Tulane Green Wave Head Coach Credits Defensive Playmakers for Win Over Rice
The Tulane Green Wave defense answered the call against the Rice Owls when most of their offense couldn't and the head coach was quick to notice.
In a postgame interview with the Tulane Sports Network from LEARFIELD, Jon Sumrall gave a couple of defensive players shoutouts for their game-changing performances.
"You felt Adin [Huntington] today. It was great to have him back, you know. He's a big, physical dude. It was good to see him back in the mix and a lot of [other] guys showed up [as well]," said Sumrall. "Think about the pick [Tyler] Grubbs had. Sam Howard almost has the one. Micah [Robinson's] pick, Adonis [Friloux's] pick off the deflection. There were a lot of big, momentum-changing plays. We didn't play out best, but found a way to make some critical plays to win the game."
It was certainly more of a bend-don't-break type of day on the defensive side for the Green Wave. If one was to just have looked at the statistics, they might be surprised to see that the Owls only came away with 10 points.
E.J. Warner had 271 passing yards on the day and Rice ran for 271 yards as a team. Both of those marks far surpass what Tulane was able to do on that side of the ball.
Still, five turnovers ended up being what made the difference for the Green Wave.
An interception, fumble and turnover on downs all coming in opposing territory makes it hard to come away with a win.
Robinson had the busiest day of any defender as he came up with both an interception and a forced fumble.
Howard recovered two fumbles on the day, bringing one 15 yards to score the back-breaking touchdown in the fourth quarter that put Tulane ahead by two scores.
The very next play was the Friloux interception on the deflection that completly sealed the game.
One key reason that the Green Wave have been so successful early on into the year has been their +11 turnover margin which is tied for the fourth-highest in the the country.
While the offense hasn't been the most consistent this season, they've done a great job of securing the ball. Sumrall's defense forces a lot of turnovers, making the two sides of the ball very complimentary.
Given Sumrall's experience and confidence on the defensive side, it's not too surprising to see that group come together quickly.
