College Football News Preview 2020: Tulane Green Wave Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Tulane Green Wave Offense
Keep the explosiveness to the attack. The Tulane offense was good over the years, but it wasn’t able to crank up the big plays like last year’s team did.
How well did the O work? From 2013 to 2018, Tulane’s offense came up with seven yards or more per play in five games. Last year, it hit the seven yard per play mark six times, and went 6-0 in the regular season when it did, and 0-6 when it didn’t.
The offense was able to generate big plays through the air in previous years, but the ground game averaging more than five yards per carry for the first time in more than a decade was a big deal.
Biggest Key To The Tulane Green Wave Defense
Pounce on a fumble once in a while. The defense was able to force fumbles, it just couldn’t do anything after it got through Part One.
The secondary did a decent job of coming up with takeaways with 12 picks – even if three came against SE Missouri State from the FCS – but the entire D couldn’t get the ball when it was on the ground.
The Green Wave recovered a fumble in the opener against FIU, and two a week later against Auburn. They force 17 fumbles on the year, and came up with a grand total of one over the final 11 games and four on the year.
Key Tulane Green Wave Player To A Successful Season
QB Keon Howard, Sr.
The former Southern Miss Golden Eagle got in a little time, running a little bit for his former team and throwing nine touchdown passes with nine picks.
He got in four games of work last year with the Green Wave – after getting a season off – and hit 13-of-18 passes for 208 yards and two scores, and he ran for a touchdown.
The 6-1, 220-pound veteran has the mobility and the experience take over the job from Justin McMillan and keep the O going, but he’s it. There’s no experience behind him, and it’s asking a lot for freshmen Michael Pratt and Justin Ibieta to be ready out of the box.
Key Game To The Tulane Green Wave Season
at Houston, Oct. 8
The Green Wave will have already started the American Athletic Conference season with a date against Navy, and it gets an open week before dealing with what should be a Houston team that should be a whole lot stronger than last year’s version.
Tulane won last year 38-31, but it’s 3-13 in the last 16 meetings against the Cougars. There’s no Cincinnati or USF to face, but going to UCF two weeks later is scary. Throw in the dates at Northwestern and Mississippi State before going to Houston, and this could be a desperation game.
– Tulane Green Wave Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Tulane Fun Stats
– 3rd Quarter Scoring: Tulane 117 – Opponents 50
– Penalties: Tulane 103 for 883 yards – Opponents 69 for 591 yards
– Onside Kicks: Tulane 2-of-3 – Opponents 0-of-3