Morgan State @ Tulane preview
Legion Field
Tulane had to move its first two games out of New Orleans because of Hurricane Ida.
The Green Wave showed no ill effects from their displacement in a surprisingly competitive 40-35 loss at No. 2 Oklahoma in their opener. So Tulane (0-1, 0-0 American) shouldn't be fazed by "hosting" FCS opponent Morgan State (0-1) on Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.
"I am really proud of the effort, (though) obviously we didn't come down here (just) to play close," Tulane coach Willie Fritz said. "I thought we could have won the game. If we would have played better in the first half, we would have had a better opportunity to do it."
The score was tied at 14 after one quarter, then the Sooners blitzed the Green Wave 23-0 in the second before Tulane rallied in the second half.
Tulane's 35 points were the most it has scored in 39 games against Top 5 opponents in the program's history.
Second-year quarterback Michael Pratt passed for career-highs of 296 yards and three touchdowns and added one rushing touchdown.
"One of the positives is that we were fully capable of winning that game and we did a lot of things good," Pratt said. "It's really motivating for us going forward."
Morgan State had few if any positives to take from a 31-0 loss to visiting Towson in its opener.
Quarterback Neil Boudreau, a graduate transfer from San Diego State, made his first collegiate start and completed just 2 of 9 passes for 4 yards as the offense had just one first down in seven first-half possessions. Towson led 17-0 at halftime.
Boudreau was replaced in the second half by Duce Taylor (3 for 9 for 68 yards) and Jairus Grissom (1 for 3 for 7 yards; 35 rushing yards).
The Bears gave up 412 yards and were penalized 10 times for 84 yards. They gained just 142 yards on 47 plays.
"Lot of rust," coach Tyrone Wheatley said. "Guys just throwing caution into the wind, meaning they didn't play with a lot of technique. I think they were just overexcited. As I told them, this one is on me. I ultimately have to get these guys better prepared. They just went out and played instead of doing the technical things and reading keys."
--Field Level Media