BOCA RATON, Fla. (AP) — Michael Pratt doesn’t think he’ll have a tough time finding his fans in the stands when No. 17 Tulane goes to Florida Atlantic this weekend.
It will be a sizable group, with many likely wearing green to support their favorite quarterback.
Pratt — who is from Boca Raton — is playing a road game at home on Saturday. He and the Green Wave (9-1, 7-0 American Athletic Conference, No. 24 CFP) will try for a ninth consecutive win when they take on the Owls (4-6, 3-3).
“It’ll be really exciting,” Pratt said. “A lot of my buddies that I grew up with, that are still living down there, are going to be able to come to the game and haven’t necessarily been able to come to games in the past. A lot of family coming down, my high school coaches, people that I grew up with, so it’ll be a cool experience.”
Pratt has given his mother one of the biggest jobs of the week — director of his personal ticket operations. He said she went to the ticket office at FAU and bought some in bulk to help accommodate as many as 300 well-wishers in the stands.
They’re all coming to keep enjoying Tulane’s remarkable turnaround. A program that went 2-10 in 2021 has gone 21-3 since, its record over that span topped by only four major-college teams — Georgia (25-0), Michigan (23-1), Ohio State (21-2) and Washington (21-2).
FAU, meanwhile, is fighting for bowl eligibility. The Owls have lost three of their last four games.
“We’ve still got a lot to play for. … We’ve got a job to do and so does every player in that locker room,” FAU coach Tom Herman said. “And that job is to prepare our tails off to beat a Top 25 team, to make sure that we stay in the running and keep ourselves alive for an opportunity to send these seniors out with a postseason opportunity.”
Pratt has completed 68% of his passes this season for 1,791 yards, with 16 touchdowns and only four interceptions in 197 throws. Tulane is 8-0 when he plays and winners of 12 straight with him on the field going back to last season. He’ll likely need just one completion for a milestone on Saturday — Pratt enters the game with 8,996 career passing yards.
“I’m guessing that he probably works 350, maybe more than that, days a year on his craft,” Tulane coach Willie Fritz said. “And you only get 12 of these opportunities that are guaranteed. We’ve got to put everything into it.”
STAT LEADER
FAU has one of the nation’s most productive players this season in receiver-returner LaJohntay Wester, who entered the week ranked No. 1 among all players at the FBS level in receptions (93) and punt return average (22.4). The NCAA says no currently active FBS player has averaged more catches per game in his career than Wester (5.5).
SPEAKING OF WIDEOUTS
FAU had a significant signing this week — the Owls added a Pro Football Hall of Famer. Cris Carter was officially hired as the program’s executive director of player engagement, a move that even caught the attention of Colorado coach Deion Sanders. “Cris Carter was a player-coach when he played in the NFL and has always had an affinity to teach and reach young men wherever they were,” Sanders said. Carter had 13,899 receiving yards, 1,101 receptions and 130 touchdowns in his 16 NFL seasons.
CLOSE CALLS
Tulane’s last four games, all wins, have all been decided by seven points or less — the last three by a field goal or less. The Green Wave were one of 13 teams nationally to go 4-0 from Oct. 16 to Nov. 12. Over that stretch, the other 12 teams had an average margin of victory of 16.9 points. Tulane’s margin of victory was by far the smallest in that span, a mere 3.5 points.
BACK TO BACK
Tulane is seeking a 10th win this season after going 12-1 last season. The school — which started playing football in 1893 — has never had back-to-back 10-win seasons and had only two total in a 90-year span before last season.
THE SERIES
It’s the second meeting between the schools. FAU beat Tulane 34-17 at home on Nov. 2, 2013.
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