Though the University of Memphis’ last-second win over Temple last Friday seemed like the dream end to the season, the Tigers (6-3, 4-1 American Athletic Conference) still have three games left this season and a lot to play for.
This week, the Tigers will travel to take on the Tulane Green Wave (3-6, 2-3 AAC) in their final road game of the season. However, don’t let Tulane’s record think this will be an easy win for the Tigers, because Tulane upset the Houston Cougars (5-4, 3-2 AAC) 31-24 on the road last weekend.
U of M coach Justin Fuente said that Tulane has a very young but talented offense, solid defense and excellent special teams.
“We have a great challenge this week,” Fuente said. “We've got to go to Tulane. They're coming off of a fantastic victory at Houston. They are loaded with talented football players. They've got four running backs. They got their quarterback back. They're huge on the offensive line. They've done a very good job defensively in mixing up their looks, bringing pressure and playing man-coverage. They're also very sound in the kicking game.”
The quarterback that Fuente referred to is freshman quarterback Tanner Lee. Though Lee’s numbers on the season aren’t spectacular, he threw for three touchdowns in the upset win over the Cougars and will be hoping for a second strong game in a row. Lee completes a little less than 56 percent of his passes and has 12 touchdowns to 10 interceptions.
The Tigers also hope to stop a very solid Green Wave running game. Tulane, as a team, have rushed for over 1450 yards, averaging 4.5 yards a carry. The main back for the Green Wave is freshman Sherman Badie, who has 598 yards on 94 carries and 4 total touchdowns.
Similar to the Blue and Gray, Tulane’s receiving core is done more by committee. Senior Justyn Shackleford leads the team in receptions with 29 and has 382 yards receiving with two touchdowns. Senior Xavier Rush leads the Green Wave in receiving touchdowns with three.
Despite the numbers, Tulane’s offense averages only 19.6 points a game, which is 115th in the country.
However, Fuente said that teams like Tulane tend to improve as the season goes along.
“Teams are getting better,” Fuente said. “Teams are continuing to improve. Tulane is certainly no exception to that rule. When you play as many young, talented people as they're playing, you get a chance to watch them progress, and they certainly have. That's the challenge of the sport and the season. You play teams at different times and with different health levels, and sometimes they're hot as a pistol, and sometimes they're not. Right now we're running into teams that are playing at a high level."
Despite the fact that Tulane is 81st in the country in points allowed, giving up nearly 29 points a game, the Green Wave have some playmakers on defense that the Tigers will have to watch out for, including freshman corner Parry Nickerson. Nickerson has a team-high six interceptions on the season.
The Tigers take on Tulane Saturday at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans at 2:30 p.m. ESPNU plans to televise the game.
