New leadership and a settled lineup anchor Tulane's dominant offensive line, protecting their quarterback and fueling their late-season surge.
Quietly, the Tulane Green Wave football team has replaced their talent and production at one of the most important positions on the field: the offensive line.
It’s easier said than done to replace a team’s starting center, right guard, and right tackle – and the unit’s coach. Evan McKissack took over for Dan Roushar after he left to become the offensive line coach of the Chicago Bears.
They began the year with a rotation at right guard and tackle, but have settled into a lineup of Jack Hollifield, Jordan Hall, and Reese Baker from center to right tackle. Left tackle Derrick Graham and left guard Shadre Hurst were two important veterans that returned and set a tone for the blue-collar mentality at the position.
The Green Wave have been so adept at protecting their quarterback that they are tied for No. 8 nationally with only eight sacks allowed this season. That is on pace to be the fewest conceded by the program in at least the last 10 seasons, with the team allowing 18 in the 2024 season.
While they only allowed one sack on Brendan Sullivan against the UTSA Roadrunners, as Jake Retzlaff sat out the second half, that seemed to be the turning point across the team. Center Jack Hollifield sees how that jump transpired to their play in Memphis.
“As an O-line, we've grown closer every game, but I would definitely say after that UTSA game, we kind of had to get together by ourselves and kind of commit to something,” Hollifield said. “We had what, I think we had four games left in the season that we had to finish out the right way. I think last week was the right step in the right direction. We’ve just got to continue that with the last three games.”
The desire to protect Jake Retzlaff only grew for the o-line after he went down early in the game.
“Especially after that second drive that we scored, you could tell Jake got a little hurt,” Hollifield said. “So that was one of our main goals. We were trying to keep everybody off him so he could do what he does. When he's doing what he does, good things happen.”
Retzlaff could be the most talented quarterback in the nation. If he doesn’t have a pocket, it simply doesn’t matter what his pedigree is. As Tulane searched for their next starter under center, it was arguably more important who would be protecting him up front.
That question has definitively been answered by this Green Wave offensive line.