Tulane Begins Road Trip At Navy
Oct 28, 2003 | Football
Oct. 28, 2003
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TULANE (3-5, 1-4) at NAVY (5-3)
November 1, 2003 -- 12:30 p.m. (CST)
Annapolis, Md. -- Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium (30,000)
Head Coach Chris Scelfo
In his fifth season as the Tulane head coach, Chris Scelfo has a career record of 24-32 to rank eighth all-time at the school in wins, just one behind seventh place Andy Pilney. He became the first coach to win two bowl games at Tulane with the Green Wave's win in the Hawai'i Bowl last year. A 1985 graduate of Northeast Louisiana University (now Louisiana-Monroe), Scelfo began his coaching career at his alma mater and made coaching stops at Oklahoma (1986-87), Marshall (1990-95) and Georgia (1996-98) before arriving at Tulane in December 1998. He coached four teams that played in the I-AA national championship game, two of which won championships. A native of New Iberia, La., Scelfo ranks ahead of 29 other coaches in Tulane wins, including Greg Davis, Mack Brown, Buddy Teevens, Tommy Bowden and Larry Smith.
NEWS & NOTES
Road Trip
Tulane embarks on a three-game road trip to start November looking to snap a four-game losing streak at Navy. The contest is also Tulane's last non-conference game of the year. The Green Wave is 2-1 in its non-league games so far this season.
On Schedule
Tulane is in the midst of a stretch during which it will play four of its last six games of the season on the road. Following the game at Navy, Tulane travels to UAB and Southern Miss before concluding the season in the Superdome versus East Carolina.
Last Time Out
The Wave dropped its fourth straight game, and its fourth league contest of the season, 41-9, to Memphis in the Superdome as the Tigers dominated on offense and defense. The Green Wave fell behind 21-0 after Memphis' Scott Vogel returned a J.P. Losman aerial 48 yards for a touchdown with less than a minute to go before halftime. The Tulane offense, meanwhile, could not get on the scoreboard until 1:07 was left in the third quarter. Running back Mewelde Moore provided one of the few bright spots with a season-high 159 yards rushing on 29 carries to post his fourth straight 100-yard game.
When Last We Met
A year ago, Tulane claimed a 51-30 victory over Navy in a Homecoming win at Tad Gormley Stadium as J.P. Losman threw five touchdown passes and Mewelde Moore broke the school's career record for rushing in the contest. The Green Wave scored three plays into the game as the two teams combined to score 30 points in the first quarter. Tulane fell behind 20-17 in the second period but scored twice in the final five minutes of the half to take a 30-20 lead. The defense stiffened in the second half, culminating its performance with Chris Williams' 53-yard fumble return for a touchdown.
Series Situation
The Green Wave has a three-game win streak over the Midshipmen, its longest current win streak over any 2003 opponent. The teams are meeting for the sixth straight season in 2003 and have played in 11 of the last 12 years as they did not play in 1997. During that time, Tulane owns a 6-5 edge in the series (since 1991). The Green Wave has scored 50, 42 and 51 points, respectively, in the last three meetings with Navy.
Going for the Sweep
Tulane meets both Army and Navy for the fifth straight year in 2003. The Green Wave has not defeated both service academies in the same season since its undefeated year of 1998, losing to Army in each of the last three years even as it defeated Navy. In 1999, Tulane lost to Navy but defeated Army. Earlier this year, the Green Wave defeated Army, 50-33.
It's Academic
Including its win over Army earlier this year, Tulane is 19-13-2 all-time versus the three service academies with more meetings against Navy than its two academy brethren as the teams meet for the 17th time this year. The Green Wave is 6-9 in road games at Army, Navy and Air Force.
What More, Moore?
What more can be said about Tulane all-everything back Mewelde Moore? Well, what more can Moore do? The senior from Baton Rouge rushed for a season-high 159 yards versus Memphis to record his fourth-straight 100-yard game this year. It was the fifth time this season, and the 21st time in his career, that Moore has reached the century mark. The most productive back in Tulane history, Moore continues to add to his Green Wave legend, and to his 23 Tulane and seven Conference USA records. He has 800 rushing yards on the season and is within reach of the third 1,000-yard rushing season of his Tulane career. And it's not just rushing. Moore is in the Tulane Top 10 and in the C-USA Top 10 in career catches and receiving yards, the only running back on either list. For more on Moore, go to www.MeweldeMoore.net.
Exclusive Club
Tulane running back Mewelde Moore joined an exclusive club versus Louisville. Needing 37 rushing and 50 receiving yards to become just the SECOND man in NCAA Division I-A history to gain 4,000 rushing and 2,000 all-purpose yards for his career, Moore picked up 123 rushing and 57 receiving yards. The C-USA and Tulane career leader in rushing and all-purpose yards, Moore now has 4,249 rushing and 2,004 receiving yards for his career as he joined Stanford's Darrin Nelson (1977-78, 1980-81) as the only two players in the 4,000 /2,000 club.
Mr. Consistency
Moore added 156 yards to his all-purpose total in the Memphis game to climb past Glyn Milburn into 12th place on the NCAA Division I-A all-time list, having surpassed such names as Archie Griffin, Herschel Walker and Anthony Thompson, among many others. In 2003, Moore is averaging 144.1 all-purpose yards per game. At that pace, with four games to play, Moore could move into the Top 5 all-time and near the vaunted 7,000-yard mark. Texas' Ricky Williams holds the NCAA career record with 7,206 all-purpose yards from 1995-98.
Pressed Into Service
An amazing 16 freshmen -- five redshirts and 11 true freshmen -- have played significant roles for Tulane this year, with 11 of those having started games and nearly all of the rest listed no lower than second on the depth chart. Against Louisville, Tulane started four true freshmen on defense in end Billy Harrison, who made his second career start, cornerback Alton Widemon (3rd start), and Alvin (DT) and Kelvin (LB) Johnson (no relation), both of whom made their first career starts. Harrison, Widemon and Alvin Johnson also got the call last week versus Memphis while Kelvin saw significant action behind Brandt Quick. Three freshmen continue to start on the Tulane special teams as kicker Barrett Pepper and return specialist Fred Smith joined redshirt freshman punter Chris Beckman in starting their eighth consecutive games. Other freshmen starters for the Green Wave this year have included redshirts Taurean Brown (DT) and Jeremy Foreman (CB) and true freshman Israel Route (nickel). Offensive lineman Derek Rogers, a redshirt who has started three games, is the only offensive player among the rookies.
Rookie of Another Sort
Although not a freshman in terms of eligibility, senior Byron Parker is certainly a rookie in terms of experience after joining the football squad in the spring. The former Tulane basketball player, who won the ESPN College Slam Dunk Championship last year, saw his first action on the football field versus Houston when he played on the Green Wave special teams. Versus Louisville, he saw playing time in the Tulane secondary and responded with a pass break-up. In addition to playing on the Wave coverage teams, Parker is listed as the second team nickel back.
Hurting
To say the Green Wave has been bitten by the injury bug in 2003 is a huge understatement as Head Coach Chris Scelfo says the list of players who missed games this year is unlike anything he has experienced in his coaching career. Defensive end Michael Roberts was the latest addition to the list as he sat out the Memphis game with a sprained foot which has bothered him for several weeks. On a roster that numbers just 88 players, 23 (including three lost late last year or this spring to career-ending injuries) have missed games for the Green Wave in 2003 with a total of 109 games missed due to injury. Of those 23 players, 16 are defenders and at least 13 started games or were projected to start. The injury list has included players who have started games at linebacker (Blake Baker, Wesley Heath, Anthony Cannon), offensive line (Jimmy Kosienski, Will Blaylock), tight end (Bobby Hoover), defensive back (Jeremy Foreman, Joey Dawson, Darren Sapp) and defensive line (Bamm Mateen, Daniel Nevil, Michael Roberts).
Decimated
The Tulane defensive line has been particularly hard hit by injuries, including two career-ending disabilities, and by a pair of academic casualties. Nearly two full defensive lines have been wiped out, necessitating a huge influx of freshmen, not just into the mix, but into the starting line-up. In addition, in the last three weeks, Tulane has moved a pair of offensive linemen (Willie Christian and Mark Burgess), a linebacker (Brandt Quick) and a wide receiver (Preston Brown) to the defensive line. Christian, less than three weeks after moving to d-line, started the Memphis game at defensive end in place of the injured Michael Roberts.
Special Specialist
Freshman punter Chris Beckman has had his two best punting days of the season over the last two weeks, kicking 15 times for a 44-plus yard average in the last two weeks. Beckman, who ranks fourth in Conference USA in punting, has raised his season average to 41.9 yards on 45 kicks. While kicking a season-high eight times last week versus Memphis, Beckman also recorded his career-long punt of 54 yards.
Williams' Ways
Back from a broken ankle which led to a redshirt season last year, junior Roydell Williams notched his fourth 100-yard game of the year, and the seventh of his career, versus Louisville, while adding his 20th career TD. The LaPlace, La. native leads Tulane in receiving with 41 catches for 666 yards and six TDs as both his yardage and TD totals are more than the total any Green Wave receiver recorded in 2002. He has caught at least one pass in each of the last 23 games he has played. His 15-yard TD catch versus Texas, a juggling, 15-yard effort which he corralled while lying flat on his back in the corner of the endzone, was featured on ESPN's "SportsCenter" as its top play of the day. Williams' day versus the Longhorns included a 77-yard catch-and-run that was the longest pass completion at Tulane since 1999.
Two for 2,000
Within minutes of each other in the second half of the Louisville game, junior Roydell Williams and senior Mewelde Moore became just the seventh and eighth players in Tulane history to surpass the 2,000-yard mark in career receiving yards. Williams had a 54-yard catch in the fourth quarter to put him over the 2,000-yard mark, and to edge him ahead of Moore in seventh place on that career yardage list with 2,041. Moore, meanwhile, passed the 2,000-yard barrier on a 29-yard catch and run and finished the game with 2,007 career receiving yards. He is the only running back on the 2,000-yard receiver list, and on the C-USA career receiving chart.
A Rarity
Tulane's defense added two points to the team total versus Memphis when Anthony Cannon blocked the Tiger PAT attempt and Jeremy Foreman scooped up the ball and took it all the way back for the defensive PAT conversion. Cannon's block was Tulane's first blocked PAT in three seasons and 38 games, since Roxie Shelvin preserved a Green Wave win over UL-Lafayette on Oct. 7, 2000 with a block late in the game. The Wave's last blocked field goal was two games after that in that 2000 season.
"Quicker" By the Dozen
Back to his "familiar" linebacker spot, Brandt Quick, the former Kansas State, fullback recorded 12 tackles in a game for the fifth time in eight games versus Memphis. The Mandeville senior ranks second on the Wave defense in tackles with 78 and has 51 solo stops. The middle linebacker's four tackles for loss are third on the team. Add a forced fumble, a pair of pass break-ups and a sack to Quick's total and the move to defense two years ago is looking fortuitous for the Wave.
A Finalist
Tulane senior J.P. Losman was named one of seven finalists for the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Award last week, joining Eli Manning (Ole Miss), Jon Navarre (Michigan), Matt Schaub (Virginia), Jason White (Oklahoma), Philip Rivers (N.C. State and B.J. Symons (Texas Tech) on the list. The senior's 23 passing TDs, rank fourth in the nation and he has at least three TD tosses in five of Tulane's eight games this year. Losman surpassed his 2003 season total for TD passes in the seventh game versus Louisville. He leads Conference USA in passing and in total offense. The California native totalled 303, 353, 349 and 350 yards passing in the Wave's first four games this season. Complete information on the Tulane quarterback, who has been rated one of the top seniors in the 2004 NFL draft, is available at www.JP-Losman.com.
Line Time
Tulane's young offensive line continues to improve, with the two sophomores who man the left side of the line leading the way. Versus Texas, both left guard Matt Traina and left tackle Chris McGee graded out over 80 percent to record their top marks of the season as Tulane totalled a then season-high 156 rushing yards. In fact, over the last two weeks, Tulane has recorded its two highest rushing yardage totals of the year with 160 in the Louisville game and 192 last week versus Memphis. Traina earned the Tulane Coaches' Offensive Player of the Week honors after the Houston game while McGee followed that by earning the honor after the Louisville game. Just sophomores, both Matt Traina (his twin brother Joe starts beside him at center) and McGee have started 21 consecutive games dating back to 2002.
Coaches' Connections
Tulane defensive assistant coaches Giff Smith and Joey Houston are very familiar with Navy Head Coach Paul Johnson, having served on Johnson's staff at Georgia Southern prior to coming to Tulane. Smith, a GSU grad and a member of the school's Athletics Hall of Fame, coached the Eagles' secondary in 1997-98, Johnson's first two years as the Georgia Southern head coach. Houston was a member of the GSU coaching staff from 1997-99 before joining Smith at Tulane. Smith and/or Houston also coached at Georgia Southern with current Navy assistant coaches Brian Bohannon, Ivin Jasper and Jeff Monken. Navy inside linebackers coach Kevin Kelly, meanwhile, spent three years as an assistant coach at Tulane from 1992-94.
The Grass is Greener
Through the first eight games of the year, Tulane has played on just about every surface out there with its fourth "grass" game of the year up next at Navy. Tulane is 1-2 on grass so far this year and surprisingly, two of those outings have come in home games as the Green Wave is 1-1 on the grass surface of Tad Gormley Stadium. In all, Tulane will play six games on grass in 2003, including each of the next three. Under Chris Scelfo, the Wave is 8-17 on grass since the Liberty Bowl game in 1998.
All-Surface
In addition to its six grass games, Tulane will play three games on the Astroturf of the Superdome, as well as one on the FieldTurf surface at Louisville and once on the AstroPlay field at Army. Why THREE games and not four, even though the Wave plays in the Superdome four times? On October 23, the Superdome announced plans to remove the seven-year-old Astroturf and replace it with AstroPlay, the same surface which is on Tulane's Westfeldt Practice Facility fields. The new surface is scheduled to be installed in time for a New Orleans Saints game on Sunday, Nov. 16th and thus for the Wave's contest versus East Carolina the following Saturday. Tulane is 75-89 all-time on the 'Dome's Astroturf.
Slow-Starting
Tulane continues to start slow on the offensive end, having scored just 20 of its 240 points in the first quarter of its eight games. The Green Wave has been held scoreless in the opening period five times, including in each of its last three losses and has not scored more than seven points in the first quarter in any game this year. During its current four-game losing streak, the Wave has scored just 20 first-HALF points. By contrast, Tulane has scored 115 points, or 48 percent of its total, after the third quarter, exploding for 28 points versus TCU, scoring 17 in the fourth-quarter comeback versus Mississippi State and matching Army with 21 points in the final period. The Wave also put up 35 second-half points in the Houston game.
Fourth-Quarter Phenom
As Tulane has been successful in the fourth quarter on offense, so has quarterback J.P. Losman. In the fourth quarter of Tulane's first seven games (plus overtime versus Northwestern State), Losman completed 73.3 percent of his passes (63-of-86) for 877 yards, 11 touchdowns and two interceptions. At the time, those figures accounted for 43 percent of Losman's total passing yards and fully half of his touchdown passes. In addition, Losman played sparingly late in losses to Texas and Louisville, and passed less than five times each in those quarters while last week versus Memphis he was just one of six for 28 yards in the final period.
A Turnover Tale
Over the last two years, Tulane is 7-0 when quarterback J.P. Losman does not throw an interception and even though the Green Wave tied the turnover battle with Memphis, 2-2, its best tally on the turnover scorecard in the last four games, the Tigers were able to turn one of their INTs into seven points (the other came at the end of the first half). For the season, the Green Wave is on the plus side when it comes to turnovers, albeit by the slimmest of margins (20 for opponents, 19 by Tulane) but in its last four games, Tulane has committed 13 turnovers to just five for its opponents.
Fred's Firsts
Tulane's Fred Smith made his first career catch count versus Houston when the Slidell, La. product reached up to grab a J.P. Losman toss and half dove/half ran the remaining few yards into the end zone for a touchdown. That continued a trend of successful "firsts" for the freshman. Versus TCU in the season opener, Smith scored on the first kickoff return of his career when he brought a kick back 100 yards for a touchdown. His 672 kickoff return yards to date already rank seventh on the Tulane single season list while his 29 returns are tied for sixth.
Harrison is HOT
True freshman defensive end Billy Harrison has made the most of his three starts since the injury to senior Daniel Nevil, compiling 26 tackles with a pair of sacks and three tackles for loss in the last three contests. The 6-4, 220-pounder from Pensacola, Fla. has moved up to seventh on the Green Wave tackle chart with 39 on the year and ranks second in tackles for loss, behind only the injured Nevil. He has has also tied Nevil for the team lead in quarterback hurries with seven. Harrison leads all Tulane defensive linemen in tackles this year
He Scores Too!
With 36 career touchdowns after adding a 25-yard, tackle-breaking jaunt versus Louisville, Mewelde Moore ranks second in Tulane history and needs just two scores to break the 75-year-old Green Wave school record for TDs, set by Bill Banker from 1927-29. The senior also ranks second in C-USA history in touchdowns, five behind the all-time record of 41 by Cincinnati's DeMarco McCleskey.
Down to the Wire
Apparently, whichever team gets ahead by three at the end of Tulane games will come out the victor. Four of Tulane's eight games have been decided by a three-point margin with Tulane winning the Northwestern State (27-24) and Mississippi State (31-28) games on the last plays of the game, in overtime and regulation, respectively. TCU (35-38) and Houston (42-45), meanwhile, secured three-point wins over Tulane on the last plays of those games via an onside kick recovery and a sack, respectively.
Penalty-Free
For the first time under Chris Scelfo, a Tulane team finished the game with a "0" in the penalty category as the Wave was not penalized in the Louisville contest. Although a pair of pass interference infractions were called, one was declined by the Cardinals while the other was offset by a Louisville penalty. The previous low in penalties for a Scelfo-coached Tulane team was one in a 2001 loss to Army.
He's Number One
Tulane running back Mewelde Moore broke the Conference USA career record for rushing yards on a season-long 26-yard carry in the second half versus Mississippi State, surpassing the mark of 3,636 yards gained by Houston's Ketric Sanford (1996-99). Moore finished the game with 92 yards on 23 carries to add the league record for all-time carries. Then on a three-yard rush versus Texas, Moore broke the C-USA career all-purpose mark, also held by Sanford (5,817).
Free Football
In just the second overtime game in Tulane history history, All-America candidates J.P. Losman and Mewelde Moore hooked up on a 23-yard touchdown pass on the Green Wave's second play of OT to give Tulane a hard-fought 27-24 victory over Northwestern State at Tad Gormley Stadium. The Tulane defense had held NSU to a field goal on its overtime possession. Tulane is now 1-1 all-time in overtime.
Preseason Honors
Moore was recognized by Conference USA coaches this summer when he was selected the league's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year. Moore was one of three Tulane players named to the league's preseason all-conference team as he was joined on the list by offensive tackle Chris McGee and receiver Roydell Williams.
Top of the Class
Tulane Athletics, and specifically Tulane Football, continues to rank at the top of the NCAA heap in terms of graduation rates of its student-athletes. The football squad ranked 10th in the nation this year as 79 percent of the football players who entered school in 1996-97 graduated. In addition, 82 percent of the African-American football student-athletes earned their degrees. The Green Wave's overall graduation rate was also at 79 percent, the 14th-best mark in the nation.
ON THE AIR
Tulane-Navy on TV
There are a pair of broadcasts of the Tulane-Navy game. CN8, a cable network of Comcast, will air the contest across the East Coast. Tom Criqui will provide play-by-play. The game will also be televised by HDNet, which is available on DIRECTV, Dish Network, Charter Communications, Insight Communications, and other cable companies affiliated with the National Cable Television Cooperative.
Tulane-ISP Radio Network
Tulane games will be heard in the New Orleans area on WTIX-FM (94.3), WTIX-AM (690) and WJSH-FM (104.7) in 2003 as part of a 13-station network that stretches across the state and even into Florida. Sean Kelley calls the play-by-play action while former Tulane wide receiver Steve Barrios returns with color commentary and Todd Graffagnini is back on the sideline beat.
Market Station Freq.
Alexandria KDBS-AM 1410
*Baton Rouge WSKR-AM 1210
Bogalusa WBOX-FM 92.9
Bogalusa WBOX-AM 920
Chattahoochee (FL) WTCL-AM 1580
*Lafayette KROF-AM 960
Lake Charles KEZM-AM 1310
*New Orleans WTIX-FM 94.3
*New Orleans WTIX-AM 690
*Northshore WJSH-FM 104.7
Shreveport KEEL-AM 710
Thibodaux KTIB-AM 640
West Monroe KWJM-FM 92.7
*Will also carry Coaches' Call-In Show .
Tulane Coaches' Call-In Show
Head Coach Chris Scelfo will be the featured guest on the Tulane Coaches' Call-In Show every Monday from 7-8 p.m. during the season. Tulane radio voice Sean Kelley hosts the show, which is broadcast live from Superior Grill on St. Charles Ave. in New Orleans.
Tulane Football with Coach Chris Scelfo
"Tulane Football with Coach Chris Scelfo," will get you ready for the big game with game highlights and player features. Hosted by Sean Kelley, the show airs Saturday mornings at 10:30 a.m. throughout Louisiana on Cox Sports TV.
"Ringside" Radio
Tulane Athletics will be the featured topic on the radio show "Ringside" with host Jeff Crouere each Wednesday from 1:30 to 2 p.m. on WTIX-AM 690 in New Orleans.
