Tulane struggles against Houston

At halftime last Saturday against 23-ranked Houston, Bob Toledo’s squad looked like they had a chance to pull off the upset, down only 9-6. By the end of the game, however, Tulane had lost 44-16, Houston quarterback Case Keenum had thrown for 334 yards, Tulane had lost its ninth straight Conference USA game, Tulane’s starting quarterback had been benched in favor of upstart redshirt freshman Ryan Griffin, and Coach Toledo had called out Tulane’s student fan base.

Quarterback Ryan Griffin (11) was one of the few bright spots for the Wave against Houston.

Tulane again was unable to get enough production out of their standout wide receiver, Jeremy Williams, who saw plenty of attention from Houston’s secondary. He eventually ended the game with six receptions for 63 yards to go along with eight rushes for 45 yards. Senior tailback Andre Anderson had a solid game, gaining 108 yards on the ground on 18 carries. Turnovers, numerous mistakes and inefficiency doomed the Green Wave against a team most would consider a far-superior opponent.

Losing to the No. 23 ranked team in the country, however, is nothing to be embarrassed about, especially considering the team’s efforts in the first half. But for Coach Toledo, this loss seemed to be the straw that broke the camel’s back. In response to a reporter’s question about whether or not Tulane had failed to capitalize on playing five of its first six games at home, Toledo questioned whether or not there was a real home-field advantage in the Superdome.

“There’s not a lot of excitement,” Toledo said. “You go out and take the field, and there’s nobody in the stands. There’s nobody cheering. Nobody gets our guys excited. I try, obviously, and maybe I failed. When there’s not a lot of people out there, there’s not a lot of emotion.”

Coach Toledo has a point. Tulane’s best game of the season came away against Army, playing in front of an emotional, albeit hostile, crowd. It’s not a stretch to say that college athletes are driven to play better in emotional environments. Thus far, the Superdome hasn’t provided that. Except for the few thousand loyal local fans, there is not any sort of real fan base attending games at the Superdome. The student section is embarrassingly vacant and this must be disheartening to the players.

Another consequence of the Houston game is the benching of starting quarterback Joe Kemp, who has started every game thus far this season. An athletic and emotional player, Kemp has shown good touch on deep passes and an ability to make plays with his legs. Despite these positive attributes, his tendency to hold on to the ball for too long coupled with his penchant for making poor decisions has led to the promotion of Ryan Griffin to starting quarterback. Griffin, who relieved Kemp in the second half of the Houston game, drove Tulane down the field to score their only touchdown of the game.

Whether or not this change will breathe some life into Tulane’s anemic offense has yet to be seen.