Tulane Green Wave Gets MVP Performance Saturday from Surprising Position
It was a hard-fought victory for the Tulane Green Wave on Saturday against the Rice Owls, but a victory nonetheless.
When the clock hit 00:00 at the end of the fourth quarter, the Green Wave and first-year head coach Jon Sumrall held a 24-10 lead, moving to 5-2 on the season and 3-0 in American Athletic Conference play, putting them in a fantastic position for the rest of the year.
The 2024 campaign has seen the emergence of freshman quarterback Darian Mensah, who is one of only 11 quarterbacks in the country to have 10 or more touchdown passes with two or fewer interceptions this year, with his 11 touchdowns and two interceptions.
Sophomore running back Makhi Hughes has also been a major key for the team's success this year, rushing for 744 yards on 136 carries with eight touchdowns and no fumbles.
In Saturday's game against the Owls, it was a different player who would prove to be the MVP of the day, punter Will Karoll.
"Will Karoll had a 64-yard punt flipping the field," Tyler Grubbs had to say to SI, "That shows how big special teams is. Nobody probably sees that, but that was one of the biggest plays for us the whole game."
Punting is not necessarily something that you want to do often, but when you are getting a performance as spectacular as what Karoll was able to do on Saturday, it can definitely help the field position battle.
Karoll had six punts Saturday for 302 yards, an average of 50.3 yards per punt, with the 64-yarder being his longest of the day, and two of the six being downed inside the 20-yard line.
In hard-fought battles like the one Tulane had on Saturday, winning the field position battle is key, and Karoll did everything in his power to make sure the team did just that.
It has been a great season for the sophomore so far, who has made 22 punts for 967 yards, an average of 44.0 yards per punt, with four being downed inside the 20, and only one touchback.
Having a punter as skilled as Karoll on the roster can prove to be a major boon for the Green Wave down the stretch, as the schedule only gets harder from here, with the North Texas Mean Green next, and the Navy Midshipmen and Memphis Tigers down the road.
While four of the first five wins this year can be attributed to Mensah and Makhi on offense, and the overpowering defensive attack, this week's MVP can only be Will Karoll.
