Tulane Green Wave Focused on Winning Title After Heartbreaking Loss
Coming out of their bye week, Tulane was in a great position to put some pressure on the College Football Playoff committee based on the way they had performed throughout conference play that made some analysts around the country state they were the best Group of 5 team.
With an appearance in the American Athletic Conference championship game already locked up, all they had to do was take care of a scary Memphis team in their regular season finale to roll into the title game with tons of momentum.
Unfortunately, the time off proved to be detrimental.
Memphis beat Tulane on Thanksgiving night to hand them their first loss in AAC play and their third overall. That likely ended any possibility they had of making the CFP, even if they were to beat Army.
The players discussed their disappointment with that newfound reality, but they also know they still can achieve the goal they set out to accomplish this year by beating the Black Knights and lifting a trophy.
"We definitely wanted that one, but we have to bounce back tomorrow and come back Saturday ready to work. Army's not going to feel sorry for us, and at the end of the day our goal was to win a conference championship. That's still in our control, so that's what we have to do," linebacker Sam Howard said per Guerry Smith of Nola.com.
They're going to need that mindset.
Tulane now knows they will have to go on the road to win their first AAC title since 2022 after Army was able to beat UTSA on Saturday.
Flushing their performance that saw them have untimely mistakes by way of three turnovers will be important heading into this matchup.
The Black Knights are one of the best teams in the country when it comes to controlling the ball, so the Green Wave have to be efficient when they are on the field or else they will have a hard time putting up the points needed to win.
"Going into it our number-one goal was to win a conference championship, so we're still on track for that," added Shadre Hurst.
The statements made by these two players certainly echoes what head coach Jon Sumrall believes.
"We have a chance to go win a conference championship, which is very special. I think our guys will take full advantage of the opportunity and understand that we have to bounce back quickly for it," he stated.
Tulane will face Army on Dec. 6 at 8 p.m. EST.
