College Football News Preview 2020: Previewing, predicting, and looking ahead to the Tulane Green Wave season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Tulane Previews 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2019 Record: 7-6 overall, 3-5 in AAC
Head Coach: Willie Fritz, 5th year, 23-27
2019 CFN Final Opinion Ranking: 61
2019 CFN Final Season Formula Ranking: 62
2019 CFN Preview Ranking: 81
No one knows what’s going to happen to the 2020 college football season. We’ll take a general look at where each team stands – doing it without spring ball to go by – while crossing our fingers that we’ll all have some well-deserved fun this fall. Hoping you and yours are safe and healthy.
5. College Football News Preview 2020: Tulane Green Wave Offense 3 Things To Know
– Head coach Willie Fritz has done a marvelous job of adapting his style and making it all work with the personnel. This isn’t the option attack he used at Georgia Southern; this is a spread offense that’s just efficient enough throwing the ball to get by, and the running game works, too.
Even with some key losses, there’s just enough talent in place to keep improving after finishing 22nd in the nation in total offense, 30th in scoring, and ran for 243 yards per game.
CFN in 60 Video: Mississippi State Preview
Tulane at Mississippi State, Sept. 26
– It all starts around replacing QB Justin McMillan. Keon Howard is a veteran who spent the first part of his career with Southern Miss, and now is ready to step in and push the passing game while being able to run a bit.
There’s no experience among the reserve options, though. There will be a competition for the gig, but the scales are tilted heavily in Howard’s favor.
Top targets Darnell Mooney and Jalen McCleskey are done, but senior Jaetavian Toles has been around for a few years – he made 13 catches last season – and junior TE Tyrick James needs to be used more.
Throw in running back/receiver Amare Jones, and there are targets, but there’s not a true No. 1. Getting Oklahoma transfer Mykel Jones might be a massive McCleskey-like – who came from Oklahoma State – help.
But …
– It’s a Willie Fritz team. The running game is going to rock. Howard probably won’t crank up the rushing production like McMillan – who led the team with 745 yards and 12 scores – did, but he’ll add to the mix.
Senior and former Texas Tech back Corey Dauphine was second on the team with 575 yards and seven scores. He brings the wheels, Amare Jones has the all-around game with his pass catching kills, and the system will make the stars – six Green Wave player ran for 250 yards or more.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Tulane Green Wave Defense 3 Things To Know
4. College Football News Preview 2020: Tulane Green Wave Defense 3 Things To Know
– There are losses from the defensive side, but it’s still going to be a veteran group that should be even stronger after finishing fourth in the AAC overall and allowed 26 points per game. And now the pass rush has to rise up.
Patrick Johnson is the team’s best defensive player, but he wasn’t healthy throughout last year and finished with just a team-high four sacks. He’s back, and he’s got the guys inside to help. The tackle combination of 320-pound Jeffery Johnson and 290-pound De’Andre Williams should quietly be among the league’s best, and Cameron Sample is a 280-pound veteran who can work outside or in.
– The pass defense was fine, it didn’t give up a whole lot of big plays, and it was decent at getting off the field. It’s missing playmaking safety PJ Hall, but Chase Kuerschen is back after leading the team with 76 tackles.
Jaylon Monroe is a senior corner who made 38 tackles with two sacks, but there’s going to be a battle for the job on the other side. Former Florida State superstar recruit Kyle Meyers will likely have the upper hand for the job.
– Third-leading tackler and top linebacker Lawrence Graham is done, but Marvin Moody is a 6-2, 230-pound tackler who has a knack of getting into the backfield.
Former JUCO transfer Nick Anderson has 230-pound size and experience to step in at the other spot, but it’ll be up to the latest recruiting class and more JUCO transfers to push for time.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Top Tulane Green Wave Players
College Football News Preview 2020: Top Tulane Green Wave Players
Best Tulane Green Wave Offensive Player
RB Amare Jones, Jr.
There might be steadier parts to the backfield, but Jones could be the team’s most valuable playmaker. The 5-11, 190-pound junior averaged over six yards per carry with 371 yards and four scores, and he worked a bit as a slot receiver with 34 grabs for 367 yards and two touchdowns.
Also an elite kick and punt returner – averaging 24 yards per kickoff return in his first two seasons and close to ten yards per punt return – just get the ball in his hands.
2. RB Corey Dauphine, Sr.
3. OG Corey Dublin, Sr.
4. QB Keon Howard, Sr.
5. OT Joey Claybrook, Jr.
Best Tulane Green Wave Defensive Player
DE Patrick Johnson, Sr.
One of the best pass rushers in the American Athletic Conference, the 6-3, 250-pound Johnson came up with ten sacks and 14 tackles for loss in an amazing sophomore season, and followed it up with 35 tackles with four sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss.
His numbers might have been down, but he was never quite right. If he can stay healthy, expect double-digit sacks again.
2. S Chase Kuerschen, Sr.
3. CB Jaylon Monroe, Sr.
4. LB Marvin Moody, Sr.
5. DT De’Andre Williams, Sr.
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Tulane Green Wave Keys To The Season
College Football News Preview 2020: Tulane Green Wave Keys To The Season
Biggest Key To The Tulane Green Wave Offense
Keep the explosiveness to the attack. The Tulane offense was good over the years, but it wasn’t able to crank up the big plays like last year’s team did.
How well did the O work? From 2013 to 2018, Tulane’s offense came up with seven yards or more per play in five games. Last year, it hit the seven yard per play mark six times, and went 6-0 in the regular season when it did, and 0-6 when it didn’t.
The offense was able to generate big plays through the air in previous years, but the ground game averaging more than five yards per carry for the first time in more than a decade was a big deal.
Biggest Key To The Tulane Green Wave Defense
Pounce on a fumble once in a while. The defense was able to force fumbles, it just couldn’t do anything after it got through Part One.
The secondary did a decent job of coming up with takeaways with 12 picks – even if three came against SE Missouri State from the FCS – but the entire D couldn’t get the ball when it was on the ground.
The Green Wave recovered a fumble in the opener against FIU, and two a week later against Auburn. They force 17 fumbles on the year, and came up with a grand total of one over the final 11 games and four on the year.
Key Tulane Green Wave Player To A Successful Season
QB Keon Howard, Sr.
The former Southern Miss Golden Eagle got in a little time, running a little bit for his former team and throwing nine touchdown passes with nine picks.
He got in four games of work last year with the Green Wave – after getting a season off – and hit 13-of-18 passes for 208 yards and two scores, and he ran for a touchdown.
The 6-1, 220-pound veteran has the mobility and the experience take over the job from Justin McMillan and keep the O going, but he’s it. There’s no experience behind him, and it’s asking a lot for freshmen Michael Pratt and Justin Ibieta to be ready out of the box.
Key Game To The Tulane Green Wave Season
at Houston, Oct. 8
The Green Wave will have already started the American Athletic Conference season with a date against Navy, and it gets an open week before dealing with what should be a Houston team that should be a whole lot stronger than last year’s version.
Tulane won last year 38-31, but it’s 3-13 in the last 16 meetings against the Cougars. There’s no Cincinnati or USF to face, but going to UCF two weeks later is scary. Throw in the dates at Northwestern and Mississippi State before going to Houston, and this could be a desperation game.
– Tulane Green Wave Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2019 Tulane Fun Stats
– 3rd Quarter Scoring: Tulane 117 – Opponents 50
– Penalties: Tulane 103 for 883 yards – Opponents 69 for 591 yards
– Onside Kicks: Tulane 2-of-3 – Opponents 0-of-3
NEXT: College Football News Preview 2020: Tulane Green Wave Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
1. College Football News Preview 2020: Tulane Green Wave Win Total Prediction, What Will Happen
At what point is 7-6 not great anymore?
Tulane suffered through four straight losing seasons and 14 in 15 seasons before 2018 – the lone winning season, by the way, was 7-6 in 2013 – before going 7-6 in each of the last two years.
7-6 is good considering the drought Tulane was in for so, so long, but is it possible to take things to a whole other level in an American Athletic Conference with so many good and improving teams?
It’s not like there were any true clunkers last season among the six defeats – four came against teams that won ten games or more, one was on the road to a good Temple squad, and one was to Auburn – but there’s not a lot of help from the schedule.
Set The Tulane Green Wave Regular Season Win Total At … 5.5
Bet at BetMGM Win Total Line: 6
Start with this. Tulane will be shooting for six wins and go to a bowl for a third straight year – it would be the first time in the program’s history it would do that.
It’ll beat SE Louisiana, and then there’s … uhhhhh. Uh oh.
Tulane will find a way to get to six wins. It’s a good enough team to come up with home wins somewhere against Navy, or Army, or Temple, or SMU, but none of those are layups.
Road games at Tulsa and East Carolina are hardly sure things, and going to Northwestern, Mississippi State, Houston and UCF are all going to be issues.
The Green Wave are too good and too well-coached to not win its share of games. It’ll get to five wins, but it might need a home win over Memphis in the regular season finale to get to six.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
