Tulane Defense Top 10 in Nation in Key Metrics After Memphis Win

While it doesn’t necessarily feel like a great night when an opposing offense records 488 yards on the night, things feel as confident as ever with the Tulane Green Wave defense.

They started the year unable to tackle or make a stop on third down. They also faced some of the best rushers in the nation.

Against the Memphis Tigers, they made a statement with six turnovers and seven sacks. A lot of the time, turnovers are seen as an offense imploding on itself. That can certainly be the case, and the Tigers had plenty of self-inflicted wounds that contributed to the turnovers.

What can’t be discounted is the Green Wave’s pass rush that was a pointed concern heading into the year with the lack of experience in the young guys that had a breakthrough night in Week 7.

Under the guidance of defensive coordinator Tayler Polk, Tulane has a nationally stout defense.

They are sixth in the nation in red zone defense through six games played.

The Wave have allowed opponents to take 26 trips to the red zone. Of those tries, eight have been rushing touchdowns, four were passing touchdowns, and five field goals were made, leading to 17 red zone scores on 26 attempts. That comes out to a 65.4 percent conversion rate.

They’ve been just as impressive on fourth down. Opponents have tried 10 attempts on Tulane, and two have been successful, good for a 20 percent conversion rate that is seventh in FBS.

Those two stats require real mental toughness and will carry this defense a long way.

It also shows the importance of their out-of-conference schedule and the challenges they had to face.

They took on two Power Four offenses on the road in the Duke Blue Devils and Kansas State Wildcats and struggled to contain Nate Sheppard and Avery Johnson on the ground.

Their first game in conference play was a tough one on the road against the Army Black Knights, but they contained the triple option pretty well.

Meanwhile, Memphis played some strong teams in the G6, like Boise State, but had a much easier start to the year. That seemed to be a difference maker in a pivotal game in conference play.

The UTSA Roadrunners will be a challenging offense, but at this point, it doesn’t feel like anything should catch this defense off guard. That is a real position of strength heading into Week 8.