Tulane resembles the student that wants to do well in class but can’t find the disciple to put in the studying needed to make the A-B honor roll.
So it’s stuck with being a C-student.
The Green Wave are experiencing a season of transition as they face the difficulties of starting a freshman at quarterback, then turning around and starting the old guy again, while also leaping up to the American Athletic Conference from Conference USA. Challenges like these take a lot of studying to conquer.
A bumpy transition has lead Tulane to a 2-4 record at midseason, but it will start the second-half of 2014 coming off a 12-3 win over UConn at home.
Head coach Curtis Johnson and the olive and blue have fallen on hard times compared to last season’s 4-2 midseason record.
Let’s look at where each Green Wave unit stands — academically speaking.
Offense: C
Tulane went 7-6 and reached its first bowl game since 2002, despite collecting anemic offensive numbers during its Conference USA swan song. Even with last year’s struggles and the bump in competition associated with moving to the AAC, Green Wave fans were optimistic the offense would show vast improvement in 2014, largely, because of the unit’s new addition: freshman quarterback Tanner Lee.
Coach Johnson named the inexperienced Lee the starting QB over incumbents Nick Montana and Devin Powell — each starting games for the dysfunctional unit — in the wake of Lee’s big spring performance where he enamored coaches with his arm strength and long-term potential. Perhaps Johnson thought Lee, regardless of his inexperience, would improve a quarterback position where 2013 starters Montana and Powell combined to throw 15 interceptions.
If that was the case, Johnson’s thoughts were grossly off. The younger Lee tossed nine interceptions in the Green Wave’s first four games as the new signal caller; one ended a potential tying touchdown drive in the second overtime of a Week 1 loss at Tulsa, and three against Georgia Tech in Tulane’s inaugural game at Yulman Stadium set-up Yellow Jackets scoring drives.
Lee was never benched for his regularity with tossing the football to the wrong jersey. Instead, a severe shoulder bruise benched him for the second-half against Rutgers in Week 5 and forced him to sit out in last Saturday’s win over UConn. Montana is the temporary or weekly starter (Johnson really isn’t saying) and played well in his time on the field; completing 77.4 percent of his passes with one touchdown pass and, most notebly, zero INTs.
Based on the 12 meager points Montana and the Green Wave scored against struggling UConn and the 19.7 points per game the team is averaging (eighth in the AAC), the offense appears destined to struggle no matter who is behind center.
Another freshman, however, is the silver lining in Tulane’s offense that brings hope for improvement down the stretch. Sherman Badie came out hot in his career debut in Week 1, rushing for 215 yards on just 15 carries and scoring his first touchdown at Tulsa.
Badie is second in the conference in rushing yards per game (89) and ninth in the FBS in yards per carry average (7.43). With out Badie’s explosiveness and play-making ability, the offense would have a failing grade.
Defense: C+
The country’s 22nd-ranked defensive unit in 2013 has taken a big step back so far in ’14.
Stopping the run hasn’t been easy as the Green Wave have allowed 177 on the ground — 54 more yards from last year’s average — and are 10th in the AAC in yards per carry surrendered on third-down (5.73). Third-down defense is, arguably, a unit’s most crucial stat, and Tulane has proven that getting opposing offenses off the field is no easy task. Scoring defense has also fallen from last season; 21.4 points per game in 2013 to almost 30 points allowed per contest at midseason (eighth worst in AAC)
So, where did the “plus” come from in the defense’s “C” grade? The defense hasn’t been all bad. The Green Wave are playing solid bend-but-don’t-break red-zone defense, keeping opponents off the scoreboard 64 percent of the time they reach the 20; surprisingly, tying them for sixth nationally. Quite a remarkable stat considering Tulane’s opponents have reached the red-zone an abounding 28 times.
The secondary has improved considerably since allowing 438 yards passing to Tulsa in Week 1. In four of the five games proceeding the opener, the defense gave up 213 or less yards through the air; only 15 to Georgia Tech in Week 2, albeit the Jackets’ offense employs the triple-option.
Cornerbacks Lorenzo Doss and Parry Nickerson, along with safety Sam Scofield each having two interceptions, tied for fifth in the conference. And the defense, as a unit, has recorded eight INTs on the season — bright spots for an average unit with building pressure to perform well in lieu of the offenses’ ineptitude.
Special Teams: D
To paint a broad picture of Tulane’s special teams, NOLA.com writer Tammy Nunez wrote an article early in the month that chronicled the Green Waves’s consistent special teams miscues over the last five seasons.
The one shiny emblem in the kicking game within the last five years was 2012 Lou Groza Award winner Cairo Santos. Freshman kicker Andrew DiRocco, Santos replacement, has been a dull razor so far in his first season as place-kicker. DiRocco is a horrific 2-for-6 on field goal attempts. Seriously? Night and day change from 2013 is a major understatement.
Punter Peter Picerelli’s punting average has dipped from the 41.5 yards he averaged last season. Another reason why Tulane’s opponents tend to start on offense with solid field position.
The Green Wave’s punt and kick return units are two of the AAC’s worst — ninth (4.75 yards per return) and last (15.93), respectively.
I felt generous and gave Tulane a “D” for this unit. You know, a “D” is technically failing in college.
Coaching: C
Head coach and New Orleans native Curtis Johnson isn’t on the hot seat, at least for this season, but his personnel decisions on offense and suspicious lack of clarity in answering media questioning pulls his letter grade down. Frankly, my soft grading strikes again if you consider Johnson’s 11-20 record in three years with the Green Wave (including 2014).
Tulane wasn’t expected by outsiders to compete for a bowl this season with the move to the AAC, and that was before we realized it plays one of the tougher schedules in the conference. Nevertheless, the Green Wave’s 2-4 record is somewhat disappointing given how close they came to knocking off Tulsa in the opener and having a big lead on Georgia Tech before Tanner Lee’s interceptions squandered the game away.
Speaking of Lee, Johnson’s decision to continue starting him after he proved to be an interception machine is where he deserves the most criticism in regard to personnel decisions. One can argue Montana deserved an opportunity to redeem his career long before Lee got injured.
Johnson also deserves criticism for his vagueness when asked about Lee’s injuries. Coaches don’t have to relinquish game plans or strategy to the media, but its important for them — as leaders of the program — to show transparency. When Lee was pulled in the fourth quarter against Georgia Tech, all Johnson said was that the freshman QB was struggling with the heat. Can you be more specific, C.J.? He also has yet to inform fans on the official diagnoses of Lee’s “shoulder bruise.”
Tulane is the most penalized team in the AAC (58 penalties for an average loss of 85 yards per game). Penalties are contributed to a lack of team discipline, which reflects on the head coach whether it should or not.
Overall: C-
Tulane is not the worst team in the conference; it could very well be better than Tulsa (1-5, 1-1 AAC) at this point in the season.
But, as long as uncertainty persists at quarterback and the offense continues placing the defense in difficult situations, the Green Wave won’t win another game in ’14 — not with the conference’s primary contenders still left on the slate.
A 2-10 finish isn’t grounds for firing coach Johnson given the conference change and arduous non-conference schedule that included two ACC teams and one member from the Big Ten.
Special teams have been an ugly disaster from Week 1, or, if your feelings match Tammy Nunez, for the last five seasons.
Tulane may not improve in the win/loss column, but it can set up a nice 2015 run at bowl eligibility if it finishes ’14 off on a competitive streak playing the AAC’s toughest remaining schedule.
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