Tulane Head Coach Successfully Executes Key to Victory in Saturday's Win
The Tulane Green Wave moved to 2-2 on the season after defeating the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns on Saturday 41-33.
The team won the battle despite not picking up the most total offense in the game. Once time expired, the Cajuns led the contest in total yards 413-359, primarily due to the passing game.
Freshman quarterback Darian Mensah was held to only 83 yards through the air as he went 11 for 17 on the day, good enough for a 64.7% completion percentage.
Although the 6’3” signal caller didn’t impress on the stat sheet, his 80.1 QB rating is the second-best to start off his collegiate career. The only one better was the team's other win to open the season against SE Louisiana (91.4 QBR).
Despite the lack of yards through the air, the Green Wave picked up a pivotal victory against their in-state rival, snapping Louisiana's 13-game home winning streak against non-conference opponents. They did so by successfully following Tulane’s head coach, Jon Sumrall’s keys to the game before play started on Saturday.
In the post-game conference following the team’s victory, Sumrall discussed how his number one key to defeating Louisiana this week was simple but crucial for the elements of the Week 4 matchup: controlling the run game.
“Our plan going in was run the football, control the clock, and try to tire them out,” said the Green Wave head coach when discussing his team's success on the ground. “I have three keys every week to win a game, and it's not always the same, key number one this week was win the run game.”
The team successfully did so on Saturday as the Green Wave rushed for over one hundred yards more than Louisiana in the matchup. The 276 yards on the ground off 44 rushing attempts was good enough for 6.3 yards per carry, something that helped keep drives moving, especially late in the second half. Tulane dominated the time of possession, holding onto the ball for nearly 34 minutes on Saturday.
One of the main reasons Sumrall was focused on controlling the battle on the ground was due to the heat. It was a hot one at Cajun Field, as the on-field temperature at the opening kickoff for the 30th meeting between these two programs was 97 degrees.
“Conditions were most definitely a factor. It was hot today,” said Sumrall as he himself was putting down bottled water during the post game.
The Rushing game was led by sophomore running back Makhi Hughes, who ran for 166 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. His performance tied a career-best for Hughes dating back to last season in a regular season finale against UTSA. He is currently averaging 106 yards a game to open the season.
Tulane will look to continue its dominance in the ground as the team turns its attention to AAC play. They will begin their conference schedule back at DDD with a matchup against South Flordia. The Bulls are coming off a 50-15 loss against 8th-ranked Miami.
If Sumrall and the rest of the Green Wave coaching staff intend to win the rushing battle in the upcoming game, they will have to find a way to penetrate the impressive defensive front of South Florida.
So far this season, the Bulls have only allowed 131.5 rushing yards per game, which includes two matchups against the top ten teams in the country, according to the AP Poll. They have yet to allow more than 200 yards rushing yards in a game this season.
CHRISTIAN RAUH