Welcome to this post. That was a very clanky way to start things. Today’s topic are the Tulane Green Wave. To get more in depth about Friday night’s opponent, I sat down to talk to one of the guys from Fear the Wave. That’s a very solid read for all of your Tulane information. Look for them on twitter @FearTheWave and check out their site. I’ll be answering some questions over there, so that will be fun.
Image from Pinterest. Really!
My questions are in bold.
Bearcats Blog: Tulane is quarterbacked Tanner Lee, when healthy, and Nick Montana as a reserve. They have combined to be awful. First question, what is Lee’s status for Friday night?
Fear the Wave: Tanner Lee, who has missed the past two games with a shoulder injury, is officially back, and the coaching staff told media he is going to be at 100% for the Bearcats. That being said, the injury did not come at a great time for the freshman QB. He struggled early in the season to gain control and consistency, which really has manifested itself in turnovers. You would have liked to see him in the game against teams like UConn, but what are you going to do? Without him though, Nick Montana did everything he could to give Tulane a chance, but the offense was pretty much entirely stalled for both the UConn and UCF games. Tanner is absolutely the QB with more upside and can be exciting when he gets it going. He just hasn’t taken first team reps since the shellacking at the hands of Rutgers though.
What can we expect out of the Tulane passing game?
Expect the unexpected. The honest truth is that the passing game has been absolutely great this year at times, but never for more than one half. There is a real Jekyll and Hyde feel to this passing game through the first half of the season.
At Tulsa to start the year, two nice passing touchdowns built a 21-7 lead that evaporated with a disastrous offensive performance in the second half. In the next game, Tulane opened a 21-7 lead over Georgia Tech in the opening of the new stadium after two passing touchdowns again, and then three interceptions followed.
As you can guess, it’s tough to predict when Tanner is going to break through. Expect a lot more vertical routes and aggressive attacks than we have seen during the brief Montana stint. Tanner Lee loves to throw the football.
The Green Wave rushing attack has been paced by Sherman Badie’s 582 yards. Badie has had a monster performance, a great performance, a good one and then mostly average rushing games. What strengths does he have as a back? What are the problems when Tulane fails to run the ball?
This is the area where the Tulane offense is starting to thrive. The Green Wave ground attack has the classic thunder and lightning approach. If you compare stats this season, you are going to notice that when Sherman Badie, who is a breakaway speed type of running back puts up average numbers, Lazedrick Thomspon almost certainly is having a nice game. He’s average 5.3 ypc himself as the bulldozer in this offense. He is really, really tough to bring down, even for a defense like UCF a couple weeks ago.
Now that being said, the early offensive struggles this year had a pretty clear formula: struggle on the early downs, end up with a third and long, and then an overly aggressive passing play would almost definitely follow. The hope is that now with the whole gang healthy, the team can be more disciplined in their attack.
The defense has forced 15 fumbles, 8 lost, as well as picked off 10 passes. Who should Bearcat fans watch out for to make plays? What is the secret to the turnovers?
The big name coming into this year was Lorenzo Doss, who was a national leader in interceptions last season. His play has been a bit subdued so far, and there are three guys who really stand out to me. Parry Nickerson has pulled in three interceptions. He’s fast, has great hands, and he’s a classic ballhawk. Safety Sam Scofield is also a guy you end up seeing around pretty much every fumble because he finds a way into so many plays. And last but not least, Nico Marley is an absolute nightmare. That’s Bob Marley’s grandson and former “The U” linebacker Rohan Marley’s son. He’s an undersized linebacker who plays with a big chip on his shoulder, and he shows up when it counts.
Tulane was hammered by Georgia Tech, Rutgers and Duke, but they hung in there against Central Florida. Did the Green Wave catch UCF on an off day? Are the Green Wave getting better?
Well the Knights fans definitely have an opinion on this one. Their Head Coach apologized after the game as though they just were blown out by 30. That said, I think it’s a bit of both. Tulane went bowling for the first time in a decade last year purely on the defense’s ability. For whatever reason, things did not click on the awful Georgia Tech – Duke – Rutgers stretch, but the last two games have been a return to form. This game represents a big test to me because we know the Bearcats can put up yards. It will be up to the offense to see if they can keep pace.
Tulane beat UConn 12-3 in a game that featured just 27 first downs. Was that game as bad as it seems?
Yes. Yes it was. It was a home victory to end a really bad stretch, but you could tell that both of those teams were barely standing at that point. I don’t think Nick Montana threw anything the entire time that wasn’t underneath. It was just a grind, but a smart one. Our defense outmatched a really broken UConn offense, so I guess they were able to minimize risk by containing the offense so much. Still… not a fun game to watch.
How is the new stadium?
It’s great. For those not familiar, Tulane played in the Superdome from the late 70s until last year, and it truly was painful. You could count the number of people there, which feels a whole lot worse when playing in a facility that hosts the Super Bowl and the Final Four.
The new stadium is definitely on the smaller end, and you will see that on Friday, but there are fans there now. The Student Section has been rocking for every game this year, and the kids had to sleep out to get tickets for the first two games. That was not something that happened before. Even though the results on the field haven’t been promising this season, the new facility makes you think the program is on the upswing after laying on rock bottom for about a decade.
If you’re not going this year, Bearcat fans should make the trip down in the future versions of this matchup. Tulane is on the streetcar line that runs from Bourbon St. to Uptown with dozens of great bars and restaurants in between. If you haven’t been, it will be worth the trip.
It’s Halloween in New Orleans. Something wild will happen Friday night, so my question to you is what wild thing occurs?
Tulane makes not one but two field goals. If you don’t know why that would be wild, look at the special teams stats from this year. I kid, I kid, but barely. Here’s my wild prediction. I think there are going to be two defensive touchdowns scored on Friday night. New Orleans is wild on Halloween. It’s going to be crazy.
Do you have a prediction?
31-28 Cincinnati. Tulane has a scoring chance on the final drive but comes up short.
Like any of us needed to be talked into taking a trip to New Orleans, but now I’m adding that to the wish list. Thanks to Fear the Wave. Support them this week.
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