NEW ORLEANS (AP) -There are no easy games for Tulane.
The Green Wave – 2-10 last year – has not had a winning season since 2002 and opened this one with a 37-13 loss to Tulsa.
Now they host a fired-up BYU team. The Cougars are coming off an upset against then third-ranked Oklahoma, a victory that vaulted BYU to ninth in the Top 25 poll.
The challenge has Tulane coach Bob Toledo contemplating what his strategy for beating BYU should be.
“We can probably get them here on Bourbon Street Thursday night and maybe that will help us a little bit,” Toledo joked.
Toledo has played against BYU several times and said he knows the Green Wave are facing a team that is both talented and mature.
ot guys going on two-year missions and they come back. I’ve heard that there’s like forty-something guys that are married on that football team and I know they have kids too.
“So, they’re mature guys who are responsible people too.”
Actually, 60 players on BYU’s team have served on a church mission in a total of 23 countries and 15 states, including quarterback Max Hall, who served his mission in Des Moines, Iowa.
Hall showed some of his maturity with a game-winning touchdown pass to cap a 78-yard drive in the closing minutes against the Sooners.
The victory against Oklahoma sparked visions of an undefeated season – BYU’s three toughest games Florida State, Colorado State and Utah State come up after Tulane. All three will be played on the Cougars home field in Provo, Utah. So will the games against their ranked Mountain West Conference foes, Utah and TCU.
If all goes as the Cougars hope, they could even dream of a BCS Bowl, and possibly their first national championship in 25 years.
Coach Bronco Mendenhall is counting on that team maturity to prevent them from being too wrapped up in their big victory over the Sooners to overlook the Green Wave.
“We considered it a fantastic game and we really enjoyed it all the way to Monday, but once Monday started we have moved on to Tulane,” Mendenhall said. “I’m not sure that this team will allow themselves to think about anything else other than getting ready for our next opponent, considering it’s only the second week of the season.”
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