Game notes
- Who: Memphis Tigers (5-1, 2-0 American) at Tulane Green Wave (2-3, 0-1 American)
- When: Friday, October 16, at 7:30 p.m. ET / 6:30 p.m. CT
- Where: Yulman Stadium, New Orleans, Louisiana
- TV: ESPN
- Broadcast crew: Mike Monaco, Jordan Rodgers and Dana Boyle
- Series: Memphis leads 25-16-1. Tulane has won four of the last six meetings.
- Last meeting: Tulane won 38-32 in Memphis on November 7, 2025.
Setting the scene
Memphis is bringing an offense averaging more than 500 yards per game to New Orleans on a Friday night. Tulane is bringing a nine-game home winning streak and the recent history of being very bad for the Tigers’ mood.
Seems like a perfectly reasonable way to start the weekend.
The records suggest two programs having different kinds of falls. Memphis is 5-1, unbeaten in American play and fresh off a 38-13 win over UAB. Tulane is 2-3 after losing its conference opener at Army on a field goal as time expired.
But Charles Huff does not sound particularly interested in what the records suggest.
“They are really good, we will have to play extremely well,” the Memphis head coach said.
There is plenty of evidence behind that assessment. Tulane has won 24 of its last 27 regular-season conference games, and nobody has beaten the Green Wave in New Orleans since the start of the 2025 season.
Memphis also has a recent reminder that this opponent can complicate a promising season. Tulane’s 38-32 win last November came during the Tigers’ five-game losing streak after an 8-0 start.
This Memphis team has a different coach and 81 newcomers, so last year’s disappointment belongs to the program more than most of the current roster.
A little Hattiesburg in the house
Before getting to the quarterbacks and conversion rates, there is a coaching connection worth appreciating.
Huff succeeded Will Hall at Southern Miss, then spent one season in Hattiesburg before taking the Memphis job. Hall is now in his first season leading Tulane, and Huff brought 17 players from his 2025 Southern Miss team to Memphis.
That makes Friday a conference game with a rather extensive forwarding address.
One of those players is running back Jaylin Carter, who has become a central reason Memphis can hurt defenses in multiple ways. Another is defensive lineman J’Mond Tapp, who recorded a sack against UAB last week.
Hall has already beaten Southern Miss this season. Now he gets the coach who followed him there, accompanied by a sizable contingent of Golden Eagles turned Tigers.
When Memphis has the ball: Pick your problem
There is a temptation to see Marcus Stokes’ 16 touchdown passes and make this preview entirely about the quarterback.
Carter would like a word. Probably several yards, too.
The sophomore has 645 rushing yards and eight rushing touchdowns, averaging 7.2 yards per carry. Against UAB, he turned 19 carries into 132 yards and two scores. Memphis averages 247 rushing yards per game, giving Stokes considerably more support than a request to go make something happen.
Stokes has made the jump from Division II West Florida look awfully manageable. Last season, he was the Gulf South Conference Offensive Player of the Year and a Harlon Hill Award finalist. This season, he has already matched the 16 touchdown passes Memphis’ leading passer threw during the entire 2025 campaign.
The Tigers average 516.7 yards of total offense and convert 49.3 percent of their third downs. Four receivers have reached double figures in catches, and six have at least 100 receiving yards.
In other words, there is no particularly comfortable place for Tulane to focus its attention.
Start with the run, though. The Green Wave is allowing 218.6 rushing yards per game and surrendered 329 at Army. Defending Army’s option is a different assignment than defending Memphis, but the concern about getting off the field carries over.
If Carter keeps Memphis ahead of the chains, Stokes can operate without being asked to rescue every possession. If Tulane forces obvious passing situations, safeties Jack Tchienchou and Kevin Adams III have a better chance to influence the game.
That second scenario requires disruption Tulane has struggled to produce consistently. The Green Wave has six sacks and no interceptions through five games.
When Tulane has the ball: There is a spark. Find it again.
Tulane’s offensive averages do not exactly leap off the page: 18.4 points and 333.4 yards per game.
Its best individual rushing performances absolutely do.
Jaylin Lucas ran for 214 yards against South Alabama, including an 80-yard touchdown. Two weeks later, Maurice Turner rushed for 200 against Southern Miss, with a 74-yard scoring run and three carries of at least 40 yards.
Both performances came at Yulman. Both ended in Tulane wins.
The Green Wave has shown it can turn a home game with very little breathing room into a victory through one enormous play. The challenge is producing enough ordinary good plays around it.
Quarterback Kadin Semonza has completed 53.8 percent of his passes for 804 yards, four touchdowns and two interceptions. Destyn Hill leads the receiving corps with 17 catches for 223 yards, while Lucas reminded everyone at Army that he can be dangerous without taking a handoff, scoring on a 39-yard reception.
That touchdown put Tulane ahead 17-10 with 7:44 remaining. The Green Wave still left West Point with a three-point loss.
Friday demands more sustained offense. Tulane is averaging just 25:26 in possession time, and leaving Memphis that much opportunity would put a considerable burden on the defense.
Johnnie Daniels, who led Tulane with 67 rushing yards at Army, belongs in that conversation as well. Hall definitely has several ways to find production in the backfield.
Memphis, meanwhile, forced three turnovers against UAB. Safety Dylan Smith collected his third interception of the season, and the Tigers finished with eight tackles for loss.
Tulane has committed only three turnovers all year. Keeping that number small is a good starting point. Turning clean possessions into touchdowns is the next step.
The matchup that matters: Who gets to stay on the field?
The most revealing comparison might be Memphis’ third-down offense against Tulane’s third-down defense.
The Tigers convert 49.3 percent of their opportunities. Tulane’s opponents have converted 39 of 79, also right around 49 percent.
That is an uncomfortable agreement for the home team.
Tulane cannot spend Friday repeatedly getting Memphis to third down, only to watch the Tigers unpack and stay a while. A stop must constitute an actual change of possession.
There is a related number on the other side: Tulane has reached the red zone just 10 times in five games. It has scored on nine of those trips, but efficiency does not help much when the invitations are that infrequent.
Memphis has made 26 red-zone trips in six games.
Prediction
Tulane’s home winning streak deserves respect, and Lucas or Turner can change the feel of this game in one snap. An early explosive play, a couple of third-down stops and a loud Yulman Stadium would give the Green Wave a very real path to a win.
But Memphis has more ways to sustain offense, and Carter’s production creates a particularly difficult assignment for a defense that has struggled against the run.
Expect Tulane to make this uncomfortable. Expect Memphis to have enough answers to leave with its third conference victory.
Huff said the Tigers will have to play extremely well. They will at least have to play well enough to keep New Orleans from becoming another unhappy entry in the series scrapbook.
Memphis 31, Tulane 24