Three Huge Offensive Stars to Watch as Tulane Green Wave Face UAB Blazers
The Tulane Green Wave will shoot for their third straight win when they travel to Birmingham, Ala., to face the UAB Blazers on Saturday at noon central in the continuation of American Athletic Conference play.
The Green Wave (3-2, 1-0) are one of several undefeated teams in the league and the longer they can stay that way the better their odds are of reaching the AAC title game, perhaps winning the crown and making a case for the at-large conference berth in the College Football Playoff.
UAB (1-3, 0-1) seems to be moving in the other direction. The Blazers haven’t won a game since their opener and their head coach, Trent Dilfer, has yet to restore the magic the program had under former coach Bill Clark.
Here are the offensive players to watch for both teams entering Saturday’s game.
Tulane
QB Darian Mensah
The redshirt freshman is starting to draw attention nationally. Witness ESPN. Writer Bill Connelly ranked Mensah No. 8 in his Heisman performances of the week after he threw for 326 yards and three touchdowns last week. Throw in the 18-for-22 performance it was undoubtedly his best game so far this season.
After a couple of weeks in which he took some lumps and the Green Wave lost two games in a row, his play is trending upward at the right time for Tulane.
OT Derrick Graham
It’s time to start patting the offensive line on the back, especially after last week’s game. Graham, as the starting left tackle, as Mensah’s back and their chemistry — yes, quarterbacks and left tackles do need that — has gotten better as the pair have gotten more reps together.
Graham knows the Tulane system well. He played for Troy for four seasons, including two under Tulane (then Troy coach) Jon Sumrall. So his expertise in knowing where everything goes up front has been key to the Green Wave’s uptick the past two weeks.
WR Dontae Fleming
You don’t want to forget about Mario Williams. But you need alternatives when teams double-team him (which is happening more often). Fleming stepped into that role last week with seven receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown.
Tulane needs more weeks like that. Fleming is already closing in on his career-best season in 2021, where he caught 27 passes for 327 yards and two touchdowns. By season’s end, he might leave those numbers in the dust.
UAB
QB Jared Zeno
Zeno is putting up great numbers in his sixth (gulp) season of college football. He’s thrown for 819 yards and completes nearly 70% of his passes. He’s thrown for six touchdowns but he’s also a bit loose with the football, as he’s tossed five interceptions.
Last season he threw for 3,126 yards in his first full year as UAB’s starter, which was the second-most of any Blazers quarterback in history. He also set program records for total completions and completion percentage.
UAB Offensive Line
The Blazers have some dreaded “Or’s” on their depth chart. But linemen like left tackle Jondarius Morgan, left guard Quez Yates, center Brady Wilson, right guards Delano Townsend or Zaire Flournoy, and right tackle DJ Jones are going to have to have a great game against the Green Wave.
Tulane’s pass rush is starting to round into shape and if the Green Wave wants to key on Zeno, the line has been vulnerable. It’s allowed 11 sacks so far.
WR Kam Shanks
Zeno will spread the ball out — he’s thrown to 14 different pass catchers this season — but Shanks is the player he’s going to in a pinch. He’s caught 19 passes for 163 yards and a touchdown in four games.
The incredible part is that he is in just his second collegiate season and didn’t catch a pass last season, though he did handle some return duties for the Blazers.
