Tulane Finds Way Back To Form in Run Game Against Charlotte

One of the things the Tulane Green Wave needed to do was to get their run game back and going again, plain and simple, and suffice to say they did that against the Charlotte 49ers in their overtime win.

They also unlocked a potential element to their run game in quarterback Trace Johnson, who was surprisingly nifty on a few runs on the evening for critical down pickups.

In their Week 8 loss to the UTSA Roadrunners, the Green Wave managed a measly 67 net rush yards on 22 total attempts. Now, sack yardage lost plays into the rush yard total in college football. But most of the yardage came from an 81-yard run by running back Johnnie Daniels, who has totally grown into a weapon for the Wave.

This is a team that has gone through three quarterbacks and is currently employing two of them. The latter one, Dagan Bruno, actually bolsters an element of the run game as well.

The Roadrunners certainly have a better rush defense than the 49ers, but Tulane was uncharacteristically bad against them.

UTSA actually only sits one slot above Charlotte in rush defense in the American at eighth and ninth respectively.

Tulsa, Tulane’s next opponent, sits one slot above the Wave, who are really meddling at the bottom of the standings at 13th.

But offensively, the Green Wave did quite a bit to help their case on Friday night.

In the 38-31 overtime win, Tulane amassed 183 rush yards on the ground and three rushing touchdowns, much improved from the week prior.

Daniels led the day again with Jamauri McClure reinjuring himself against the Roadrunners. He ended the night with 13 carries for 99 yards, not losing one, and two of the rushing scores.

Bruno was responsible for the third that helped seal the win in overtime.

Jaylin Lucas was second in the pack. However, he was finally starting to see some action in the slot where he looks to shine. He did drop a touchdown in overtime, but he helped get them to the end zone in another drive with his one catch for 37 yards.

Johnson had seven carries for 22 yards. It wasn’t much. But he ran when the space opened up, decisively, and converted crucial downs with his decision-making there.

The chemistry of the offense also doesn’t seem to be distorted too much when Bruno is swapped in for Johnson, which can sometimes get clunky.

And it was behind a completely different and new offensive line combination.

If they can keep trending up in the run game, it bodes well for the win column.