Ole Miss, Lane Kiffin preparing for SEC-caliber Tulane

Tulane has not played in the SEC since 1965, but Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin is preparing his team for Saturday like they’ve been there all along. 

The Rebels (2-0) welcome the Green Wave (1-1) to Vaught-Hemingway Stadium for a matchup of two high-powered offenses. AAC member Tulane is averaging 53 points per game (third in the nation) while Ole Miss is averaging 48.5 (seventh in the nation). Tulane’s offensive attack, led by first-year offensive coordinator Chip Long, reminds Kiffin of the high-scoring shootouts he has recently witnessed in his own conference.

“When you watch them, you feel like you’re playing an SEC team,” Kiffin said. “There’s a reason they went down basically to the last minute of the game versus Oklahoma at Oklahoma.”

In a Week 1 game against Oklahoma, Tulane scored touchdowns on its first two possessions. By halftime they were down 37-14, but the Green Wave rallied back and lost a close 40-35 game in Norman. They outscored the Sooners 21-3 in the second half.

“I think how hard they play, and they rotate a lot of guys on their whole defense,” he said. “They play really hard and I think it paid off for them later in the Oklahoma game. They fell behind early but I bet they would say they played better in the second half because they weren’t worn out.”

Tulane’s young defense has a problem on their hands as they face Ole Miss quarterback Matt Corral. The redshirt junior has not thrown an interception in his last 120 pass attempts, and he has never thrown a pick in a home win in Oxford. 

Tulane stayed in their game with Oklahoma by forcing turnovers – quarterback Spencer Rattler threw two interceptions on the day. Evidently, it will be more difficult to catch Corral in mistakes. Through two games, Corral is averaging 10.2 yard per attempt. Rattler averaged 7.8 yards per attempt against the Green Wave. 

Tulane breaking out vintage uniforms for SEC contest

On Thursday, Tulane released their Week 3 helmet featuring “Greenie,” their mascot from their SEC days. Additionally, the helmets will feature a sticker with the years 1934, 1939 and 1949 on them, the years Tulane won the Southeastern Conference.

Tulane was a founding member of the SEC but left after 1965 following a dismal run in the conference; during their last nine years in the SEC they went 19-68. The school was independent from 1966-1995 before joining Conference USA the following year. They have been AAC members since 2014.

The Tulane versus Ole Miss game kicks off at 7:00 p.m. CT. The Rebels are a 14-point favorite, down approximately three points in recent days. Ole Miss leads the series all-time with a 43-28 record.

Tulane is looking for its first road victory over a Top-25 team since a 27-23 win over then-No. 19 Vanderbilt on Oct. 6, 1984.