UCF at Tulane: Scouting the Green Wave Offense
It’s time for the big game. The No. 22 ranked UCF Knights are going on the road to take command of the American Athletic Conference lead. To do that, they will have to knock off the 16th ranked Tulane Green Wave.
Tulane has not turned over the football that much this season. Only nine giveaways all year long. The other thing to note right off the bat would be that this is a physical football team. It will look to get its top offensive player – running back Tyjae Spears – involved in the offense in multiple ways (see below).
After watching some of Tulane’s last game, a 27-13 win over Tulsa, here are some overall thoughts and statistics to consider for what the UCF defense will face on Nov. 12.
Here We Come
Much like UCF, Tulane likes to run the football. While not as deep at running back as the Knights, the Green Wave are 47th in the country with 180.2 yards per game on the ground. Spears is the ringleader, and he’s been on fire during the past three football games.
Oct. 15 @ USF: 18 carries, 151 yards, 8.4 average, and two touchdowns.
Oct. 22 Memphis: 24 carries, 125 yards, 5.2 average, and one touchdown.
Nov. 5 @ Tulsa: 14 carries, 157 yards, 11.2 average, and a touchdown.
Even when pinned against the sideline, Tyjae Spears is a threat to cut it back and take it to the house for six.
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Those three games equated to 56 carries, 433 yards, a 7.7 average, and four touchdowns. The junior is no stranger to the Knights either, as he performed admirably at UCF in 2021.
During last season’s narrow escape of Tulane, a 14-10 UCF win, Spears ran 15 times for 77 yards and a touchdown. He’s a powerful 5-foot-10 and 195 pounds. When he gets going north-south, that’s one powerful runner. He’s also adept at slipping a tackler on the edge and hitting the corner for chunk-yardage plays.
Look for Tulane to attempt to find different ways to get Spears to the perimeter so that he can be one-on-one with a defender in space. With his shiftiness, power and speed, he’s capable of taking a basic run 75 yards for a score. He’s playing behind a line that’s suited to Spears’ skills.
Watching Tulane’s offensive line, they do like the grind of playing power football, just trying to give their guy that one crack to bust a long run. It’s who they are. Now it’s a good matchup as UCF does well against teams that primarily use a running back to move the football on the ground. The Knights gave up 184 yards on the ground, in total, during the past two contests.
UCF did a great job against Cincinnati’s running backs, and this past game against Memphis, the running backs were not much of a factor either. That’s the biggest factor to consider with the Knights playing the Green Wave on the road.
Unless there’s a big surprise from quarterback Michael Pratt by running the football much better than he did during the past four games, UCF should be up to the challenge of taking on Tulane’s running game. The Knights have to be extremely disciplined, however. Spears could have 20 yards rushing going into the fourth quarter and end up with 150. He has all the tools to break long runs.
The backup, Shaadie Clayton-Johnson, is coming off an impressive 14 carries for 106 yards against Tulsa. He's 6-foot-1 and 205-pound back that can break tackles and hit the gas, too.
Which WR/TE/RB is the Go-To Guy?
Much like 2021, Tulane has been as balanced a group of pass catchers as any in college football. There are literally seven players with 17 to 23 receptions, five of which are wide receivers, one being a tight end, and then Spears makes seven.
That stated, the Green Wave have not thrown the football as well the past two games – with Pratt throwing for 158 yards versus Memphis and 125 versus Tulsa – but threw for 326 yards against East Carolina and 329 versus USF the two weeks prior.
Which Tulane passing attack shows up against UCF?
That's a good question. For the season, Tulane has averaged 238.4 yards passing per game, good for No. 66 in the land. The Green Wave passing game has been up and down, but the Knights must be ready for the best version of their passing attack.
Will Tre'mon Morris-Brash and the UCF pass rush come alive versus Tulane?
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There is one thing for sure despite not knowing which receiver will be featured, if any: Tulane has speed on the perimeter. The Green Wave are going to look to hit some shots down the field. Point blank, the Knights cannot be caught looking into the backfield, nor can there be a plethora of pass interference penalties like this past game at Memphis.
Finally, UCF has to be lightyears better at rushing the passer than it was against Memphis. UCF’s defense had zero sacks as a unit, and the only quarterback hurry came from cornerback Corey Thornton. That’s just not good enough.
Whether it's Tre'mon Morris-Brash, perhaps Ricky Barber, or some other UCF front seven player, the Knights need to generate a pass rush against Tulane
A similarly poor pass-rushing performance versus the Green Wave could lead to a couple of big passing plays being the difference and the Knights going home with an unnecessary loss. UCF must get after Pratt early and throughout the game.
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