Tulane may have been punched in the mouth, but the Green Wave isn’t going anywhere.
After a brutal loss at Ole Miss and many people questioning Tulane’s chances in a competitive American Conference, the Green Wave quieted many of those concerns with a comfortable 31-14 win over the Tulsa Golden hurricanes to open up conference play. It was a complete team win, a statement that Tulane will once again be one of the favorites in the conference most likely to produce a CFP contender amongst the G5.
The defensive line was unstoppable for the Green Wave today, simply living in the Tulsa backfield all game long. They held the Tulsa run game under 100 yards (2.5 yards per carry), and sacked QB Baylor Hayes 6 times on the day. DL Santana Hopper played outside his mind on the interior, racking up 1.5 sacks and 4 TFLs. Despite being a bit undersized for an interior DL, Hopper played with the power of a wrecking ball and was simply too fast for the Tulsa Guards and Center trying to get their hands on him. That pressure also helped a secondary continue to feast as Jaheim Johnson got a pick in the game. That’s Tulane’s 6th of the year, which is top 10 in the FBS and tied atop the conference.
“The front really stood out defensively. When you get into league play, what you think are your strengths have to start show out more. Now we are in the conference, I have a high expectation for our defensive line to play really good football.”
Tulane Head Coach Jon Sumrall
Meanwhile on offense, Jake Retzlaff got back on the horse after a dismal performance last week, throwing for 242 yards through the air and rushing for a TD. The standout performance on offense though was Javin Gordon, a freshman making an instant impact for the Green Wave, breaking out with 3 rushing TDs on the day.
Another optimistic takeaway for Tulane is seeing how Tulsa approached the game. It was clear the Golden Hurricanes treated this as their Super Bowl, opening up all the tricks to try staying competitive. Their first drive scored largely off of an impressive double reverse flea flicker trick play, and they immediately capitalized off that momentum by kicking a surprise onside kick. Tulane took the proverbial cattle prod to the neck and stayed on their feet, halting the momentum with a defensive stop on that drive and getting out to a 14-7 lead by the beginning of the 2nd quarter.
A couple drives later, halfway through the quarter, Tulsa found themselves with a 3rd and 1 in their own territory. With only one first down since that opening TD drive, they were desperate for any spark, and they found it with a defensive breakdown. An otherwise stout secondary loses Brody Foley, who catches and runs for an electric 72 yard touchdown pass. Tulsa had 123 of their 221 total 1st half yards came on just those two big plays. Despite general domination, Tulane found themselves tied in a dogfight on the road late in the first half.
And then, as the mature team they are, The Green Wave simply retook control. After a pair of back-to-back fumbles from the two teams, the Tulane offense marched right down the field thanks to a great 3rd down pass by Retzlaff to Shazz Preston to get into scoring range. Two plays later, Gordon broke off a 25 yard run (his long of the day) to get into the endzone to make it 21-14.
Tulsa tried to retake the reigns at the half but came up just short on a 4th down attempt in Tulane territory, which allowed the Green Wave to take back over and add on a field goal just before halftime. Tulane took punch after punch from the Golden Hurricanes in the first half, but recomposed themselves and went into the half with a 2 score lead.
After a few punts to start the 2nd half, Tulane drained the life out of the home crowd with a slow death march down the field: 13 plays, 69 yards, over 5 minutes off the clock, all capped off with a Javin Gordon 4 yard TD to make a hat-trick for the day. That made the lead 31-14, and Tulane just put the game in park from there. Brendan Sullivan got to play the last two drives of the game, but the Green Wave just sat on the ball and the defense continued dominating all the way to a victory that really can best be described as comfortable.
It was a great way to start conference play for a Tulane team that still looks to contend in a great American Conference even after the tough loss last week. They get the week off before a big Thursday night clash against East Carolina. As for Tulsa, they move to 2-3 on the year and pick up their 2nd loss in the American. That Oklahoma State win was great, but this conference is playing so well that it might not actually mean that much in the grand scheme of things. The road doesn’t get any easier for them as they travel next week to fellow conference favorite Memphis.
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