Three Biggest Keys for Tulane Green Wave to Beat Temple Owls
With three games remaining in the season, the Tulane Green Wave must do everything possible to ensure they can reach the American Athletic Conference championship game, assuming they want to have an opportunity to get into the College Football Playoff.
The next step in that process is for the Green Wave to host the Temple Owls at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Yulman Stadium in a game set to be broadcast on ESPNU.
The stakes are pretty simple and significant for Tulane (7-2, 5-0 in AAC). The Green Wave is undefeated in conference play, along with Army West Point. If both teams remain undefeated in league action, then they will meet in the AAC title game on the first weekend of December.
Once there, Tulane needs to beat Army to win the conference title. Then, it would be up to the CFP committee to determine if Tulane is the highest-ranked champion among the Group of Five conferences. If so, then Tulane would become the second G-5 school to participate in the CFP, following Cincinnati, which got there in 2021 in the previous four-team format.
Here are Tulane’s three keys to success against Temple.
Roll Out the Big Plays
It’s incredible what Tulane has done when it comes to big plays this season. In fact, the program touted that on social media this weekend.
Leading the COUNTRY! 🌊#UptownFootball pic.twitter.com/uRJR7lW4H5
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) November 2, 2024
Tulane leads FBS in non-offensive touchdowns with eight, defensive touchdowns with six and pick-sixes with five. What’s rather incredible about the pick-sixes is that five different players have picked off passes and returned them for scores — Tyler Grubbs, Chris Rodgers, Rayshawn Pleasant, Micah Robinson and Jack Tchienchou.
It’s to the point where Tulane is doing this nearly once a game on average. And it’s a significant differentiator in terms of its six-game winning streak and its chances of winning the league title.
Limit The Run
Tulane claimed a big win over Charlotte on Thursday and while it extended its win streak to six games, one streak did snap. The 49ers rushed for 120 yards. It was the first time in five games that a Green Wave opponent rushed for more than 100 yards. The last was Louisiana, which rushed for 175 yards.
That streak aligned with the start of league action. So, in Tulane’s first four league games, they allowed an average of 62.5 yards per game. So Charlotte gaining 120 yards didn’t push up that average that much. But, Temple’s top back, Terrez Worthy, has just 280 yards rushing. He’s coming off an 88-yard game against East Carolina.
The Owls have a little something going on. Best not to let them get going on Saturday.
Create Turnovers
Did you know that Tulane has only gone one game this season without forcing a turnover? That was against Kansas State, a game the Green Wave lost.
Did you know that Tulane has only created one turnover in two games this season? That was against Oklahoma and Charlotte, and the Green Wave went 1-1.
In the other six games, the Green Wave have forced a total of 16 turnovers, an average of 2.7 per game. The Green Wave are 6-0.
The moral of this story? Create two turnovers and win the game.
