Tulane Football: Can Green Wave maintain their momentum in 2020?

Can offense remain dominant with so many new parts?

Last year’s Tulane offense was heavily predicated on running the football. That is hardly surprising, given the offensive philosophy long espoused by Willie Fritz programs during his previous stops at Blinn Community College, Sam Houston State and Georgia Southern.

Last season’s Green Wave offense ranked 11th nationally in rushing, and they will look once again to rely heavily on their ground game.

One issue for that ground game is the loss of do-everything quarterback Justin McMillan. As a passer, McMillan was middle of the road. When he did connect on passes, his yards per completion ranked in the top 25 in the FBS. Of course, McMillan connected on only 58 percent of his passes, finishing the year with 2,444 yards with 17 touchdowns and 10 interceptions. The quarterback, though, was also adept with his legs, leading the team in rushing with 745 yards and 10 touchdowns on the ground.

To replicate any amount of last year’s success, a new batch of personnel will need to get up to speed quickly. No team in the AAC brings back less production from their 2019 offense than the Green Wave. That includes last year’s top two receivers, two starters on the offensive line, and the dynamic McMillan.

Focusing on Tulane’s running backs

The one place where Tulane is stacked offensively is in the backfield, even after Corey Dauphine lost his sixth year of eligibility to a torn Achilles. Now  a group that remains four deep in terms of experience has even more pressure on them to perform. As the new quarterback (likely Southern Miss transfer Keon Howard) adjusts to life in the Green Wave system, it will depend on these running backs to carry the load for the offense.

Amare Jones now takes on a larger part of the responsibilities after Dauphine went down. Last season, Jones proved a strong dual threat out of the backfield as he racked up 371 rushing yards and four touchdowns and added 367 receiving yards and a pair of touchdown catches. His workload has steadily increased over his first two seasons, and the junior should get somewhere around 150 total touches this year.

Tyjae Spears will also shoulder a larger proportion of the work as a sophomore in 2020. Like Jones, Spears proved to be effective out of the backfield in both rushing and passing situations. Spears played in four games last season as a freshman, racking up 192 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries and hauling in five passes for 133 yards and another score.