It’s starting to feel like a broken record, but the Green Wave looked fantastic in a dominant victory over the United States Naval Academy Midshipmen shutting them out 35-0. Navy was 7-2 and 5-1 in American Athletic Conference play heading into the game Saturday, with the Midshipmen and the Wave battling it out in hopes of clinching a bid in the conference championship game. However, Navy’s conference championship hopes were quickly erased as the Green Wave jumped out to a 14-0 lead by halftime and never let up.

The Wave was elite on both sides of the ball, with Darian Mensah showcasing yet another quality performance, completing 10 of his 14 passes for 138 yards and two touchdowns. His efficiency has been remarkable all season, as he’s connected on 18 touchdown passes this season to just four interceptions, with only two of those interceptions coming in conference play.

Tulane’s rushing attack has been stellar all season, and it was no different on Saturday as Makhi Hughes and Arnold Barnes III topped 60 yards rushing on the day. Hughes finished with 82 yards rushing on 22 carries with two rushing touchdowns, and Barnes tallied 62 yards rushing on 12 carries. The biggest factor in the rushing game was arguably not even a running back though, as quarterback Mensah had a great day rushing too, finishing with eight carries for 57 yards and a touchdown rush to go along with his two passing touchdowns.

On the defensive side, Tulane was impenetrable all game, as Navy was unable to move the ball at all. Navy’s offense relies more heavily on the rushing game than arguably any other team in the country, but they couldn’t manage 3 yards per rush, finishing with just 2.9 yards per rush on the day. Their heavy reliance on the rushing attack came back to bite them, too, because after falling behind by multiple scores, Navy needed to start throwing the football but could not do so. Navy’s quarterback Braxton Woodson had a nightmarish day, finishing with only three completions all game on 10 attempts for 13 yards, an interception and a lost fumble.

Tulane’s star of the day on the defensive side had to be linebacker Sam Howard, who was named the AAC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance. Howard came away with a tackle for loss and two turnovers, the first coming on an interception, his first of the season, late in the first quarter that ruined Navy’s early momentum, and his second was a fumble recovery in the fourth quarter which crushed the final bits of hope Navy had left.

The Wave will ride an eight-game winning streak into their bye week before welcoming the University of Memphis Tigers to Yulman Stadium on Thanksgiving Day. While Tulane already clinched an AAC conference championship berth with their win against Navy this weekend, this game still means a lot, as a win against Memphis and an United State Military Academy loss to the University of Notre Dame, The University of Texas at San Antonio or Navy in the following weeks would likely mean that Tulane would host the conference championship game. On top of that, a loss to Memphis would remove the Green Wave from the College Football Playoff race, as three losses would put them far behind frontrunners Boise State University Broncos, who still only have one loss.

Heading into the home stretch of the season, there is a lot to be looking for regarding the Wave, as they need to win out and hope for an Army loss to play the conference championship game at home. They also need Boise State to drop a game to be in the driver’s seat for the 12th and final College Football Playoff spot.

There is still tons of action to unfold, but it all starts with taking care of business. Following a much-needed bye week, Tulane faces off with Memphis on Thursday, Nov. 28, at 6:30 p.m. CST in Yulman Stadium and streaming on ESPN.