Week 3 of the college football season is full of gems, including Tulane. We’ve got Texas A&M heading to Notre Dame, Georgia charges on Rocky Top, and a desperate Florida team limping in to Baton Rouge to take on LSU.
All of these great games, but there’s one game that’s being overlooked. The Duke Blue Devils are taking a rare trip down to the Bayou to take on the Tulane Green Wave and boy, are we in for a treat.
This one doesn’t have the history of South Bend or the traditions of Death Valley, but it’s got two upstart programs looking to make a splash into this season’s College Football Playoff.
Strength of Schedule for Tulane
First things first, we have to commend Tulane on an outstanding out of conference schedule.
The American Athletic Conference plays eight conference games each season which leaves teams to schedule four out of conference opponents. Most teams schedule one big game and a few cupcake teams to get a tune-up for the rest of the season. Schools in the American, Sun Belt, etc. usually play one Power 4 program so they can collect a paycheck, one other Group of 5 team, and one or two cupcakes from the FCS level.
So what did the Green Wave do?
They go to Oxford to take on Ole Miss in Week 4, played a stingy South Alabama team in Week 2, and somehow convinced two Power 4 conference teams to come to Yulman Stadium in New Orleans. Go figure.
Tulane’s has one of the best schedules for the first four weeks of the season and that continues this Saturday night as the Duke Blue Devils come to town.
Tulane has already proved it belongs with the Power 4 as they dismantled Northwestern in the opener. This is another great test for Jon Sumrall’s team as the season keeps going.
Back to Face the Music
There are a lot of big games on Tulane’s schedule, but I think fans have had this one circled for quite sometime. Specifically, since December 11th, 2024. Why, you ask?
Because that is the day former Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah finalized his commitment to the Blue Devils. Mensah was a surprise starter last season. The redshirt freshman out of California had Tulane in playoff contention until late in the season last year. They were one upset away from getting the G5 spot in the playoff until they lost to Memphis in the last week of the season.
His transfer was quite a surprise to the Tulane team and fans, but there was an excitement in the air when he chose Duke as his new home. Fans and players knew they’d get to see their former signal caller sooner rather than later.
Mensah’s looked really good to start the season. He’s averaging 361 passing yards per game and is the straw that stirs the Blue Devils offense. There’s no question he’ll be motivated to get a win against his former team.
Keys to Victory
Here are two keys to victory for each team if they want to walk out winners on Saturday night
1) Quarterback Consistency:
- Tulane: BYU transfer Jake Retzlaff has been the main quarterback for the Green Wave through two games. He’s really impressed as a runner but is having some trouble in the passing game. This is somewhat expected since he didn’t get on campus until just a few weeks before the season started. He’ll need to clean this up if the Wave want to roll
- Duke: Like stated earlier, Mensah’s looked good to start the season. He’s going to need to keep it up for Duke to have a chance. One thing he can clean up is turnovers. He had two costly turnovers against Illinois last week, including a fumble in the redzone in the first half. Tulane’s defense is 6th in the country in forcing interceptions and will be looking to pick on their old teammate. Duke is -6 in turnovers on the year and will need to be careful.
2) Team Defense
- Tulane: Tulane was in control against South Alabama but their defense faltered down the stretch and they were one two-point conversion away from having to go into overtime with the Jags. Not only did they almost blow the lead late, the only reason the Jags were in position to make the comeback was because Tulane let up two big touchdowns on the first few drives of the game. You know this is something Coach Sumrall is going to want to correct this week.
- Duke: Duke’s defense should be the calling card of this team. Head coach Manny Diaz has made his career on being a defensive mastermind. It hasn’t shown so far this season. They were in it with Illinois at halftime but were outscored 31-6 in the second half. That’s just not sustainable if they want to compete with the rest of the country. Diaz will have to get his team back to where he knows they can be for Duke to have a chance.
Predictions
Tulane opened as the favorite, but the line has actually swung in Duke’s favor. Here are the odds for the game:
Duke -1.5, O/U 54.5
Pick: Tulane +1.5, OVER 54.5
We’re picking Tulane to win and cover this weekend. Tulane’s defense and the home field advantage will be the advantage as the Green Wave goes to 3-0 and looks towards a date with Ole Miss.
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