On Saturday, the Tulane Green Wave (4-8, 1-7 American Athletic Conference) traveled to East Hartford, Connecticut to take on the UConn Huskies (3-9, 1-7 AAAC) for its final game of the season.

Dominant performances by redshirt senior running backs Lazedrick Thompson and Josh Rounds allowed the Green Wave to secure its first in-conference win of the season, 38-13. The two running backs combined for 186 rushing yards and 5 touchdowns on the day.

While Thompson and Rounds were the main forces behind the Tulane offense, quarterback Glen Cuiellette quietly had the best game of his young career. The sophomore quarterback completed 11 of his 19 passes and earned a quarterback rating of 80.9. His next two highest ratings of the season were 77.2 against the University of Massachusetts and 38.8 against Southern Methodist University.

Tulane’s impressive effort on offense was accompanied by an equally impressive outing by the defense. In the first half alone, the Green Wave shut out the Husky offense, forced three turnovers and blocked a field goal.

While the entire defense played well, senior defensive tackle Tanzel Smart and senior linebacker Nico Marley had especially exceptional games. Smart made six tackles, two for loss, and had a sack on the day. He is currently projected to go in the fifth round of the NFL draft in May. Marley notched two fumble recoveries, as well as five tackles, one for a loss.

Although the Green Wave had a winning performance against UConn, Tulane’s 4-8 record will not be good enough to earn the team, and first-year head coach Willie Fritz, a spot in a bowl game. The team did, however, improve upon last year’s 3-9 record.

Despite the Green Wave’s absence in the postseason, fans should be optimistic about the team’s performance moving forward. Should Fritz and the Green Wave continue to improve over the next few years, then Tulane could participate in its first bowl game since 2013.