Tulane Green Wave Penalties Could Cost Team A Future Win if Not Corrected
The Tulane Green Wave was lucky not to let last week's win slip away. If they want to repeat that performance and pick up their first conference win of the season against the South Florida Bulls, they will need to play cleaner football.
Last Saturday, Tulane defeated state rival Louisiana Ragin Cajuns 41-33, moving to 2-2 on the season to finish the program's non-conference schedule.
The game only remained remotely close due to the mistakes and lack of discipline the Green Wave defense displayed with the amount of penalties they occurred. The Tulane defense picked up eight penalties for 91 yards, including five pass-interference calls, two being in the endzone.
“We just have to start playing with better detail and better discipline, or we are going to give a game away that we shouldn’t.” Said the Green Wave’s head coach, Jon Sumrall, after the victory. “We just need to play better football at times, and it needs to happen fast.”
This game thankfully resulted in a victory for first-year head coach Sumrall and the rest of the Green Wave football team, but they may not be the same case next time if they continue to extend opponents' drives due to costly flags.
The Tulane defense limited the Ragin Cajuns to only 2 for 9 on third down conversions, including them not successfully executing one until the final minute of the third quarter, but because of the lack of discipline and assisting their opponent to create more opportunities, the game ended a one-possession victory.
The Green Wave will enter Saturday, averaging almost 72 penalty yards per game, which puts them at 105th in the nation. A clean game would be a huge step forward for Sumrall and his staff at the beginning of their coaching tenure, as they are in American Athletic play this weekend against the South Florida Bulls.
Their AAC rival has had no issue putting up points this season, averaging 32 points per game, and is battle-tested due to its tough schedule to begin the year. Although also 2-2 like Tulane, both of the Bulls' losses have only come from teams ranked in the Top 10 in the country according to the AP Poll.
“Are we playing disciplined enough, detailed enough to win the next one?” Said Sumrall.
In other words, there is no need to give them any extra help during the game. Staying disciplined and avoiding costly mistakes could easily be the deciding factor for the Green Wave to move to 3-2 on the year.
CHRISTIAN RAUH