Sherman Badie Is Silver Lining in Tulane’s Loss to Tulsa

It came late Thursday night.

In a heart-breaking double-0overtime loss; in its first game as a member of the American Athletic Conference against a familiar foe, Tulane may have found its star running back.

Redshirt freshman Sherman Badie gauged the Tulsa defense to the tune of 215 yards on a minuscule 15 carries, and was two rushing yards away from breaking Tulane’s single-game rushing record for a freshman. But he did become the AAC’s single-game rushing leader.

The explosive runner wowed Tulane players and fans after breaking a few tackles before sprinting down the field for a 90-yard touchdown in the second quarter. The explosion continued in the fourth quarter when Badie reeled off another massive run for 73 yards.

Badie is the evident silver lining in a humbly lost from a game the Green Wave never trailed until Tulsa went up 38-31 in the second overtime. Tulane averaged 3.6 yards per rush attempt last season. Badie demolished that number, averaging 14 yards a carry Thursday night with help from his long runs.

It isn’t time to place the Louisiana native on any Heisman short-lists, but Badie showed last night against Tulsa that he may have the tools to rebuild a Tulane rushing attack that was far below-average in 2013.

Badie said in a post-game interview that once he got used to the field, he “began to feel comfortable,” and started playing his game.

How Badie plays against Georgia Tech and at Duke in the next three weeks will give a wider opening into how good the freshman running back really is. Rushing for 200 yards per game isn’t a realistic number for any running back, even for Adrian Peterson. Even so, Badie proved against the Golden Hurricane that he is capable of being a star for both Tulane and the AAC.

If Badie continues to be a big play threat, Tulane’s loss to Tulsa will be nothing more than a flash in the pan. There are big things to come for Badie and the Green Wave.