Tulane humbled again with beatdown at SMU

Second verse is the same as the verse.

The page turns to a new chapter but the song remained the same for Tulane and its already forgettable 2021 football season Thursday night in Dallas.

The Mustangs knocked Michael Pratt out but by that time, SMU has already delivered a demoralizing knockout punch to the Green Wave, 55-26, in an American Athletic Conference matchup.

Certainly, SMU is a very good non-power conference team, ranked 21st in the nation and are unbeaten at 7-0.

Tulane had little chance to win the game but there was hope for improvement off of their bye week.

It didn’t happen.

As has been the case all season long, the Green Wave started poorly and were buried early with no chance to win.

As has been the case all season long, the Green Wave defense was a sieve.

SMU put up an astonishing 400 yards in the first half, an embarrassing total for the Wave as the Mustangs finished with 612 yards.

It is clear to already conclude that the Tulane defense is a massive failure and needs to be overhauled and retooled prior to the 2022 season.

If Pratt, who has been playing through an arm injury, cannot go against No. 2 Cincinnati next week, things are only going to get worse for the Green Wave as top reserve Justin Ibieta is out as well.

Pratt, who has taken an absolute beating this season, hung in tough as long as he could, tossing three touchdown passes, including a pair to Shae Wyatt, while Tyjae Spears continued to be a bright spot, showing the form we saw before his knee injury over a year ago. Spears rushed 14 times for 90 yards and a score. Cam Carroll rushed for 83 yards as Tulane put up 209 yards rushing.

Tulane was never really in the game after trailing 17-0 in the opening quarter.

The awful starts are way, way too much to overcome for an overmatched team which simply is not talented enough.

Tanner Mordecai had a field day on this night, doing whatever he wanted against the Tulane defense.

Mordecai finished 30-of-42 for 427 yards and three touchdowns but no play perhaps characterized the Green Wave defense more than Mordecai’s 3-yard run for a score to make it 17-0 in the first quarter.

On that play, faked a toss right, kept it on a bootleg left and there was no Green Wave defender within six yards of him as he pranced into the end zone in celebratory fashion. It was the easiest score you will ever witness.

It was also convicting about a defense that cannot get off blocks, cannot stay home with recognition, cannot tackle well enough or cover well enough.

At this point, is there any defense in the country worse than this one?

Tulane has now give up 40 or more points in five of seven games and 50 or more points three times.

There is simply no margin of error for the offense, which was commendable Thursday night after a slow start.

At 1-6 and 0-3, the chances for Tulane to post a winning season are virtually gone. The Green Wave would have to win out to get to .500 and win a bowl game to do so.

Does anyone really believe that can happen?

The time for evaluation is now but the time for change will come at season’s end.

Willie Fritz is in no trouble, nor should he be.

Fritz has done a very solid job at a place that is tough, make that very tough to sustain winning.

The questions of administrative support being sufficient will rise above the surface again.

The question of coaching hires will be topics of discussion as well.

The question of recruits being good enough to win with in a tough conference are obvious points to make and to consider.

Unfortunately, those are topics of discussion with Tulane football which have existed for years, decades as the chapters continue to unfold with an all-too-familiar, unfortunate theme.