It has been smooth sailing for Tulane University in conference play this season, and Thursday night’s game against the 9ers was no different, as the Wave rolled past the 49ers 34-3. Its closest conference game was an 8-point win, and their lowest scoring output was a 24-point showing against the Owls. After a shaky start with two losses to strong Power Five football programs, head coach Jon Sumrall has the Green Wave red hot and looking like a bona fide College Football Playoff contender. The Wave has outscored conference opponents 219 to 80, and it is hard to see any team in the American Athletic Conference beating Tulane right now.

The Wave jumped out to a 10-0 lead against Charlotte on Thursday night before the 49ers scored their only points all game, a 29-yard field goal to end the first half. In the second half, Tulane pulled away and never looked back, scoring 24 unanswered points as Charlotte was unable to get anything going on either side of the ball. The game was a dominant performance by the Wave, and the final score accurately reflects that, as Charlotte was at the mercy of Tulane all 60 minutes on Thursday night.

Darian Mensah had another efficient game, completing 72.4% of his passes for 214 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions. Mensah did a great job of managing the game and made no mistakes that could have given Charlotte momentum. Makhi Hughes showed out once again, taking on a heavy workload resulting in 117 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Hughes has been on a tear this season, as he has multiple touchdowns in four of the past five games and 13 touchdowns total on the year.

Wide receivers Mario Williams and Yulkeith Brown also had solid days. Williams nearly hit the century mark in yards, finishing with six catches for 96 yards, and Brown finished with seven receptions for 53 yards. Both receivers have had productive seasons thus far and are going to be tasked with stepping up later on as big conference matchups against the United States Naval Academy and The University of Memphis loom in the coming weeks.

Tulane’s defense had another outstanding performance on Thursday night, as they shut down Charlotte’s offense all day and held them to only three points. Charlotte quarterbacks Deshawn Purdie and Max Brown both struggled, completing less than 50% of their passes, and Purdie threw a costly pick six to Tulane defensive back Micah Robinson, his second interception this season. Charlotte could only muster 189 yards of total offense, while Tulane’s offense had more than double that, with 431 total yards.

Tulane had another all-around fantastic showing, and it seems to be happening routinely. The Wave faces the ext, a struggling 2-6 team that hasn’t found much success in conference play. Barring a massive upset, The Wave will head into its final two games against the Memphis Tigers and the Navy Midshipmen, undefeated in conference play. Memphis and Navy are two of the three teams, along with Army, that are competing with Tulane for a bid into the conference championship game. This means that winning the final two games will be crucial for the Wave’s chances of not only winning another AAC championship but also making the College Football Playoff.

You can catch Tulane’s next matchup with the Temple Owls at Yulman Stadium on Saturday, Nov. 9, at 3 p.m. CST, or streaming on ESPNU.