Tulane Green Wave Set Strong Tone for Conference Play with Grit in Trenches

The Tulane Green Wave dominated the line of scrimmage on Saturday, and the rushing attack is poised to lead the team into conference play.

Credit: Parker Waters - Tulane Athletics

The Tulane Green Wave won in the trenches on Saturday, and the highest rushing output of the season is the standard they need to carry into conference play against the USF Bulls.

Makhi Hughes not only had his highest rush yards of the season, but he also allowed Tulane to control the clock and record three drives that lasted over seven minutes. An offensive line that was penalized eight times this year was error-free. Equally important, they protected Darian Mensah who wasn’t sacked once.

The team that wins the ground game almost always wins the matchup. With a player like Makhi Hughes in the backfield, it gives an offensive line something to fight for – and they battled like warriors in scorching heat.

"What a stud, man,” Sumrall told reporters Tuesday about Hughes. “He just brings it every day. He's a model of consistency and ability, extremely reliable, very detailed, great teammate, hard-working guy. It's amazing. You've got 10 percent of your team you deal with about 90 percent of the time because they're high maintenance. Makhi is the exact opposite. He has never come to me to say, can I get this, or can I do this, or can we do more of that. He just shows up and works. When your best players do that, it bodes well for your team. He's a great teammate. I'm proud his success. He deserves all of it and he's earned all of it. He works incredibly hard."

Left guard Shadre Hurst recorded his first career reception for five yards this weekend, displaying strong situational awareness. Sumrall joked about moving him to tight end but focused on another play that impressed him more.

“Y'all's favorite play was probably the catch off the deflection. My favorite play, I showed it to the team on Monday, was him knocking a defender about 15 yards down the field and just mauling the guy. That's what it looks like to play offensive line. I showed it to the whole team. I didn't show his deflection to the team – his catch."

Shadre Hurst thought his unit set an important tone ahead of opening conference play.

"It's very important. We're just trying not to put ourselves in a bad position and having to battle back at the end."

Quotes don’t allow for the reaction of the players. What Hurst said about Makhi Hughes was less interesting than watching his facial expressions in real time. It looked like he was mentally going through plays with his eyes lit up, and kept saying man, and starting his train of thoughts over.

“Man, seeing him just shoot past you, man, just having him that back there, I know my block will count and my block will matter. It's just having that comfort. One of them I was in a double, and I just saw him zip past me for real. I was like, yeah, it's going to be a win.”

Hurst’s versatility has been key for Tulane over two seasons. The Green Wave suffered a lot of injuries at both guard and tackle – Hurst played all across the line last year. I asked him Tuesday whether that awards him any benefit settling in at one spot, and what he likes about the guard role.

“Just being all around the O-line, you know every position pretty much and can play so much faster. The speed of the game just picks up for you, so you can play fast and come off the ball."

It was clear Tulane controlled the speed and the clock last Saturday. They’ll need to keep that dominating trend to contend in conference play this weekend hosting the USF Bulls.