Southern Methodist @ Tulane preview

Last Meeting ( Nov 21, 2015 ) Tulane 21, Southern Methodist 49

Tulane is still looking for its first American Athletic Conference victory under head coach Willie Fritz and seems to be falling further away from the win column with each game. The Green Wave will try to end their slide when they welcome SMU to New Orleans on Saturday.

Fritz is trying to mold Tulane into a triple-option offense, strong defensive team and it appeared his message was beginning to work its way onto the field in non-conference wins over Louisiana and Massachusetts, but the return to AAC play has the team taking some steps back. The Green Wave battled in a 24-14 home loss to Memphis on Oct. 14 but was crushed 50-27 at Tulsa last week in the team's worst defensive performance under Fritz. The Mustangs are trending in the opposite direction and are coming off the program's biggest win since it was a top-10 team in 1982. SMU came close in a tight loss to Tulsa on Oct. 7 before stunning No. 11 Houston in a 38-16 shellacking at home last week.

TV: 4 p.m. ET, ESPNews. LINE: Tulane --2.5

ABOUT SMU (3-4, 1-2 AAC): The Mustangs allowed a total of 88 points in back-to-back losses at Temple and Tulsa but tightened things up on the defensive end by stifling the run and getting three of the team's seven sacks in the contest from senior defensive lineman Jarvis Pruitt against Houston. Running back Braeden West was held to a season-low 22 yards in the loss at Temple on Oct. 1 but totaled 239 yards and a pair of TDs in the last two games to spark the offense. Freshman quarterback Ben Hicks has yet to complete 60 percent of his passes in a game but is making up for some of the inefficiency by connecting on big plays and recorded five touchdowns and no interceptions the last two games.

ABOUT TULANE (3-4, 0-3): The Green Wave want to run the ball and stop the run but were only able to accomplish one of those tasks as Tulsa sprinted for 330 yards on the ground last week. The highlight for Tulane was its own running game, which managed 355 yards and had two rushers - Josh Rounds at 166 yards, 11.1 yards per carry and Dontrell Hilliard at 124 yards and 10.3 yards per carry - averaging a first down every time they touched the ball. Fritz's offense leaves little to the passing game, but quarterback Glen Cuiellette is struggling to meet even those minimum standards by completing 41 percent of his passing attempts.

EXTRA POINTS

1. The 566 total yards allowed by Tulane last week marked its most since surrendering 518 in a 49-21 loss at SMU last season.

2. Pruitt, who also recovered a fumble against Houston, was named AAC Defensive Player of the Week.

3. The Mustangs' 13 team interceptions is tied for fifth in FBS.

PREDICTION: SMU 38, Tulane 24