Returning home after a furious comeback effort in Oxford fell short, LSU was looking to notch their first SEC win under Lane Kiffin. They were welcoming the Texas A&M Aggies, who were also coming off of a loss in their conference opener. Both losses were very much different, though. The Tigers lost on the road to a top-10 Ole Miss team in what was one of the most anticipated regular season games in recent history. Kiffin’s return turned that game in to a spectacle and even if not for the extra flair, it was still a road loss to a good team that made it to the College Football Playoff semi-final last year with the best quarterback and running back in the country. The Aggies, on the other hand, fell to Kentucky as 17-point favorites at home. That’s right, the Wildcats in just their fourth game under new head coach, Will Stein, walked in to Kyle Field and dominated Texas A&M 31-21. They out-physicaled Mike Elko’s team, who prides themselves in physicality. Loser of this game was going to be in big trouble. Suffering a second loss before the calendar turns to October would be devastating. LSU seemed to be in better shape coming in, but Marcel Reed was coming to Tiger Stadium with all of the confidence in the world with what he did in this matchup for the past two years. It was this very game in 2025 that became an Aggie blowout, emptying Death Valley and eventually getting Brian Kelly fired the next day. Blake Baker’s capabilities were being called in to question, as ridiculous as that sounds. LSU needed this one and was relying on Sam Leavitt to bounce back after a shaky performance in week 3. He faced an extra hurdle in this one, but one that Kiffin joked afterwards, actually may have helped him. 1st quarter flow For the third straight game, LSU’s first possession ended in a 3-and-out. Texas A&M took over and when Marcel Reed scrambled for 12 yards on the first play, shades of the past two years quickly arose. Thankfully, the Tiger defense locked in to force a quick punt after just one first down. Taking over at their own 18, that’s when Sam Leavitt and the offense went to work. Big plays of 19, 36, and 15 yards helped set up a 1 yard touchdown run by Dilin Jones on a direct snap. After another Aggie 3-and-out, Leavitt made one of his only mistakes of the night. On a 3rd down scramble in which he easily had the first down, he slid too early and Lane Kiffin chose to punt. Reuben Owens started the Texas A&M drive with a 16 yard run, but that would be all, leading to the third punt of the opening quarter. LSU would answer with a 3-and-out of their own. A 16 yard pass from Reed to Mario Craver on 3rd and 14 extended their next drive as the quarter came to an end. 1st quarter summary Despite the one touchdown drive, the Tigers left quite a few opportunities on the field. It was clear early that they were the better team, but some rustiness out of the gates seemed to prevent them from getting off to too hot of a start. On the other side, Blake Baker’s gameplan for Reed was off to a great start. Each team punted the ball 3 times in the quarter, but LSU had outgained Texas A&M 101-55. 2nd quarter flow Following the big 3rd down conversion to end the quarter, the Aggies put together their one really good drive of the night. They gained 5 first downs and looked poised to tie the game when Reed scrambled with a clear path to the endzone, but a shoestring tackle by PJ Woodland tripped him up. After a 1st and goal from the 7 yard line, Baker’s defense bowed up and forced the short field goal attempt. David Olano booted a 24 yard field goal to make it a 7-3 game. When the Tigers got the ball back, Leavitt found Jackson Harris for a big gain of 26 to start the drive. Although that would be their only first down, something else of significance happened. On a 3rd and 12, Leavitt scrambled, but came up gimpy as he ran out of bounds. Grant Chadwick punted the ball away for the fourth time, but it appeared as if Kiffin’s quarterback was hampered. The defense forced another 3-and-out and LSU took over at their own 17 yard line with just over 4 minutes in the half. It became the Leavitt to Winnie Watkins drive, as the two connected on passes of 35 and 36 yards. On just the seventh play of the drive, Harris came down with an acrobatic touchdown catch to cap off the 83 yard drive that took just 2:21 off of the clock. Although Reed was able to find Isaiah Horton for a big gain of 27 to get across midfield, a holding penalty brought them back and Mike Elko chose to head to halftime down 14-3. 2nd quarter summary Both offenses were able to get a little more going in the 2nd quarter, but only LSU was able to find the endzone. Texas A&M dominated time of possession with 10:09, but only came away with 3 points to show for it. Leavitt was starting to get warmed up and in rhythm with both Harris and Watkins, but the concern was his injury. Although he stayed in the game, going to sit for 15-20 minutes at halftime is always something to watch. 3rd quarter flow The Aggies received the opening kickoff of the second half, but on a short 3rd and 3 to start the drive, Tamarcus Cooley blitzed Reed for a sack to force another 3 and out. Tyler White continued his stellar night of punting, booting a 58 yard punt that flipped the field from their own 21 to the LSU 21 yard line. After a first down, the Tigers faced a 3rd and 1 near midfield. Jones got stuffed for a no gain, bringing up a 4th and 1 from in their own territory. Kiffin later said that he was strongly considering a punt with how well the defense was playing, but at the last second, he remembered who he is and why he was brought to LSU. To make things happen. LSU lined up in their tight, direct snap package that they’ve shown through three and a half games, but just before the snap, Jones and Leavitt casually shifted over. The quarterback took the snap and Harris snuck through the entire Texas A&M defense that had crashed for the run. Leavitt hit him in stride with no one within 20 yards and the Tigers were in full control at 21-3. Facing an immediate 3-and-out, Elko decided to go for it on 4th and 1 from their own 34 yard line. Davhon Keys, in for an injured Whit Weeks, burst through the hole and stuffed Carsyn Baker to force a turnover on downs. With their best starting field position of the night, Leavitt and the offense were looking for the knockout blow. They never faced a 3rd down, getting down to the 8 yard line with a 1st and goal. Following an incomplete pass, Landen Clark came on to the field for 2nd down. It had become clear that while Leavitt could throw, he wasn’t going to be able to run. No problem, because Clark juked a Texas A&M defender out of his cleats at the line of scrimmage and jetted around the left side to make the Aggies pay for their desperation decision. It was 28-3 and the Tigers were rolling. Badly needing something to go his way, Reed was sacked on the very first play of their drive by Princewill Umanmielen for a loss of 17, which effectively ended that drive. Fortunately for them, Leavitt was intercepted on the very next play after Sam M’Pemba got a piece of his arm on his throw, causing the ball to flutter right in to the waiting hands of Marcus Ratcliffe. With the ball in LSU territory for the first time in the second half, the Aggies picked up a few yards on a run, but followed with back-to-back incompletions. Looking for anything to go their way, Texas A&M opted for a 53 yard field goal by Olano, which he nailed to make it 28-6. Charlie Weis Jr’s offense came right back out in turbo mode, once again not facing a 3rd down all drive. Completions of 15 yards to Watkins and 36 yards to Harris quickly got the Tigers in to the redzone where they cashed in, yet again. It was Clark for the second time, coming in to the game on the goal line to run a QB keeper to extend the lead to 35-6. The night full of miscues continued for Texas A&M when Rueben Owens II called for a fair catch on the kickoff, but muffed it, downing the ball at their own 1 yard line. Carsyn Baker broke for a 10 yard run to give them some breathing room as time expired in the 3rd quarter. 3rd quarter summary Straight up domination is the only way to describe the start to the second half for LSU. They outscored Texas A&M 21-3 and outgained them 181 yards to just 17. Baker’s defense really ramped up the pressure on Reed, sacking him 3 times. Leavitt was clearly hobbled and basically throwing off of one leg, but somehow looked as good as he ever has while passing the ball. The sequence of the 4th and short Harris touchdown reception and the Aggies turning the ball over on downs in their own territory was essentially the end of the game. 4th quarter flow After the nice run to end the 3rd quarter, Texas A&M quickly found themselves with a 3rd and 15 from their own 6 yard line when Rees scrambled to his right and tried to force a ball in to coverage. Cooley made a nice catch on the sideline and kept his feet inbounds at the Aggie 19 yard line, then the secondary celebrated with the infamous Yell Leader dance right in front of the Yell Leaders. After getting down to the 8 yard line, LSU had to settle for a Scott Starzyk field goal attempt after Zach Grace dropped a sure touchdown. Shockingly, he missed the 24 yard chip shot. Reed’s struggles continued with more incompletions and more pressure. They waived the white flag when they punted on a 4th and 2. Landen Clark was back out for his second full drive after taking over following the Cooley interception, this time joined by Harlem Berry who was finally getting some opportunities. He looked good, notching runs of 18, 14, and 17 yards on the final few drives. Backup Aggie quarterback Brady Hart entered the game and was picked off on his first attempt by Michael Turner Jr. Clark, again, got the Tigers down inside of the 10 yard line, but once again was let down by his receiver. As time was running down, Kiffin let the offense throw the ball on 4th and goal, but Brown dropped an easy ball that hit him right in the numbers. Texas A&M took over and ran the ball once to let the time expire as LSU won 35-6. 4th quarter summary With this game being over in the 3rd quarter, this was mostly an opportunity for some of the 2’s, which rarely happens in an SEC game. Clark got to run the full offense for a few drives and Berry got some much needed carries. After not seeing any offensive snaps until the 4th quarter in any game so far in 2026, he moved up to RB2 and was also in the game earlier. With Stacy Gage unable to do much in that spot, Berry may have the chance to take hold of the backup job directly behind Dilin Jones. Although there was no scoring in the 4th quarter, the Tigers still managed to gain 99 yards of offense and 5 1st downs. Their 10:16 time of possession to close the game finally put the Aggies out of their misery. Final summary Lane Kiffin and his staff could not have asked for a better bounce back performance from his team. He mentioned in his post game interview that while last week may have been Ole Miss’s super bowl, it wasn’t theirs. They felt as if they blew a chance to complete a nice comeback and quickly turned their attention to Texas A&M. Aside from some first half miscues, the offense played very well, especially behind the arm of Sam Leavitt. That’s the first time this season that we’ve been able to credit his throwing more than his running. The injury turned out to be a slight hamstring pull, which he and Kiffin both revealed in post game pressers. He stated that he will be perfectly fine, but with a giant mismatch against McNeese coming this weekend, there’s a good chance that Leavitt and others get the week off to rest. With some of the other major injuries that LSU has already sustained, they have to play it safe. As for the defense, Blake Baker shut up every single doubter. The narrative that he can’t stop a mobile quarterback came to a screeching halt with his unit holding Marcel Reed to -13 yards rushing. Following the confusing soft coverage against the Rebels in Oxford, LSU got back to their agressive, physical man coverage. They looked like the defense that we expect and, quite frankly, had Reed in hell the entire night. Despite a massive SEC blowout win, the biggest story of the night was, unfortunately, bad news. The aforementioned Whit Weeks sustained a broken fibula in the 3rd quarter and had to leave the sideline in a boot and on crutches. He was seen being taken to the Football Ops building on a golf cart before the game ended. On Sunday, Lonn Phillips Sullivan of LSU Odyssey was the first to report the injury and that he was set to have surgery on Monday. We’ve since learned that his surgery went well and there is optimism of a potential return around the Alabama or Texas game in November. For now, LSU will turn their attention to their final non-conference opponent of the 2026 season, the McNeese Cowboys. The two will kick off on Saturday night in Death Valley for 6:45 pm. Stay tuned for a full game preview coming soon on The Kneaux. For more, follow me on X @DCBilliotJr

Coming into the 2026 season, the outlook for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns was pretty wide and filled with uncertainty. We knew Louisiana had a schedule favorable enough for a 9-10 win season, but youth, depth concerns and the reminder of how injury-heavy last season was left plenty of unknowns. Well, the Cajuns are four games in now, and a lot of those questions have started to be answered. Some of those answers may not be what we expected, but one thing is for sure: this Cajuns team has the potential to make some noise this season. UL is 3-1 heading into Sun Belt play after wins over a really good (and ranked) FCS team in Lamar, a middle-of-the-pack UAB team, and a struggling Charlotte team, with its lone loss coming on the road against the 14th best team in the country, the Big Ten’s USC Trojans. Were those results expected in the preseason? Pretty much. But how Louisiana has gotten to 3-1 has told us a lot more about this team than the record itself. Here’s what we know through four games. The Defense is Playing Lights Out At this point, it’s pretty clear what the strength of this football team is. Through four games, Louisiana’s defense is allowing about 261 yards per game. Take away the USC game, where the Trojans finished with 483 yards, and that number drops below 190. Even more impressive, Louisiana’s defense has allowed just one offensive touchdown in its three wins. The best performance came this past weekend against Charlotte. Louisiana held the 49ers to just 137 total yards, the fewest allowed by a Cajuns defense since giving up only 57 against Nicholls in 2001. UL also forced four turnovers, held Charlotte to fewer than 30 rushing yards and allowed just one conversion on third or fourth down all game. Defensive back Brent Gordon Jr. was all over the field in Charlotte, finishing with seven tackles, two pass breakups, an interception, two forced fumbles and a fumble recovery. That earned him Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week honors, just one week after Collin Jacob earned the same award following the win over UAB, when Louisiana held the Blazers to 218 total yards. This defense has shown a lot of talent and appears to be one of the best units not only in the Sun Belt, but among the Group of 6. Head coach Michael Desormeaux said Tuesday that he still doesn’t think this defense is anywhere close to reaching its full potential. But considering how well it has already played, that’s a pretty encouraging thought heading into conference play. The Offense Revolves Around Lunch Winfield’s Legs The offensive side has proven to be a little more complicated. Coming into the season, we knew Louisiana was going to need some guys to step up at wide receiver. The Cajuns lost several proven playmakers, while Shelton Sampson Jr. was expected to lead the group after finishing with 537 receiving yards last season despite missing time with injury. But so far through four games, Sampson has yet to have a reception following a week one injury to his ankle in the first quarter. Landon Strother was also working his way back from a collarbone injury suffered during fall camp, so suddenly to start the season, Louisiana was without their two starting outside receivers. Because of that, a lot of the offense has fallen on quarterback Lunch Winfield, especially with his legs. Through four games, Winfield has rushed for 295 yards and six touchdowns, averaging nearly 74 yards per game. Six of Louisiana’s 16 offensive touchdowns have come from him on the ground. The passing game hasn’t been nonexistent, but it hasn’t exactly been explosive either. Winfield has thrown for 660 yards and two touchdowns. Redshirt freshman Russell Babineaux has stepped up with 116 receiving yards, while KeDarius Wade and tight ends Caden Jensen and Brock Chappell have also made plays when needed. Not eye-popping numbers to say the least, and the deep passing threat has been pretty limited. That’s not exactly shocking with such a young receiving room, but it is something Louisiana will eventually need more of as the competition gets tougher. The good news is the Cajuns are finally getting healthier. Strother came back against UAB in week three, where he played a big role in the narrow victory. Sampson returned against Charlotte last weekend in a limited role. Trenton Chaney, who also injured his ankle week one, is back in the lineup as well. Maybe that changes what this offense looks like over the next few weeks. It needs to, because Louisiana’s offensive production has gone in the wrong direction since the opener. The Cajuns had nearly 475 yards of offense against Lamar. Against Charlotte, they finished with fewer than 300. They still won 34-7, but the defense and turnovers played a big role in creating that margin. That’s probably my biggest concern heading into conference play. What happens when Louisiana plays a team where the defense isn’t completely controlling the game? Against Charlotte, Winfield was held in check both through the air and on the ground. Luckily, Charlotte’s offense was nowhere good enough to create any spark. For now, every team preparing for Louisiana is going to start with the same thing: figuring out how to contain Lunch Winfield. Updated Record Prediction Before the season, I really didn’t know what to expect from this team. The schedule looked favorable, but this was also a young group coming off a season where injuries caused problems seemingly every week. That’s why I had Louisiana’s floor at 4-8, its ceiling at 11-1 and ultimately predicted an 8-4 finish. Four games later, I certainly feel better about this team than I did before the season. The Cajuns have won the games they were expected to win and lost the one they were expected to lose (and played better in that game than many expected). But the biggest thing that has changed my outlook is how good this defense looks. Here’s where I stand now: Absolute floor: 7-5 Projected record: 9-3 Absolute ceiling: 11-1 If Louisiana can stay relatively healthy, I really don’t see a reason why this team can’t win at least half of its eight conference games and finish no worse than 7-5. Defensively, I think this is one of the better units in the Group of 6 right now, and that alone should give the Cajuns a chance in just about every game left on the schedule. On the other end, I also think this team has the potential to win out and play in the Sun Belt Championship Game. We know the defense is capable of getting them there. The question is whether this offense can improve enough to consistently play four full quarters. Maybe getting Sampson, Strother and Chaney back helps make that happen, but we need to see it first. For now, I’m predicting Louisiana finishes 9-3, with losses to Louisiana Tech and Georgia State. Louisiana Tech may only be 1-2, but its two losses came against LSU and Baylor, and the Bulldogs played well at times in both games, especially defensively. Add in the renewal of the rivalry and a road trip to Ruston, and I think that will be one of the toughest games left on the schedule. Georgia State is another one. The Panthers are 3-1 and have shown plenty of ability to move the ball offensively, and Louisiana has to travel to Atlanta for that matchup in the final week of the regular season. Originally, I thought Louisiana’s toughest stretch would come in mid-October against Louisiana Tech, Troy and Southern Miss. Four games into the season, that doesn’t look quite the same. Southern Miss has been disappointing so far, and Troy hasn’t really lived up to preseason expectations either. But that’s how college football goes. A lot can change in four weeks, and plenty more will change over the next two months. But right now, I think we have a much better idea of what this Louisiana team is than we did before the season, and it’s trending in the right direction. The defense looks legitimate, Lunch has become the centerpiece of the offense, and the receiving corps is finally getting healthier. Now we get to see how all of that carries over into Sun Belt play. So, my prediction heading into conference play: 9-3 overall, 7-1 in conference play and a trip to Harrisonburg, Virginia to play former UL head coach Billy Napier and the James Madison Dukes in the Sun Belt Championship Game.

Colonels will use a seven-game home fall schedule to begin replacing major production from a 31-win team

The U.S. Senate passed the Protect College Sports Act 77-22 on Monday night, sending the most ambitious federal overhaul of college athletics in decades to the House. For Tulane, a private AAC program that just used the transfer portal and its Green Wave Talent Fund to reach the College Football Playoff, the bill is less about joining the Power 4 and more about whether the current model can be made sustainable. The legislation, co-authored by Sens. Ted Cruz and Maria Cantwell, would create a single national framework for NIL, transfers, eligibility, and compensation after years of state-by-state rules and court-driven chaos. It is not yet law! The House is on recess until after the midterms, and passage there is not guaranteed. Still, the Senate vote itself is a signal that Congress intends to impose order on a system that has rewarded programs able to cycle talent quickly, Tulane among them. Roster rules that would slow the portal. Undergraduates would receive one penalty-free transfer. A second move would require sitting out a year. Eligibility would be standardized at five years. Those two changes would have altered the 2025 and 2026 Green Wave football rosters, which featured dozens of incoming and outgoing transfers after Jon Sumrall’s departure for Florida and the arrival of first-year coach Will Hall. Tulane men’s and women’s basketball have also leaned heavily on the portal. A one-and-done transfer rule would not freeze movement entirely, graduate transfers would still have more flexibility but it would raise the cost of serial jumping. For a program that has turned roster turnover into a competitive advantage, the trade-off is clearer recruiting calendars and fewer mid-cycle surprises. The bill also includes a “Lane Kiffin rule” restricting FBS coaches from leaving for another head-coaching job in-season. Sumrall’s move occurred after the season, so it would not have applied, but the provision is aimed at the kind of mid-year instability that has become common. Money: caps, retention funds, and the Talent Fund The House settlement already allows schools to share roughly $21–22 million in revenue with athletes. The Protect College Sports Act would add a $22.5 million “retention fund” that can grow to $27.5 million if a school also spends on NIL for women’s and Olympic sports. Combined, the ceiling approaches $50 million per school. Tulane’s Green Wave Talent Fund, launched with major gifts from alumni and a $100,000 donation from Sumrall himself, already exists to handle direct payments and NIL in the post-settlement world. The new federal buckets would give the athletic department additional, legally shielded tools to keep players rather than constantly replacing them. Whether Tulane can actually spend to the cap depends on media revenue, donations, and CFP performance money, the AAC’s unique performance-based distribution already delivered Tulane an $8.1 million CFP payout after its 2025 title. #RollWave Make sure to follow Patrick Harkness on X

Jordan Carraway- @JordanCarraway6 6-6/295 Dallas, TX As projected Tulane lands a talented OL man. Carraway possesses excellent size, length, and frame for a college interior lineman or swing tackle, with long arms/wingspan, good hip flexibility, and surprising athleticism/explosiveness for his mass. • Elite Size & Power: Massive frame with long arms; mauls at the POA in zone schemes, drives defenders backward, and finishes blocks violently into the second level. Heavy hands, strong punch, and tenacious “mean streak.” • Athleticism & Movement: Nimble feet, good hip flexibility, quick get-off, and lateral agility for his size. Excels pulling, sealing lanes, and mirroring in pass pro with a firm base and quick kick-slide. • Technique & Motor: Consistent pad level, violent hands upon engagement, high effort through the whistle. Camp notes call him one of the most consistent in 1-on-1 pass pro and run drills. • Versatility & Upside: Experience at guard/tackle; track athleticism and early production suggest high developmental ceiling. #RollWave Make sure to follow Patrick Harkness on X

This one was no fun. The New Orleans Saints fell to the Las Vegas Raiders 35-27 in a game that turned on its head in the fourth quarter. The Raiders got on the board early in the first quarter with a 41-yard field goal from Matt Gay before the Black and Gold took the lead on a touchdown pass from Tyler Shough to Juwan Johnson. The Raiders scored 10 unanswered points with another field goal from Gay and a touchdown strike to Michael Mayer from Kirk Cousins made it 13-7. Later in the quarter, the Saints tied it up inside of the two-minute warning when Shough found Noah Fant for the score. New Orleans then stood up and forced a field goal at the end of the first half to make it 16-13 Vegas at the half The Black and Gold came out of the locker room and took control of the game, scoring on back-to-back drives to make it 27-16 with 5:46 left in the third quarter. The Raiders quickly answered with a 36-yard touchdown run from Mike Washington Jr to cut it to a 27-22 game. This is when things fell apart. A missed pass interference call against Devaughn Vele forced the Saints to punt, which led to another Raiders touchdown. Then, a fumble on a sack to Shough was recovered by the Raiders in a situation very similar to Jared Goff’s in Week 1 that cost the Saints that win. Vegas scored what would be the final touchdown with 6:22 remaining in the game after a missed holding call on 3rd down to take a 35-27 lead, and the Saints had multiple opportunities to find the end zone, but multiple fumbles and an interception stalled everything as the Raiders improved to 3-0 on the season and the Saints fell to 1-2. The killer for the Black and Gold had to be the four turnovers in the fourth quarter. New Orleans will now battle Atlanta on Monday night inside Caesars Superdome.

Tulane football is not short on players who will compete. That much was clear in the 28-24 win over South Alabama, when the Green Wave found a way at Yulman and reminded everyone what this roster can look like when the plan matches the talent. The problem sitting over this 2-2 start is not effort in the locker room. It is decision-making in the offices above it. From the December search to the portal to the Week 1 depth chart to who is wearing the headset on Saturdays, the staff has spent nine months choosing caution when the moment called for conviction. The players have been asked to live with those choices. That is the story of this season so far. The hire that set the tone: When Jon Sumrall left for Florida after a College Football Playoff run, Tulane held one of the best Group of Five jobs in the country. The search did not treat it that way. Blake Baker, a former Green Wave linebacker and then LSU’s defensive coordinator, was the first choice. Tulane interviewed him. Memphis interviewed him. Lane Kiffin used that interest the way a Power program uses it. He kept Baker in Baton Rouge on a three-year deal reported at $9.3 million. Baker later said the alma mater pull was real, then said there was “not a better defensive coordinator job” than the one he already had. Tulane became the leverage, not the landing spot. By the time Baker was off the board, the rest of the short list had moved. Bob Chesney went to UCLA. Charles Huff went to Memphis. Billy Napier landed at James Madison. Jason Candle took UConn. The window closed, and the athletic department promoted from inside. Will Hall knows this place. He coordinated the offense here in 2019 and 2020. He came back in 2025 as passing-game coordinator. Continuity after a historic year had an argument. It was also the option left after the favorite used the opening to get paid at LSU and every other serious name took a job elsewhere. A championship program spent its most important offseason decision waiting, then settled. That is how the year started. It is also how the year has been coached. Caution in the portal: Hall was open about the quarterback plan. The staff did not want to “over-sign transfers and squish the development” of the young players already in the room. The idea was two older quarterbacks to compete, then let Trace Johnson, Jay Beamon, Bruno and Cade Scott grow behind them. That sounds careful. In this sport, it also sounds like a staff more worried about hurting feelings in the meeting room than about winning the first month. The previous year Sumrall brought in 4 potential guys fighting for one job. Jake Retzlaff was gone. The 2025 offense ran through him. The response was not a finished portal veteran who had just won at this level. The response in the portal was way more to be desired. The same hesitation showed up on the DL. The Wave added players. What the staff did not add was a true veteran pass-rush closer, the kind of player who wrecks a game in September while a new defensive staff is still installing, granted that was supposed to be McCallister but he is no longer on the roster. Through the first three games Tulane had one team sack. A defense that posted 34 sacks across 13 games a year ago was generating almost nothing. That is not the players failing to rush. That is a personnel plan that asked a transitioning front to create pressure without the one piece that makes a new scheme look fast. Protect the room. Don’t scare anyone into the portal. Those are coaching and front-office choices. They have shown up on third down, run defense, and pass rush. Week 1 starter Decision: Chriss-Gremillion at Duke. Hall cited experience, dual-threat ability, fewer turnovers in practice, and speed. That is a coaching evaluation. It is also the evaluation that put the wrong plan on the field for the opener. Duke 17-3. Chriss was pulled at halftime. Semonza finished the game and started the next one. Against South Alabama he threw for 212 yards, Jaylin Lucas ran for 214, and Tulane won 28-24. Led an amazing comeback and beautiful throw. None of that is an indictment of Chriss as a player. He did what the staff asked him to do in a system still being installed. The mistake was the decision itself: taking the more natural passer off the card for Week 1 on the road against a Power conference defense because the staff liked the look of the dual-threat package in August. Starting Semonza a week later was the correction. The correction should not have been required. I like Semonza a lot and want nothing more than success for him but he is not a finished product. No quarterback in this room is, because the staff chose not to bring in a finished one. That, again, is on the people drawing the depth chart. Callaway on the headset: Russ Callaway is in his first season as Tulane’s offensive coordinator. He held the same title at Florida a year ago. He last called plays as a primary play-caller at Samford. The offense this fall has looked like a staff still arguing with itself about what it wants to be. The scoring line is the tell: 3 points at Duke, 28 at home against South Alabama, 20 at Kansas State, 24 against USM. 18 points per game. Three hundred fourteen yards per game. When Lucas gets 214 on the ground, this team can win a one-score game. When the run game is contained and the passing attack has to carry a series, the operation slows down and the play sheet feels a series or two behind. That is not receivers dropping balls (minus USM) or backs missing holes as a rule. It is structure. Protection. Tempo. Play selection on second-and-medium. The things a play-caller is paid to solve. Hall is an offensive coach. That is why he was hired. Leaving the call sheet with a first-year coordinator while the offense searches for an identity is the same pattern as the hire and the portal: defer, protect, wait. The first change should be the headset. Will Hall should call the offense from here on out. That is not a public firing. It is the head coach taking ownership of the unit he was sold as being able to run. A defense that has not been put in position to look like itself: Tayler Polk inherited real pieces. Jack Tchienchou and Dickson Agu are still here. Chris Rodgers (Hurt) is still here. Kevin Adams III has been around the ball. The names are familiar. The results have not matched the standard this program set a year ago. Tulane is allowing 24 points and 429 yards per game. Opponents are running for 211 yards a night. The pass rush has not arrived until they played a bad USM team. The players are tackling and competing. They are not dictating, because the staff did not give this front the veteran disruption it needed and has not yet found a way to manufacture it with what is here. Granted some positives did come from USM. A playoff defense does not become average because the calendar flipped. It becomes average when the scheme and play-calling haven’t been up to par and need to be re-tooled. Give Trace Johnson a real plan: Trace Johnson is a true freshman. He is also the best pure passer on the roster, and people inside the building have said as much since spring. Hall has called him driven, accurate, and the kind of player who would have carried a different recruiting label if he were three inches taller. Johnson was in the offices watching film at 5 a.m. the morning after he was told he was not in the Week 1 mix. That is not a kid hiding from the moment. That is a kid the staff recruited as the next Pratt or Mensah, then parked. From here on, he should get a shot. Not a garbage-time cameo. A plan. If the offense keeps settling, the coaching staff owes this season a look at the quarterback it asked fans to be patient for. Protecting the room in January only works if the room is used. Using it means Johnson is in the conversation now. What is still true: The South Alabama win was not a fluke of officiating or weather. It was this roster when the staff simplified enough to let the skill players work. Lucas looked like the most explosive back on the field. Johnnie Daniels and Maurice Turner give Tulane a backfield that can tilt a game. Destyn Hill and Anthony Brown-Stephens can take the top off a coverage. Tchienchou, Agu, and Adams will play. The locker room that went to Oxford in December did not forget how to compete in nine months. Hall knows Yulman. He knows this city. The American schedule is still in front of them, Army, Memphis, UTSA, the November stretch. None of that is closed. A 2-2 start in a transition year is not a death sentence if the next set of decisions is better than the last one. The last year-plus has been a study in hesitation at the top: letting Baker walk the job to a raise in Baton Rouge, refusing to crowd the quarterback room, passing on veteran edge help, naming the wrong starter in Week 1, and handing the offense to a coordinator still finding the fit. The players have answered when they have been put in position. The correction is not a press conference about culture. It is Hall taking the headset, Johnson getting real snaps, and this staff coaching the roster it has like a playoff program it is. South Alabama showed what this team looks like when the decisions catch up to the talent. That version is still available. The rest of the season will tell us whether the people making the choices are done being careful. Look you may not agree with me on this or like it, but I’m just trying to be 100% honest with how I feel with the state of Tulane football. I love this team to much to settle for mediocrity. I want nothing more than success for all the players, Tulane and its coaches now and in the future. Hopefully in Jan we can look back at this and say I was dead wrong and everyone can call me an idiot. Nothing would make me happier! #RMFW #RollWave #WinTheAAC Make sure to follow Patrick Harkness on X