Truthfully, I have no idea whether Tulane will beat Cincinnati. There are too many variables, including the real possibility Tulane will have a letdown after its best game in the Willie Fritz era. That was a near certainty in the past, but Fritz is a much better coach than his predecessors and his guys are not content with one nice win. It just depends on how good Tulane is--mediocre teams have a hard time following up big wins because the odds simply are not in their favor, but good teams do it regularly.
Plus, we don't know how good Cincinnati is. Fritz is legitimately impressed with the talent level on that roster, but I had a coach tell me Memphis had the best skill position players in the country last week, and Tulane's previously struggling defense stoned them. The Bearcats have not played anyone of merit, but they still might be better than anyone realizes. The rest of the season will provide the answers.
But here's one thing I am confident about--this whole idea that Tulane does not know how to win close games will have nothing to do with the result. This year, yes, the Green Wave lost both of its close games, but I contend the losses had much more to do with simply playing poorly from start to finish than having a problem finishing. Tulane was lucky to be even with Wake Forest, getting two long touchdown passes while otherwise getting whipped on both sides of the ball. Tulane was comatose at the start of the UAB game, putting it behind the 8-ball.
Last year, Tulane went 3-3 in close games. Everyone remembers the losses, but Banks led a dramatic touchdown drive to beat Army in the final minute, the Wave converted a fourth down in OT before beating ECU and it made a late fourth-and-1 stop, normally not a team strength, in its territory to hold off Houston.
Of the losses, Tulane was a referee's call short of a dramatic victory against SMU and drove into field goal range against Army before the kicker missed a 36-yard field goal that would given the Wave a 2-point lead with 81 seconds left. Only the Navy game fits the description of a team unable to make plays on either side of the ball when it mattered most.
If Tulane plays as poorly against Cincinnati as it did against Wake Forest and UAB, it will not win.
If it plays better, there's no reason to assume late-game execution failures will cost the Wave a breakthrough victory.
Plus, we don't know how good Cincinnati is. Fritz is legitimately impressed with the talent level on that roster, but I had a coach tell me Memphis had the best skill position players in the country last week, and Tulane's previously struggling defense stoned them. The Bearcats have not played anyone of merit, but they still might be better than anyone realizes. The rest of the season will provide the answers.
But here's one thing I am confident about--this whole idea that Tulane does not know how to win close games will have nothing to do with the result. This year, yes, the Green Wave lost both of its close games, but I contend the losses had much more to do with simply playing poorly from start to finish than having a problem finishing. Tulane was lucky to be even with Wake Forest, getting two long touchdown passes while otherwise getting whipped on both sides of the ball. Tulane was comatose at the start of the UAB game, putting it behind the 8-ball.
Last year, Tulane went 3-3 in close games. Everyone remembers the losses, but Banks led a dramatic touchdown drive to beat Army in the final minute, the Wave converted a fourth down in OT before beating ECU and it made a late fourth-and-1 stop, normally not a team strength, in its territory to hold off Houston.
Of the losses, Tulane was a referee's call short of a dramatic victory against SMU and drove into field goal range against Army before the kicker missed a 36-yard field goal that would given the Wave a 2-point lead with 81 seconds left. Only the Navy game fits the description of a team unable to make plays on either side of the ball when it mattered most.
If Tulane plays as poorly against Cincinnati as it did against Wake Forest and UAB, it will not win.
If it plays better, there's no reason to assume late-game execution failures will cost the Wave a breakthrough victory.
