Tulane Green Wave Defenders Have Record-Setting Season Openers
On the surface, the 2024 college football season opener for the Tulane Green Wave could not have gone any better. They destroyed the Southeastern Louisiana Lions 52-0, building some positive momentum into their monumental matchup against Kansas State next week.
Head coach Jon Sumrall was happy to get the win in his first game with the program but wasn’t thrilled with the overall execution of his squad.
There are certainly some things that will need to be cleaned up as the Green Wave makes a big jump in competition. But, there were also a lot of positives to take away from the dominant performance.
Chief among them is finding a starting quarterback. Darian Mensah, a redshirt freshman, started as the No. 3 option this offseason behind former five-star recruit and Oregon transfer Ty Thompson and veteran Kai Horton.
He played so well leading up to the season opener, that Sumrall used him as the starting quarterback and he did nothing to change that stance with his performance against the Lions.
On the defensive side of the ball, there were areas of concern. Tackling was an issue at times and the pass rush was unable to consistently generate pressure.
Despite that, there are two defenders who will remember the game against Southeastern Louisiana for the rest of their lives. One of them is cornerback Rayshawn Pleasant.
With the Lions driving late in the first half, he came up with the biggest play of the game intercepting Eli Sawyer and taking it back to the house for a pick-six.
“Game-changing,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said. “That was the pivotal play of the game without question.”
The 100-yard return put Pleasant in the Tulane and American Athletic Conference record books. He is only the second player to record a 100-yard interception return in the history of both.
In 1971 against Rice, David Herbert was the only other Green Wave player to accomplish the feat. In the 12-year history of the AAC, Josh Hawkins out of East Carolina in 2015 against Tulsa is the only other player to do so.
“One of the special things was the amount of people that blocked for him, but 101 yards is actually really crazy,” linebacker Tyler Grubbs said. “It’s nuts to me. He’s a special player, for sure.”
Another big night was had by safety Bailey Despanie. He recorded a career-high eight tackles, which was double his next closest teammate as he flew around the field in run support or as the last line of defense.
Despanie is a player that Sumrall is going to lean on heavily. He is one of only two returnees who had a significant role in last season’s defense which features a starting secondary full of first-year transfers surrounding the holdover.
Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.