Tulane Football: Preview, prediction, live stream vs. USF in Week 8

The Tulane Green Wave are looking for their signature win under Willie Fritz. This Saturday, No. 16 USF comes into Yulman Stadium. This is their chance.

Tulane is only in its second year under Coach Willie Fritz, but this team is way ahead of schedule. In 2016, the Green Wave finished 4-8. At this point, Tulane is 3-3 going into the second half of the season. This team has proven its dramatic improvement this year, nearly knocking off Navy. Tulane lost the game 23-21 but showed that the 2017 version is real and talented. Ultimately, this game against USF is going to be the true measuring stick of where the Green Wave stands.

On the other hand, USF has been dominant this season. Coach Charlie Strong inherited a gift from the previous coach Willie Taggart. Taggart is now the head coach of Oregon because of his success coaching the Bulls. Charlie Strong was fired last year from Texas, after three losing seasons. Strong was very successful before Texas with Louisville. He helped build a program there, along with a BCS Sugar Bowl win over Florida 33-23.

USF finished 11-2 last year and was projected to be favorite in the AAC before Strong was named the head coach. By and large, the Bulls are right on schedule to accomplish that and more. The Bulls are 6-0 and ranked No. 13 in the Coaches Poll and No. 16 in the AP Poll. However, USF has not faced a test as of yet.

Date: Saturday, Oct. 21
Time: 7:00 p.m. ET
Location: New Orleans, La.
Venue: Yulman Stadium
TV: ESPN2
Live Stream: WatchESPN

Keys to Victory

Tulane is gonna have to play a perfect game Saturday night. The one major challenge for Tulane is stopping Heisman candidate Quinton Flowers. Flowers can do it all. He can run, pass, and make any defense look bad. Tulane is gonna have to contain Flowers somehow. If you look at just his passing numbers though, his completion rate is just over 50 percent. Tulane is gonna want him to throw the ball. If Flowers starts running all over the wave, the game is over.

USF will also have its hands full stopping the well oiled option machine under Willie Fritz. Tulane isn’t too far behind Georgia Tech and Navy in yards per attempt. Tulane is gonna need about six to seven yards a carry to beat the Bulls. Of course, turnovers are going to be huge as well. The Green Wave has to win the turnover battle on Saturday to have a chance. All things considered, Tulane is only a 12-point underdog to a nationally ranked team. In my opinion, the spread shows that experts believe that this game isn’t going to be a blowout.

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Prediction

Tulane shocks the world and beats USF in a down-to-the-wire battle in New Orleans.

Final score: USF 35, Tulane 38