Tulane Must Do These 3 Things Tonight to Prove Duke Loss was a Fluke

We have a funny feeling you know what the number one is.

Detailed view of a yellow penalty flag on the field - Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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Tulane 2026 Football Schedule

If you are on a mobile device, turn it sideways so you can see all five columns.

Opponent	Date	Result	Score	Record
at Duke	9/5	L	17-3	0-1
South AL	9/12
@ K-State	9/19
Sou Miss	9/26
OPEN	10/3	--	--	--
@ Army	10/10
Memphis	10/16
UTSA	10/24
@ Charlotte	10/30
Tulsa	11/7
@ Rice	11/14
Nor Texas	11/21
@ Sou Fla	11/27

Tonight, Tulane tries to bounce back from a bad showing in Durham last week in their 17-3 loss to Duke to open the season. South Alabama comes to Yulman Stadium at 6:00 p.m. CT.

Head coach Will Hall and his players were all saying the same thing this week: "What you saw against Duke is not us."

In order for the real Tulane to show up tonight against a pretty good South Alabama team, these are the three things the Green Wave MUST do to prove that Duke defeat was an anomaly.

Cut Down on "The Stupid"

Tulane football coach Will Hall | Tulane Athletics - Parker Waters

This week, Hall said he saw his team play "stupid football." Penalties are accented often. When you get 15 of them in a game, the yellow flags should be a priority. However, there were too many times when a decision that was made was the wrong one. This is just one example.

First play of the game.

Had Zeon pitched the ball here once the defender committed, Maurice Turner would still be running. pic.twitter.com/IXMtelgFM3

— Top Tier Tulane (@TopTierTulane) September 8, 2026

This is what Hall was referring to when he said quarterback Zeon Chriss-Gremillion had his eyes in the wrong place.

Cut down on making silly mistakes, and you're part of the way there to being better than you were in the Duke football game.

Run the Ball...Just Run It

Dec 20, 2025; Oxford, MS, USA; Tulane Green Wave running back Maurice Turner (0) runs the ball during the fourth quarter against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

If you remove the quarterback runs and scrambles in the Duke game (11-attempts), the Green Wave ran the ball 15-times. Over half of those 15-tries belonged to transfer Johnnie Daniels. The bell-cow of the Tulane running game, Mo Turner, ran the ball four times against the Blue Devils.

During this successful run of football (Fritz-Sumrall), Tulane's offense has been predicated on running the ball. When rushing the football takes a backseat to passing it (30 passing plays to 26 rushing), that is not a formula for success for this program.

Tulane needs to run the ball and run it successfully, not just against South Alabama but against everybody.

Solid Defense

Sep 20, 2025; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Tulane Green Wave linebacker Dickson Agu (2) reacts during the first quarter against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

The Tulane defense did not play up to the standards most were expecting. The young, talented defensive linemen, the experienced physical linebackers, the deep secondary did a poor job of tackling. Pro Football Focus (PFF), which grades every NCAA and NFL player and team during the season on a scale of 0-100, gave the Green Wave defense a paltry 29.4 grade for tackling.