As success comes to Wave, so does tougher schedule

He won seven games and led his school to its first bowl game in 11 seasons. If Tulane’s Curtis Johnson equals that win total one year later, he and his staff will have turned in its best coaching job in three seasons at the school.

As spring practice continues, the prevailing wisdom is that Tulane is riding a Wave of momentum into the new on-campus Yulman Stadium. But, Johnson has several issues to overcome. They include scheduling, a tougher league and the loss of key players to graduation and transfer.

The schedule is much tougher than in 2013. Tulane has games against a pair of bowl teams. The Wave hosts Georgia Tech and travels to Duke.
Tulane also hosts Southeastern Louisiana. The Lions received a first-round bye in the FCS playoffs and then defeated Sam Houston State in the second round.

Tulane also plays a road game at Rutgers. Rutgers is joining the Big Ten. Tulane joins the American Athletic Conference. League champion Central Florida beat Baylor in the Fiesta Bowl.

Graduation losses are substantial. Tulane had 15 rushing touchdowns last season. Senior Orleans Darkwa had 12. Wide receiver Ryan Grant had nine touchdown receptions. Kicker Cairo Santos, the Lou Groza award winner in 2012, scored 86 points. Tulane scored 322 points last season, Santos, Darkwa and Grant accounted for 212.

Nose tackle Chris Davenport, who played his final season as a grad student, started 12 games and was the anchor on a solid defensive front. Johnson also will have to replace nickel back Jordan Batiste, who transferred to Southeastern. Batiste had seven sacks and four forced fumbles. He is a big loss in what was one of the better secondaries in college football.

Johnson also has to make a key decision at quarterback. Does he again turn to Nick Montana, who tailed off after a solid start? Was Montana’s separated shoulder worse than the school revealed? Or does he turn to Devin Powell or redshirt freshman Tanner Lee?

Lee throws the prettiest pass, and he has the best arm. But he is a pocket passer who needs more than adequate protection. And he has zero game experience.

Johnson’s 2013 signing class still gets an incomplete. The biggest contributors were Montana and linebacker Nico Marley, who was a huge surprise. The 2014 signing class was ranked 101st by scout.com.

In 2013, Tulane football was something it hasn’t been in a long time: interesting. The new stadium likely will spike attendance in the short term. But there’s only one thing that keeps ‘em coming to the games year after year.

Johnson has established a program philosophy. Recruit local players, don’t be overly concerned with recruiting rankings, trust your own judgment and put the best players on defense.

Now, all he has to do is build off 2013. And, one year later, that will not be easy.

Ed Daniels is sports director of ABC26 WGNO. He can be reached at [email protected].