After opening conference play with two dominant displays against the University of South Florida and the University of Alabama at Birmingham, Tulane University experienced its first taste of trouble against the Rice University Owls, pulling away with the win 24-10.  

A game the Green Wave was expected to dominate, with a spread of over 22 points, turned into a low-scoring battle, as neither team’s offense could get much of anything going. While this was expected for a Rice team that has scored over 30 points only once this season, the Wave came into this game firing on all cylinders on offense. Tulane had scored 40 plus points in their past three games and blew the roof off of fellow American Athletic Conference opponents USF and UAB in their previous two outings. 

Darian Mensah and the Tulane offense had a quiet day, entering the fourth quarter tied 10-10 before waking up in the closing minutes. After completing more than 80% of his passes in the previous two games, Darian Mensah struggled on Saturday, finishing with his second sub-50% passing game of the season, his only other one coming against the University of Oklahoma. Some of Mensah’s incompletions could be attributed to costly drops by wide receivers Mario Williams and Yulkeith Brown, but overall, it was a sloppy day for the Wave’s offense. 

The one bright spot for the Tulane offense was Makhi Hughes, as he had another fantastic day, finishing with 140 rushing yards on 27 carries and a touchdown, as well as another 29-yard touchdown through the air. Hughes’ two touchdowns on Saturday marked his third consecutive two-touchdown game, as he has recorded a touchdown in every game this season and 10 total, already beating his seven touchdowns of last season. 

Tulane’s defense, however, was a different story, as they did a terrific job of keeping this game under control as the offense struggled. Rice’s offense repeatedly shot themselves in the foot on Saturday, as quarterback E.J. Warner threw three interceptions to Micah Robinson, Tyler Grubbs and Adonis Friloux. While Tulane struggled to get to the quarterback, only recording one sack all game, the defense’s ability to force turnovers kept the pressure off the offense as they went through some hiccups. 

Although it wasn’t as pretty as their previous two conference wins, the Green Wave moved to 3-0 in AAC play on Saturday with a matchup against the University of North Texas Mean Green next on the docket. The Mean Green are a tough team, with an 5-2 overall record and 2-1 in AAC play thus far. Tulane’s offense can’t afford to come out sloppy again this time, as North Texas’ offense has proven to put points on the board. 

This weekend’s matchup should be a good one, with both teams among those jockeying for position atop the AAC standings. You can catch the game this Saturday, Oct. 26 at 11 a.m. CST on ESPN2.