Led by Boca native Michael Pratt, nomadic Tulane a potential AAC contender

As a Group of 5 program with minimal success in the face of the No. 2 team in the nation, if victory is unattainable, the next best thing is to win respect. 

Tulane fell to No. 2 Oklahoma 40-35 but has come away as a team worth respecting this season. The Green Wave entered the season aiming for a fourth straight bowl appearance but their performance on the road has broaden aspirations. 

One of the main reasons why is the emergence of Boca Raton native Michael Pratt. Prior to joining the Green Wave, Pratt led Deerfield Beach High School to the Florida Class 8A Semifinals as a senior in 2019.

The freshman quarterback made his debut last season in a year that doesn’t count towards eligibility due to the coronavirus pandemic. After taking the reins in Week 3, he finished the year with 1,806 yards passing and 20 touchdowns, the most among any true freshman quarterback in the nation. He also scored eight touchdowns on the ground. 

With Pratt under center, Tulane went from 2-4 to 6-4 going to its third straight bowl game. The Green Wave offense scored at least 21 points or more each game throughout the season.

Pratt was practically the entire offense against the Sooners last week, throwing for 296 yards and three touchdowns while leading the Green Wave in rushing with 34 yards and a touchdown. An argument could be made that he out-dueled Heisman Trophy frontrunner Spencer Rattler, who throw form 304 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions. 

The Sooners led 37-14 at halftime and normally a score like that in Week 1 would mean it’s time to hit the clicker and find a more compelling game. Tulane outscored Oklahoma 21-3 in the second half to nearly pull off the comeback. 

For not winning by a higher margin, Oklahoma dropped from No. 2 to No. 4 in the rankings this week.

“That was one of the hardest hitting teams, one of the most physical teams I’ve played,” Rattler said after the game. “They came out there, and they played great, better than us, for sure. They wanted to win more than us. You could tell it.”

Tulane has gone from one crazy season to the next. After a year that kept fans away from the stadium, Tula has yet to play in their home turf due to Hurricane Ida. The opener against Oklahoma was supposed to be in New Orleans and this week’s game against Morgan State has been moved to Birmingham, Ala. 

“It’s an unusual story what we’re doing right now,” Tulane head coach Willie Fritz said during his weekly press conference on Tuesday. “We’re in a hotel and I don’t know how long were going to be here. We’re well taken care of, and I think I’ve mentioned it the other day in our team meeting, I told the guys that I haven’t been in a hotel this nice until I was over 40 years old, I mean this is a nice place here this Sheraton. We’re getting feed well and everything else, but we are a bit disconnected from what normal is right now. We just want to get better and its easy for me to do that, but I must convince a bunch of 18–22-year old’s that every day we got to get out there and focus, concentrate, and get better.”

Assuming the Green Wave dispatches their FCS opponent on Saturday, the next true test will come at Oxford against No. 20 Ole Miss. Even if that game also results in a close loss, Tulane could go into the American Athletic Conference slate with every game seen as a winnable one. 

No. 7 Cincinnati is seen as the favorite to run the table and win the conference title again but it might have competition this time around.