Ole Miss at Tulane preview: Green Wave have 'unique' opportunity to pull off upset at home
After taking care of Mercer 73-7 in its season opener, Ole Miss hits the road to take on Tulane in Week 2. This isn’t your typical game against a Group of Five opponent, as the Green Wave enter the year ranked inside the top 25 after a Cotton Bowl win against USC this past season.
They lose leading rusher Tyjae Spears but return quarterback Michael Pratt after he threw for 3,009 yards, 27 touchdowns and five interceptions. Tulane defeated South Alabama by a score of 37-17 in its season opener as Pratt went 14-of-15 passing for 294 yards and four TDs. He also had 11 carries for 39 yards rushing.
Former LSU fullback turned radio host Jacob Hester joined On3‘s Andy Staples on Wednesday to explain why that victory is more impressive than it may look on the surface.
“Michael Pratt plays quarterback like he’s a fullback, so you know that I love that,” he said. “Go back to that Oklahoma game a couple of years ago, that’s the only style he knows. Cam Rising is the same way. Sometimes it gets him into some trouble as far as injuries, but my goodness I love the toughness. If you don’t think that was a big win against South Alabama, then you just haven’t been paying attention. In returning production, South Alabama was fourth overall in the country from a 10-3 football team. …That was a real program that Tulane just took to the woodshed.
“They were the aggressor the entire game. They were the better football team. …Ole Miss better know that.”
A for the Rebels, they were dominant offensively as expected in their season opener. Jackson Dart got the start at quarterback over Spencer Sanders, going 18-of-23 for 334 yards and four TDs in just two-and-a-half quarters of action.
After a quarterback battle between the two that went on through the offseason, that was the story of the week for Ole Miss. Now Dart will hope to continue that level of play against stiffer competition.
“Jaxson Dart kind of asserted himself in that game,” Hester said. “I know Spencer Sanders played, but obviously when the game was well-decided. That was big for Jaxson Dart because it’s like, ‘We got Spencer Sanders? We got Walker Howard? Is this my team?’ I think he went out there and proved that it is his team, which I thought was big.”
The Rebels also return reigning SEC Freshman of the Year Quinshon Judkins at running back, which should give them one of the most explosive offenses in the country. Stopping that will be a tall task for the Green Wave, but they do have at least one thing on their side.
The game will be played in New Orleans, and Hester believes that could give the Green Wave a chance to at least cover.
“This game being at Tulane is unique,” he said. “It’s not in Oxford. This game is going to be rocking. …Tulane expects to win this game. The number’s standing right there at 7.5. There’s challenges for Tulane and Willie Fritz. How do you stop one of the best running backs in the country in Quinshon Judkins? I don’t know how you get it done, but I’ve got belief in Tulane that they’re gonna keep it under that number. I don’t know that they get the outright win. I can see them in a seven-point game certainly.
“This is going to be a game late into the game. Tulane is not going to be afraid of this Ole Miss team. Last year, they beat the Big 12 champion and they beat USC. So this Tulane team is battle-tested. Their quarterback and their head coach are battle-tested. This is going to be a slugfest and Ole Miss better be ready for a full 60-minute game.”
Kickoff between Ole Miss and Tulane is set for 3:30 p.m. ET on Saturday at Yulman Stadium.