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Tulane, McNeese solve scheduling snafu
Posted by Ted Lewis, Times-Picayune March 14, 2009 2:39PM
Categories: Football

Tulane and McNeese State have resolved a mix-up in the date for their football game this fall, and, as a result, the Green Wave has wound up with an open date but also playing five of its last six games on the road, including the last three.

Tulane's game at Southern Methodist, listed for Sept. 26 on the schedule released by both schools on Wednesday, has been moved to Nov. 28, the last playing date of the regular season.



The Tulane-McNeese game, which Tulane announced for Sept. 19, will be played on Sept. 26 in the Superdome, leaving the Wave open on the 19th following games against Tulsa and Brigham Young to open the season.

"We would have preferred to wrap up the regular season before Thanksgiving," Tulane Coach Bob Toledo said. "But we can also put the open date to good use."

McNeese had announced the Tulane game on Sept. 26 last month. The Cowboys had a Sept. 19 home game against Savannah State which could not be moved and because the Division I-AA playoffs begin on Nov. 28, the Tulane game could not be switched to that date.

The complete Tulane schedule is now:

Sept. 4 - Tulsa
Sept. 12 - Brigham Young
Sept. 19 - Open
Sept. 26 - McNeese State
Oct. 3 - at Army
Oct. 10 - Marshall
Oct. 17 - Houston
Oct. 24 - at Southern Miss
Oct. 31 - at LSU
Nov. 7 - Texas-El Paso
Nov. 14 - at Rice
Nov. 21 - at Central Florida
Nov. 28 - at Southern Methodist

Because we pass the ball so much, it would have been nice to play Tulane in warm weather in September as opposed to potential freezing weather in November IMO.

Fantastic: Now I can celebrate my 6th wedding anniversary at SMU/Tulsa game.



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That's terrible. That Saturday after Thanksgiving always has horrid attendance.

Our team will be getting back to Ford Stadium around 6:00am from the WSU game, probably couldn't come at a better time. Then we start a rough stretch with TCU on the road, ECU, Navy, and road games at Tulsa and Houston. With a very young team, SMU will welcome this open date.

This will be much better!

its probably better this way but I won't enjoy 35 days between home games after opening with SFA-somewhat softened by a short roadtrip to Ft. Worth. Also 3 road games in a row. But I agree that it should allow us to get as many of the inexperienced freshman and transfers into the lineup earlier in the season.

This way, Tulane ends their season with three road games in a row, with SMU being the third. Sure can't hurt our chances. Come on Stallion, take that short flight to UAB, with the Special Delivery guys!

SMU 86 wrote:Because we pass the ball so much, it would have been nice to play Tulane in warm weather in September as opposed to potential freezing weather in November IMO.

???????

You do realize that SMU is in Dallas, right? If our players can't throw and catch a ball in 50 degree weather, we have bigger problems. Even if it is actually cold (which in Dallas means, what, 25?, not -10) the cold doesn't really affect your passing game. Rain, yes. Cold? Not so much.

Every year there are games played that weekend in Lincoln, Boulder, Kansas City, South Bend, Buffalo, Boston, Boise, Eugene, Pittsburgh..... I don't think USC usually has too much trouble putting up 300 yds passing in South Bend, or that Oklahoma has struggled at the Big 12 CG when it is at Arrowhead.

The problem with this date is that most of the students aren't in town, and there will be an even emptier stadium than usual. I think I actually kind of like the way the schedule plays out now though.

the cold doesn't affect the passing game. Really? Complete nonsense. You're not in Nebraska anymore. Stop trying to make every point about college football based upon everything you learned in Lincoln.

huskerpony wrote: I don't think USC usually has too much trouble putting up 300 yds passing in South Bend

When was the last time USC played in South Bend after Thanksgiving?

Cold is never good for passing, but if they could develop the run 'n shoot in Portland, I bet they can get some decent passing going in Dallas november weather.

Stallion wrote:the cold doesn't affect the passing game. Really? Complete nonsense. You're not in Nebraska anymore. Stop trying to make every point about college football based upon everything you learned in Lincoln.

College games after Thanksgiving last year in the cold:

Oklahoma Dec. 6 Arrowhead 62 pts 384 yds passing
Rutgers Dec. 4 Piscataway, NJ 63 pts. 447 yds passing
Oregon Nov 29 Corvallis 65 pts 374 yds passing
Maryland Nov 29 Boston 21 pts 360 yds passing
Kansas Nov 29 Arrowhead 40 pts 375 yds passing
E. Michigan Nov. 28 Ypsilanti, MI 56 pts 516 yds passing

Is that enough non-Lincoln information for you?

There are quite a few NFL teams in the north with outdoor stadiums that play long after Thanksgiving as well. I think Brett Favre and Tom Brady have always managed to pass in the cold fairly well. Yeah, when it gets below 10 or so, the football gets hard and it hurts to catch it, but unless it is raining, snowing, or windy, you ought to still be able to complete your passes. (And I don’t think I am going out on a limb saying that it will probably be warmer than 10 degrees in Dallas on Thanksgiving.)

Regardless, this is football. If you can’t win in whatever the conditions are, you can’t win. I would hope that June Jones can get our players prepared enough that they can overcome the same adverse conditions that the opposing team is also playing in. Maybe that’s just me.

Can we just fold Nebraska into Kansas and get one decent state out of both of them?