Tulane Football: 2024 Preview, Best Players, Top Transfers, Season Prediction, Win Total

Tulane College Football Preview 2024

It was one of the most interesting under-the-radar hires of the latest college football coaching carousel.

Troy was fantastic under Neal Brown - now at West Virginia - struggled for three seasons under Chip Lindsey, and then Jon Sumrall came in with no head coaching experience and won two Sun Belt titles.

He went 23-4 working off a fantastic defense that was always in the backfield, made a ton of big plays, and put together one of the best two-year runs by any Group of Five program.

And now he gets to take what Willie Fritz put together at Tulane and try to do even more.

It took six years for the Green Wave to get up and flying under Fritz - the head man at Houston - and Sumrall has enough decent pieces in place push for the American Athletic Conference title and possibly a spot in the new expanded College Football Playoff.

It might not be easy right away - Tulane hosts Kansas State and has to go to Oklahoma - but the toughest AAC games are at home.

There’s no one on the slate outside of the Power Four programs it can’t beat - and those should be a fight, at worst - and with Sumrall the expectations aren’t changing.

Tulane Football Preview 2024: Offense

- Jon Sumrall’s Troy offense wasn’t always amazing - the D ruled the roost, but the offense was efficient, had its explosive moments, and always found ways to score when it had the shot.

There’s not a huge pivot happening with the Tulane attack, but it’s coming off a slightly disappointing year finishing ninth in the AAC averaging 370 yards per game.

It starts by replacing longtime star QB Michael Pratt. Ty Thompson was a great get for Oregon, but he was never able to push through for playing time with Bo Nix and now Dillon Gabriel taking over. He’s got all the tools and upside, and now he’ll get his shot to shine.

- The receiving corps needs a little work. Actually, a LOT of work. It lost top target Chris Brazzell to Tennessee, but in comes former Oklahoma and USC super-recruit Mario William, and Alabama transfer Shazz Preston is stepping in on the outside.

Yulkeith Brown is a decent midrange target and TE Alex Bauman was second on the team with 35 catches with five scores.

- The offensive line isn’t exactly starting over, but OT Rashad Green is the only returning starter. There’s plenty of shuffling going on, and WKU transfer Vincent Murphy has to shine at center, but this will take a little work.

This isn’t a massive line, but it should be able to blast a bit. It has the back to work around in Makhi Hughes, who ripped off almost 1,400 yards with seven scores in his freshman season. Second-leading back Shade Clayton-Johnson returns, but he needs to give Hughes more of a break.

Tulane Football Preview 2024: Defense

- Jon Sumrall was a linebacker and defensive coach before he took over at Troy, including his time for four years as a co-DC at Tulane. His defenses attack, there will be plenty of sacks, and the takeaways are coming.

Troy allowed 24 points or fewer in 12 of the last 14 games last season, and 28 or fewer in all but one game in 2022. And now …

- It’ll take some work to get the line going with top ends Darius Rodgers (Carolina Panthers) and Devean Deal (TCU) done.

DT Patrick Jenkins is one of the best players in the AAC, and Eric Hicks is a good veteran on the nose. The key will be the pass rush and plays behind the line. There’s experience on the ends, and now Matthew Fobbs-White and Angelo Anderson will play much bigger roles.

The linebacking corps should be a strength. The 1-2 punch of Jesus Machado and Tyler Grubbs combined for 183 tackles and should be all over the field again. They’ll need to be because …

- The secondary went way heavy on the transfer portal. Safety Bailey Despanie was third on the team with 67 tackles, but he’s one of the few regulars returning.

Six transfers and a few new recruits will play big roles. Caleb Ransaw (Troy) should be a statistical monster in the Anchor position, Jalen Geiger (Kentucky) should lock down one safety spot, and Lu Tillery (ULM) should shine as the team’s No. 1 corner.

Key To The Tulane Football Season

Can the run defense continue to be a killer?
Tulane was the best in the AAC against the run, and it should be terrific again under a coaching staff that knows how to get the D working.

If the production continues like last year, everything will be great. Tulane was 3-3 when allowing more than 85 rushing yards, and 8-0 when allowing fewer.

Tulane Key Player

Ty Thompson, QB Jr.
Michael Pratt took Tulane to a whole other level. In his four seasons he threw for 9,602 yards with 90 touchdowns, and ran for 1,145 yards and 28 scores. Now it’s up to Thompson to keep it all going.

Thompson thew for 456 yards and six touchdowns with four picks in his limited time at Oregon over the last three seasons, but the talent is there to

Tulane Football Top Transfer, Biggest Transfer Loss

Top Transfer In: Mario Williams, WR Sr.
Always very good, but not quite as elite as he was expected to be when he signed on at Oklahoma, Williams caught 35 passes with four scores in his freshman season.

In two years at USC he caught 69 passes for 936 yards and nine touchdowns, and now he’s about to be a playmaker for the Green Wave corps.

Top Transfer Out: Chris Brazzell II, WR Soph.
The breakout star of the receiving corps caught 44 passes for 711 yards and five scores, averaging over 16 yards per catch. He’s a speedy 6-5 deep threat who’ll fit in perfectly at Tennessee.

Tulane Key Game

USF, Sept. 28
The Green Wave should be favored against everyone else on the AAC slate up until the regular season finale against Memphis. Win at home against an improved USF in the conference opener, and all of a sudden, a 10-2 regular season might be possible.

10 Best Tulane Football Players

1. Patrick Jenkins, DT Sr.
2. Tyler Grubbs, LB Sr.
3. Makhi Hughes, RB Soph.
4. Jesus Machado, LB Sr.
5. Ty Thompson, QB Jr.
6. Mario Williams, WR Sr.
7. Bailey Despanie, S Jr.
8. Caleb Ransom, S Jr.
9. Shazz Preston, WR Sr.
10. Will Karoll, P Sr.

Tulane 2023 Fun Stats

- Fumbles: Tulane 17 (lost 13), Opponents 17 (lost 10)

- 1st Quarter Scoring: Tulane 114, Opponents 51

- Onside Kicks: Opponents 2-for-4, Tulane 0-for-1

Tulane Football 2024 Win Total Prediction: What to Expect This Season

Even with all of the changes and all the new parts in, it’s possible Tulane could be just as good if not better.

The problem is the early record might not reflect it.

Even if everything breaks right, Kansas State and at Oklahoma is a tough way to get past mid-September.

However, get by USF at the end of the month in the AAC opener, and barring a total gack somewhere it should be smooth sailing to the home showdown against Memphis at the end of the regular season.

Not playing Army isn’t bad, and missing UTSA is great. Not facing East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, and Tulsa doesn’t really matter either way if Tulane is just that good.

The Green Wave will get to the Memphis game with the American Athletic Conference Championship probably already set. The two will meet again a week later.

Set The Tulane Win Total At … 8

Likely Wins: at Charlotte, SE Louisiana, Temple

50/50 Games: Memphis, at Navy, at North Texas, Rice, at UAB, USF

Likely Losses: Kansas State, at Oklahoma

2024 Tulane Football Schedule

Aug 29 SE Louisiana
Sept 7 Kansas State
Sept 14 at Oklahoma
Sept 21 at Louisiana
Sept 28 USF
Oct 5 at UAB
Oct 12 OPEN DATE
Oct 19 Rice
Oct 26 at North Texas
Oct 31 at Charlotte
Nov 9 Temple
Nov 16 at Navy
Nov 23 OPEN DATE
Nov 28 Memphis

Missing: Army, East Carolina, Florida Atlantic, Tulsa, UTSA