Highest Graded Tulane Green Wave Players From 71-Point Outburst Against UAB
The Tulane Green Wave had their best day of the season on Saturday as they trounced the UAB Blazers by a score of 71-20. Somehow, that score makes it seem even closer than the game actually was.
Pro Football Focus released their weekly grades for the game on Sunday and there were a lot of Green Wave players that received positive evaluations.
The highest grade on the day, one of the highest in all of the country, went to linebacker Chris Rodgers with a 94.6 grade. His highest grade was mostly thanks to a fantastic day in coverage.
Rodgers came down with his first career interception and his second-career defensive touchdown, as he picked up a score on a fumble recovery last season.
He also forced two pressures as a pass rusher, his career high. He only had one pressure last season for the Troy Trojans, but he did play a different role there, to be fair.
The linebacker was more of a chess piece for Jon Sumrall last season, now looking like more of a traditional linebacker at Tulane.
Now heading over to the offensive side of the ball, Makhi Hughes was the highest grade-getter of the players that saw meaningful snaps with a 84.5 grade.
Hughes crossed the century mark for the third time this season as he picked up 119 yards and two scores across 15 carries. He's already matched his touchdown total from last season in just five games this season.
The redshirt sophomore has continued to bolster his case as one of the best running backs in the country.
Though it was a 71-point performance, the Green Wave passing game was not much of a factor. Things got out of hand fairly quickly which allowed Tulane to focus more on the ground game.
Yulkeith Brown ended up with a nice day and the third-highest grade of the key players with a 81.9 score. He caught touchdown passes from both Darian Mensah and Ty Thompson, bringing his season total to a career-high three trips to the end zone.
Brown had four catches for 60 yards in total, easily his best game of the season.
Jamauri McClure deserves a shoutout as the only player to finish with a grade higher than his two offensive counterparts, though he only played 12 snaps after the game was already out of hand.
Still, McClure had 10 carries for 84 yards and a score en route to an elite 91.3 grade.
Tulane has been off to a dream start to conference play with back-to-back blowout wins.
