Game Preview: Tulane Green Wave Opens Football Season Hosting SE Louisiana
The Tulane Green Wave will open the 2024 football season on a Thursday night at home against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions. It’s Tulane’s first opportunity to set a course toward reaching the American Athletic Conference title game for the third straight season.
It is also the first of four non-conference games for the Green Wave as it prepares for its league opener against USF on Sept. 28.
Here is a preview of the Green Wave and the Lions.
SE Louisiana (0-0) at Tulane (0-0)
Yulman Stadium, New Orleans
Time: 7 p.m. CT
TV: ESPN+
Radio: KVDU 104.1 The Spot (flagship)
Coaches: SE Louisiana — Frank Scelfo (37-31 at SE Louisiana and for his career); Tulane — Jon Sumrall (0-0 at Tulane, 23-4 career as head coach).
Fun fact: Scelfo was a Tulane assistant for a decade, including eight years as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach. Sumrall was a Tulane assistant for three years under Curtis Johnson, duties that included being the co-defensive coordinator. Their tenures did not overlap.
All-Times Series: Tulane leads series, 6-0.
Last meeting: Tulane def. SE Louisiana, 35-20 (2014).
Series notes: The first meeting was in 1949. Seven of the eight meetings have taken place in New Orleans, with the 2005 meeting taking place in Baton Rouge. SE Louisiana’s only victory over a Tulane-affiliated football team was its 19-0 win over Tulane’s freshman team in 1937, per the SE Louisiana media guide.
About SE Louisiana: Scelfo, the 65-year-old Abbeville, La., native, didn’t get his first college football head-coaching job until he took over the Lions in 2018. He turned them into a quality program, as SE Louisiana has finished in the FCS Top 25 four times and reached the playoffs in three seasons.
The Lions are coming off a 3-8 season a year ago, with a 3-4 record in Southland Conference action. It was their first losing season since 2018. Even coming off a dreadful season, SE Louisiana was picked to finish third in the conference.
Senior Darius Lewis is the do-everything player for the Lions. He was selected All-SLC preseason at wide receiver, punt returner and kickoff returner and has earned mention on preseason FCS all-America teams. Last season the New Orleans native averaged 13.8 yards per punt return to lead the SLC and rank 10th in all of FCS, while also leading SLU with 48 receptions for 568 yards and four touchdowns.
About Tulane: Sumrall will make his head-coaching debut at Tulane and inherits a team that is coming off two straight trips to the AAC title game, including a 2022 victory that led to a Cotton Bowl berth and a victory over USC.
Sumrall was a first-time head coach at Troy and in two years he won 23 games, put together two 10-game winning streaks and won two straight Sun Belt Conference titles. The expectations surrounding the Green Wave are not likely to faze him.
Tulane’s top returning defensive player is undoubtedly defensive lineman Patrick Jenkins, who has taken a place on every preseason all-conference team and is coming off a 2023 season in which he had 35 tackles, a team-leading 11.5 stops for loss and 5.5 sacks.
Next Up: SE Louisiana will travel to Southern Miss on Sept. 7 while Tulane will host Kansas State on Sept. 7.
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