Tulane Green Wave College Football Preview 2023: Top Players, Keys, What Will Happen
Tulane Green Wave College Football Preview 2023: What Will Happen
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Tulane Green Wave Key to the Season
2023 Tulane Preview: Offense | Defense
- Tulane Schedule, Game Predictions
Get that pass rush going. The defense has a strong starting 11, but the third down stops weren’t always there and the secondary that was so good could be even nastier. Obviously last year’s bunch did something right, but life could be a wee bit easier. It just might take a little bit more pressure to make that happen.
Tulane didn’t come up with a sack and registered just four tackles for loss in the first meeting with UCF - a 38-31 loss. In the AAC Championship? Six sacks, nine tackles for loss. The D got behind the line in the loss to Southern Miss, but it didn’t come up with any sacks in that defeat, either.
Seven times the defense came up with multiple sacks, and six of them were double-digit wins. To go crazy with this, since 2014 Tulane is 12-0 when coming up with five sacks or more.
Tulane Green Wave Top Transfer, Biggest Loss
S Kam Pedescleaux in from Louisiana, RB Cameron Carroll gone to Florida. The Green Wave needed safety help right away, and it got it from few terrific transfers. Pedescleaux should be the most impactful, especially against the run. The fifth-year veteran made 197 tackles over the last four seasons with three sacks, 17 tackles for loss, and with 16 broken up passes. He’ll be a stat-sheet filler.
Tyjae Spears was able to take on most of the rushing workload last year, but it would’ve been a whole lot easier if Cameron Carroll was around. The tough back who ran for over six yards per pop and 12 touchdowns in 2020 and was good in the rotation in 2021 got hurt right out of the gate last season and was done for the year. With Spears gone, it would’ve been nice to have Carroll around. Instead he’ll be a good part of Billy Napier’s running back rotation.
Tulane Green Wave Key Player
Cameron Wire, OT Sr. The Tulane offensive line had a terrific season helped by a great year from All-AAC tackle Joey Claybrook. The other four starters are expected to return, the line should be a major plus, and now the only thing missing is a veteran left tackle like the 6-6, 305-pound Wire. He was a good recruit for LSU who turned into a spot starter over the last four years, and now he gets to be the final piece of a strong Green Wave front five.
Tulane Green Wave Key Game
Ole Miss, Sept. 9. Let’s not assume the Green Wave will rip through the new AAC without breathing hard, but if they’re really that good, they should be the favorite in every game this season but one. Ole Miss is the moment.
Last year the win over Kansas State turned out to be a really big deal, and this year it’s when Lane Kiffin’s bunch come into town. Win this, and then the talk of something really special - like what happens if Tulane goes through the year unbeaten - can start up. Lose, and that’s it for the CFP, but another New Year’s Six bowl dream is still alive.
Tulane Green Wave 10 Best Players
1. Michael Pratt, QB Sr.
2. Prince Pines, OG Sr.
3. Sincere Haynesworth, C Sr.
4. Jarius Monroe, CB Sr.
5. Darius Hodges, DE Jr.
6. Kam Pedescleaux, S Sr.
7. Shedro Louis, WR Sr.
8. Patrick Jenkins, DT Sr.
9. Cameron Wire, OT Sr.
10. AJ Hampton, S Sr.
Tulane Green Wave 2022 Fun Stats
- Penalties: Opponents 74 or 609 yards, Tulane 56 for 480 yards
- 1st Quarter Scoring: Tulane 113, Opponents 37
- Punt Return Average: Tulane 9.9 yards, Opponents 1.1 yards
Tulane Green Wave Season Prediction, Win Total, What Will Happen
Set The Win Total At: 9
So which is it? Is Tulane going to be the team that couldn’t get past six regular season wins in the first six years of the Willie Fritz era, or has he created a potential powerhouse that’s about to rip on through the new-look American Athletic Conference and be a national player?
Houston, Cincinnati, Kansas State, and of course, USC if we’re going to throw in the bowl game. All four were close wins over good teams, all four were by seven points or fewer, and all four teams aren’t on a schedule that might be a whole lot easier, however ...
The American Athletic Conference might be sneakier-tough than it might seem. UAB isn’t a layup, and neither is UTSA. South Alabama is a dangerous non-conference game, and considering the Green Wave lost last year’s matchup, going to Southern Miss is something to worry about.
Throw in road trips to Memphis and East Carolina - to go along with the home date against Ole Miss - and there are too many landmines to bank on Tulane being 2018 UCF or 2021 Cincinnati - those two had huge follow-up seasons to massive national attention grabbing campaigns the year before.
Ole Miss, at Memphis, at East Carolina, UTSA. There’s going to be a loss somewhere among those four games, and there should be a wrong day type of loss against someone else.
No matter what, anything less than another trip to the American Athletic Conference championship won’t be okay.
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2023 Tulane Preview: Offense | Defense
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