2006 Tulane Green Wave

2006 Tulane Green Wave Season, Game Recaps, Scores and Reviews

Nov. 24
Tulsa 38 ... Tulane 3
Tulsa had no problems with Tulane getting out to a 17-0 halftime lead and coasting from there. The Golden Hurricane outgained the Green Wave 458 yards to 152 and only allowed a 30-yard Ross Thevenot third quarter field goal. Courtney Tennial ran for two shorts scores, Brandon Diles ran for a one-yard touchdown, and Paul Smith threw a 24-yard touchdown pass to Cody Madison.
Player of the game ... Tulsa QB Paul Smith completed 14 of 20 passes for 215 yards and a touchdown and ran six times for 30 yards
Stat Leaders: Tulane - Passing: Lester Ricard, 10-21, 78 yds
Rushing: Ade Tuyo, 16-64  Receiving: Damarcus Davis, 6-29
Tulsa - Passing: Paul Smith, 14-20, 215 yds, 1 TD
Rushing: Courtney Tennial, 11-49, 2 TD  Receiving: Ryan Bugg, 6-99
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... It's time to try something new. Lester Ricard once again proved he's just not consistent enough to lead the offense. He's not making the players around him better and didn't make any key throws against Tulsa to make it any sort of a game. Offense was never supposed to be a problem for the Green Wave, but going into the off-season, it is. The coaching staff has to quickly figure out who the playmakers are going to be for 2007 and run with them..

2006 Schedule 2006 Record: 4-8
9/9	at Houston L 45-7
9/16	at Miss State W 32-29
9/23	at LSU L 49-7
9/30	SMU L 33-28
10/7	Rice W 38-24
10/14	at UTEP L 34-20
10/21	at Auburn L 38-13
10/28	Army W 42-28
11/4	at Marshall L 42-21
11/11	Southern Miss L 31-3
11/18	UCF W 10-9
11/24	at Tulsa L 38-3

2005 Schedule CFN Prediction: 7-4 2005 Record: 2-9 Preview 2005 predicted wins
9/17	Miss State L 21-14
9/24	at SMU W 31-10
10/1	SE Louisiana W 28-21
10/8	Houston L 35-14
10/14	UTEP L 45-21
10/22	at UCF L 34-24
10/29	Marshall L 27-26
11/5	at Navy L 49-21
11/12	at Rice L 42-34
11/19	Tulsa L 38-14
11/26	at Southern Miss L 26-7

Nov. 18
Tulane 10 ... UCF 9
Tulane got out to a 10-0 halftime lead on a 29-yard Ross Thevenot field goal and a nine-yard Damarcus Davis touchdown catch with :34 to play, and then the defense held on allowing three Michael Torres field goals and getting a forced fumble from Israel Route on the Golden Knights' final drive to preserve the win. Torres missed a 35-yard attempt with just over three minutes to play that would've given UCF the lead.
Player of the game ... Tulane QB Lester Ricard was 26-of-43 for 267 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions and ran for four yards on 11 carries.
Stat Leaders: UCF - Passing: Kyle Israel, 16-20, 173 yds
Rushing: Kevin Smith, 16-41  Receiving: Rocky Ross, 9-124
Tulane - Passing: Lester Ricard, 26-43, 267 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Ray Boudreaux, 11-39  Receiving: Jeremy Williams, 10-106
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Considering everything the team has been through over the last few years, for the seniors to go out and get a win in their final home game is something special. So it wasn't a pretty performance against UCF with the offense struggling way too much in the second half against a porous Golden Knight defense, but for one of the first times all season long, the defense came up with the big stops when it needed them. A win over Tulsa next week would be nice, but if not, this was a great way to close out the year.

Nov. 11
Southern Miss 31 ... Tulane 3
Southern Miss held Tulane to 85 yards of total offense, but it took a big fourth quarter to finally put the game away. Only up 10-3 helped by a two-yard Damion Fletcher, the Golden Eagles broke it open on a 50-yard fumble recovery for a score from LeVance Richmond followed up by a four-yard Fletcher scoring run and a ten-yard Tory Harrison scoring dash. Tulane's offense only managed a 40-yard Ross Thevenot field goal.
Player of the game ... Southern Miss RB Damion Carter ran 26 times for 136 yards and two touchdowns and led the team with three catches for 37 yards 
Stat Leaders: Tulane - Passing: Scott Elliott, 3-8
Rushing: Ray Boudreaux, 14-51  Receiving: Jeremy Williams, 2-20
Southern Miss - Passing: Stephen Reaves, 5-8, 93 yds
Rushing: Damion Fletcher, 26-136, 2 TD  Receiving: Damion Carter, 3-37
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Tulane came up with a flat-out embarrassment of a performance against Southern Miss with no offense whatsoever. Just as it seemed the attack had turned a corner a few weeks ago, Lester Ricard went into the tank with lousy pass after lousy pass, while Scott Lester wasn't any better. The two combined to complete four of 16 passes for 42 yards with an interception. It's back to the drawing board with a winnable game against UCF coming up. Don't be shocked if there's a night-and-day difference in production next week; there's too much talent to keep playing this poorly.

Nov. 4
Marshall 42 .. Tulane 21
Marshall got up 21-0 with a Bernard Morris touchdown run, a nine-yard scoring pass to Cody Slate, and a 44-yard interception return for a touchdown from Zearri Mathews, but Tulane tired it up by the third quarter thanks to Matt Forte touchdown runs and a 15-yard Preston Brown scoring catch. The Herd bounced back owning the fourth quarter with Jimmy Skinner, filling in for an injured Morris, throwing three touchdown passes.
Player of the game ... Marshall QB Jimmy Skinner completed nine of 11 passes for 113 yards and three touchdowns with an interception 
Stat Leaders: Tulane - Passing: Lester Ricard, 26-46, 262 yds, 1 TD, 2 INT
Rushing: Matt Forte, 19-61, 2 TD  Receiving: Matt Forte, 5-80
Marshall - Passing: Bernard Morris, 16-22, 227 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Ahmad Bradshaw, 22-138  Receiving: Cody Slate, 7-84, 2 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... The problem with Lester Ricard, and the Tulane offense as a whole, is consistency. After a fantastic performance against Army, the attack struggled to find a groove for 60 minutes in the loss to Marshall. Just when the team started to get going coming back to tie it at 21 in the third quarter, and then things went flat in the fourth. The offense is there to score on anyone in Conference USA; now it has to happen more often.

Oct. 28
Tulane 42 ... Army 28
Tulane rolled up 586 yards of total offense and opened up a tight game in the second half with a four-yard Andre Anderson touchdown run and a 23-yard Michael Batiste catch. Matt Forte ran for two scores and Lester Ricard threw three touchdown passes for the Green Wave in its best offensive explosion of the year. Army hit a few home runs highlighted by a 71-yard pass to Tim Dunn in the third quarter and a ten-yard touchdown grab in the fourth, but it wasn't nearly enough.
Player of the game ... Tulane QB Lester Ricard completed 33 of 43 passes for 409 yards and a three touchdowns and ran for ten yards on five carries.
Stat Leaders: Army - Passing: Carson Williams, 16-24, 194 yds, 3 TDs, 2 INTs
Rushing: Wesley McMahand, 7-33 Receiving: Jeremy Trimble, 5-31
Tulane - Passing: Lester Ricard, 33-43, 409 yds, 3 TDs
Rushing: Matt Forte, 24-124, 2 TDs  Receiving: Damarcus Davis, 7-82
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Tulane's just starting to hit its stride at the right time. Lester Ricard was unstoppable against Army making big play after big play, while Matt Forte cranked out his fourth straight 100-yard rushing game. As long as the offense can control the ball enough to keep its defense off the field, like it did by holding the ball for almost 20 minutes in the second half against the Black Knights, bowl eligibility is still possible. However, there can't be any slips over the next three weeks with the regular season finale at Tulsa to deal with.

Oct. 21
Auburn 38 ... Tulane 13
Freshman Ben Tate played in place of a banged up Kenny Irons and Brad Lester with 156 yards and a one-yard touchdown, while Brandon Cox threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers in the rout. Lester started the scoring with a two-yard run, but Tulane answered with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Damarcus Davis. Then Cox took over while the defense only allowed two Ross Thevenot field goals and forced three turnovers.
Player of the game ... Auburn RB Ben Tate ran 26 times for 156 yards and a touchdown.
Stat Leaders: Auburn - Passing: Brandon Cox, 16-19, 212 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Ben Tate, 26-156, 1 TD. Receiving: Courtney Taylor, 5-63. 1 TD
Tulane - Passing: Lester Ricard, 20-39, 283 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Matt Forte, 21-117  Receiving: Preston Brown, 9-139
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Tulane didn't have nearly enough firepower to hang with Auburn, but Lester Ricard had a nice game and receivers Preston Brown and Damarcus Davis played well. The offensive line did a nice job of opening things up for RB Matt Forte and kept Ricard from getting pressured too much. Now the team needs to get back on track over the next two weeks in winnable games against Army and Marshall to get back in the hunt for a bowl game. Lose one of those two, and all post-season dreams are done.

Oct. 14
UTEP 34 ... Tulane 20
Tulane outgained UTEP 481 yards to 365, but five turnovers and a problem in the second quarter slowing down Jordan Palmer proved too much to overcome. Palmer threw three touchdown passes and Johnnie Lee Higgins score from 39 yards out and returned a punt 88 yards for a score. Down 34-6, Tulane had a nice fourth quarter with two Matt Forte touchdown runs, but it was way too much, too late. The two teams combined for 18 penalties for 162 yards.
Player of the game ... UTEP QB Jordan Palmer completed 22 of 29 passes for 230 yards and three touchdowns
Stat Leaders: Rice - Passing: Jordan Palmer, 22-29, 230 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Marcus Thomas, 16-79. Receiving: Johnnie Lee Higgins, 4-68, 1 TD
Tulane - Passing: Lester Ricard, 27-49, 248 yds, 2 INT
Rushing: Matt Forte, 16-141, 1 TD  Receiving: Preston Brown, 11-98
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Tulane doesn't have enough defense or enough talent to overcome five turnovers against a team like UTEP. Matt Forte and Lester Ricard put up yards, and now they have to be more effective for a full 60 minutes. The defense struggled to generate pressure on Jordan Palmer, and the secondary got picked apart. Oh great, now Auburn is up next. To keep that from being a brutal blowout, Ricard needs time and he needs to bomb away better than he has been able to all year.

Oct. 7
Tulane 38 ... Rice 24
Lester Ricard threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers and Matt Forte ran for 178 yards and scored twice in the team's most complete performance of the season. Rice got two Chase Clement touchdown passes and a three-yard scoring run, but he couldn't handle the Tulane secondary that broke up 13 passes with CB Israel Route knocking away five. The Green Wave never trailed, but wasn't able to pull away until an eight-yard Forte run early in the fourth.
Player of the game ... Tulane QB Lester Ricard completed 21 of 40 passes for 344 yards and four touchdowns with an interception.
Stat Leaders: Rice - Passing: Chase Clement, 25-47, 271 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Quinton Smith, 19-86. Receiving: Jarett Dillard, 6-61, 1 TD
Tulane - Passing: Lester Ricard, 21-40, 344 yds, 4 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Matt Forte, 19-178, 1 TD  Receiving: Jeremy Williams, 5-96, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Tulane unleashed the full fury of its offensive arsenal on Rice with Lester Ricard spreading the ball around well and Matt Forte running as well as he ever has. The defense allowed 400 yards, but the secondary was great at keeping Chase Clement from getting into any sort of a rhythm. To get back into the hunt for a possible bowl bid, the offense will have to keep blasting away in a certain firefight against UTEP. With a trip to Auburn to follow, next week is a must-win.

Sept. 30
SMU 33 ... Tulane 28
Justin Willis threw two touchdowns and ran for another as SMU was able to get out to a 17-0 lead and hang on as Tulane bombed away with Lester Ricard and the passing game in the team's first home game since the Katrina disaster. Ricard threw for 394 yards and three fourth quarter touchdowns, but SMU was able to stay ahead with a Jessie Henderson kickoff return for a touchdown and a 19-yard scoring grab from Emmanuel Sanders before Ricard threw his final touchdown pass with 2:33 to play. The Mustangs recovered the onside kick and ran out the clock.
Player of the game ... SMU QB Justin Willis completed 23 of 40 passes for 261 yards and two touchdowns with an interception and ran 15 times for 76 yards and a score
Stat Leaders: SMU - Passing: Justin Willis, 23-40, 261 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Justin Willis, 15-76, 1 TD. Receiving: Bobby Chase, 6-54
Tulane - Passing: Lester Ricard, 29-48, 394 yds, 3 TD
Rushing: Matt Forte, 11-17  Receiving: Damarcus Davis, 9-100, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... How will the team respond after losing its long-awaited home opener against SMU? Lester Ricard was fantastic once he got hot in the fourth quarter, but the running game did nothing and there wasn't any push from Matt Forte and the running game. While this is a flawed team that's going to have to come up with near-perfect games to get wins, the offense showed that it has the ability to get the passing game rolling if Ricard is on.

Sept. 23
LSU 49 ... Tulane 7
LSU scored 14 points in each of the first thee quarters highlighted by three Early Doucet touchdowns in the first half and two Charles Scott scoring runs. The game was well in hand with the LSU backups came in with Matt Flynn and Jacob Hester each running for short scores. Tulane finally got on the board late in the fourth on a one-yard Anthony Scelfo run.
Player of the game ... LSU WR Early Doucet caught four passes for 36 yards and two touchdowns and ran once for 17 yards and a score
Stat Leaders: LSU - Passing: JaMarcus Russell, 17-23, 198 yds, 2 TD
Rushing: Charles Scott, 15-101, 2 TD  Receiving: Craig Davis, 6-86
Tulane - Passing: Scott Elliott, 4-13, 48 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Ray Boudreaux, 6-47  Receiving: Preston Brown, 3-9
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... While no one expected Tulane to beat LSU, after the Mississippi State win, it would've been nice if there was more of a fight. The passing game wasn't even close with Lester Ricard and Scott Elliott combining to do absolutely nothing, and by the time there was any running game, LSU was halfway out the door. Now the team can finally enjoy a true home game playing SMU and Rice over the next two weeks. To win those two, the offense doesn't need to be explosive, it just needs to be consistent.

Sept. 16
Tulane 32 ... Mississippi State 29
Tulane got out to a 32-7 lead and then hung on for dear life as Mississippi State scored 22 points in the fourth quarter with a nine-yard Marcus Washington fumble recovery for a score, a three-yard run from Arnil Stallworth, and with less than two minutes remaining, a five-yard dash from Omarr Conner, but the Green Wave was able to run out the clock. Lester Ricard threw four touchdown passes to four different receivers and Matt Forte scored on a one-yard touchdown, but the Tulane offense struggled in the fourth quarter helping to allow the comeback.
Player of the game ... Tulane QB Lester Ricard completed 16 of 23 passes for 298 yards and four touchdowns.
Stat Leaders: Mississippi State - Passing: Omarr Conner, 15-25, 241 yds, 1 INT
Rushing: Omarr Conner, 13-71, 1 TD Receiving: Tony Burks, 4-130
Tulane - Passing: Lester Ricard, 16-23, 298 yds, 4 TD
Rushing: Matt Forte, 29-170, 1 TD  Receiving: Damarcus Davis, 4-90, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... Finally, finally, finally, Lester Ricard played like he's supposed to. Don't knock the win over Mississippi State; that's a great defense the Green Wave carved up for 427 yards. There was balance, great defense for three quarters, and explosion from the passing game. This was the first positive moment the team has been able to enjoy in almost a year breaking a nine-game losing streak. There won't be a win over LSU next week, but somehow, this momentum has to carry over to winnable games against SMU and Rice down the road.

Sept. 9
Houston 45 ... Tulane 7
Houston cranked out 621 yards of total offense and had 26 first downs to Tulane's eight in a dominating performance on both sides of the ball. 49 of Tulane's 224 yards came on one play, a touchdown from Matt Forte on a pass from Lester Ricard. But this was Kevin Kolb's night as the senior became Houston's all-time leading passer on the way to a 350-yard, three touchdown game. The Cougars got big play after big play with a 44-yard touchdown run from Anthony Aldridge in the first quarter and an 87-yard score from him in the fourth. Roshawn Pope scored twice and Vincent Marshall caught a 32-yard scoring pass.
Player of the game ... Houston QB Kevin Kolb completed 24 of 41 passes for 350 yards and three touchdowns with one interception. He also ran for 11 yards
Stat Leaders: Houston - Passing: Kevin Kolb, 24-41, 350 yds, 3 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Anthony Aldridge, 5-155, 2 TD. Receiving: Donnie Avery, 7-96
Tulane - Passing: Lester Ricard, 14-25, 156 yds, 1 TD, 1 INT
Rushing: Ray Boudreaux, 4-28. Receiving: Matt Forte, 5-69, 1 TD
Whoopty doo. What does it all mean Basil? ... The extra week to prepare for Houston didn't come in handy. Tulane picked up where it left off after the understandably ugly 2005 season with an awful performance against the Cougars on both sides of the ball. There was no explosion in the offense, outside of the one touchdown play from Matt Forte, and the defense wasn't even close to making a play. QB Lester Ricard has to finally start playing up to his potential and make everyone around him better so the Green Wave can get into some shootouts. Defensively, if Tulane can't handle Mississippi State's anemic offense next week, it's time to truly panic.

2006 Tulane Preview

Tulane Preview | Offense | Defense | Depth Chart | Further Analysis

No team had to face what Tulane had to deal with last season when it came to the destruction of Hurricane Katrina leading to the nomadic season with 11 road games. And it's not like all the problems are going to magically go away now that the team has a home again.

Four coaches lost their homes, several players are still dealing with the aftermath with their families still trying to pick up the pieces, and the facilities are still being rebuilt. A major rebuilding job will also have to be done for a team that, understandably, didn't do much of anything last year.

2005 was supposed to be when the payoff was supposed to come after wading through a few years of inexperience and youthful mistakes, but obviously, that didn't happen. Now almost the entire defensive back seven has new faces, and the once proud offense has to find its mojo after having a nightmare of a time coming up with a clutch play.

However, as bad as last season was on the field with an average of only 321 yards per game and allowing 31.6 points per outing, there's hope for a big turnaround. Quarterback Lester Ricard has next-level talent and an experienced receiving corps to work with, Matt Forte is a great back who should be productive with more touches, and the defensive line has the potential to be night-and-day better with good size and plenty of experience.

And, of course, there will be a true home field advantage again with games scheduled to be played in the Superdome starting September 30th. It wasn't just that Tulane had to play all its games in different venues last season, it was that there was no continuity to the season. Now, at least, there will be a stretch of three home games in four weeks over the second half of the year to bring back some normalcy.

It would be the story of the college football season if Tulane was able to win the Conference USA title, but it's likely a year away from being back in the hunt for anything significant. That can't mean this can't be a successful season with a shot at going to a bowl game if everything breaks the right way.

The Schedule: Starting off with a three game road trip to Houston, Mississippi State, and LSU won't be pretty for a team that needs time to jell. The rest of the away games are awful playing at UTEP, Auburn, Marshall and Tulsa, but playing SMU, Rice and Army at home should ensure at better record than last year.

Best Offensive Player: Senior QB Lester Ricard. He was looking like the next big thing in 2004 before suffering a wrist injury. Due to a variety of reasons, he struggled throughout last year throwing too many interceptions and having problems keeping the offense moving. If Tulane is going to bounce back, Ricard has to be tremendous.

Best Defensive Player: Senior CB Israel Route. He's not that big at only 5-9 and 184 pounds and he's a stronger kick returner than a corner, but he's very fast and is the only returning starter in the back seven. He'll have to be a top playmaker for Tulane to be close to having the 13th best pass defense again.

Key player to a successful season: Sophomore LB Jordan Ellis. Replacing star linebacker Anthony Cannon and his 437 career tackles won't happen, but Ellis has to be an anchor of the small, inexperienced linebacking corps. Ellis is a 235-pound quick defender who should finish among the top three tacklers.

The season will be a success if ... Tulane wins six games. It's not going to be easy with seven road games that the Green Wave will likely be underdogs in. It's going to require being nearly perfect at home and getting a road upset to get to .500.

Key game: Sept. 9 at Houston. A win over the Cougars in the season opener wouldn't just be a confidence booster after a miserable season, it would be a win over a division foe and give Tulane a legitimate shot at starting the Conference USA season 3-0 with home games against SMU and Rice up next.

2005 Fun Stats: 
- Penalties: Opponents 76 for 681 yards - Tulane 59 for 532 yards
- Field goals: Tulane 4 of 6 - Opponents 9 of 17
- Rushing touchdowns: Opponents 25 - Tulane 9

The Last Time Tulane…
…played in a bowl game…2002 (Hawaii Bowl vs. Hawaii)
…missed a bowl game…2005
…pitched a shutout…1997 (UL-Lafayette)
…was shutout…2002 (Texas)
…scored 50 points…2004 (UAB)        
…went undefeated…1998
…won a conference title…1998 (C-USA)
…had a 3,000-yard passer…2003 (J.P. Losman)
…had a 1,000-yard rusher…2002 (Mewelde Moore)
…had a 1,000-yard receiver…2003 (Roydel Williams)
…had a first-round draft choice…2004 (QB J.P. Losman)