The Tulane Green Wave have yet to put it all together in one game, and that'll be an important thing to display ahead of conference play.
The Tulane Green Wave dropped their last chance to get on major radars ahead of conference play with their loss to the Kansas State Wildcats.
But all of their goals remain in front of them as they look to wrap up their nonconference slate against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles at home.
It’ll be a careful balance of wanting to get right and not putting too much stock into the game being a “revenge” game of sorts for head coach Will Hall, who was fired by the Golden Eagles before assuming control of the Green Wave.
There was a lot of palpable emotion from this team ahead of Week 1 feeling a bit disrespected by media, and that blew up a bit in their faces when they went to take on the Duke Blue Devils.
So it wouldn’t be surprising if this whole thing is really downplayed this week.
Even without those implications, the Battle of the Bell is still one of the remaining rivalries Tulane has as those traditions continue to disappear from the sport with conference realignment and over importance on the College Football Playoff as the end all be all.
And this is a team licking their wounds after a loss that was certainly more commendable than their season opener but still was plagued with problems that are now trends until disproved otherwise.
One of those being third down on both sides of the ball. The Wave only converted 7 of 15 third down attempts last weekend while allowing Kansas State to convert 10 of 16 tries.
The time of possession was a little less distorted this week, but the Wildcats still took control with 33 minutes that could have been much shorter had it not come to those key third downs.
One was certainly up for debate on whether the spot was actually correct, but that doesn’t excuse the nine other ones allowed.
This defense only has one sack through three games. The quality of opponent matters there, but if they aren’t able to show that trait against the Golden Eagles, that’ll be a real concern heading into conference play.
The penalties have improved; the tackling is getting there.
But this team has yet to put together a full game, and they have an opportunity to do that against a beatable opponent in Southern Miss, who is behind the South Alabama Jaguars in terms of competitiveness.
A win this weekend is expected, but nothing in this sport is guaranteed.
