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Navy vs. Tulane: Showdown in the Bayou

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Navy and Tulane will meet for the 23rd time in series history and for the fourth time as American Athletic Conference foes as they square off on Saturday morning at Yulman Stadium (30,000) in New Orleans. Kickoff is set for 11:00 am (CT), 12:00 pm (ET).

Navy will try and play spoiler on Saturday as a win by Tulane would put the Green Wave in a bowl game for the first time since 2013, for the second time in the last 16 years and for the 12th time in school history. Navy is just 2-8-1 all-time in New Orleans.

Navy is coming off a 37-29 win over Tulsa as senior quarterback Zach Abey rushed for 128 yards and two touchdowns on 26 carries. The Mids topped 100 yards rushing using in all three facets of the triple option (quarterbacks 128 yards on 26 carries, fullbacks 111 yards on 23 carries and slot backs 156 yards on 12 carries).

Navy has lost 11 straight games played away from Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. The Mids last win away from home was on Sept. 30, 2017, when the Mids won at Tulsa, 31-21.

Seven of Navy’s 11 games have come against teams that are bowl eligible. The Mids are 1-6 in those games (beat Memphis).  Two of Navy’s losses have come against two of the four remaining undefeated teams in the country (Notre Dame and UCF)

Scouting Tulane
•    Tulane enters Saturday’s game with a 5-6 record, including a 4-3 mark in the American Athletic Conference West Division. The Green Wave have won three of their last four games.
•    Tulane owns victories over Nicholls State (42-17), Memphis (40-24), Tulsa (24-17), USF (41-15) and ECU (24-18). Its losses have come at the hands of Wake Forest (23-17 OT), UAB (31-24), Ohio State (49-6), Cincinnati (37-21), SMU (27-23) and Houston (48-17).
•    Tulane is led by running backs Darius Bradwell and Corey Dauphine. Bradwell has rushed for 918 yards and nine touchdowns on 151 carries (6.1 yards per carry), while Dauphine has carried the ball 110 times for 740 yards and seven touchdowns (6.7 yards per carry). Dauphine ranks 14th in the country in average yards per carry.
•    Tulane has played two quarterbacks with Jonathan Banks starting seven games and current starter and LSU transfer Justin McMillan starting four games. Banks has thrown for 1,074 yards and five touchdowns with just two interceptions, while McMillan has thrown for 868 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. Tulane has thrown just five interceptions on the year which is the 18th fewest in the country.
•     Darnell Mooney leads the Tulane receiving corps with 42 catches for 852 yards and seven touchdowns, while Terrence Encalade has 34 catches for 599 yards and four touchdowns. Tulane is averaging 15.92 yards per completion, which is tied for the seventh most in the country, while Mooney’s 20.29 yards per catch is the seventh best average for an individual.


•    The Tulane defense is led by Zachery Harris, who has recorded 77 tackles and 9.5 tackles for a loss. Patrick Johnson has an incredible 13.5 tackles for a loss and nine sacks to go along with 39 tackles and two forced fumbles. Johnson ranks 13th nationally in sacks. Donnie Lewis leads the way with three interceptions and a remarkable 16 passes broken up, which ranks third nationally. Tulane is 15th in the country in sacks, averaging 3.0 per game.
•    Tulane has been excellent in the red zone with the offense ranked 11th in the country (.920) and the defense ranked 24th (.775).
•    Amare Jones is an extremely dangerous kickoff returner, averaging 29.6 yards per return (sixth best in the country).
•    Punter Ryan Wright ranks 13th nationally in punting, averaging 44.5 yards per punt.

Playing The Home State
•    Navy has one player from the state of Louisiana, sophomore fullback Nelson Smith who hails from Baton Rouge. Smith is Navy’s second-leading rusher with 367 yards and three touchdowns on 67 carries (5.5 yards per carry). He’s coming off a career-best two-touchdown day in Navy’s 37-29 victory over Tulsa.

Abey Leads Navy Past Tulsa, 37-29
•     Zach Abey ran for 128 yards with a pair of touchdowns and Navy snapped a seven-game losing streak with a 37-29 victory over Tulsa last Saturday.


•     The Midshipmen were able to distance themselves behind Abey, who was making his third straight start at quarterback and was effectively running the triple-option attack.
•     Navy amassed 389 yards on the ground and sent the Golden Hurricane to their ninth loss in 10 games.
•     Navy slotback Malcolm Perry broke a 52-yard scamper early in the third quarter that set up a short field goal by Bennett Moehring and increased the Mids’ lead to 30-16. That run pushed Perry over 1,000 yards rushing for the second straight season.
•     Navy fullback Mike Martin had a critical fumble that led to a 3-yard touchdown run by Tulsa running back Corey Taylor II early in the fourth quarter. Midshipmen defensive end Jarvis Polu blocked the extra point to keep the deficit at eight points.
•     Tre Walker answered on the ensuing possession for the Mids when he took a pitch from Abey and ran 33 yards down the near sideline for a TD and a 37-22 lead.
•     Tulsa showed some life on Taylor’s third touchdown of the game with 4:46 remaining. However, Navy picked up a couple of first downs to seal the win.
•     Redshirt freshman quarterback Seth Boomer was 19 of 28 for 206 yards with an interception for Tulsa.
•     Navy fullback Nelson Smith had a pair of first-half touchdowns that provided a 13-7 lead early in the second quarter.
•     Navy linebacker Austin Talbert-Loving was penalized for targeting on a kickoff return early in the second quarter and was ejected. Tulsa safety McKinley Winfield was called for the same infraction with just under 11 minutes left in the game.

Perry Goes Over 1,000 Yards Rushing In Back-To-Back Seasons
•    Junior Malcolm Perry has rushed for over 1,000 yards for the second time in his career. He has rushed for 1,027 yards and seven touchdowns on 162 carries (6.3 yards per carry) playing both quarterback and slot back for the Mids in 2018.
•    Last year, Perry rushed for 1,182 yards and 11 touchdowns on 138 carries (8.6 yards per carry).
•    Perry has now rushed for 2,282 yards in his career, which is the 10th most in school history.  He is just eight yards behind Chris Swain for ninth place.
•    Perry is the first Navy player to rush for more than 1,000 yards in back-to-back years since Keenan Reynolds did it three straight years from 2013-15.
•     Perry is just the fifth player in program history to rush for 1,000 yards in back-to-back years, joining Keenan Reynolds (2013-15), Kyle Eckel (2003-04), Chris McCoy (1996-97) and Napoleon McCallum (1983 and 1985, missed the entire 1984 season due to an injury).

Navy One Of Five Teams to Start Three qBs in Multiple Games
•    Navy is one of five teams in the country that has started three quarterbacks in multiple games. Malcolm Perry made five starts at quarterback for Navy, while Garret Lewis and Zach Abey have started three games each.
•     The other four schools that have started three quarterbacks for two or more games are Western Kentucky, Air Force, Coastal Carolina, and New Mexico.

-Via Navy Athletics 

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