Tulane Green Wave vs. Kansas State Wildcats Defensive Players to Watch
Tulane Green Wave coach Jon Sumrall says he believes that if his team plays Kansas State the way they played Southeastern Louisiana, they’ll lose.
That may be coach-speak, but with kickoff set for 11 a.m. Saturday at Yulman Stadium, both teams do have work to do defensively.
Tulane (1-0) shut out SE Louisiana, 52-0, and on paper the defense put up great numbers. The Green Wave shut the Lions out, allowed 201 yards and even returned an interception for 100 yards for a touchdown.
But Sumrall’s statement was more a recognition that Tulane defeated an in-state FCS team that won three games last year. Kansas State will prove to be a far more difficult team to defend. That puts pressure on co-defensive coordinators Greg Gasparato and Tayler Polk to get things right from the start against Kansas State.
The Wildcats (1-0) aren’t exactly jumping up and down like they dominated a Top 25 team last week. They beat FCS team UT Martin, 41-6. Kansas State held them to 134 yards in total offense and sacked the quarterback four times. It was a good start for a team that has aspirations of winning the Big 12. Defensive coordinator Joe Klanderman leads one of the most consistent units Tulane will play all season.
Here are the defensive players to watch for both teams entering Saturday’s game.
Tulane
FS Bailey Despanie
No Green Wave defender had more tackles last Thursday than Despanie. In fact, his eight tackles doubled up the next-closest defender. Tulane was able to play a lot of their two-deep roster against the Lions, so not only did Despanie produce, he also got a little extra rest toward the end of the game.
The former three-star recruit and Lafayette, La., product is leader of the secondary after he had a career-high 67 tackles, including 45 solo tackles, with 5.5 tackles and an interception. Tulane would love to see him pick off a few more passes this season.
DE Kameron Hamilton
The Green Wave is looking for production in the pass rush outside of Patrick Jenkins. Enter Hamilton, the junior from Zachary, La., who had a sack against SE Louisiana to go along with his two tackles, a tackle for loss and a forced fumble. He was a one-man wrecking crew at times.
The 6-foot-4 defensive end is coming off a 2023 season in which he had 24 tackles, six tackles for loss, four sacks and a forced fumble. That was a big jump from the half-sack he had in 2022 as a true freshman. Another leap like that puts him among the top pass rushers in the conference.
DB Joshua Moore
The League City, Texas, sophomore had four solo tackles last Thursday, as he kicked off his second college season in a big way. He played in just one game last season and had one tackle against Nicholls. So the Green Wave are already using him more on defense after just one game. He’ll get the biggest test of his college career to date against Kansas State’s wide receivers.
Kansas State
DE Tobi Osunsanmi
The sophomore from Wichita, Kan., was all up in UT Martin’s business last week, as he had two tackles, 1.5 sacks and a quarterback hit.
The redshirt sophomore is likely to get much more run this season for the Wildcats. Last year as a reserve he played in all 13 games as a pass-rushing linebacker, but also made five special teams tackles. He started the move toward being a full-time defensive end late last season. He already has more sacks than he had all of last season (one).
LB Desmond Purnell
The Topeka, Kan., junior led the Wildcats in tackles with seven last week, which included 1.5 tackles for loss. He didn’t need much help, either. Six of his seven tackles were solo.
There’s a good chance he makes the leap from All-Big 12 honorable mention, as he was selected a season ago, to All-Big 12 first or second-team this season. He had 52 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, a half-sack, an interception, three passes defended, three forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. He was tied for second in the conference in forced fumbles last season.
DE Brendan Mott
Mott, a senior from Iowa City, Iowa, was an All-Big 12 Honorable Mention last season after he finished with 7 tackles, 4.5 tackles for loss, one sack, two pass breakups and two forced fumbles. Like Purnell, he could make a big jump this year. It’s his sixth year with K-State, which included a redshirt and a COVID waiver.
Last week he had four tackles, a tackle for loss and a half-sack against UT Martin. He’s already off to a productive start.
MATTHEW POSTINS