Sept. 28, 2007

By Chaitanya Nandipati
Tulane Hullabaloo

Football is the ultimate team game. But against Southeastern Louisiana, Matt Forté apparently decided to put the Green Wave on his back and carry it to its first victory of the season.

Although the Wave passing game struggled mightily, Forté torched the Lions with 303 rushing yards and five touchdowns. The rushing total was a new Tulane and Conference USA record while the touchdowns tied the school record. The yards likely won't come as easy this weekend, but the Green Wave at least seems to have found its identity on offense.

In the first half, the problems that plagued Tulane during the first two games reappeared against SLU. Dropped passes continually kept the Wave from getting off track on offense, while an inability to make tackles allowed the Lions' offense to sustain drives. The Wave left the field not only down on the scoreboard 20-14 but to a torrent of boos from the home crowd.

Perhaps the biggest culprit of the Green Wave's struggles was inconsistency at quarterback. The statistics for redshirt junior starter Scott Elliott were not pretty - just nine of 23 for 83 yards and an interception. Those numbers would ultimately lead to his benching after two series in the third quarter. Although some of the incompletions could be blamed on wide receiver drops, the overall play was highly discouraging. Elliott was lucky to finish with just one interception as there were multiple times Southeastern defenders had chances to force turnovers. Perhaps the most discouraging aspect was the fact that Elliott's struggles came against an opponent not exactly known as a football powerhouse.

The Tulane passing game did not fare any better when sophomore quarterback Anthony Scelfo took over, who finished with one completion in two attempts with an interception.

Perhaps Coach Bob Toledo will have to install all running plays for this week's game. That might not be a bad idea, given the way Forté was running Saturday night. Not only did Forté break current Minnesota Viking and former Green Wave running back Mewelde Moore's record for single game rushing yards, he shattered it by over 50 yards.

Ultimately the Green Wave got its first victory of the season despite the passing struggles. With the No. 2 team in the country coming to town this weekend in LSU, the Green Wave will have to play better than perfect. With two potential first round picks in Glenn Dorsey and Tyson Jackson challenging the run, Forté may find his yards hard to come by. That means if Tulane is to challenge the Tiger defense, either Elliott or Scelfo will have to make plays through the air. The way the passing attack has looked so far, I'm not holding my breath.

Although the Green Wave offense could be in for a long afternoon, the defense won't exactly be having a picnic either. With one of the best offensive lines in college football and playmakers that go five deep at both running back and wide receiver, the Wave defense will undoubtedly have their hands full for 60 minutes.

The Green Wave will attempt to win the Tiger Rag for the first time in 15 matchups this weekend, but even perfect may not be good enough to come out with a victory. However, as Appalachian State showed the entire college football world, anything is possible.