Showing posts with label american athletic conference. Show all posts
Showing posts with label american athletic conference. Show all posts

Sept. 17, 2011. That was the date of the last Tulane road victory outside of the state of Louisiana. In this millennium, the word that has defined Tulane has been: struggle.

That has never been more true over the past decade than on the road, where wins were few and far between.

The narrative this week was that this team was done.

With a road trip to the Houston Cougars, favored by a full 18 points by the folks in Vegas, many believed this team was headed for another disappointment.

Instead, the Green Wave produced what was hands down the most impressive win of the Curtis Johnson era. Houston was no joke. With a victory, they were set to clinch bowl eligibility for another year and regain control of the American Conference atop the AAC standings.
Tulane jumped out to an early lead with a Tanner Lee touchdown following an interception of the first quarter. In the end, the Green Wave went wire-to-wire, controlling the momentum for nearly the entire game.

The only exception: two minutes of disaster at the end of the first half, when a Tulane fumble bobbled into the end zone, and the Cougars snagged it for a TD. 14-14. On the next drive, with Tanner Lee taking his offense down the field, an interception on third down set up a field goal, allowing the Cougars to head to the end zone with a 17-14 lead.

Tulane has struggled to put together complete games this year. There's no question about it. Until today, the Green Wave had never reclaimed a lead in a game where they were trailing.
They did today. Tanner Lee immediately responded by throwing his third touchdown of the day against the #4 pass defense in the country.
Just a great throw and a solid catch on that fade route.

Now the game looked all but over in the fourth quarter. With less than 9 minutes remained, CB Parry Nickerson grabbed an interception, bringing his total for the year to five.

We just had to wait for the clock to strike zero. However, Houston managed to put together one good drive in the half, and scored with less than 2:00 remaining. Now here is where it gets sticky.

Down by one touchdown, Houston goes for the onside kick. A Cougar blatantly crosses the line before the kick, a seemingly obvious offsides call. Tulane bumbles the ball, and Houston recovers, but a flag is on the field for the offsides.

The AAC official chose to pick up the laundry, and the fumble recovery was good. Curtis Johnson was incensed. Houston proceeded to move down the field to the red zone, within yards of the house on 4th down and the game on the line.

Parry Nickerson, who was nearly ejected in the first quarter, made a game saving interception for his team. Tulane won on the road outside its state for the first time since 2011. They did it against a defense ranked higher than LSU. And they did it, most importantly, with no excuses.
Great game. Beat Memphis. It's Homecoming.

Tulane Football dropped to 2-5 on the season (and 1-2 in the American Conference) in a 20-13 loss to former Conference USA foe UCF yesterday in Orlando, FL.

At this point, we know the program is done with moral victories, so I don't want to go crazy in celebrating a loss... But here are the key points from the game yesterday.

1. The Tulane Defense is Actually Very Good

The biggest surprise this year, in my opinion, was not the foibles of the special teams unit but a strange regression for the Tulane Defense.

By the end of last season, capped off by a bowl appearance, "mid-major Michigan State" was thrown around frequently to describe the defensive powerhouse that Tulane was honestly becoming. Lorenzo Doss was picked as the next big thing, and anyone who knew anything about this team expected for the "bend but don't break" Green Wave to come back.

It didn't quite happen like that. In the first game of the season, the secondary broke down against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and couldn't stop a comeback that culminated in a double overtime loss.

Things didn't look better when the Duke Blue Devils and Rutgers Scarlet Knights put up points at will against the prized element of our program.

That seems to be changing though. Last week at home, Tulane held the UConn Huskies to three points, facilitating another home victory with minimal offensive production in the absence of Tanner Lee. Fair enough, but it's still UConn, right?

Well, this week may be a true turning point. In the last two matchups with UCF, the Golden Knights put up 110 points of offense combined. It was not good, and the Green Wave didn't belong on the same field.

Yesterday, however, the Tulane Defense did everything it possibly could to keep its team in the game. In the second half especially, Tulane forced two consecutive three-and-outs to set up potential game-tying drives. This is what you have to do playing a good team on the road, and they stepped up every chance they had.

2. Nick Montana muffed a meaningless play, and now everyone is freaking out but it did not matter. 

You have probably seen this, right?


With :05 left in the first half, Nick Montana thought he had a first down and instinctively spiked the ball in a last ditch effort to stop the clock.

SB Nation, Bleacher Report, and ESPN could not resist the urge to post this as a not top ten-type of play involving "Joe Montana's son." The fact remains though:
It's whatever. I am sure Nick is capable of handling that type of attention given his last name, but he did everything he could as a third string quarterback to give his team a chance to win. In the fourth quarter, he threw deep shots on first and fourth down (including escaping two sacks) that his receivers dropped. He did what he had to do.

3. DiRocco Nailed a 42 yarder, and it was awesome. 
The narrative that DiRocco isn't any good was easy to latch onto. He missed field goals, extra points, and pretty much anything that involved holding a football and kicking it at something.

CJ was adamant, however, that DiRocco had the ability to play at this level, as a former first-team prospect out of the state of Florida. In particular, the snapping has been horrid, and this has caused a dozen opportunities where the play was mis-timed, which wreaks havoc on kickers mentally and physically.

He hit a good one yesterday, and you have to hope he's back on track after a pretty disastrous introduction to college football.

4. Tulane Could Have Won 

 We out-gained UCF 278 to 233 in total yards. Tulane had greater time of possession. The Green Wave was +2 in turnover margin yesterday. It all adds up.

In the end, they were not able to nab a second score to tie it up. UCF is the upper level of the American Conference, and you have to make some plays to get out of there with a rare road victory.

That said, the Green Wave showed tangible progress yesterday. It wasn't enough for a win, but it is enough for me to get psyched for the Halloween showdown with Cincinnati.

Tulane has a week off and some momentum and fire after leaving Orlando. Let's see what they bring to Yulman against another top team from the American Conference.

This is a new feature I want to update every couple weeks on what Tulane's opponents are doing. As you can see, Georgia Tech and Duke have established strong 4-0 starts after beating the Green Wave.

There is more trouble on the way with Memphis, ECU, and Cincinnati all playing very strong football right now. These next couple games will be critical wins in the Green Wave's effort to get back to bowl season.

 1. Tulsa Golden Hurricane (1-2) [Tulane Loss] 

 Tulsa had the week off but will play Texas State next week with a great chance to get back to .500.

2. Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (4-0) [Tulane Loss] 

The Ramblin' Wreck pulled off a great upset of the Virginia Tech Hokies, handing another loss to the team that previously beat Ohio State on the road.

3. Southeastern Louisiana Lions (2-2) [Tulane Win] 

The Lions, coming into this week ranked #3 in FCS, dropped another game against SE Missouri. They will have to get their season back on track after losing some momentum in this stretch.

4. Duke Blue Devils (4-0) [Tulane Loss] 

Duke's victory over Tulane earned the Blue Devils another appearance in the Top 25. They are now #23 after a convincing 4-0 start.

5. Rutgers Scarlet Knights (3-1) [Away at Rutgers] 

Rutgers is coming off a victory when they host the Tulane Green Wave next week. They survived a comeback at the hands of the Navy Midshipmen this weekend, but they received news today that Paul James, their star running back with five touchdowns this season, has had season ending surgery.

6. UConn Huskies (1-3) [Home at Yulman] 

If Tulane can pull off a nice game against their Big Ten opponent, they will have a really good chance to get back to .500 when they host the UConn Huskies. UConn dropped another game in a messy matchup with the USF Bulls this week. Their offense has been stagnant, and the defense hasn't been much better.

7. UCF Golden Knights (1-2) [Home at Yulman] 

UCF became the last AAC team to win a game this year after a 41-7 win over Bethune Cookman. They have a week off, and then they will try their hand against a struggling Houston Cougars team to get back to .500.

8. Cincinnati Bearcats (2-0) [Home at Yulman] 

Cinci started this season extremely late (after even the Cincinnati Bengals), but they are off to a 2-0 start after beating the Miami (OH) Wildcats this past weekend 31-24. They will have a tough test against the Ohio State Buckeyes this week, but a win would really galvanize this team.

9. Houston Cougars (2-2) [Away at Houston] 

The Cougars had a fairly disastrous start to this season, which included a loss to a very good BYU. They showed some signs that things are back on track when they wrecked the UNLV Rebels 47-14. Their offense can be potent when it's clicking, and they will look to build momentum.

10. Memphis Tigers (2-1) [Home at Yulman, Homecoming] 

Wow. The Memphis Tigers are by far the biggest surprise in the AAC so far this year. They are 2-1 after a nice home win over Middle Tennessee. The Tigers even packed the Liberty Bowl for the game. Their lone loss was a near upset to #10 UCLA while on the road. Memphis is playing tough football right now.

11. #24 East Carolina Pirates (3-1) [Away at ECU]

East Carolina is looking like the best team in the AAC. A week after beating Virginia Tech, East Carolina took down #24 UNC in absolute beatdown, the kind where QB Shane Carden puts 70 points on the board against the Tar Heels. The Pirates are a very solid football team right now, and they will be ranked #24 this week.

12. Temple Owls (2-1) [Home at Yulman] 

The Owls put up a 59-0 victory against an undermatched Delaware State squad this week. That warmup game should give the Owls a good look when they face a middling UConn next week.


Week Three of the American Athletic Conference's 2014 campaign is in the books, and the Tulane Green Wave has nabbed its first win of the season. Let's see where the rest of the AAC's teams fell this week after quite a few losses and very few wins.

AAC Football Power Rankings: Week 3

 11. SMU Mustangs - LW #11, 0-2 Record, No Action 

 SMU had a much needed week off following their coach's resignation. They will need it, as they are hosting #6 Texas A&M this week. Ouch.

10. Tulsa Golden Hurricane - LW #9, 1-2, L to FLORIDA ATLANTIC 

 Not a huge fan of ranking Tulsa under Tulane, but hey, they survived a double OT thriller at home and have been broken ever since. Most recently, the Florida Atlantic Owls drubbed the Golden Hurricane 50-21. Tulsa is out of sorts, and they will need some spark to get their season back on track. Stock falling.

9. Tulane Green Wave - LW #10, 1-2, W against SOUTHEASTERN 

 We are going to know Tanner Lee has clicked when second half Tanner looks like first half Tanner. They aren't there yet, but this team has upside. Sherman Badie, the freshman from John Curtis, is averaging 9.4 yards per carry right now. That wasn't a typo. The win over a strong FCS team definitely pumps some momentum into this season, especially given the widespread hype that Tulane would be upset by the Southeastern Louisiana Lions. That said, Tulane is a heavy underdog on a road trip to see the 3-0 Duke Blue Devils this Saturday. They will need stability from start to finish to hang in there with a talented and tested Duke team.

8. UConn Huskies - LW #9, 1-2 Record, L to BOISE STATE 

 UConn took a beating at home against a decent Boise State team, which drops the Huskies to 1-2 on the year. They will have a shot at a win when they head to South Florida to play a struggling Bulls squad. So far, UConn has come out flat, so they will look to make a move against the AAC competition.

7. South Florida Bulls - LW #7, 1-2 Record, L to NC STATE 

 Are you getting a sense yet that the American Conference had a bad week? South Florida looked terrible in an absolute smackdown at the hands of NC State. They have an opportunity to rebuild this week when they host a struggling UConn.

6. Temple Owls - LW #5, 1-1 Record, No Action 

 5. Houston Cougars - LW #4, 1-2 Record, L to BYU 

 Houston suffered a blowout in the first half against a very solid BYU Cougar team (in a Cougars vs. Cougars weeknight matchup). They managed to make it competitive in the second half, but honestly, Houston has not been sharp at all so far. They will need to really change their trajectory to have a chance to win the conference, as some expected going into this year.

4. Memphis Tigers - LW #5, 1-1 Record, No Action 

 This is ridiculous. But Memphis didn't play this week, and pretty much everyone decided to lose if they feature a big A on their field. Moreover, the Tigers are coming off a near road upset of a highly ranked UCLA team, so I'll just leave them here. Next.

3. UCF Knights - LW #2, 0-2 Record, L to MISSOURI 

 UCF is going to be the last team in the American Conference to get a win in the 2014 college football season. Just let that sink in, and you will understand the woes of our conference in this early season. They lost a gimmicky game in Ireland to Penn State and got wrecked by a strong Missouri team. They are a cut above the rest of the AAC, but the Knights are definitely a shell of last year's team. That said, Teenage Mutant Ninja Bortles has been one of the stronger fantasy football names of this season. So they have that.

2. Cincinnati Bearcats - LW #1, 1-0 Record, W against AKRON 

 Wooooo! Competence! And yes, Cinci finally decided to play a game of football, and they won! And their quarterback throws a lot of touchdowns. We may actually have a two horse race in this conference, after all. They should have another warmup game against a Miami (OH) team that just was crushed by a weak Michigan Wolverines squad.

1. East Carolina Pirates - LW #3, 2-1 Record, W against #17 VIRGINIA TECH 

 Whoa. East Carolina laid out a Virginia Tech team coming off a momentous win at Ohio State. Not only did they steal VT's thunder, but ECU became the first AAC to take down a ranked team this season. More importantly, it turns out South Carolina is pretty damn good, so their performance last week against USC looks even better. Look for ECU to seriously contend this season while riding Shane Carden's impressive quarterback play toward the postseason.


Tulane will open the doors to Yulman Stadium for the second time in history when the Southeastern Louisiana Lions come to town tonight. Here are the key details for your gameday preview.

1. Game Time: 7 PM (CST) at Yulman Stadium, New Orleans

 2. TV: Nationally televised on ESPN 3 and Watch ESPN online

3. Records: Southeastern Louisiana Lions (2-0) and Tulane Green Wave (0-2)

4. Enemy Playmaker: Quarterback Bryan Bennett. Bennett is a transfer from a little FCS school called Oregon, where he was supposed to be the next big thing for the fast paced offense. Then Marcus Mariota happened, and Bennett went to Southeastern to run the Lions offense. This game will feature a big time matchup between a talented quarterback and Tulane's stacked secondary, namely Lorenzo Doss.

5. Current Power Ranking: Tulane 10 of 11 in AAC Power Rankings 

6. FearTheWave.com Prediction: Tulane 34, Southeastern 30 

7. Other Storylines: Tonight will be the first-ever night game for Yulman Stadium. That will be a nice respite for the folks who sweated it out last week in the early September heat. 

Week Two is officially in the books, and we have some movement in the American Athletic Conference (AAC) Power Rankings.

Below, you will see a listing of the teams in rank order, their rank last week, and the most recent result.

Sound off @fearthewaveblog on Twitter.

AAC Power Rankings - Week Two: 
11. SMU Mustangs - LW #7, 0-2 Record, L to U. OF NORTH TEXAS 

 SMU suffered a big drop this week. After getting shellacked by Baylor, we thought they might just be rusty. A 43-6 beatdown by the hands of UNT (a team Tulane beat last year) led to the resignation of their coach and shaky waters ahead. Likely moving down further with time.

10. Tulane Green Wave - LW #10, 0-2 Record, L to GEORGIA TECH 

 This kills you, but Tulane has a lot to prove after a monumental week in the program's history. In front of a sellout crowd at the brand new Yulman Stadium, Royce LaFrance opened the game with a fumble recovery to get the fans fired up. Unfortunately, on an extremely hot and humid Louisiana Saturday, things slipped away, and ultimately standout QB Tanner Lee was benched. The second half allowed the Yellow Jackets of Georgia Tech to break it open, and Tulane was left winless once again. They will get another chance with Southeastern Louisiana coming to Yulman for the first ever night game.

9. Tulsa Golden Hurricane - LW #9, 1-1 Record, L to OKLAHOMA 

 Well, reality came back to Tulsa 52-7 beatdown at home by the Oklahoma Sooners.

8. UConn Huskies - LW #10, 1-1 Record, W against STONY BROOK 

 Not going to give them much credit for beating Stony Brook of the CAA. Let's see what else they will do down the stretch.

7. USF Bulls - LW #8, 1-1 Record, L against MARYLAND 

 USF gave up a fourth quarter lead to almost secure another victory for the American Conference against the Power Five.

6. Temple Owls - LW #5, 1-1 Record, L against NAVY 

 Temple could not complete a comeback against future conference rival Navy. The Owls are back to .500.

5. Memphis Tigers - LW #6, 1-1 Record, L against #11 UCLA 

 I hate to move a team up after a loss, but no one in the rear made a move. And everyone lost. So what are you going to do? Furthermore, who saw the Tigers going punch-for-punch with the #11 UCLA Bruins on the road? Tough to judge the Tigers by this performance alone, but things seem to be turning around in Memphis.

4. Houston Cougars - LW #4, 1-1 Record, W against GRAMBLING STATE 

 47-0 win against Grambling State after a beatdown suffered against UTSA last week. Moving on.


3. East Carolina Pirates - LW #2, 1-1 Record, L against #21 SOUTH CAROLINA 

 The Pirates led going into the second quarter. Pretty sure South Carolina would have imploded if Shane Carden and the gang had stuck this one out.

2. UCF Knights - LW #3, 0-1 Record, No Action 

 Snooze. Getting a break after the weird Ireland trip. What are we hoping to do with that gimmick?

1. Cincinnati Bearcats - LW #1, 0-0 Record, No Action 

 The Bearcats will start their regular season after the Cinci Bengals in the NFL. Who made this schedule up?

Let me know what you think about the American Athletic Conference Power Rankings: Week Two. 

Well here we are, folks. It's time. The Tulane Green Wave, who were last seen in an inspiring comeback in the second half of the New Orleans Bowl --- stymied only by a failed field goal attempt to end the game --- are back in action for the 2014 season.

The American Conference may be a new league, but the Green Wave faces an old foe in the Tulsa Golden Hurricane. That's right. Tulsa. Another Conference USA gone Power Six export.

But to say it's an old rivalry would be inaccurate. From 1968 until 2012, the Green Wave had won a grand total of zero games in this series.

Last year, however, Tulane notched a historic victory for the first time in over 40 years that made the team bowl eligible. It was a big deal. It symbolized new hope for a program that had been devastated by real hurricanes, administrative issues, and yes, some serious football issues.

The stakes are just as high this year. You would have to look back to the 1990s to think of another time when the passion and optimism of the Green Wave fan base has reached this level.

In the offseason, Head Coach Curtis Johnson made waves after signing every target on National Signing Day, and as a bonus, locking down a ton of local talent from the Louisiana recruiting base.

But today is the day that the team gets a chance to realize the huge expectations for this season. Here are the storylines.

Game Time: 7 PM CST
TV: CBS Sports Network. Check your local listing. 
Betting Line: Tulsa -6.5 

1. Freshman QB 

 Coming out of camp, one of the bigger stories has been the success of redshirt freshman Tanner Lee. The New Orleans Jesuit product has impressed pretty much anyone watching with impressive arm strength and his ability to make the offense more dynamic.

As a result, he became the clear starter over Nick Montana and Devin Powell, who both started in games in the 2013 campaign.

While it was widely reported that Lee would be the first freshman QB to start opening day in history, one of my Twitter followers pointed out he's actually the second.
Still, crazy, right? Lee's ability to manage this offense will be a critical part of keeping pace with the Golden Hurricane tonight.

2. Defense, Defense, Defense 

 Yes, the defense is really good. Obviously in the off-season, the Green Wave lost some key contributors to graduation (especially Davenport), but they return a very strong core highlighted by Lorenzo Doss who made pretty much every pre-season watch list in existence, Royce LaFrance (who led the team in sacks), Nico Marley (who won Conference USA freshman of the year), and Sam Scofield, who led the team in tackles. Pretty solid, right?

The term "mid-major Michigan State" has been thrown around, and it's fitting. The Green Wave defense will look to build on the success of last season.

How much pressure can they bring tonight to hold the Golden Hurricane back like they did last year?

3. #18 

 Devon Walker is returning to the site of his tragic injury, which occurred against Tulsa two years ago. He will make an appearance at halftime in front of the Tulsa crowd. Go Devon go!

Devon graduated from Tulane in the spring and is pursuing a graduate degree right now.


This actually doesn't count as news at all, as apparently this has been out for a couple months. I was looking it up today though, and it was news to me, so there.

Via CBS Connecticut, Tulane men's basketball will bring the following schools to New Orleans (though the dates have not been released):

  • UCF
  • Cincinnati
  • UConn
  • Houston
  • USF
  • Memphis
  • SMU*
  • Temple
  • Tulsa
Additionally, their away opponents will consist of UCF, Cinci, UConn, East Carolina*, Houston, Memphis, USF, Temple, and Tulsa.

The two asterisk teams, SMU and East Carolina, will be the only two squads that Tulane will not place twice in the season. The AAC really threw us a bone there.

On the bright side, Tulane students and NOLA locals will get to enjoy some serious talent coming through next season. Obviously having the national championship-winning team come to your house is pretty sick, but SMU, Cinci, Memphis, SMU, and Temple will all be strong draws as well. Of course, Tulsa is coming off of a tournament appearance as well.

If Tulane was looking for a greater national presence, they certainly have found that. This should be the strongest conference schedule since the last breakdown of Conference USA, for sure.


Annnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnd... we're back. Yep, you probably heard already. Tulane Football will be opening a new four game series with traditional rival Georgia Tech, after all. That was the plan to begin with, at least as we may have thought waking up yesterday morning.

But that's not how the Green Wave rolls, am I right? Look at all that we received in 2013. The Curtis Johnson Administration put the program on the map again. Tulane competed in one of the most interesting bowl games of the season. A new stadium was on the horizon. Numerous Louisiana recruits made their commitment to join the program.

So what we needed was a good, old-fashioned Toledo-era day of crazy. And we got it. And more.

Here's a review of the big moments leading to the cancellation of the Tulane-Georgia Tech series, and the late night announcement that the game was back on for Sept. 6. The tl;dr is this: Tulane will be hosting Georgia Tech in New Orleans on Sept. 6. The stadium is unclear, but it's on.

Let's get weird.

1. Background: Tulane's non-conference schedule was coming together with Georgia Tech at the new Yulman Stadium. Away games against fellow-ACC member Duke and Rutgers were also in place.
2. ESPN breaks the story that Tulane was choosing to cancel the Georgia Tech series --- two sets of "home and home" games --- over issues with getting the stadium ready.

3. Tammy Nunez reports that the schedule is shifting other places too. Tulane's season opener with Southeastern Louisiana would also be moved due to stadium-related shuffling.

4. The message inside the program seems to confirm that Georgia Tech officially had a fork in it. Rising sophomore Nico Marley says he doesn't care about the opponent with a little Nick Saban nod.
5. Oh wait. Scott Kushner has the scoop that maybe the game isn't really off. Things are getting weird, and the Tulane fan base is losing it on Twitter.
6. Beat writer Tammy Nunez says insiders called Georgia Tech's declaration "premature." Seems to put blame on GT for making the decision before all of the cards were on the table.
7. Scott Kushner comes back to confirm that the series is officially back on, per Tulane sources.
8. Unclear if my proposal to play the game on the field at the Fly was taken into consideration by either Athletic Department.
9. Georgia Tech's AD confirms that the game is back on, and it will be played in New Orleans, after all.
10. Finally, most recent report suggests that the game is likely headed back to the Superdome, should the new stadium not be ready in time for the game. ANOTHER DOME PARTY!
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