Playmaker Kevin Adams Secures American Conference Defensive Player of Week

The Tulane Green Wave had a historic night in their win over the Memphis Tigers, with six turnovers forced in the dominant victory – three fumbles and three interceptions.

Three of those turnovers went to redshirt junior defensive back Kevin Adams, who rightfully earned the American Conference honors of the league’s Defensive Player of the Week.

Adams led the team with nine tackles, two interceptions – one that sealed the win for the Green Wave – and a fumble recovery.

After having no picks to start the year, Tulane now has three and a pick six. The last time a player had a pair of interceptions in a game was safety Javion White, now with the Houston Cougars, who accomplished that against Northwestern in the Wave’s season opener back in 2025.

Through six games now, Adams is second in the conference in interceptions and in solo tackles with 39 on the year. His 53 total tackles are good for fourth in the league and he’s now tied for fifth in fumble recoveries with the one.

He has been one of the strongest players for the Wave, setting the tone all the way back in the season opener loss to Duke. There was a breakaway run by running back Nate Sheppard in the first half of the game that could have been a touchdown and effectively ended the game before it even got to halftime.

Adams chased him down, the defense made the stop, and the Blue Devils missed the field goal. While it ultimately didn’t matter much to the end result, it was an important showing of heart and effort that the defense really responded to.

Things finally culminated in the major conference win on Friday night with the most turnovers by the program since they forced eight against Army back in 2003.

And they were earned turnovers at that. The three forced fumbles came from a breakthrough defensive line performance that saw them record seven sacks that were responsible for those turnovers.

But Adams’ final one ultimately ended a potential Memphis comeback and sealed things in a major conference win, and he’s been a difference maker all season.

It marks the third weekly honor for a Tulane player this season, after Jaylin Lucas earned a spot on the weekly honor roll on Sept. 14 for his 200-yard night at Yulman Stadium and Maurice Turner secured the league’s Offensive Player of the Week two weeks later on Sept. 28 for the same feat.