Tulane has an excellent opportunity to scratch its 36-year itch on Saturday.
Army (6-1), which plays at Yulman Stadium for the Green Wave’s third consecutive 11 a.m. kickoff, clung to the No. 25 spot in the coaches’ poll this week after its game at Air Force was postponed due to an outbreak of coronavirus on the Falcons’ campus.
Although the Tulane media guide tracks only the Associated Press poll, it is a safe bet the Green Wave (4-4) has not beaten a ranked team in the coaches’ tabulation for just as long as the one by the media, dating to a win at Vanderbilt in 1984.
It likely has been even longer since the Wave was expected to beat a Top 25 opponent. Tulane, coming off lopsided wins against Temple and East Carolina, is favored by 5½ points after going 0-6 as an underdog against top-25 opponents during coach Willie Fritz’s tenure.
“It (the chance) is big for us,” Fritz said. “We’ve had some opportunities in the past, but in order to beat a ranked team such as Army, you have to play real well in all three phases.”
Army, which already has accepted a bid to the Independence Bowl, is 27th according to AP.
The Black Knights’ only loss — 24-10 at currently seventh-ranked Cincinnati in September — signifies more quality than their six victories (against three FCS opponents plus three FBS opponents with a composite record of 6-17) in a season that has been altered dramatically by COVID-19.
Army held Cincinnati to 6 yards rushing in the first half and 69 for the day. The Bearcats have gained at least 189 yards on the ground against everyone else, stomping SMU, Memphis and Houston by the average score of 43-11 in their past three games.
The Black Knights allow an average of 103.6 yards rushing, the 16th lowest total in the FBS. Their triple-option offense averages 308.1 yards on the ground, the third most in the country.
It is a return to form after Army plummeted to 5-8 last season following back-to-back seasons with double-digit victories under coach Jeff Monken. The Wave outgained the Black Knights 535-363 in a 42-33 victory it led 42-21 with three minutes left.
“They are a very physical team,” said Tulane’s Patrick Johnson, who was named American Athletic Conference defensive player of the week after registering three sacks and forcing two fumbles against East Carolina. “I know they are a lot more physical this year than they were last year. They have some really good talent. We have to go out there and make them earn every single thing they get.”
Fashioning a schedule has been an accomplishment in itself for Army, an independent in a world where most leagues eliminated non-conference games. Tulane is the first team the Black Knights will play from their pre-pandemic schedule and the only opponent they will face with the same date and location as originally listed.
Gone are matchups with Bucknell, Rice, Oklahoma, Miami (Ohio), Princeton, Eastern Michigan, Buffalo, Massachusetts and Connecticut. The replacements were Middle Tennessee State, Louisiana-Monroe, Cincinnati, Abilene Christian, The Citadel, Texas-San Antonio, Mercer and a Nov. 21 date with Georgia Southern.
The Air Force game may or may not be rescheduled. Army’s annual matchup with Navy has been moved to its home field in West Point, New York for the first time since World War II.
Yet, the Black Knights have thrived through all of the challenges.
“Those are the type of kids who storm Normandy, so I don’t think they really care about who they are getting ready to play,” said Tulane defensive backs coach Joshua Christian-Young, who held the same position at Army the past four years. “They play really hard and really tough.”
The last time Army played at Yulman Stadium, Tulane needed a length-of-the-field drive before a last-minute touchdown from quarterback Jonathan Banks to win 21-17 in 2017. Despite the Wave’s familiarity with the triple option, having faced either Army and Navy six times since the start of 2017, Fritz knows it will present a challenge.
No one is expecting an easy time in the potential streak-buster.
“You work on it all week in practice, and then you get out there and the speed of how they operate is a lot different than what your scout team was operating,” Fritz said. “Often times they’ll get scores early in the game while teams are adapting to the speed of how they do things.
“They have a team game plan every week—control the ball offensively, dominate the clock, not give up big plays defensively and play good field position in the kicking game. We have to match all that.”