Wow! Tulane. This is a tough one. Last season the Tulane offense was ranked 105 out of 120 schools Their defense was ranked 102 out 120. Their offense was fairly balanced. They ran the ball 395 times, and they passed the ball 373 times. But scoring wasn’t balanced at all. Tulane scored 193 points, but their opponents scored 440 points. They gave up twice as many yards on the ground as they gained. Tulane rushed for an average of 105 yards per game, and their opponents averaged 205. They did pretty much keep up on the passing though. They averaged 207, while their opponents averaged 218. They had possession of the ball about as much of the time as did their opponents. Part of the problem was that they only picked the ball off 5 times while being intercepted 14 times. They also lost the ball on fumbles seven more times than they gained possession. So, let’s summarize. Their defense was bad, and their offense was bad, and they turned the ball over a lot.
They bring to mind a little story. Mr. Johnson rushed his pregnant wife to the hospital. Finally, a nurse came into the waiting room and nervously told Mr. Johnson that his wife had given birth to an 8 pound 4 ounce eyeball.
“Eyeball?” he gasped Dang!
“What could be worse?”, he asked.
“It’s blind”, replied the nurse.
What does that have to do with Tulane football, you ask? Well, I think it is going to get worse. On offense, 7 starters will return, including their quarterback, Ryan Griffin. Also, 4 of his starting 5 linemen are back. But, although they only lost 4 starters, they are key players.Tailback Andre Anderson, their number one scorer, number one running back, and their number three receiver, is gone. Fullback Antoine Duplessis, number 4 in rushing yards, and 6th in receiving, is gone. Wide Receiver Jeremy Williams, 3rd best in soring, 2nd leading rusher, and number 1 receiver is gone. That’s the good news. The bad news is the defense. They return 4 starters, but lose seven. Gone is their leading tackler, Safety Chinonso Echeblem. Their second leading tackler, LB Travis Burks is gone. They lose their also lose their 7th, 8th, and 10th leading tacklers. They have lost both of the starting Defensive Ends, and a starting Defensive Tackle, They lost two starting Linebackers, a Cornerback, and their best Safety. With all of that in mind, here are my predictions;
9/2 SE Louisiana W
9/11 Ole Miss L
9/25 @ Houston L
10/2 @ Rutgers L
10/9 Army W
10/16 @ Tulsa L
10/23 @ UTEP L
10/30 SMU L
11/6 So. Miss. L
11/13 Rice W
11/20 UCF L
11/27@ Marshall L
3-9 All Games
1-7 C-USA