What the Tulane Green Wave Must Do to Beat Duke

Tulane (1-2, 0-1 AAC) now has a victory to stand behind after defeating FCS No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana last Saturday. The Green Wave ended a dominant first-half performance with a 28-3 lead, then coasted the rest of the way for a 35-20 win over the Lions.

Now the team can exhale and start to prepare for how it can create more opportunities for victory in what is one of the AAC’s more arduous schedules.

Unfortunately, the Green Wave must start inhaling immediately as it takes on its second Atlantic Coast Conference (Coastal Division) opponent in four games when it plays at Duke on Saturday.

And these Blue Devils resemble the championship contending basketball teams that have been Duke’s pillar of success for over 40 years.

David Cutcliffe’s team, not coach K’s, is battling to defend its 2013 division championship in the ACC, and is, so far, portraying a championship pedigree by easily disposing of teams it should beat. The 3-0 Blue Devils have whipped around the likes of Elon, Troy, and Kansas by an average score of 43-11. They face their final and most challenging non-conference opponent in Tulane.

Tulane is arguably the best of the five 1-2 teams log jammed in the AAC — that includes Tulsa who snatched a double-overtime win against the Green Wave in Week 1. A part from its heart-breaking loss to Tulsa, it was highly competitive in a turnover filled game against Georgia Tech.

The AAC is off to a miserable 2-9 start in non-conference games against teams from Power-5 conferences. A victory over the Blue Devils would not only lift Tulane’s expectations for the rest of the season — position it to be a real landmine in the AAC championship race — but also lift the moral of the entire AAC.

Here is the blueprint that each Green Wave unit should follow to defeat the Blue Devils:

Offense

Tulane must establish the running game against Duke’s 74th ranked rushing defense (166 yards per game), which is coming off a season where it finished 11th out of 14 ACC members in rushing defense.

Excluding the Georgia Tech game where he wasn’t healthy, Sherman Badie gashed Tulsa and SLU’s defenses for 215 and 86 yards, respectively. He is fifth in the country in yards per carry average at 9.39. Duke has exhibited a strong pass defense in the first three games, giving up only 174 yards per game. For Tulane to have a shot at moving the ball against the Duke D, it must establish the run, and early.

Quarterback Tanner Lee leads the AAC in passing touchdowns with eight, but the redshirt freshman is also tied with Tulsa’s Dane Evans for most interceptions thrown with six tosses to the other team. Georgia Tech scored three touchdowns off Lee interceptions, which made the difference in a 38-21 loss.

The Green Wave were outscored 45-11 during the first-half of its 1-2 start, 17-0 in the all-important third quarter. Tulane must find ways to score in the second-half against the Blue Devils. Duke’s superior talent and confidence will drown Tulane in the second-half if it rolls in another third-quarter goose-egg.

Head coach Chris Johnson needs to help his team limit penalties. Tulane is ranked No. 123 nationally in penalty yards given up this season (93 yards per game). Committing a glob of penalties is lethal against more talented teams.

Defense

The Green Wave D must keep 2013 Chick-fil-a Bowl star (opposite Johnny Football) quarterback Anthony Boone bottled up if it stands a shot at slowing down the Blue Devils’ attack.

Boone is completing 63 percent of his passes and has thrown seven touchdown passes. At face value, Lee’s passing stats seem similar to Duke’s senior QB, but they aren’t. Boone has yet to hurt his team by throwing an interception.

Fortunately for the Green Wave faithful, Tulane’s defense is tied for sixth nationally with five INTs in the early season. The secondary must continue to be opportunistic against Boone and the Blue Devils and find ways to make big plays or stops that shift the narrative of the game in Tulane’s favor.

Tulane is second in the AAC in red-zone defense; Duke’s offense is 12-of-14 in red-zone scoring.

Somethings gotta give.

Tulane’s defense needs to hold strong when Duke threatens inside the 20. It must force Duke to kick field goals, not touchdowns. Duke kicker Ross Martin is 5-of-5 on kicks this season, meaning chances are high he scores against Tulane.

If the Green Wave D can force Duke to use Martin in the red-zone, instead of scoring touchdowns, the Green Wave offense will find comfort knowing that scoring TDs will give it, at least, a four point swing against the Blue Devils.

Special Teams

Tulane Freshman kicker Andrew DiRocco is an awful 1-for-4 in field goal attempts. Another reason why Tulane desperately needs touchdowns to fill the board on Saturday. DiRocco needs to find a way to relax before his toe meets leather — much easier said than done, but imperative in games against better competition.

The last ACC Coastal Division squad Tulane played blocked a punt in the fourth quarter that allowed it to build a 17-point lead, evaporating the Green Wave’s chances of victory. Tulane can’t afford any punting, or kicking mishaps against a Blue Devils’ team that, on paper, appears better than Georgia Tech.