Football To Open Season Saturday vs. Southeastern Louisiana
Sep 2, 2011 | Football
Sept. 2, 2011
Tulane Game Notes
Southeastern Louisiana Game Notes
Conference USA Notes
Gameday Central
Tulane Live
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane University football team will formally kickoff the 2011 season on Saturday, Sept. 3, when the Green Wave play host to the Southeastern Louisiana Lions in the Louisiana Superdome. Kickoff is slated for 12:30 p.m. and fans are encouraged to wear green as part of Tulane's "Green Out The Dome" festivities.
The first 5,000 fans to rattle the turnstiles for Saturday's ballgame will receive a free promotional giveaway courtesy of Tulane Athletics. The game will be broadcast live on the flagship station of Green Wave football, WIST AM 690, and live video streaming is available on-line at www.TulaneGreenWave.com to paid members of the All-Access Pass. In addition, live stats are also available on the web courtesy of GameTracker, and a new, interactive option is available via "Tulane Live".
"I'm anxious to get going with the season," Tulane head football coach Bob Toledo said. "I'm anxious to see the progress we've made as a football program. I for one am really looking forward to it. We had a very productive fall football camp. Obviously, we're tired of hitting each other just like every other team in the country is. We feel that we're ready to play at this point. We can't wait for Saturday, and I hope the fans, the boosters and the people feel the same as we do."
The Green Wave return 49 lettermen, including 14 starters (seven offense, seven defense), from last year's team. Headlining the list of veterans are a trio of preseason watchlist members as well as junior quarterback Ryan Griffin and senior defensive end Dezman Moses.
Sophomore running back Orleans Darkwa is back and was named to the Doak Walker Award Watchlist following a freshman campaign in 2010 that saw the Nashville, Tenn., native set a school freshman record with 925 rushing yards and 11 touchdowns. Junior wide receiver Ryan Grant claimed a spot on the Biletnikoff Award Watchlist after hauling in 33 passes for 515 yards and four scores a year ago, while junior linebacker Trent Mackey garnered mention on the Rotary Lombardi Award Watchlist after posting a team-best 124 tackles (63 solo, 61 assists) and three forced fumbles to go with 7.5 tackles for loss last season.
Griffin is back for his third season under center and enters the 2011 campaign ranked atop the Tulane record book in career completion percentage (.613) while ranking second in completions per game (18.2), fourth in passing attempts per game (29.7) and passing yards per game (187.6), sixth in touchdown passes per game (1.15) and passing efficiency (187.6), seventh in 300-yard passing games (3), eighth in passing yards (3,753), pass attempts (594) and completions (364), and ninth in touchdown passes (23).
Moses, meanwhile, earned second-team All-Louisiana honors last year after tying for the team lead in forced fumbles (3) and fumble recoveries (2) while ranking second in tackles for loss (11.5) and sacks (6.0), and tied for sixth with 51 tackles (22 solo, 29 assists). In addition, Tulane brings back all three of its key special teamers - junior deep snapper John Edwards, sophomore place kicker Cairo Santos and sophomore punter Jonathan Ginsburgh - and added 28 newcomers for the 2011 season.
Southeastern Louisiana comes to town with 37 returning lettermen, including 11 starters, from its 2010 team which finished 2-9. The Lions are in their fifth season under the direction of head coach Mike Lucas and are under the field direction of junior quarterback Brian Young. Young played in six games last year when he passes for 1,012 yards and four touchdowns. His favorite target was Simmie Yarborough, who returns for his senior season after catching 60 passes for 709 yards and nine scores.
Juniors Sam Fairley and Zeke Jones are the team's top returning ground gainers. Fairley finished with 579 yards and one touchdown while Jones ran for 380 yards and eight scores.
Defensively, safety Ryan Gadore is the team's top returning in tackles with 42 (32 solo, 10 assists) and the Lions will look to some new faces as the team's top six tacklers from a year ago have since moved on.
Saturday's game will mark the sixth meeting between the two programs and Tulane leads the all-time series, 5-0. The Green Wave are 2-0 vs. the Lions under Toledo with a 35-27 win on Sept. 22, 2007, and a 27-21 decision in last year's season opener.
"Mike Lucas has done a nice job at Southeastern Louisiana," Toledo said. "Like myself, he started five years ago and he's tried to build that program. The last two times we played them...it was a really close ballgame. They've given us everything we can handle. We have to show up and are ready to play. It's the first game of the season, it's at home, and obviously we need to get off to a good start."
The Southeastern Louisiana game is the first of two home contests for the Green Wave as Tulane will open the Conference USA portion of its schedule on Saturday, Sept. 10, against Tulsa. Kickoff for that ballgame is slated for 2:30 p.m. and will be aired live on Cox Sports Television.
Season ticket sales are still available through the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office, with packages starting as low as $90. Single-game sideline tickets are $35, adult endzone seats selling for $20 and youth endzone seats cost $10.
The Ticket Office is located on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr., Center on Ben Weiner Drive, and tickets can be purchased in person, over the phone at 504-861-WAVE (9283) or via the Internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com. The tickets windows at the Louisiana Superdome will open at 10:30 a.m. on Saturday and game-day tickets can be purchased at Gates B and F. Gates will open at 11:30 a.m.
