Roll Wave! Antoine Ducros-Labat here, but everybody Uptown calls me Twan. I play trumpet in a brass band on the weekends, I keep powdered sugar on my good shirt from Café du Monde, and I rate every Tulane win like a bowl of gumbo. Some wins are thin. Some wins are a dark roux that took all afternoon. Friday night against Memphis? That was a roux you could stand a spoon in.
Here's the setlist for this week. First, the Memphis game, which I'll tell straight, warts and all. Then a Saturday night at Yulman against UTSA, a 6-1 team that I respect and that I would like to send back to San Antonio with a little humility and a box of pralines.
Part 1: Tulane 31, Memphis 17, and Six Takeaways
On Oct. 16 at Yulman Stadium, the Green Wave forced six turnovers. Six. Per the AP, Tulane had forced one turnover in its first five games combined. Then it got six in one night. That's not a gumbo. That's a whole crawfish boil.
And it came with a freshman quarterback, Trace Johnson, making his first collegiate start. I'll say it plainly: the offense went three-and-out on its first three drives. But redshirt freshman kicker Cooper Helmke made a 56-yard field goal to tie it 3-3 early in the second quarter. Memphis went ahead 10-3 on a short pass that Stonka Burnside turned into a 76-yard touchdown. Helmke answered from 40.
Then the Wave started taking the ball. After Tulane's third fumble recovery of the night set up a drive at midfield, Johnson threw a 38-yard touchdown to Destyn Hill for a 13-10 lead. Helmke added a 29-yarder. And on the final play of the first half, TJ Smith intercepted Marcus Stokes and ran it back 76 yards for a touchdown. Tulane led 23-10 at the break, and I hit a high note on the trumpet that I haven't hit since my cousin's wedding.
Memphis cut it to 23-17 with 3:34 left on a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jemyri Davis. Then, on fourth-and-1, Johnnie Daniels ran 48 yards for the touchdown with 1:34 left, and Johnson hit Hill on the two-point try. Kevin Adams III made two interceptions, the second one sealing it. Per the AP, it was Tulane's first six-turnover game since a 2013 win over Jackson State.
Now the honest part, because a gumbo critic has to taste everything. Memphis out-gained Tulane 488 to 325 and piled up 27 first downs to our 12. Tulane converted 4 of 16 third downs and had nine penalties for 80 yards. Johnson completed 11 of 21 passes for 165 yards with a touchdown and an interception. The defense and special teams carried that night. The offense brought the napkins.
Tulane is 3-3 and 1-1 in the American: losses at Duke 17-3, at Kansas State 31-20 and at Army 20-17, and wins over South Alabama 28-24, Southern Miss 24-21 and now Memphis. All three wins came at home. Hold that thought.
Part 2: UTSA at Tulane
Saturday, 8 p.m. Eastern, on ESPNU, at Yulman Stadium in Uptown New Orleans. UTSA (6-1, 3-0 American) at Tulane (3-3, 1-1).
The Roadrunners' Recipe
I'll give UTSA its flowers. Owen McCown completed 28 of 38 passes for 359 yards and three touchdowns last week against Navy, including the game-winner with 2:24 left. For the season he has 1,578 passing yards, 10 touchdowns and two interceptions, and UTSA's turnover margin is plus-4, 22nd in FBS. Will Henderson III leads the run game with 562 yards. UTSA scores 32.3 points per game, 49th.
Where the Roux Breaks
Now taste the defense. UTSA allows 199.9 rushing yards per game, 128th in FBS, and 400.0 yards per game overall, 112th. It allows 27.0 points per game, 100th. Navy ran for 294 yards on it last week. That's an open kitchen for Johnnie Daniels and Maurice Turner, who has 315 rushing yards on just 37 carries this season.
And UTSA averages 83.9 penalty yards per game, 134th in FBS. One hundred thirty-fourth. Out of 136 teams, cher. I've seen Mardi Gras parades hold formation with more discipline than that.
Our Honest Ingredients
Here's what Tulane has to fix. The Green Wave are last in FBS in time of possession, at 26:20 per game. The offense ranks 116th in yards, 332.0 per game, and 117th in scoring, 20.5 per game. The run defense allows 212.5 yards per game, 133rd, and opponents convert 45.6 percent of their third downs, 124th. That's a pot that needs stirring.
But here's the spice. Tulane allows 21.7 points per game, 50th in FBS, despite all those yards, and its red zone defense ranks fifth in the country, allowing scores on only 65.4 percent of trips. Bend all you like, Roadrunners. The Wave doesn't break near the goal.
The Series
CollegeFootballData.com lists UTSA ahead 2-1. UTSA won 10-7 in the Alamodome in 2013, Tulane won 29-16 at Yulman in 2023, and UTSA won 48-26 in San Antonio last season. Tulane is 1-0 against UTSA at Yulman. Let's keep the home kitchen clean.
Town Report: New Orleans vs. San Antonio
New Orleans. We are the Crescent City, named for the bend of the Mississippi River through town, and the Big Easy, a nickname Wikipedia says may come from early 20th-century musicians who found work easy to find here. New Orleans was founded in 1718 by French colonists, and it is known for its music, its Creole cuisine and Mardi Gras. The French Quarter holds Jackson Square, St. Louis Cathedral, Preservation Hall and the French Market, including Café du Monde, famous for café au lait and beignets. I'm a regular. The powdered sugar is a lifestyle.
Our stadium, Yulman, opened on Sept. 6, 2014, with a home opener against Georgia Tech, bringing Tulane football back to campus after nearly 40 seasons in the Superdome. And Tulane's first bowl win came in the very first Sugar Bowl, played in Tulane's own stadium. Sugar Bowl history started on our campus.
San Antonio. San Antonio is a big, lovely city, seventh-most populous in the country, with 1.43 million people at the 2020 census. Its Spanish mission was founded in 1718. Same year as New Orleans. Twins, cher. But one twin got the beignets.
The famous San Antonio River Walk, per Wikipedia, sits "one level down from the automobile street." San Antonio is so proud of its river that it put it in the basement. In New Orleans, the river is right there, wide as a parish, and we built the whole city around its curve.
And the Alamodome? It opened in 1993, and Wikipedia says the building was intended to attract a professional football franchise. Intended. That's a beignet stand with no powdered sugar, cher. Nice setup. Something's missing.
The Last Spoonful
The recipe Saturday is simple. Run the ball at the 128th-ranked run defense in the country, hold onto it, and shorten the game. Make McCown throw into a defense that just found its taste for takeaways. Get Helmke in range. Win at home, where all three wins came this year.
It'll be close. UTSA has won six of seven, and the Roadrunners have earned their record. But they haven't played in our kitchen this year, and a good roux always takes its time.
Roll Wave!
My call: Tulane Green Wave 26, UTSA Roadrunners 25.