually, we list three of four important keys to the game for a Green Wave win. In order to make it five-in-a-row Conference opening wins, we think there are only two this week.
Slow Down the Army Option
As long as Army plays football, the triple option will be a part of the game. If your defense doesn't play against it often, which is almost everybody, it can be problematic. Just look at this one play from last week's loss at Louisiana Tech.
The discipline by the Black Knights' offense is a thing of beauty, unless you're the defense trying to figure it out. Tulane players and coaches all said the right thing this week preparing for the option: stay in your lanes, keep to your assignments. However, as Tulane has found in the past, that's easier said than done.
Just last year, when Army came to Yulman, the Black Knights drove the ball right down the teeth of the Tulane defense on an 18-play drive to open the game that took up 11:44 off the 1st quarter clock. Army also had an 11-play drive, a 13-play drive, and a 14-play drive in that game.
Don't stay in your lanes and don't keep to your assignments, and it will be a long day in West Point.
Get the Big Play Going
If the Green Wave was ever going to get the big play downfield, this is the game. Army is giving up almost 7-yards per play on defense. This is Fat Hill, Anthony Brown-Stephens, and Zycarl Lewis territory. It's time to get these motors running and put the ball into their hands, because when you get ahead of an option team and keep piling on the points, they are at a huge disadvantage.
That means good protection by the offensive line, a solid, dependable running game to offset the passes, and reliable throwing and catching. This is something we haven't seen on a consistent basis from this Tulane team. If they do it this game, the Green Wave will cruise.
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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.