PF.com preview: SMU faces Tulane for AAC championship

[PonyPride]

PF.com preview: SMU faces off against Tulane for AAC championship
Mustangs, Green Wave kick off at 3 p.m. Saturday
Posted on 11/30/2023 by PonyFans.com

The Mustangs — and PonyFans everywhere — are getting what they wanted ... finally.
First there was the desire to win games, then to win late in the season, then to play and win meaningful games in November — check, check and check.

Next goal: play for a conference championship.

In its last season as a member of the American Athletic Conference, No. 25 SMU will play for AAC title Saturday in New Orleans, in a 3 p.m. game against No. 17 Tulane at Yulman Stadium. The game can be seen on ABC and heard in Dallas-Fort Worth on WBAP 820 AM.

The game will mark the Mustangs’ first appearance in the AAC Championship game

In the Green Wave, the Ponies will face the AAC’s best team over the last couple of years. A year ago, Tulane got ranked as high as No. 9 in the country and turned the college football postseason upside down with a 46-45 win over USC in the Cotton Bowl Classic. All the Green Wave has done this year is cruise to an 11-1 record and place itself among the national leaders in several statistical categories, including:

• Rushing plays allowed over 40 yards: 0 (tied for first in the nation)
• Kick return average: 28.37 yards (second)
• Rushing defense: 86.0 yards per game (fifth)
• Yards per rush allowed: 2.95 (sixth)
• 30+-yard rushing plays allowed: 2 (tied for sixth)
• Passes intercepted: 15 (eighth)
• Rushing touchdowns allowed: 10 (tied for 13th)
• Fewest punts: 37 (tied for 13th)
• Turnovers gained: 22 (13th)
• 50+-yard passng plays allowed: 2 (tied for eighth)• Interceptions thrown: 6 (16th)
• Scoring defense: 18.3 points allowed per game (18th)

Of course, any team that boasts statistics that rank among the best in the country is at or near the top of conference standings in some categories, too. Tulane is leads the AAAC in rushing defense, fewest punts, interceptions and field goals made (19).

Tulane keeps winning, but isn’t blowing teams away. Just one win was by more than 30 points — the Green Wave rolled Nicholls, 37-6 — and the season-opening 37-17 win over South Alabama was the only other victory was by as many as 20 points. Four times, Tulane has beaten opponents (North Texas, Rice, ECU and Tulsa) by single digits; for context, SMU beat those same teams by an average of 26.75 points and all conference opponents by an average of 28.0. The Ponies have won four games this season by at least 40 points.

The Green Wave, which only lost (37-20) at home against then-No. 22 Ole Miss, has outscored its opponents this year by an average of 27.9-18.3. Tulane leans a little more toward the pass — of its 388.3 yards per game of total offense, 221.1 come through the air — but the Hughes-led ground attack is dangerous.

When the All-American Athletic Conference teams were announced Wednesday, Tulane — like SMU — had 18 players on the all-conference teams. But the Green Wave also cleaned up in the individual awards: head coach Willie Fritz was named Coach of the Year for the second year in a row, quarterback Michael Pratt was named Player of the Year and freshman running back Makhi Hughes claimed the conference’s Rookie of the Year award.

Since taking over as the team’s head coach in 2016, Fritz has amassed 54 victories; Clark Shaughnessy, who coached the team from 1915-20 and again from 1922-26, is the only coach in program history with more (59).

The offense is driven by Pratt, who seemingly has been playing for the Green Wave since the start of the school’s football program. He has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 44 of his 45 career games, including 26 in a row, and his 9,364 career passing yards, 60.7 career passing percentage and 89 career touchdown passes all are program records. He also is the team’s second-leading rusher, with 88 carries for 321 yards and four touchdowns.

It was understandable that when former Tulane running back Tyjae Spears left for the NFL, many thought the Green Wave’s ground game would evaporate. But all such concerns with the emergence of Hughes, who topped the 1,000-yard mark November 11 against Tulsa. He has 1,246 yards — the most of any player in the AAC — this season, and perhaps most impressively, has lost only 18 yards this season on 232 carries. He also has seven rushing touchdowns and seven games in which he ran for at least 100 yards this season.

Three SMU offensive linemen earned first-team All-AAC accolades; the other two are from Tulane: redshirt senior and LSU transfer Cameron Wire (6-6, 305) and center Sincere Haynesworth (6-1, 310). Haynesworth is a fixture on the all-AAC lists, having been named to the Second Team in 2020, Honorable Mention in 2021 and First Team last year.

Two receivers, redshirt freshman Chris Brazzell II (6-5, 195) and redshirt senior Lawrence Keys III (5-11, 170), earned third-team All-AAC nods. Brazzell uses his massive size to his advantage, leading the team with 41 receptions and 670 yards (16.3 yards per catch), and has reached the end zone five times. Keys is the most explosive deep threat, with 33 catches for 599 yards (18.2 yards per reception) and a team-leading seven receiving touchdowns. Fritz said this week that Jha’Quan Jackson, who has 24 catches for 421 yards and four scores, is unlikely to play against the Mustangs.

The Green Wave is facing an SMU team that is 10-0 this season in games in which the Mustangs have scored at least 30 points, but the stingy Tulane defense, not surprisingly, is well-represented on the All-AAC First team. Cornerback Jarius Monroe (6-2, 205), who was named to the watch lists for the Bronko Nagurski Award, the Jim Thorpe Award and the Bednarik Award, is sixth on the team with 45 tackles, and 3.5 tackles for loss, a sack and two interceptions. Defensive lineman Darius Hodges (6-2, 280) leads the Green Wave with 7.5 sacks — the fourth-highest total in the AAC — and has 8.5 tackles for loss, while defensive tackle Patrick Jenkins (6-2, 305) is tied for the team lead with 11 tackles for loss, and also has 5.5 sacks.

Linebacker Jesus Machado (6-1, 220) only earned second-team all-conference honors, but leads the Green Wave with 92 tackles, the fourth-highest total in the AAC. He was joined on the Second Team by cornerback Lance Robinson, Jr. (5-11, 180), who has 37 tackles and has broken up seven passes, to go along with an AAC-leading four interceptions. Pedescleaux (5-9, 185), who transferred to Tulane after playing five seasons at Louisiana, has added 45 tackles, four tackles for loss and a pair of interceptions.

Saturday’s game is the 30th meeting between the programs, and SMU leads the all-time series by the narrowest of margins: 15-14. Prior to last year’s loss in New Orleans, the Mustangs had won seven straight times against the Green Wave.

[Thumper]

Wow. On paper, at least, Tulane has by far the best defense we will have seen this year.

[Lotus]

So ready for this game!