College football’s preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #6 Tulane
July 1, 2010 by
John Stansberry
Do you remember the Golden Era that was the second Clinton administration? Sure you do, that’s when Third Eye Blind’s bland power pop dominated the radio, nitwit teenage girls flocked to see “Titanic” five times each and the term “hanging chad” hadn’t yet entered the vernacular.
For Tulane and its current coach, Bob Toledo, thinking back on those days generates the same experience you and I have when recalling the first time we saw “Caddyshack”: harps play and angels float around us as our bodies lay on top of soft white clouds. Life was just that damn good.
Back in the late 90’s, it didn’t totally suck to be the Green Wave. Tommy Bowden led the program to a 7-4 mark in 1997 and an improbable undefeated season the following year. 
During those same years it also didn’t suck to be Toledo, either. In ‘97 and ‘98 he guided UCLA to back-to-back 10-2 campaigns, the second of which culminated with a Rose Bowl loss to Wisconsin.
As the new millennium approached, though, the fortunes of both the program and its current leader went into decline. Toledo coached four more seasons in Westwood and never sniffed a 10-win season again. As for Tulane, the school’s average record since that magical year of 1998 is an underwhelming 4-8.
For the last three seasons, Toledo and Tulane football have worked together to recapture the success that came so easy 12 years ago. But they’re finding out the same thing that late 90’s stalwarts like Lisa Loeb and Chumbawamba have discovered: glory can be pretty damn fleeting.
The Green Wave embark on the 2010 campaign coming off of a 3-9 record. When a team ranks last in its league in scoring (16.1 ppg) and next to last in scoring defense (36.7 ppg), then 3-9 actually isn’t that bad.
Only three starters return on defense, which for most teams would be cause for alarm. But when you’re talking about Tulane, losing that many guys off of a unit that porous might not be a bad thing. Sophomore linebackers Trent Mackey and Darryl Farley represent an upgrade in talent, while junior defensive end Dezman Moses has some buzz after transferring in from Iowa.
The outlook’s probably a little better on offense, where four of the five starters on the line are back. Among those are left tackle Pete Hendrickson, who’ll have a nice shot at getting drafted next April. They’ll do their best to protect sophomore quarterback Ryan Griffin, who didn’t play too bad in starting the last six games of the season.
Why Tulane is in the bottom 10: While Griffin’s a decent enough quarterback with some nice upside, there are just no playmakers available for him to work with. While a slight talent upgrade on defense might yield some benefits, I don’t see the offense improving enough for it to make much of a difference in the win-loss column. Also, the schedule almost ensures a 1-3 start to the season.
How Tulane can avoid the bottom 10: If the veteran offensive line can start to impose its will on people in the running game, then the Green Wave might have a fighting chance at 5 wins. Tulane averaged a paltry 3.2 yards a carry as a team last season. An improvement of just a half yard a carry would open things up more for Griffin in the passing game.
Preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #7 North Texas
Preseason bottom 10 of 2010: #8 New Mexico
Julie Ogborne on Fri, 2nd Jul 2010 7:34 am
Eli Gold - “The Hardest working player in college football - the Tulane Punter”
clingy on Fri, 2nd Jul 2010 8:42 am
wow - i am amazed that somebody found a way to put into the words the feelings i get when i think about judge smails. bless you.