Tulane Green Wave Gain Valuable Edge for Long Term Goals in Blowout Wins

The Tulane Green Wave have dominated in conference play, and the convincing victories have awarded an important opportunity for their depth chart.

Credit: Parker Waters - Tulane Athletics

The Tulane Green Wave have outscored conference opponents 116-30 in wins against the USF Bulls and UAB Blazers, and their ability to put games away early has had an important payoff for the surging football team.

When the Green Wave scored their final touchdown against the Bulls with 12:28 left in the fourth quarter, Darian Mensah's day was over, as was Makhi Hughes and the starting offensive line. 

Last weekend at UAB, Mensah threw a touchdown to Yulkeith Brown to put Tulane up 44-6. After a three-and-out in which he threw an incompletion and handed the ball off twice, his day ended with 6:48 remaining in the third quarter.

Ty Thompson came in as the quarterback in both games behind the backups on the line, with the most experience in Caleb Thomas slotting in at right guard. Thompson handled snaps from a true freshman at center, Elijah Baker. His first pass in relief against the Blazers was a 22-yard touchdown pass to Yulkeith Brown.

Intriguingly, that wasn't the read, and Tulane wasn't trying to score in that moment. However, Brown was left open, and Thompson threw a well-placed ball with good timing and touch. Specialized packages don't provide him with that type of experience and decision-making.

The Green Wave has impressively rotated on the defensive side as the year progresses. That paid off in interceptions by three non-starters, one being another freshman, Javion White. Rayshawn Pleasant has become a revelation as a kickoff returner in an opportunity awarded due to injury.

One of the rotators at Bandit, a role that wasn't seeing production until the last two games, slotted in at defensive tackle. Terrell Allen commanded double teams well alongside Matthew Fobbs-White, who continues to become a menace for opposing quarterbacks. A luxury of dominating is the ability to find that out in a game setting. 

It's easier to try out players at roles with such a commanding lead rather than becoming stuck situationally in a critical moment. That's something Tulane ran into last season with injuries as they piled up. Eventually, they hit a brick wall of insurmountable losses, and completely inexperienced players needing to step up in the final stretch, including the conference championship game. 

That won't be the case for this year's squad, as some of those exact players have now seen game snaps against conference opponents for a quarter or longer.

Not only that, but some of the backups have impressively shined. Makhi Hughes distorts the perception of everything at running back with his massive production, but the Green Wave has a group of bruisers.

All of the running backs showed improvement picking up their feet for large gains, particularly Hughes and Arnold Barnes. But Jamari McClure was impossible to look away from with his burst and vision. 

Tulane winning games by such a large margin of victory puts opponents on notice. More importantly, it provides an unparalleled opportunity for the team to make a deep run with the critical in-game experience for their talented roster.