Week 2 Preview: Tulane at South Alabama

It was good start to the season for South Alabama, who defeated Morgan State 37-17 last weekend. However, the Jags will have play a lot better this weekend if they want to take down group of five powerhouse Tulane in the “Battle of Mardi Gras”.

This budding rivalry began to gain traction in 2023 when South Alabama teased their “home of Mardi Gras” helmet before their game, and wore a helmet with a Mardi Gras emblem. This expectedly irking the Tulane players and fans. Jag fans can also expect to see a familiar face on the Tulane sideline in Jon Sumrall. The former Troy coach will face a South Alabama team that he has never lost to as head coach.

The two schools themselves, only separated by a couple of hours and have met three times before. Tulane leads the all time series 2-1. The last time the teams met was in 2023, Tulane won that game over South Alabama 37-17. The last time the game was played in Mobile was back in 2020, when Tulane won 27-24.

South Alabama

While South did win their game in Week 1, it was not the prettiest of performances for the Jags.

Offensively, South Alabama ran a very simple playbook against Morgan State, consisting of many simple inside runs and short passes. Despite this, South was able to total 367 yards of offense. Running back Kentrell Bullock had a very strong game, rushing for 127 yards and 2 touchdowns. Wide receivers Devin Voisin and Anthony Eager also stood out with strong performances offensively.

Defensively South Alabama gave up 340 yards, including 181 rushing yards to Morgan State. South Alabama was able to force four turnovers in this game, with three of those being fumbles and one interception. Corner Ty Goodwill stood out for the defense in his first career start, totaling 11 tackles.

Overall, South Alabama fared well on offense last week, but Tulane brings in a whole new level of competition for the Jags offense. South Alabama also had some serious ball security issues, with a number of fumbles on offense. While most were inconsequential, they shouldn’t expect the same out of a Tulane team who capitalized on a number of turnovers by Northwestern. To win this game, South Alabama will have to play clean, turnover free football and be able to throw the ball more effectively than they did against the Bears.

“Offensively we had a number of turnovers, just the loose balls, we’re getting ready to play a good team,” said Coach Applewhite, “His [Jon Sumrall] defense is really good, we have to clean a lot of things up next week.”

Defensively the key for success will be getting pressure on Jake Retzlaff, and keeping him in the pocket. Another challenge will be to contain the talented Tulane receivers. South Alabama has a very inexperienced secondary and this will be a big test for them.

Tulane

Last week Tulane welcomed Northwestern to New Orleans. They then proceeded to dominate Northwestern 23-3, taking the lead early and never looking back. The Green Wave, who were already expected to be a contender for the group of five playoff bid, got off to a very good start in this statement win against the Big Ten.

Tulane was strongest on the defensive side of the ball in last week’s game, holding Northwestern to only 237 yards and forcing a staggering five turnovers. Sophomore DB Javion White stood out for the Green Wave grabbing two interceptions and getting two tackles.

On the offensive side of the ball Tulane had 421 yards total. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff had the biggest game, throwing for 181 yards, rushing for 113, and totaling two touchdowns.

Overall, the team played well on both sides of the ball, especially defensively. However, Tulane will want to see improvements in the passing game. Despite a decent stat line, there were a number of dropped passes by the receivers and numerous bad throws.

“That was probably the thing I liked the least about that game [vs. Northwestern], just us throwing and catching the ball. I addressed the receivers and running backs,” said coach Jon Sumrall, “To play at a really high level, to win games we have in front of us, we’re going to have to make those routine throws and catches.”

Look for the Green Wave to fix some things offensively as the Green Wave will want to keep the ball in the air in order to test the unproven South Alabama secondary. The key defensively for Tulane will be to shut down Kentrell Bullock and the South running game, forcing the Jags to move the ball through the air.