It is not lost on Tulane’s players what their game this weekend at Navy means because their coach has made it abundantly clear.
“This is like a championship game,” Tulane coach Jon Sumrall said. “I try to control the narrative with our team because they are going to hear it from their mom or dad or girlfriend or aunt or uncle or some guy down the street that’s had too much to drink or whatever. Somebody’s going to tell them something, so I’d rather be the one to at least give them the information.”
The information is win and the 25th-ranked Green Wave are in the American Athletic Conference title game against current No. 16 Army on Dec. 6. Tulane (8-2, 6-0 AAC) has won seven in a row and even has a chance to sneak into the 12-team College Football Playoff if it runs the table.
Navy (7-2, 5-1) still has a shot to play for the conference championship, but this is an elimination game with one of the team’s preseason goals at stake.
“There’s nothing else that you would want than to be playing this type of football,” senior safety Rayuan Lane III said. “Playing a meaningful football game with the conference championship on the line and stuff like that, there’s really nothing else you could ask for.”
Tulane is in the AP Top 25 for the first time this year but was ranked each of the past two. Its only losses are to Kansas State and Oklahoma back in September, and 16 consecutive AAC victories give Sumrall’s team the longest conference winning streak in the country.
He cares little for that, saying the Green Wave are “25th by the skin of our teeth” and “not really that respected yet.”
“I don’t buy into the excitement of ranking, win streak,” Sumrall said. “It’s all garbage. It has zero effect on this week’s game. We get to carry no points over from last week’s game and count them this week. You get what you earn each week. This is a very humbling game.”
Navy, which started 6-0 before getting thumped 51-14 by Notre Dame on Oct. 26, was humbled by that defeat and another the following week at Rice. Losing to the Irish was an indication to coach Brian Newberry that the moment was perhaps a little too big for his players, with the hope that it helps out down the road.
“That game taught a lot of the younger guys and some of the less-experienced guys what it really takes to win a big game like that, so hopefully they learned the lessons from that game and how we felt after that game to motivate us to not make those kind of mistakes again,” senior offensive lineman Connor McMahon said. “A lot of these guys are ready for this type of game this time around.”
Happy returns
Tulane is a threat to score even when its offense is not on the field. The Green Wave lead the nation in defensive touchdowns with six: one on a fumble return and the other five on interceptions.
“It’s scary to see when we can be this good,” said linebacker Tyler Grubbs, who had a pick-6 at Oklahoma earlier this season. “Confidence is it an all-time high for us. It’s almost like a challenge every game to see who can make the most plays, who can get the most picks.”
Senior day
Navy is 19-1 in the past 20 senior day games in Annapolis with fans in the stands.
“I didn’t realize that was the record,” Newberry said. “No pressure there, huh?”
The Mids’ only loss during that stretch was in 2021, losing 38-35 to East Carolina. And this senior day has special meaning for a graduating class that went 13-21 the past three years and is bowl eligible for the first time.
Tulane is a 7-point favorite on BetMGM Sportsbook.
“I think it’s going to be one of the biggest games in Navy Memorial Stadium in a long time,” McMahon said. “We’re all ready to have this huge win at home. It would mean a lot to us and the entire program.”
Balanced Attack
Tulane’s offense is one of five nationally to average at least 210 yards rushing and passing per game this season. Tulane is rushing for 227.8 a per game and passing for 214.2.
Makhi Hughes has been the team’s leading rusher with 1,209 yards and 13 touchdowns.
“It starts with Makhi and the running backs,” tight end Alex Bauman said. “When we get that run game going, it’s hard to stop us.”
Redshirt freshman QB and first-year starter Darian Mensah leads the passing game, throwing to Bauman as well as a receiver corps led by Southern California transfer Mario Williams and Yulkeith Brown.
“They’re extremely consistent,” Lane said. “Obviously they like to run the ball. But not only they can run, they can really get it to anybody they want to get it to.”
Horvath’s thumb
Navy quarterback Blake Horvath garnered national attention the first half of the season, even a little Heisman Trophy buzz, going into the Notre Dame game. He has been dealing with a thumb injury since and has thrown three interceptions over the past three games after just one in the first six.
“He’s a tough kid,” Horvath said. “He’s kind of banged up a little bit, but he’s in pretty good shape.”
Horvath has accounted for 24 touchdowns — 11 passing and 13 rushing — and 2,204 total yards. Sumrall said Horvath’s presence makes Navy’s offense “scary in a lot of areas.”
Offensive coordinator Drew Cronic calls Horvath the point guard of his modernized wing-T offense, and the reliance on the junior QB to do it all has not changed in light of the injury.
“He’s got to be able to run the football for us,” Newberry said. “There’s times where we need a little bit more of that than others, but he’s run it very effectively, so for us to be hitting on all cylinders, he’s got to be able to carry the football for us.”
Rough seas
Tulane has lost the last five times it has faced Navy at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Its last victory there came back in 2001. Tulane also lost there in the Military Bowl to Virginia Tech at the end of last season.
___
AP Sports Writer Brett Martel in New Orleans contributed.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football
Copyright © 2024 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
