Tulane Green Wave Coach Trolls USF Social Media Account After Victory
The Tulane Green Wave took care of business on Saturday, meeting the USF Bulls, 45-10 in a game that wasn't nearly as close as the score indicated.
The Green Wave (3-2, 1-0 in AAC) was dominant in every phase of the game, and by halftime, they had USF (2-3, 0-1) down by 24 points.
Before the game, USF fans were apparently ready to talk some smack. Some of it came from a USF Barstool account on X (formerly Twitter).
In spite of the fact that Tulane had won three of the four meetings between the two teams, the account was confident that the Bulls had the Green Wave’s number in their American Athletic Conference opener.
Tulane head coach hyping their players was so pathetic lmaooo
— Barstool USF (@Barstool_USF) September 28, 2024
USF ain’t losing to these wavelets
The post drew some significant pregame attention. Many USF and Tulane fans reposted it. Among those who reposted it was Tulane head coach John Sumrall.
Yes, in the midst of preparation for an 11 a.m. local kickoff, the first-year Tulane head coach reposted trash talk from an opponent’s social media account. It's the kind of stuff former Alabama head coach Nick Saban would never do.
And, Saban certainly wouldn’t have kept the receipt.
— Jon Sumrall (@CoachJonSumrall) September 28, 2024
The game couldn't have gone much better for Tulane. The Green Wave racked up 528 yards in total offense, freshman quarterback Darian Mensah threw three touchdown passes and Dontae Fleming had his biggest game of the year as he caught seven passes for 128 yards and two touchdowns. Running back Makhi Hughes added two touchdown runs.
Tulane’s defense held USF to 201 yards of total offense and forced the Bulls into two turnovers.
It’s safe to say that Sumrall won over some Green Wave fans for multiple reasons.
The former Troy head coach is trying to build on what Willie Fritz built. Before leaving for Houston, he was 54-47 in eight seasons, including 2022 in which the Green Wave went 12-2, won the AAC title and beat USC in the Cotton Bowl Classic. Tulane reached the AAC title game last year before losing to SMU.
Sumrall was a former Tulane assistant coach under Curtis Johnson a decade ago. He was around for three seasons and hung around long enough to see the program christen Yulman Stadium in 2014. He moved on to work as an assistant coach at other programs, including his alma mater, Kentucky.
Sumrall’s Tulane roots helped him get the job, as did his success at Troy, where in two seasons the Trojans went 23-4 and won two straight Sun Belt titles. He took the Tulane job after the Sun Belt Championship game.
