Tulane demolished the Tulsa Golden Hurricanes 62-28 on Saturday morning. Strangely enough, that was the second hurricane the Green Wave beat.
Tulane Beats Two Hurricanes in One Week
The first one was Hurricane Nate. Nate originally was supposed to come right through the heart of New Orleans Saturday. However, the storm ended up heading east just before landfall, giving the city of New Orleans a huge break. Regardless, the uncertainty of the timing moved the time of the game up to 10 a.m. in the morning. The game was originally scheduled for an afternoon kickoff at 3 p.m.
The change of schedule did little to slow Tulane’s offense. As a matter of fact, the wave was the active storm of the day. The Green Wave put on a scoring showcase that kept the scoreboard on high alert. After last week’s last second win against Army, Tulane made sure to put this game away early.
“I think our offense can score points with anybody, and we can stop anybody as a defense. It was way different from last year. It’s fun to dominate a team like that and get 3-and-outs and sacks and tackles for loss.” Tulane’s senior nose tackle said it well.
Last week the Green Wave needed almost 60 minutes to put away the Army Knights. In contrast, this game was all green. A total obliteration of Tulsa. This result is not a familiar occurrence for Green Wave Nation. Surely, the fans had to feel good being on the other side of a blowout.
4⃣!!!!
Career-high for Dontrell Hilliard!#RollWave pic.twitter.com/SYHgjMsQiU
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) October 7, 2017
That was just one of the four touchdowns RB Dontrell Hilliard ran in on Saturday. Incidentally, Tulane scored 21 points midway through the first quarter. Hilliard had a career high of 175 yards and the Green Wave led by 48-7 at halftime.
In addition to Hilliard’s amazing day, QB Jonathan Banks no doubt added some firepower. Banks ran for 93 yards and a rushing TD. Add that with this 62-yard pass as well for a score. Tulane never looked back.
That was a career-long 62-yard TD reception for Terren Encalade! #RollWave pic.twitter.com/wNFDl1j9xw
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) October 7, 2017
Tulane racked up a total of 488 yards on total offense on the ground on 70 rushing attempts. Add that to 165 passing yards from Banks, and the offense was literally blazing. The Green Wave put up 653 yards on Tulsa’s defense. That’s simply mind-blowing!
The win over Tulsa moves Tulane to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the AAC West. Also, this same team nearly beat Navy, who is currently undefeated and ranked No. 25 in the AP Poll and No. 24 in the Coaches Poll.
Coach Fritz also received his 200th career win. No hurricane was strong enough to derail Tulane on Saturday, as they are way ahead of last year’s start. In 2016, they finished 4-8 after 12 games. Then again, this is nothing new for Coach Willie Fritz. Fritz has won everywhere he’s been. Even so, fans are still in awe of what’s happening in uptown New Orleans.
Additionally, he’s hoping to guide a team that hasn’t been on the map in a long long time. Since joining the AAC, the Green Wave has won only five games with this victory against Tulsa from 2014.
Equally important, Tulane is not an easy place to win. Ask many of the past coaches that have been through the plethora of losing seasons. Tulane is no joke anymore. The Green Wave are heading into relevance quicker than most people thought.
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