Tulane Green Wave Putting Kansas State Loss Behind Them to Focus on Oklahoma
The highest-ranked opponent in Yulman Stadium history visited the Tulane Green Wave this past weekend, Kansas State.
In Week 2 of the 2024 college football season, the Green Wave hosted the No. 17 ranked Kansas State Wildcats out of the Big 12. It was a hard-fought game, but they came out on the losing end of a 34-27 final score.
Despite the loss, there were some real positives to take away from the game. Quarterback Darian Mensah was excellent, throwing for 342 yards and two touchdowns.
Reigning American Athletic Conference player of the year, Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt, threw for more yards only once in his collegiate career. But, it wasn’t an accomplishment that Mensah was in the mood to celebrate.
“That’s pretty cool, but it just hurts,” Mensah said via Guerry Smith of NOLA.com. “I’m just really focused on next week. I’m proud of the way we played, proud of the way we fought, but we have a big game next week that we’re focused on.”
Awaiting the Green Wave next week is another massive matchup. They will be heading off to face the Oklahoma Sooners, who are in their first season as a member of the SEC.
It will be another opportunity for Jon Sumrall’s group to pick up a win over a ranked opponent.
“Everybody’s hurting, and I want them to know like, hey, we’ve got your back, keep your head up, no pouting,” Sumrall said. “Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ll find out more about who we are by how we respond than (by) losing a game today.”
They are going to be facing off against what should be a very motivated Sooners squad. They were nearly upset in Week 2 by the Houston Cougars, escaping with a 16-12 win despite being four-touchdown favorites.
Former Tulane head coach Willie Fritz is now leading the Houston program.
“Now we have to take a step back and we’re playing Oklahoma and we have to handle adversity,” said tight end Alex Bauman, who is coming off a two-touchdown performance against the Wildcats. “We obviously didn’t have the outcome we wanted today, but the good thing is in seven days we get to play another big opponent and we have to bring it then.”
The last time the Green Wave visited Norman, they nearly pulled off a massive upset. As 32-point underdogs in a matchup that was moved because of Hurricane Ida, they fell just short, losing 40-35.
There aren’t any starters from that team who remain on the lineup and only 17 players in total are still on the roster. But, this is a talented group that showed against Kansas State they can hang with power conference opponents.
KENNETH TEAPE
Kenneth Teape is an alumnus of SUNY Old Westbury and graduated in 2013 with an Honors Degree in Media Communications with a focus on print journalism. During his time at Old Westbury, he worked for the school newspaper and several online publications, such as Knicks Now, the official website of the New York Knicks, and a self-made website with fellow students, Gotham City Sports News. Kenneth has also been a site expert at Empire Writes Back, Musket Fire, and Lake Show Life within the FanSided Network. He was a contributor to HoopsHabit, with work featured on Bleacher Report and Yardbarker. In addition to his work here, he is a reporter for both NBA Analysis Network and NFL Analysis Network, as well as a writer and editor for Packers Coverage. You can follow him on X, formerly Twitter, @teapester725, or reach him via email at teapester725@gmail.com.