With a huge chance to become bowl eligible this Saturday against Navy, Tulane can cap off an up-and-down year on a high note and guarantee itself a bunch more practices and an extra game. In my view, the Wave has played very well three times this season, very poorly three times and average to mediocre five times. In the past, that would translate to a 3-8 or 4-7 record, but Willie Fritz has gotten the program to the point where it is competitive most weeks no matter how it is playing.
Here's my list from best to worst:
1) Tulane 40, Memphis 24
This was a tour de force for the Tulane defense, which held the Tigers to 277 yards, 101 below their next worst total of the season, and that one came in the rain at Navy. Darrell Henderson has killed just about everyone Memphis has faced, and although he scored two long touchdowns against the Wave, he did next to nothing the rest of the night. Memphis, the preseason favorite to win the West, likely will reach that goal. Two of its three conference losses were by 1 point. Tulane was winning 40-10 before garbage time in a rout.
2) Tulane 41, South Florida 15
The Bulls weren't ready to play, but when has Tulane beaten anyone like this on the road? The defense, despite losing Cameron Sample on the opening series as USF went ahead 3-0, shut out the Bulls for a long time after that as the Wave went ahead 34-3 with a running game the Bulls could not stop. Corey Dauphine and Darius Bradwell each rushed for more than 100 yards, Tulane rushed for five touchdowns and 365 yards overall and became the first team to hold USF under 20 points in three years.
3) Tulane 42, Nicholls 17
Tulane did what an FBS team is supposed to do to a good FCS team--put it in its place. A lot of people were worried about Nicholls, but the Wave used its overall talent advantage to win comfortably in what would have been a wipeout if Jonathan Banks had not lost a fumble that turned into a touchdown right before halftime. Dauphine was transcendent, and Tulane was in control from start to finish against a team that was coming off an upset of Kansas.
4) UAB 31, Tulane 24
I know, I know. This was the game that turned a lot of people against Fritz. But I said at the time, long before UAB became a (brief) top 25 team, that UAB looked like a good team that day and Tulane played pretty well. The Blazers hit the Wave with an alignment they had not seen at the beginning of the game and rode it to a two-touchdown lead behind tough running back Spencer Brown. The Wave fought back on a hot day when the players had overlooked the Blazers a bit and probably would have won without a holding call on Terren Encalade that negated a go-ahead TD by Bradwell. Fritz questioned the validity of the call. I never saw the replay. Then UAB ran it down a tired defense's throat for the winning TD. One other thing. Anyone who says Texas A&M exposed UAB as a fraud did not watch the game. UAB gave up a TD return on fumbled kickoff to start the game and missed three field goals. Otherwise that was about a 10-point game.
5) Tulane 24, ECU 18
Now we enter the morass of mediocrity. I give bonus points to Tulane winning a game it has so frequently lost in the past with a chance to set up something positive down the road. I also gibe points to Tulane when an opponent bottled up the Wave's bread-and-butter running game. The offense was ugly for most of the night, but Justin McMillan threw a pair of perfect passes to Darnell Mooney on slants and Encalade made a terrific individual effort with the help of a crushing block by Will Wallace on the third long TD pass. ECU's freshman QB has put up big passing totals against everyone he has faced, while not being particularly efficient, except for Tulane, which limited him to 21 of 67 passing. The secondary was very solid that night.
6) Tulane 24, Tulsa 17
The main positive here is Tulane won. On the road. And executed well down the stretch. The first half was a debacle for both teams, and when an inadvertent face mask penalty on Robert Kennedy on what would have been a three-and-out led to a long TD drive that put Tulsa ahead 17-7 in the third quarter, the outlook was bleak for the 2-5 Wave. Facing a bad team, Tulane showed toughness and came back to win 24-17, getting 107 yards from Dauphine and a beautiful game-winning TD run from McMillan.
7) SMU 27, Tulane 23
Tulane should have won this game but did not play well, struggling to move on a weak SMU defense while quarterback Jonathan Banks was careless with the ball in what almostcertainly will be his final game with the Wave. Tulane handled the SMU offense pretty well and was in good shape with a 23-14 fourth quarter lead, but a decision to blitz and leave P.J. Hall in single coverage with the Mustangs' best receiver resulted in a back-breaking 67-yard touchdown with 1:15 left. Hall, interestingly, has played much better since that point.
8) Wake Forest 23, Tulane 17 (OT)
This is another game where past Tulane teams would have been blown out. Wake Forest is mediocre, but its freshman quarterback had a hot night against some soft coverages that Tulane abandoned soon afterward in favor of man-to-man defense. The Tulane offense was a complete mess, but Banks bailed it out with a couple of long touchdown passes to Encalade, one of which was a brilliant individual play by Banks. Tulane had a chance to win it in regulation, but as it had done all night, could not go anywhere after getting close to scoring territory. The overtime was an abject disaster. Tulane's penalty-plagued, inefficient performance was a harbinger of things to come.
9) Ohio State 49, Tulane 6
This game was irrelevant. Tulane had zero chance to slow down Ohio State's passing attack, but considering the way the Buckeyes have struggled to stop anyone, Tulane's inept offensive performance looks worse in hindsight. it looked like Ohio State could hang close to a hundred on Tulane if it had kept its starting unit in for the whole game and been aggressive.
10) Cincinnati 37, Tulane 21
The score is not embarrassing how good Cincinnati turned out to be, but Tulane gets downgraded here for mental belief. Coming off a terrific win against Memphis, the Wave was not read to fight hard enough to hang with the Bearcats on the road. Cincinnati is physical on offense and talented on defense, but the Bearcats also out-competed the Wave, winning comfortably.
11) Houston 48, Tulane 17
Tulane was not ready for the big moment and ill-equipped offensively to hang close in a shootout. Clearly missing Sample and Patrick Johnson, the defense allowed 201 rushing yards in the first half and tackled horribly, far worse than in any other game. McMillan went into the jar after his first interception on a tip drill and received little help from a sub-standard receiving corps. Just think what might have happened if Tulane had been close and D'Eriq King, an incredible athlete, had still gone down with a season-ending injury before halftime. Instead, Houston already was up 28-9 and in position to score again when he got hurt. It was a disappointing night all around. Tulane entered with a chance to earn a shot at undefeated UCF in the AAC championship game and exited with a blowout loss to a talented, but injury-riddled opponent.
Here's my list from best to worst:
1) Tulane 40, Memphis 24
This was a tour de force for the Tulane defense, which held the Tigers to 277 yards, 101 below their next worst total of the season, and that one came in the rain at Navy. Darrell Henderson has killed just about everyone Memphis has faced, and although he scored two long touchdowns against the Wave, he did next to nothing the rest of the night. Memphis, the preseason favorite to win the West, likely will reach that goal. Two of its three conference losses were by 1 point. Tulane was winning 40-10 before garbage time in a rout.
2) Tulane 41, South Florida 15
The Bulls weren't ready to play, but when has Tulane beaten anyone like this on the road? The defense, despite losing Cameron Sample on the opening series as USF went ahead 3-0, shut out the Bulls for a long time after that as the Wave went ahead 34-3 with a running game the Bulls could not stop. Corey Dauphine and Darius Bradwell each rushed for more than 100 yards, Tulane rushed for five touchdowns and 365 yards overall and became the first team to hold USF under 20 points in three years.
3) Tulane 42, Nicholls 17
Tulane did what an FBS team is supposed to do to a good FCS team--put it in its place. A lot of people were worried about Nicholls, but the Wave used its overall talent advantage to win comfortably in what would have been a wipeout if Jonathan Banks had not lost a fumble that turned into a touchdown right before halftime. Dauphine was transcendent, and Tulane was in control from start to finish against a team that was coming off an upset of Kansas.
4) UAB 31, Tulane 24
I know, I know. This was the game that turned a lot of people against Fritz. But I said at the time, long before UAB became a (brief) top 25 team, that UAB looked like a good team that day and Tulane played pretty well. The Blazers hit the Wave with an alignment they had not seen at the beginning of the game and rode it to a two-touchdown lead behind tough running back Spencer Brown. The Wave fought back on a hot day when the players had overlooked the Blazers a bit and probably would have won without a holding call on Terren Encalade that negated a go-ahead TD by Bradwell. Fritz questioned the validity of the call. I never saw the replay. Then UAB ran it down a tired defense's throat for the winning TD. One other thing. Anyone who says Texas A&M exposed UAB as a fraud did not watch the game. UAB gave up a TD return on fumbled kickoff to start the game and missed three field goals. Otherwise that was about a 10-point game.
5) Tulane 24, ECU 18
Now we enter the morass of mediocrity. I give bonus points to Tulane winning a game it has so frequently lost in the past with a chance to set up something positive down the road. I also gibe points to Tulane when an opponent bottled up the Wave's bread-and-butter running game. The offense was ugly for most of the night, but Justin McMillan threw a pair of perfect passes to Darnell Mooney on slants and Encalade made a terrific individual effort with the help of a crushing block by Will Wallace on the third long TD pass. ECU's freshman QB has put up big passing totals against everyone he has faced, while not being particularly efficient, except for Tulane, which limited him to 21 of 67 passing. The secondary was very solid that night.
6) Tulane 24, Tulsa 17
The main positive here is Tulane won. On the road. And executed well down the stretch. The first half was a debacle for both teams, and when an inadvertent face mask penalty on Robert Kennedy on what would have been a three-and-out led to a long TD drive that put Tulsa ahead 17-7 in the third quarter, the outlook was bleak for the 2-5 Wave. Facing a bad team, Tulane showed toughness and came back to win 24-17, getting 107 yards from Dauphine and a beautiful game-winning TD run from McMillan.
7) SMU 27, Tulane 23
Tulane should have won this game but did not play well, struggling to move on a weak SMU defense while quarterback Jonathan Banks was careless with the ball in what almostcertainly will be his final game with the Wave. Tulane handled the SMU offense pretty well and was in good shape with a 23-14 fourth quarter lead, but a decision to blitz and leave P.J. Hall in single coverage with the Mustangs' best receiver resulted in a back-breaking 67-yard touchdown with 1:15 left. Hall, interestingly, has played much better since that point.
8) Wake Forest 23, Tulane 17 (OT)
This is another game where past Tulane teams would have been blown out. Wake Forest is mediocre, but its freshman quarterback had a hot night against some soft coverages that Tulane abandoned soon afterward in favor of man-to-man defense. The Tulane offense was a complete mess, but Banks bailed it out with a couple of long touchdown passes to Encalade, one of which was a brilliant individual play by Banks. Tulane had a chance to win it in regulation, but as it had done all night, could not go anywhere after getting close to scoring territory. The overtime was an abject disaster. Tulane's penalty-plagued, inefficient performance was a harbinger of things to come.
9) Ohio State 49, Tulane 6
This game was irrelevant. Tulane had zero chance to slow down Ohio State's passing attack, but considering the way the Buckeyes have struggled to stop anyone, Tulane's inept offensive performance looks worse in hindsight. it looked like Ohio State could hang close to a hundred on Tulane if it had kept its starting unit in for the whole game and been aggressive.
10) Cincinnati 37, Tulane 21
The score is not embarrassing how good Cincinnati turned out to be, but Tulane gets downgraded here for mental belief. Coming off a terrific win against Memphis, the Wave was not read to fight hard enough to hang with the Bearcats on the road. Cincinnati is physical on offense and talented on defense, but the Bearcats also out-competed the Wave, winning comfortably.
11) Houston 48, Tulane 17
Tulane was not ready for the big moment and ill-equipped offensively to hang close in a shootout. Clearly missing Sample and Patrick Johnson, the defense allowed 201 rushing yards in the first half and tackled horribly, far worse than in any other game. McMillan went into the jar after his first interception on a tip drill and received little help from a sub-standard receiving corps. Just think what might have happened if Tulane had been close and D'Eriq King, an incredible athlete, had still gone down with a season-ending injury before halftime. Instead, Houston already was up 28-9 and in position to score again when he got hurt. It was a disappointing night all around. Tulane entered with a chance to earn a shot at undefeated UCF in the AAC championship game and exited with a blowout loss to a talented, but injury-riddled opponent.