bikeriderga 134 Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 Tulane showed that they can actually play some pretty good football this past weekend. Although definitely not at Oregon's level, they actually manhandled FIU and looked pretty solid doing it, in their 42-14 drubbing. Auburn will have to take this team seriously and play aggressive and smart, especially in the first half. Before the season, I kind of looked at this game as a time to fix what was broken in the the tough match-up with Oregon and put in some new wrinkles. Of course we still need to do that, but we cannot take as many chances as I had originally hoped and thought we could. Otherwise, Tulane could actually keep this game rather close. Tulane's QB Justin McMillan, looked good on the field in the first game. He was 14-18 for 199 yards. He is a fifth year grad transfer from LSU, so he has experience in the SEC. Tulane has 3 running backs capable of making yards. They have a great deal of experience. The two top ones are Darius Bradwell, senior. He is a bruiser at 6'1 235 lbs. The second is Corey Daphine, a 6 foot 195 lb senior from Texas. The Tulane O-Line looked good against FIU and blew that team off the ball for their primary rushing attack. They were able to protect the QB well and open holes to the tune of 300 rushing yards. Coming into the season, the O-Line was a concern for them, but they seemed to have meshed quite well. They added some grad transfers to the O-Line which seems to working out. The defense is above average overall, thanks to their experienced Defensive Line. They are returning most of the starters from last year and many of them were highly sought after recruits (high three and four stars). Jeffery Johnson, the nose tackle, picked Tulane over Alabama and Florida State and is a beast. He can squat 630 lbs. Am I picking an upset? Of course not. But neither are we looking at a blow out here. I think it is going to be somewhat close in the first half and we simply wear them down in the second half. We may cover the -19, but I wouldn't bet on it. I hope we can use this game to fix what we saw broken in the first half against Oregon and continue to play like we did in the second half against Oregon for the entire game. Our special teams simply have to fix things quick! Kick coverage was abysmal! Our O-Line needs to start fast and protect Nix much more than they did against Oregon. We need to find that first and second progression in the passing game and give Bo Nix more options. Actually, I believe it is a good thing that Tulane's D is pretty good. We should get a chance to see what improvements and lessons our O-line has made from week 1 to week 2. I would like to see our running backs (Boobee, Martin, Shivers) break open against a pretty good Defensive line. I would also like to see Joey Gatewood come in some in the second half and get some real game experience both running and throwing. He is (God forbid) one play away from having to start and we need him prepared and ready. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KnightTiger 205 Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 just like Southern Miss, I believe Tulane has had a history of playing us tough in Football it wouldn't surprise me if we don't win "blowout fashion" i'll go with 34-17 Auburn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shabby 1,958 Posted September 3, 2019 Share Posted September 3, 2019 no matter how we slice it on paper we should win by 4 touchdowns. in reality I suspect we wont Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brad_ATX 13,654 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 Tulane is a lot better than most realize, dating back to last year. They won't beat us unless something crazy happens, but there's a reason the spread is on 18.5 points. They can play. Also, they have the best damn helmets in college football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sizzle 3,926 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 Versatile offense. They can go to the spread or the triple option. The defense will need to be disciplined Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeek 16,660 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 I think our focus should still be pretty sharp with all the flaws we showed against Oregon and with Tulane being an average to above-average Group of 5 teams it's not like they're Presbyterian and other SEC teams did us a favor by struggling and losing week 1; it would be a wise bet our coaches are using Tennessee/Ole Miss/Missouri/Arkansas etc. as examples of how these little teams can cause trouble. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gr82b4au 5,568 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 3 minutes ago, Zeek said: I think our focus should still be pretty sharp with all the flaws we showed against Oregon and with Tulane being an average to above-average Group of 5 teams it's not like they're Presbyterian and other SEC teams did us a favor by struggling and losing week 1; it would be a wise bet our coaches are using Tennessee/Ole Miss/Missouri/Arkansas etc. as examples of how these little teams can cause trouble. I agree. I also think that Tulane is probably better this year than all of those teams you mentioned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AUsince72 11,084 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 I just hope the guys don't overlook Tulane as they worry about Woody Barrett's Golden Flashes next week! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gravejd 3,272 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 I completely agree with the original poster. This has trap game written all over it. Playing a team without much name recognition the week after a last second emotional win for the team just sets this up so well for a big time scare. Throw on top of that they have an offense that can go either run or pass heavy and they are lead by a grad transfer with SEC experience. I hope the coaches and players are 100% focused on the task at hand. Losing to Tulane would destroy all those good feelings from the Oregon win rather quickly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zeek 16,660 Posted September 4, 2019 Share Posted September 4, 2019 1 hour ago, AUsince72 said: I just hope the guys don't overlook Tulane as they worry about Woody Barrett's Golden Flashes next week! I love Woody Barrett and I hope we put it on his team well enough to put our 3rd string defense and then WB gets to pop off for a bunch of yards lol. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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