SMU @ Tulane

CUSA-fans.com has a new staff of team correspondents this fall to help bring you, the fan, more detailed Conference USA football coverage. Today, our SMU Correspondent, Rick Atkinson, gives you a preview of the SMU Week #5 visit to New Orleans to play the Tulane Green Wave.

SMU @ Tulane Game Info

Date: Saturday, September 26, 2006 @ 6:30 p.m.

Location: Superdome, (64,900), New Orleans, La.

Weather Forecast: Who cares, it’s indoors. (No hurricanes, please.)

Television: CSTV

Season records: SMU (2-2, 0-0), Tulane (1-2, 0-1)

All-Time Series: Tulane leads, 10-4, and has won the last five meetings dating back to 1992. The Green Wave defeated SMU last year in Dallas, 31-10.

Injury/personnel report:
SMU: RB DeMyron Martin, dislocated bone in right foot - out.
Tulane: QB Lester Ricard, left LSU game with unspecified injury - will play.

SMU @ Tulane Overview

Now it’s SMU’s turn to face a wave of New Orleans emotion as the city marks another milestone in its recovery. This time the wave is Green. Road-weary Tulane follows the Saints back home to the Superdome, a year after Katrina.

The Atlanta Falcons were swept away by the emotion Monday night in a 23-3 loss to New Orleans and a monumental effort will be required of the Mustangs to avoid a similar fate.

A raucous crowd of over 50,000 is expected.

SMU has yet to win a road game in 2006, and SMU head coach Phil Bennett is stressing the need to change that.

“If you ever want to take your program to another level, you’ve got to be able to prove you can win on the road,” Bennett said Tuesday.

“[Tulane] is a team that beat us last year, and beat us rather handily at home.”

Bennett, in his fifth season at SMU, has a mark of 13-37 after last week’s 55-9 shellacking of Arkansas State.

Chris Scelfo, 34-51 in seven-plus years at Tulane, has two bowl wins during his tenure, (1998 Liberty, 2002 Hawaii). Tulane is coming off a 49-7 road loss to No. 10 LSU.

SMU Offense versus Tulane Defense

Advantage: SMU

The Mustangs have opened up the offense of late with more passing and last week even pulled off bit of trickery. WR Zack Sledge took a lateral from QB Justin Willis and threw to WR Bobby Chase for a 75-yard touchdown.

Willis added four touchdown passes, three to TE Ryan Kennedy in the first half, pushing his total to 10 for the season, with just two interceptions.

“I think, obviously, he’s gotten better,” Bennett said of Willis, a redshirt freshman. “I don’t think he’s arrived yet. I thought he got sloppy in the second half [against ASU]. He’ll tell you that.”

Willis’ favorite target, WR Reynaldo Pellerin, has 13 receptions on the year.

RBs James Mapps (14 carries/132 yards) and Cedric Dorsey (10 carries/80 yards) had big nights against ASU. The only drawback: Mapps’ two fumbles. Bennett said injured RBs Johnnie Fitzgerald and Fred Turner should be available this week.

Tulane’s defensive strength is its front four, where everyone is back: DE Antonio Harris (6-2, 271) DT Frank Morton (6-4, 319), DT Avery Williams (6-0, 282), and DE Sean Carney (6-3, 240). The linebacking corps and secondary are mostly new starters.

S Joe Goosby leads Tulane in tackles with 19.

Look for SMU to keep things wide open.

Tulane Offense versus SMU Defense

Advantage: SMU

SMU leads the conference in rushing defense, allowing 110.2 yards per game.

DE Justin Rogers came up big against ASU with six tackles, including three sacks, and a forced fumble. LB Tony Hawkins had nine tackles and LB Reggie Carrington had five.

S Joe Sturdivant leads the team in tackles with 21.

A weak point for SMU’s D this season has been stopping teams on third down. Opponents have converted 50 percent of the time and Bennett is not pleased.

“It’s like we relax on third down and you can’t do that on the road – or at home,” he said.

Tulane’s senior QB Lester Ricard may have some success throwing. The Ponies’ secondary is giving up 236 yards per game.

Ricard threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns in a win over Mississippi State on September 16. He was knocked out of last week’s LSU game in the fourth quarter, but is expected to play against SMU.

Last year, he jolted the Mustangs for 213 yards passing and two touchdowns.

RB Matt Forte, who had two TDs and 87 yards rushing in that game, is also back.

“They’re basically the same offense they were last year,” Bennett said. “So that will be a challenge for us.”

Special Teams

Advantage: Even

Sophomore Thomas Morstead booted a 50-yard field goal last week, a collegiate career long. As the team came off the field, Bennett joked that the snap looked low. He said he’d noticed Morstead mark the ball over eight yards behind center, instead of the usual seven, resulting in the 50-yard attempt.

“[Morstead] says it was by accident,” Bennett said. “I think there’s a little bit of a fib in there.”

Did the misplacement bother Bennett? Not really, as it turned out.

“I’m a results guy,” he said.

Morstead is 4-5 on field goal attempts and his punting average is third-best in C-USA, (43.0).

Tulane punter Chris Beckman leads the conference, (45.8).

Green Wave field goal kicker Ross Thevenot is 0-3 with two blocks.

Tulane’s Fred Smith leads C-USA in punt return average, (15.2). SMU’s Blake Warren is second, (9).

SMU dangerous kick return specialist, Jessie Henderson, averages 34.2 yards after five returns, with a long of 63. Smith has a 16.4-yard average on seven returns for The Green Wave.

Intangibles

Advantage: Tulane

What more can be said? The place will be rocking - just on a lesser scale than Monday night.

If the Mustangs can survive the initial surge of raw Green Wave emotion, this “intangible” slides to SMU.

(Note: The Saints’ blocked punt for an early touchdown was eerily reminiscent of UNT’s block for a TD against SMU two weeks ago. Both came in the first minute and a half of play in highly-charged atmospheres. Both Atlanta and SMU went on to lose. Avoiding an early, major error will be key for SMU in Saturday’s environment.)

Final Prediction

SMU takes a step toward maturity with this tough, road win, 33-19 - a turning point for the program. The Mustangs will hang on with big plays in The Big Easy.