Tulane Prepares for Army Option, Welcomes Back 2025 Star RB from Injury
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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 American Conference 2025 championship on Saturday with a trip to West Point to visit the United States Military Academy. Kickoff from Michie Stadium is set for 11:00 a.m. CT and can be seen on the CBS Sports Network.
After a bye week to rest up and prepare, Green Wave head coach Will Hall is feeling good about his squad's preparedness.
"The advantages of when our bye week fell is it is right smack dab in the middle of our season," Hall shared Tuesday. "We had five weeks of fall camp, then four games. That's nine weeks. Now we've got a bye week and eight games left. So, it's right in the middle. It is right before conference play and it's right before we play an option team. I think those are advantages
Time for League Games
"We're at a point where we're going into conference play and we know we've got to play better," Hall told us at his weekly media conference. "We've not played our best yet. That's a negative, but also a positive that our best is still out there. You should get better as the season goes on....We feel like we're a much better football team right now than we were last time we talked to you (two weeks ago),"
The league opener is like a new season for Hall and his team, as they get ready for what is essentially a restart to their season.
"We know how important it is to get off on the right foot and be 1-0 in conference play," Hall said Tuesday, "so our young men are taking that very seriously. But also we all want to play (well) for us and I want us to play (well) for our players. I want our players to play better, so in turn they get more touches and get more accolades for themselves and they get the the harvest for all the work they've put in. You can see it. You can feel it, and I anticipate us playing well."
Multiple Quarterback Opportunities
Almost two weeks ago, three quarterbacks hit the field at one time or another for the Wave against Southern Miss. Kadin Semonza started the contest before being replaced by freshman Trace Johnson, in the 4th quarter, leading the Wave on two scoring drive. Johnson gave way to Dagan Bruno for an option play in the final possession that sealed the victory. Like any good poker player, if Hall so indulges, he wouldn't tip his hand ahead of the Army tilt as to who would be starting or playing or if there would be more than one in the contest, pointing back to his days as a Division II head coach.
"I mean I've done it in my past," I'm not saying that's what we'll do this week. I'm not saying we won't, but in 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014, (at West Georgia and West Alabama) we won the conference at those schools, playing two....We used the skill sets of both of them we had to present problems to the defense and win the games that we had to win. So, we certainly know how to do that and win championships. I'm not saying that's what we're going to do. I'm also not saying that's what we're not going to do. I'm saying whatever we got to do to win the game that week, we're willing and capable of doing."
Injury Updates
We asked Hall about those walking wounded for the Wave. Though his answers were short, we got the idea of who would be back and who woulding for Saturday.
Expect the highly anticipated return of last year's breakout running back Jamauri McClure. The then-freshman sensation rushed for 540-yards, though really being used from about the midway point in the year on. He averaged 6.5-yards every time he touched the ball in 2025. McClure was injured during Fall practice getting surgery on his left foot to repair damage done. He's been sidelined all this year, with the Wave targeting the American opener as his season debut.
Running back Mo Turner, who came up limping near the end of his 73-yard touchdown run to put the Greenies ahead for good against USM a week and a half ago, is good to go on Saturday.
Receiver Zycarl Lewis, who was hurt during the Duke game, is set to return as well, recovering from a leg injury.
Though Hall listed both tight end Ty Thompson and linebacker Chris Rodgers as doubtful for Saturday, fans should not plan on either of them contributing this weekend. Thompson is nursing a leg injury that has forced him to miss extended time, and Rodgers has a foot injury that is putting the star backer on the sidelines for the foreseeable future.
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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.