Wave Drop 2nd Straight in Defensive Struggle - kswgrad2012's Dynasty

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Wave Drop 2nd Straight in Defensive Struggle

Posted on August 29, 2013 at 11:25 PM.

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Green Wave Drop 2nd Straight in Defensive Struggle
by David Sinclair

Coming off the rough road loss in Baton Rouge to LSU, the Green Wave returned home last week to rest & reflect on the experience.

"Like I said, we were going to learn a lot about ourselves in that game. What did we learn? We learned that we're hard fighters, but we're not yet ready to take on the big boys." said by Coach Willingham in an interview after the game.

The Wave were hoping to build on that experience in preparing for their next opponent, the BYU Cougars. Willingham knew that BYU, a big boy in its own right, would present challenges to the team on both sides of the ball. While the defense put up yet another tough performance, the offense stumbled yet again, en route to a 21-19 loss. True freshman QB Jeff Shelby got his first career start as Devin Powell continued rehabbing a rib injury suffered in the LSU game. While Powell was healthy enough to play, it was the Coach's decision that he sit. Coach Willingham also expressed interest in seeing what Shelby can bring to the offense.

"Shelby's a special kind of guy. He can run, he can throw, he can catch. He can even play defense if he has to. His primary job is quarterback, but when you have an athletic player like [Jeff], you like to put him out there, see how he affects the game. Does make play-calling a lot more interesting."

While Shelby is athletic, he struggled yet again at the quarterback position, completing just half of his passes, and for only 80 yards. The running game struggled yet again as well, as the BYU defense clogged all the running lanes all four quarters. In many cases, the Cougars stacked the box with defenders, forcing Shelby to pass. Evidently, BYU Coach Bronco Mendenhall's gameplan worked to perfection.

On the flipside, the Green Wave defense held the Cougar offense to 352 yards. The good: the pass defense was stout, as BYU quarterback Trevor Mangum was held to less than 150 yards, as well as 2 interceptions. The bad: the Wave front seven was gouged in the running game. As a whole, the Cougars averaged 7 yards per carry, giving way to a 100-yard performance by RB Matt Alisa. The game itself was BYU's to lose early, as the would jump out to a 21-3 lead. The Wave would put up a TD late in the first half off a Jeff Shelby pass to WR Wilson Van Hooser, to make it 21-10. That score would carry into the 4th quarter in a defensive battle, before the Tulane offense would finally get moving. Then CB Ricardo Thomas would make his 2nd big play of the season, returning a fumble for a touchdown, pulling it to 21-19. But the 2-Pt attempt out of the Maryland I formation failed, and that would be all she wrote.

The Green Wave (1-2) will spend this week preparing for Marshall, as they begin Conference USA play. The game will be in Huntington, WV, and tickets are still available. For those staying home, the game will be broadcast on local networks as well as ESPN3.com and the WatchESPN app. Check your local listings.

Roll Wave!

Courtesy of the Tulane Lullapalooza, Tulane's student newspaper.

Brigham Young Cougars at Tulane Green Wave
Sep 14, 2013	1ST	2ND	3RD	4TH	SCORE
#23 Brigham Young Cougars (2-1)	7	14	0	0	21
Tulane Green Wave (1-2 (0-0 C-USA))	3	7	0	9	19

Team Stats Comparison
	BYU	TULN
Total Offense	352	208
Rushing Yards	217	128
Passing Yards	135	80
First Downs	14	14
Punt Return Yards	8	43
Kick Return Yards	12	117
Total Yards	372	368
Turnovers	3	4
3rd Down Converstion	3-7 (42%)	7-14 (50%)
4th Down Conversion	0-0	2-2 (100%)
2-Point Conversion	0-0	0-1 (0%)
Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals	4-3-0 (75%)	3-1-1 (66%)
Penalties	2-15	1-5
Posession Time	14:09	17:51

Scoring Summary
FIRST QUARTER SCORING		BYU	TULN
5:52	(BYU) A. Hine, 7 Yd pass from T. Mangum (J. Sorensen kick)	7	0
2:02	(TULN) J. Ginsburgh, 41 Yd FG	7	3
SECOND QUARTER SCORING		BYU	TULN
7:32	(BYU) R. Apo, 16 Yd pass from T. Mangum (J. Sorensen kick)	14	3
2:48	(BYU) M. Alisa, 6 Yd run	21	3
0:06	(TULN) W. Van Hooser, 11 Yd pass from J. Shelby (J. Ginsburgh kick)	21	10
FOURTH QUARTER SCORING		BYU	TULN
6:31	(TULN) J. Ginsburgh, 49 Yd FG	21	13
1:39	(TULN) R. Thomas, returned fumble 62 Yds (2-Pt failed)	21	19

Brigham Young Cougars
PASSING	C/A	YDS	TD	INT
T. Mangum	10/16	135	2	2
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
M. Alisa	17	135	7.9	1
A. Hine	7	67	9.5	0
T. Mangum	6	15	2.5	0
A. Holt	1	0	0.0	0
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
R. Apo	4	53	13.2	1
J. Falslev	4	67	16.7	0
A. Hine	1	7	7.0	1
B. Thompson	1	8	8.0	0
DEFENSE	TACK	SACK	INT	TD
S. Hadley	9	0.0	0	0
A. Fua	9	0.0	0	0
S.PoVey	9	0.0	1	0
K. Van Noy	8	0.0	0	0
J. Bernard	5	0.0	1	0
D. Sorensen	5	0.0	0	0
I. Dulan	5	1.0	0	0
J. Johnson	5	0.0	0	0
J. Galea'i	5	1.0	0	0

Tulane Green Wave
PASSING	C/A	YDS	TD	INT
J. Shelby	8/16	80	1	2
RUSHING	ATT	YDS	AVG	TD
O. Darkwa	13	78	6.0	0
D. Butler	8	32	4.0	0
J. Shelby	8	-5	-0.6	0
J.J. Thomas	8	27	3.3	0
RECEIVING	REC	YDS	AVG	TD
W. Van Hooser	2	18	9.0	1
T. Bullock	2	2	1.0	0
D. Butler	2	41	20.5	0
S. Berry	1	7	7.0	0
O. Darkwa	1	12	12.0	0
DEFENSE	TACK	SACK	INT	TD
M. Bailey	7	1.0	0	0
J. Baker	7	0.0	0	0
K. Davis	6	1.0	0	0
R. Thomas	6	0.0	0	1
D. Monroe	5	0.0	0	0
R. LaFrance	3	0.0	0	0