2011 Tulane Football Predictions

Written by Jack Jones

The Tulane Green Wave finished dead last in Conference USA’s West division for a second straight season in 2010. They went 2-6 in league play and finished 4-8 for the season. This was a classic case where a team played better than their record. The Green Wave outgained Marshall by 139 yards in a losing effort, held a 28-17 edge in first downs against Southern Miss in a loss, had more first downs than SMU in defeat, and were only outgained by 18 yards against Houston in their setback to the Cougars.

With 14 returning starters, Tulane has a great chance to avoid the cellar of the West division in 2011. They have 52 letterman returning while only losing 20 to graduation. The Green Wave actually outgained opponents in conference play last year. They must cut back on the costly turnovers while being more efficient in the red zone if they want to put up a few more wins this season. Here is a look at their offense and defense, plus my prediction on where they’ll finish in the final CUSA standings.

Offense:

Tulane featured an offense last season that put up 24.9 points and 373 total yards/game. Six starters return, including junior QB Ryan Griffin who threw for 2,371 yards and 14 touchdowns to 8 interceptions a year ago. He fared very well despite playing through an injury at the end of the season. With a healthy return and another year of experience under his belt, Griffin and this offense should put up bigger numbers in 2011.

Sophomore RB Orleans Darkwa had a tremendous rookie season, rushing for 925 yards and 11 touchdowns while earning first-team All-CUSA honors. He had five straight 100-yard rushing performances, and also caught 17 balls for 155 yards out of the backfield. Darkwa figures to get even more touches this season after averaging 5.0/carry last year on only 184 attempts. Senior Albert Williams is more of a lightning bug, and he’s back after finishing second on the team with 370 rushing yards and a touchdown last year.

The biggest question mark on this team is at receiver. Tulane loses four of their top five pass catchers to graduation. Junior Ryan Grant returns after finishing second on the team in receiving yards (515). He had 33 receptions and 4 touchdowns, also leading the team in yards/catch (15.8). Senior Joe Kemp made the split time between QB and WR last season, and should be much improved in his full-time role at receiver this year. He caught 14 balls for 154 yards and a score in 2010. Sophomore Brett Comardelle played limited snaps last season and will be asked to start in 2011, while junior Brock Sanders takes over at tight end.

The offensive line has a lot of room for improvement. They paved the way for only 128 rushing yards/game on 3.5/carry while allowing 28 sacks in 2010. The Green Wave must find a way to replace second-team All-CUSA LT Pete Hendrickson (3-year starter) and honorable mention All-CUSA C Andrew Niemann (4-year starter). They do return three starters and six linemen with starting experience (62 career starts). The three that return to their starting roles are junior RG Zach Morgan, junior RT Eric Jones and senior LG Harris Howard. Redshirt freshman Ben Stone figures to take over at center, while sophomore Pat Hussain steps in at left tackle.

Defense:

The Green Wave were not able to keep teams out of the end zone last season, mainly due to their inability to stop the run which led to poor red zone defense. While they gave up a respectable 390 total yards/game, the stop unit yielded a woeful 37.2 points/game. More than half of that yardage was on the ground, where Tulane allowed 196 rushing yards/game on 5.0/carry. With eight returning starters on defense, the Green Wave should be much-improved. They have six of their top seven tacklers back in all.

The defensive line will feature three returning starters and figures to be the best unit the Green Wave have had here since 2007. Iowa transfer Dezmon Moses (6 sacks, 11.5 tackles for loss in 2010) returns for his senior season at DE, and opposite him will be junior Austen Jacks (1.5 sacks, 6 tackles for loss). Senior DT Chris Asumnu (2.5 tackles for loss) made nine starts last year and will be a full-time starter in 2011. The one key loss is first-team All-CUSA DT Justin Adams (7.5 sacks, 12 tackles for loss). Taking his place will be sophomore Shane Delery, who redshirted last season.

Three starting linebackers return intact for Tulane in 2011. Former Duke transfer Trent Mackey is the best of the bunch. The MLB earned first-team All-USA honors as a sophomore last season after leading the team in tackles (124) with 7.5 of those coming for a loss. Junior WLB Darryl Farley finished #6 on the team in tackles (51) while also breaking up five passes last year. Sophomore SLB Dominique Robertson was #10 in tackles (27) while making four starts as a true freshman in 2010. With more experience at both the DL and LB positions, the Green Wave figure to post their best numbers as a group since 2007.

As bad as the defense was as a whole last year, it’s surprising to know that the secondary was nothing short of spectacular. Tulane yielded only 195 passing yards/game and 53.9% completions. Sure, teams knew they could run on the Green Wave, but these numbers are still very impressive nonetheless. They return a couple good ones in junior CB Ryan Travis and junior FS Shakiel Smith. Travis was #4 in tackles (67), had 8 tackles for loss, and 4 pass break-ups last year. Smith finished #3 in tackles (90) while also breaking up five passes to go along with 3 interceptions. Junior Alex Lauricella takes over at corner, while senior Taylor Echols steps in at strong safety.

Conference USA Prediction: 5th Place West Division – The Green Wave showed signs up breaking through last season when they hung in there with many of the best teams in the conference. They came up on the losing end in many of those games, and will need to find a way to win the close ones in 2011 if they want to make a bowl. The offense is in good hands at QB and RB, but doesn’t feature many playmakers at WR. The defense will be much better up front with a lot more experience along the front seven, but the secondary won’t hold up like it did last year. Tulane will pull off a few more upsets this season, but they are still another year away from seriously competing in the tough West division.

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