The Green Wave will look to establish a formidable defensive identity with a statement shut down of Duke running back Nate Sheppard in Week 1.
If you ask anyone what a key to victory is for the Tulane Green Wave to topple the Duke Blue Devils in Week 1 of the college football season, it has to be stopping Blue Devils’ running back Nate Sheppard, who rushed for over 1,000 yards and scored 11 touchdowns for Duke last season.
The versatile back from Mandeville, La., also recorded 37 passes for 286 yards, while notching over 100 yards on the ground three times in 2025.
One of those times did not come against the Green Wave, who held Sheppard to 75 yards on five attempts last season. He did have four catches for 21 yards and a receiving touchdown, something Tulane will have to be weary of out of the backfield in their season opener rematch.
Last year, the key to containing the Blue Devils offense was Darian Mensah, which the Green Wave were successful at, and which won’t be a factor this season as they take on Walker Eget.
Pressuring Eget early and often will be critical in the matchup, but the Wave have to shut down Sheppard, and that’s not lost on them.
In a way, it’s a bit reminiscent of how the defense took on the challenge of containing running back Deuce Vaughn as the key to the Kansas State Wildcats’ attack back in their 2022 upset.
“We have to make him go sideways,” linebacker Dickson Agu said of Sheppard on Tuesday. “That's the biggest thing. He's an amazing player. That's what the game plan is built around. Stop 20. If we can stop 20, we'll win the game.”
Tulane had a years-long streak where they didn’t allow a rusher to record over 100 yards in a contest against them, including in Power Four matchups.
Starting out with that type of statement this season would put a lot of fear into future opponents.
There’s also an unignorable sense of feeling disrespected across the team, but those emotions tend to pop off a bit more on the defensive side.
As Agu explained Tuesday, his team-high 10 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and one pass breakup in last year’s contest largely was fueled by the fire of playing against their former teammate in Mensah.
It wouldn’t be surprising to see this defense punch Duke in the mouth a bit just to show the rest of the world that they can.
But defenses that have a real shot at sticking power and leading a championship run have to be able to stop the run first and foremost as much as they have to get to the quarterback.
If the Green Wave prove adept to that challenge in Week 1, it should tell a lot about their season hopes.
