Tulane played its most complete game since destroying SMU on a Thursday night in November of 2022, The Green Wave did everything well for four quarters, with the brief exception of a late first-half touchdown drive out of nowhere for South Florida. This is the team we always thought it could be, with the addition of a quarterback in Darian Mensah who probably is better than anyone thought the Wave QB would be after the graduation of four-year starter Michael Pratt. Great running back in Makhi Hughes. Explosive trio of receivers in Dontae Fleming, Mario Williams and Yulkeith Brown. Experienced offensive line that pushed South Florida around. Deep defensive front that had as many sacks in one game (six) as in the first four combined. Playmaking linebacker in Tyler Grubbs.
Tulane will be favored in every game the rest of the way if it keeps winning, but it probably will need to win at Navy on the third Saturday of November to reach the AAC title game. Navy has a easy schedule, and Army has a preposterously easy schedule, so one loss to the wrong team could prove fatal.
Jon Sumrall, Darian Mensah, Fleming and Gerrod Henderson talked after the game.
SUMRALL
"Excited for our guys to open up conference play to get to 1-0 against a team that I think is really on the ascend. They've put together a good roster. They've got the second biggest NIL budget in our league, so we need to catch them. If we catch them, we might win bigger, but they are doing good things, and I'm really happy for our guys. We talked all week about we hadn't played a complete game in any phase, and we haven't really played great complementary football in the first four games. I challenged the guys this week and this morning at the hotel last night. We just brought up like, hey, now's the time to kick it in gear. The preseason's over, the non-conference is over, now it's time to go figure out how to make a statement and play big-time football. I think you felt us do that today in a lot of ways. We ran the ball efficiently. The quarterback, Mensah, played really clean. Ty (Thompson) did some good things with the ball in his hands as well. We controlled the clock, which against a team like that that wants to play with tempo is so vital. We had 528 yards of offense on 73 plays. They ran for 206 yards on Alabama and ran for 26 today, so I'm very proud of our guys' effort.
:All right, it's one game. We are going to celebrate tonight. We had a lot of fun, and then tomorrow we'll get back to work because it's going to be over, but I'm pleased for our guys, pleased for our program and grateful to the fan base for turning out and excited to get to 1-0 in conference."
On the complete performance being the best so far:
"Yeah, without question. Southeastern Louisiana game we won 52-0 but I didn't feel like we played great. We were just the better team. Kansas State we played really well at times. First half we played well, third quarter we played awful and the fourth quarter we fought but we didn't finish. Oklahoma, we spotted them 21 points right out of the gate, and then last week we sort of slogged it out. It was a tough mudder type game where it was like, all right, how did we find a way to win even though we didn't play pretty. Today we played really efficiently in all three phases. We rushed the quarterback better than we've rushed the quarterback, played good on special teams, the kicker performed well. There were a couple of things I was disappointed in. The drive right before the half, I was really frustrated with because we gave up a double move. They didn't complete it, but they should have scored a touchdown on us, and we didn't play the tempo well, but all in all it was the most complete game for sure."
On stopping the run:
"Going into the game we knew they ran the ball really well. Their plus-one runs were a big deal for them with the quarterback. The quarterback is a great runner, a big, athletic kid. We didn't even think we outright yard for yard had to win the run-game battle, but we felt like it had to be close. They outrushed Alabama. They are a really good rushing team, and so we challenged our DBs. We went 1 for 1 on the perimeter. We didn't play with any help over the top. If they went four wides, we went four guys, go match them, and everybody else play the box. Our post safety was mirroring the quarterback. He wasn't thinking about playing the post. He was thinking about if the quarterback runs it, I'm going to show in the run game. Our guys executed. It was really exciting to see our front come alive. That's been lacking a little at times to start the year, and to see those guys turn it on and start to dial in and create some negative plays was fun to watch, and it was a collection of guys. It wasn't just one guy. Parker Peterson, Kam Hamilton looked really good. Fobbs-White early in the game looked good. Gerrod Henderson flashed some. Patrick Jenkins is coming on. I'm starting to feel him more. Up front is starting to hit their stride."
On Mensah:
"I say this all the time, it's like shooting the basketball. It's nice to see the ball go in the net. Make a couple of throws early and have some success. They were really playing aggressive to the box. They play a lot of man coverage. We were able to hit Mario on a couple of climb routes or over routes across the formation. We create some leverage where they are in trail position, but the kid's got really good poise and really good anticipation on the throws we're asking him to make. He's growing right in front of our eyes. My most exciting thing was watching him tuck the ball a couple of times and watching him go get the first down on a scramble. He's still got to put the ball away on one. We brought him over and were like, can you please put the ball away and protect the football? But he's getting better and better. He played really efficiently. Those numbers are pretty special for a youngster to go 18 of 22 for 326 yards and three touchdowns. That's a pretty good stat line for a first conference game."
On three different starters on D-line:
"The depth in that room is probably better than it's presented. Adin (Huntington) was a little limited through the week. I think he played seven snaps today maybe. I don't have the officlal count in front of me, but it was about seven plays. He practiced the back end of the week but was available. To me it's hard if you don't practice to play a guy a whole lot. And to be honest, Kam Hamilton has earned it. Kam has really played at a high level, practiced at a high level, brought it every day. if we can play eight or nine guys up front, that bodes well for the opportunity to keep guys fresh and then play with great effort."
Tulane will be favored in every game the rest of the way if it keeps winning, but it probably will need to win at Navy on the third Saturday of November to reach the AAC title game. Navy has a easy schedule, and Army has a preposterously easy schedule, so one loss to the wrong team could prove fatal.
Jon Sumrall, Darian Mensah, Fleming and Gerrod Henderson talked after the game.
SUMRALL
"Excited for our guys to open up conference play to get to 1-0 against a team that I think is really on the ascend. They've put together a good roster. They've got the second biggest NIL budget in our league, so we need to catch them. If we catch them, we might win bigger, but they are doing good things, and I'm really happy for our guys. We talked all week about we hadn't played a complete game in any phase, and we haven't really played great complementary football in the first four games. I challenged the guys this week and this morning at the hotel last night. We just brought up like, hey, now's the time to kick it in gear. The preseason's over, the non-conference is over, now it's time to go figure out how to make a statement and play big-time football. I think you felt us do that today in a lot of ways. We ran the ball efficiently. The quarterback, Mensah, played really clean. Ty (Thompson) did some good things with the ball in his hands as well. We controlled the clock, which against a team like that that wants to play with tempo is so vital. We had 528 yards of offense on 73 plays. They ran for 206 yards on Alabama and ran for 26 today, so I'm very proud of our guys' effort.
:All right, it's one game. We are going to celebrate tonight. We had a lot of fun, and then tomorrow we'll get back to work because it's going to be over, but I'm pleased for our guys, pleased for our program and grateful to the fan base for turning out and excited to get to 1-0 in conference."
On the complete performance being the best so far:
"Yeah, without question. Southeastern Louisiana game we won 52-0 but I didn't feel like we played great. We were just the better team. Kansas State we played really well at times. First half we played well, third quarter we played awful and the fourth quarter we fought but we didn't finish. Oklahoma, we spotted them 21 points right out of the gate, and then last week we sort of slogged it out. It was a tough mudder type game where it was like, all right, how did we find a way to win even though we didn't play pretty. Today we played really efficiently in all three phases. We rushed the quarterback better than we've rushed the quarterback, played good on special teams, the kicker performed well. There were a couple of things I was disappointed in. The drive right before the half, I was really frustrated with because we gave up a double move. They didn't complete it, but they should have scored a touchdown on us, and we didn't play the tempo well, but all in all it was the most complete game for sure."
On stopping the run:
"Going into the game we knew they ran the ball really well. Their plus-one runs were a big deal for them with the quarterback. The quarterback is a great runner, a big, athletic kid. We didn't even think we outright yard for yard had to win the run-game battle, but we felt like it had to be close. They outrushed Alabama. They are a really good rushing team, and so we challenged our DBs. We went 1 for 1 on the perimeter. We didn't play with any help over the top. If they went four wides, we went four guys, go match them, and everybody else play the box. Our post safety was mirroring the quarterback. He wasn't thinking about playing the post. He was thinking about if the quarterback runs it, I'm going to show in the run game. Our guys executed. It was really exciting to see our front come alive. That's been lacking a little at times to start the year, and to see those guys turn it on and start to dial in and create some negative plays was fun to watch, and it was a collection of guys. It wasn't just one guy. Parker Peterson, Kam Hamilton looked really good. Fobbs-White early in the game looked good. Gerrod Henderson flashed some. Patrick Jenkins is coming on. I'm starting to feel him more. Up front is starting to hit their stride."
On Mensah:
"I say this all the time, it's like shooting the basketball. It's nice to see the ball go in the net. Make a couple of throws early and have some success. They were really playing aggressive to the box. They play a lot of man coverage. We were able to hit Mario on a couple of climb routes or over routes across the formation. We create some leverage where they are in trail position, but the kid's got really good poise and really good anticipation on the throws we're asking him to make. He's growing right in front of our eyes. My most exciting thing was watching him tuck the ball a couple of times and watching him go get the first down on a scramble. He's still got to put the ball away on one. We brought him over and were like, can you please put the ball away and protect the football? But he's getting better and better. He played really efficiently. Those numbers are pretty special for a youngster to go 18 of 22 for 326 yards and three touchdowns. That's a pretty good stat line for a first conference game."
On three different starters on D-line:
"The depth in that room is probably better than it's presented. Adin (Huntington) was a little limited through the week. I think he played seven snaps today maybe. I don't have the officlal count in front of me, but it was about seven plays. He practiced the back end of the week but was available. To me it's hard if you don't practice to play a guy a whole lot. And to be honest, Kam Hamilton has earned it. Kam has really played at a high level, practiced at a high level, brought it every day. if we can play eight or nine guys up front, that bodes well for the opportunity to keep guys fresh and then play with great effort."
