The No. 20 Tulane Green Wave have a tall task in the No. 24 North Texas Mean Green this Friday in the 2025 American Conference Championship. Redshirt quarterback Drew Mestemaker leads the nation with 3,385 passing yards. Receiver Wyatt Young is third in college football with 1,203 yards on 62 catches and 10 touchdowns. True freshman running back Caleb Hawkins leads the country in total touchdowns (26) and in rushing touchdowns. That last stat could be the key and illuminate a path to victory.

The Green Wave have the No. 2 rush defense in the American and No. 32 in the nation. In the last two weeks, their opponents have recorded 20 rush yards, and negative three rush yards. Of the top five rush defenses in the conference, the Mean Green have faced the No. 4 South Florida Bulls – and lost. They were outgained on the ground 306 to 107 yards by the Bulls. Tulane beat the top rush defense in the ECU Pirates and the No. 3 Memphis Tigers.

North Texas hasn’t seen many stacked boxes like the one the Green Wave will boast at home. That could be an equalizer, as could the impending rain set to color the matchup. Running the ball is what wins football games. It’s easy to do that when you have the top pass attack to match. But if Tulane can take away their ground game, that forces them to be one-dimensional.

The Green Wave have brought back consultant Mike Storms in this final stretch, who was with the team last year. The United States Marine and 9th-degree black belt in karate is a hand-combat specialist who worked in the NFL and teaches players how to use their hands to disengage from blocks and violently strike. That will be critical not only to stifling the ground game before it can get started, but in getting to the quarterback.

“Coach Storms explains that it’s really a game of inches,” bandit Mo Westmoreland explained. “Hand placement on your shoulders, elbows, wrists, everything matters. Getting the small minute details in order, and getting it very precise, it gets you ready to play the game.”

Head coach Jon Sumrall explained the importance of his work on the defensive line last season when he joined as a consultant.

"The hand-to-hand combat stuff obviously correlates with our game," Sumrall said last year. "I think explaining to our guys that this game is about striking, violence, leverage, angles, and making contact helps.”

Tulane’s offense will need their attack to match. But the defense will prove to be the difference-maker. And in a game of inches, little edges like knowing where to place your hands on the offensive lineman’s chest or arms to strike them off can be the difference between an explosive gain and a tackle for loss.