Tulane Green Wave Prepare For Crucial Conference Game vs. North Texas
Now, the gauntlet begins for the Tulane Green Wave.
The Green Wave (5-2, 2-0 in AAC) face the prospect of two games in five days, both against teams that harbor American Athletic Conference championship game aspirations, the first of which will be Saturday at North Texas.
Tulane needed everything it had to get past Rice on Saturday, and in doing so it remained one of three undefeated teams in AAC action, joining ranked Army West Point and Navy. As long as Tulane continues to win games, it controls its own destiny, even though it doesn’t play the Black Knights. That’s because the Green Wave play the Midshipmen later this season.
But, Tulane shouldn’t get ahead of itself. The Mean Green (5-2, 2-1) are in this race, even though they’re coming off their first league loss on Saturday to Memphis. Plus, North Texas has been great at home and is one of the best offensive teams Tulane has faced to this point.
If the Green Wave get past this game, then it’s a trip to Charlotte five days later to face the 49ers, who at the moment only have one league loss and are in this race, too. But, like the Mean Green, they don’t control their own destiny quite like Tulane does.
Here is a preview of the Green Wave and the Mean Green.
Tulane at North Texas
DATCU Stadium, Denton, Texas
Time: 11 a.m. CT
TV: ESPN2
Radio: The Ticket 106.1 FM (flagship) and Heaven 106.7 (simulcast).
Coaches: Tulane — Jon Sumrall (5-2 at Tulane, 28-6 career as head coach); North Texas — Eric Morris (10-9 at North Texas, 34-27 overall).
Fun fact: Morris was promoted to offensive coordinator at Texas Tech in 2015, which allowed him to work with current Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes. That helped vault him to his first head-coaching job at Incarnate Word.
All-Times Series: Tulane leads series, 2-0.
Last meeting: Tulane def. North Texas, 35-28 (2023).
Series notes: Their first meeting was in 2013 at the Superdome. It took the two teams 10 years to meet again.
Last Week: Tulane def. Rice, 24-10; North Texas lost to Memphis, 52-44.
Records: Tulane: 5-2 (3-0 in American); North Texas: 5-2 (2-1).
About Tulane: The Green Wave are riding a four-game winning streak since their back-to-back losses to Kansas State and Oklahoma. Those wins included three blowouts and then a close shave against Rice. Coming out of a bye week, a little rust was expected.
But the game went down to the fourth quarter. Tulane leaned on running back Makhi Hughes, who had two rushing touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter. Then, as Green Wave fans have come to expect, the defense got in the act as Sam Howard returned a fumble 15 yards for a touchdown to seal the game.
Big plays and the ground game have been the team’s forte lately. Throw in the continued steady play of quarterback Darian Mensah and you have a team that looks hard to beat on any given game week.
About North Texas: The Mean Green have already won as many games as they won a year ago under Morris, who before taking over in Denton was the head coach at Incarnate Word. He led the Cardinals to a pair of FCS playoff berths and before that he got to work with Patrick Mahomes at Texas Tech.
With Morris, you get an offense that puts up dizzying numbers. Aside from its loss to Texas Tech (66-21), the Mean Green has scored at least 35 points in its other six games.
The problem is defense. North Texas has a problem giving up points. Certainly its loss to Memphis is Exhibit A. But, the Mean Green was given up at least 37 points in its last two league games. That’s a trend Morris and his staff need to correct as they seek, at minimum, a bowl game after missing out last year.
Next Up: Tulane travels to Charlotte on Oct. 31. North Texas hosts Army West Point on Nov. 9.
