The Tulane Green Wave needed a clean, close game against the Ole Miss Rebels to prove that the program can compete among the best of the best.
Unfortunately for the Green Wave, that didn't happen; instead, Tulane was dominated 45-10 and could never find a rhythm on either side of the ball.
After three really solid weeks, it's hard to picture how this could've happened for Tulane. Were the first three opponents of the season -- Northwestern, South Alabama and Duke -- not as challenging as previously thought? Is Ole Miss simply that good?
Let's begin with a look at starting quarterback Jake Retlzaff, who had his worst performance of the year by a large margin. Retzlaff went a measly 5-of-17 passing for 56 yards and added just 51 yards on the ground. He came into the game hailed as an impressive dual-threat quarterback, but in all honesty, he seemed to crack under the pressure.
Quarterback Brendan Sullivan saw some action as well, but he didn't fare much better with just 48 passing yards, one garbage time touchdown and one interception. As a whole, the team had just 282 total yards and seemed to deviate from its normal course of action on offense.
Tulane's defense knew it was going to be a tough matchup, especially when Ole Miss announced that dual-threat quarterback Trinidad Chambliss would be making his second consecutive start in place of Austin Simmons. Despite the fact that Simmons was the go-to guy early in the year, Chambliss seems to be significantly better at this point... and the Green Wave quickly realized just how good he is.
Chambliss threw for 307 yards and two touchdowns and rushed for 112 more yards on 14 carries. Running back Kewan Lacy saw more action with Chambliss than he previously had, recording two touchdowns on 68 rushing yards. At the end of the day, the Rebels recorded 548 total yards. In all fairness, the Green Wave's defense was certainly not helped out by its offense and had little time to rest in between drives.
On top of the letdowns on the field -- miscues, penalties, blown coverage -- Tulane seemed to lose heart. No, it's not a good feeling to be in a deep hole early, but the Green Wave almost seemed defeated after going down 13-0 early in the second quarter despite the fact that the game was far from over or out of reach by that point. What happened to fighting through adversity and giving it 100-percent no matter what?
It's hard to pinpoint exactly what went wrong for Tulane or what specifically needs to be fixed heading into conference play, because at this point, it could be everything. The team has experienced highs all around and shown the ability to be elite, but after this loss, they've shown that they can hit rock bottom as well.
Nothing gets easier for the Green Wave as well. The program opens American Conference play on Saturday with a road trip to Tulsa -- a team that just knocked off Oklahoma State. How well will Tulane be able to bounce back from disappointment and prove that they still belong in the College Football Playoff conversation? We'll just have to see.