Tulane Defense More Poised for Challenge Memphis Presents

The Tulane Green Wave defense has a night and day challenge ahead of hosting the Memphis Tigers for their second game of conference play Friday in which they look to re-right the ship.

Last weekend, it was a grueling, physical contest that was predicated on stopping the run, and stopping the run only. The Army Black Knights attempted six passes and carried the ball 59 times.

Now, they have to turn the page to a Tigers offense that has a lot more balance. Memphis is second in the American in scoring and total offense, third in rush and pass offense, and lead the league in offensive efficiency.

But despite the Tigers feeling more daunting, it’s really more situational due to the position the Green Wave enter the game in, which is searching for their first win in conference play.

This is an offense that the team is ultimately more built to defend than what they had to present against the Black Knights.

Tulane mostly employs a nickel defense with the spear player being that nickel or slot role.

That spear role is mostly occupied by TJ Smith and Kajuan Banks, with Dorian Jackson taking some snaps as well.

There’s a notable size discrepancy that saw Jackson be the only one of the three to take defensive snaps against Army, with both Smith and Banks slotting in at 5-10. Jackson is 6-2, 211 pounds.

Rather, the spear role was transformed to have them run a 4-3 defensive front. Linebacker Dalton Hughes started at spear. Bandits Nik Alston and Gerrod Henderson saw time there, and Warren Roberts a bit in passing down situations.

It worked pretty well. And while they didn’t win in the end, they were largely successful at defending the triple option. The offense just needed to score more than 17 points.

It would be a lot more daunting to have to turn around and prepare for Army on a short week than it is to do that with Memphis. The type of defense they’ll employ this weekend will be their typical one.

What the atypical defense did on Saturday was actually show a bit of playmaking ability from guys who otherwise haven’t had much time or done much with the time they had.

Freshman Cayden Dees has some good moments at defensive end. Geordan Guidry, Jordyn Crites, and Armondous Cooley held down the defensive tackle role pretty well with Ed Smith out.

Dalton Hughes entered the game with two total tackles on the year. He had seven total tackles against the Black Knights and made an impact.

This defense knows what it has in Kevin Adams, Jack Tchienchou, Dickson Agu, Makai Williams, Kam Hamilton, etc.

It now knows a lot more about some depth on the roster. The fast pace of Memphis will require some subs when able. Knowing that those guys can really play will do a lot for a defense that has proven capable to keep this team in games until the end.