The Emerald Coast Classic saw the Tulane Green Wave open at homeon a good note with a 39 to 19 win over Florida A&M University.The classic, which was held on Sept. 11 this year, is playedannually between both schools.
Over 20,000 fans from both schools showed up to support theirteam at the Superdome. The “Marching 100,” FAMU’s 200-plus marchingband, also drew numbers of fans from both the New Orleans area andFlorida alike.
Both teams came off a disappointing effort last season withTulane going 5-7 and Florida A&M finishing at 6-6.
According to Tulane’s sports website, Tulane is 64-42-4 all timein home openers, but they are also on a 13-game losing streak toteams from the state of Florida about 11-30-3 all time.
Since moving from Tulane Stadium into the Superdome, Tulane hasbeen 12-17 in home openers.
Tulane’s running back, Jovon Jackson, served as the focal point ofthe offense rushing for 134 yards and three touchdowns. The GreenWave worked very hard on finding a quarterback to fill former QBand newly Buffalo Bill J.P. Losman’s shoes.
Redshirt sophomore Lester Ricard took the majority of snaps,completing 12 of 16 passes for 174 yards and no interceptions. TheGreen Wave’s offense looked to be unstoppable in the red zonescoring all five times they entered it.
A&M quarterbacks Ben Dougherty and Josh Driscoll were sackedby the Green Wave defense 11 times for 67 yards. Tulane’s LesterRicard was sacked only once for a 9 yard loss. Tulane’s defenseheld Florida A&M to 70 yards rushing but allowed 314 passingyards.
