There hasn't been too much to be optimistic about this season for the Tulane Green Wave.

The program has dropped to 2-3 on the year and took a tough loss to the Army Black Knights over the weekend to open up American Conference play. There has been little consistency, a few key injuries and a lack of improvement all across the board.

Yet, Tulane will look to play spoiler to the Memphis Tigers on Friday. The rivals will battle in what's always been an intense, fun game -- even when one team has seemed vastly greater than the other on paper. 

Though there's plenty of talent on the team, there are just as many Green Wave flaws that could be pointed out. The struggles aren't necessarily limited to one position group or another: rather, this issues extend deep into both sides of the ball. There's going to need to be a big awakening against a feisty Memphis squad that is poised for a breakout year in the American, but a few big things are holding Tulane back. Here are three key concerns for the program heading into Friday's matchup.

Defense is heavily outmatched against the run.

The Green Wave rush defense was better against Army, but it's had a rough year overall. Tulane ranks 125th out of 138 FBS teams with an average of 191.0 rushing yards given up per game.

Meanwhile, Memphis has the 10th-best rushing offense in the nation, averaging 250.4 yards per game behind an incredibly balanced attack. Like Tulane, the Tigers have a handful of running backs that they can turn to in any situation... but that team has seen as many as three or four of them reap major benefits in a single game. 

This is all shaping up to be another tough task for the Green Wave defense. 

There's still no true QB1.

We are five games into the year, and there's a decent chance that Tulane is already moving on to its third quarterback in true freshman Trace Johnson.

That's not to say it will definitely happen, but who's to say that the Green Wave isn't ready to spice things up a bit? Zeon Chriss-Gremillion has seemingly disappeared since being benched in the first game of the season, and Kadin Semonza has not lived up to expectations. 

Johnson is sitting on the bench with the best pure talent at his position. Even if he is a bit young and prone to those standard rookie mistakes, it's better than settling for below-average results every week. However, if things continue to decline... who knows who the Olive Green and Sky Blue will turn to? If three quarterbacks aren't enough, then what does that say about the state of coaching within the program?

Tulane has only forced one turnover this year. 

The Green Wave offense has struggled to get down the field, but the defense also hasn't created many big opportunities for its offense to attack with good field position.

Warren Roberts, Jr. forced a fumble in the season-opener against the Duke Blue Devils, and Dickson Agu recovered the loose ball. Other than that, the team has recorded no more turnovers -- then again, if the group has struggled to stop drives without turnovers, then this shouldn't be much of a surprise. This is a stark contrast to the Tulane defense from its 2025 campaign that hauled in a few interceptions and forced multiple fumbles by the end of the year. 

There's still time to get those numbers up, but competition has only gotten harder. It's difficult to win without getting the occasional takeaway, and the Green Wave is proof of that. Maybe things can change against Memphis, but if not, then it's looking like that Tigers offense will have plenty of chances to march down the field.