Week 8 of the College Football season has already arrived, with the season-long picture looking quite different from what it was expected to be when the year kicked off. Multiple high-profile coaches have already been dismissed, and several ranked teams have fallen out of the Top 25 entirely.
Nonetheless, the action continues on the field, and there are plenty of games to break down. Kicking off in the noon ET window on Saturday’s slate, the Tulane Green Wave will host the Army Black Knights. These programs have faced off 24 times in history, with Tulane winning 13 of these matchups and a tie taking place back in 1953. Army did produce a convincing 35-14 victory in last year’s American Athletic Championship, but both these teams look quite different this season.
Looking at the odds for this year’s matchup, Tulane enters as 10-point favorites and holds -360 odds on winning on the moneyline on DraftKings Sportsbook. Army holds +285 odds of pulling off the outright upset, with the game total set at 44.5 points for the matchup.
This article will give a preview of both teams and a pick for the Week 8 matchup.
Army vs. Tulane prediction, preview
Army Black Knights
The Army Black Knights are off to a 3-3 start to the season. They are coming off back-to-back victories over UAB and Charlotte, with their other win taking place against Kansas State. Army has come up short against Tarelton State, East Carolina, and North Texas, with the loss to ECU being the only one to occur without overtime. They are 2-4 against the spread, and the under has cashed in four of their matchups.
Dewayne Coleman and Cale Hellums have each played a role at quarterback in Army’s run-oriented offense. Through their first six games, they have attempted just 65 total pass attempts for 474 yards. They lead the entire country in rushing production at 282.7 yards per game. Hellums leads the team with 450 rushing yards and an AAC-best eight touchdowns. Coleman has added 296 rushing yards and three scores of his own, while Noah Short and Hayden Reed have each added 320+ yards on the ground. Reed has three rushing touchdowns of his own, while Briggs Bartosh and Carson Smith have over 100 rushing yards and a touchdown each. Army is producing 25.0 points per game, which ranks 89th in the country, and is producing 361.7 total yards of offense.
On the defensive side of the ball, the Black Knights are conceding 24.0 points per game and 339.8 total yards of offense. Andon Thomas leads the team with 51 total tackles, Eric Ford leads the team with 2.0 sacks, and Collin Mattson, Gavin Shields, and Stephen Nnadozie have each tallied an interception. They have produced seven total sacks and forced seven turnovers on the season. Army has allowed just 20 combined points over the past two weeks and limited Charlotte to just 178 yards of total offense last week.
Tulane Green Wave preview
The Tulane Green Wave are off to a 5-1 start to the season, with their lone loss coming at the hands of Ole Miss. They have defeated Northwestern, South Alabama, Duke, Tulsa, and East Carolina. Tulane is 4-2 against the spread, 3-0 straight up when playing at home this year, and the under has cashed in four of their matchups thus far.
BYU transfer Jake Retzlaff stands in at quarterback for Tulane. He has completed 58.4% of his pass attempts for 1,167 yards and four touchdowns without an interception on the year. This is a pleasant change as Retzlaff led the Big 12 with 12 interceptions last year. He also headlines the team’s rushing attack with 388 yards on the ground. Omari Hayes is the team’s leading receiver with 266 yards, while Shazz Preston and Bryce Bohanon also have over 200 yards through the air. Javin Gordon has added 269 rushing yards and three touchdowns on the ground, while Arnold Barnes III and Zuberi Mobley have added 136+ rushing yards each.
Defensively, opponents are scoring 23.2 points per game against Tualne, which ranks 62nd in the country, and they are allowing 389.2 yards of total offense. They are conceding 149.7 rushing yards per game, 1.2 rushing touchdowns, and giving up 4.2 yards per carry on the ground. This will be a concern against this Army team’s dominant ground attack. Jack Tchienchou has a team-high 39 total tackles, Harvey Dyson III leads the team with 4.5 sacks, and Jaheim Johnson has a team-high three interceptions. The Green Wave has tallied 14 total sacks and forced 11 turnovers on the year.
Army vs. Tulane pick, best bet
During last year’s 35-14 victory by Army, the Black Knights had their way on the ground, rushing for 335 yards at 5.9 yards per carry. Plenty of the roster has changed for both teams, but this concern remains. Ole Miss gashed Tulane for 241 rushing yards in their lone loss this year. Southern Alabama also produced 190 yards on the ground against them, and East Carolina tallied 160 rushing yards in their previous game. Army does not have the same threat of throwing the ball, so Tulane will be able to stack the box, but their style of rushing attack is unique and provides its own challenges.
Tulane has built its identity by controlling the time of possession this season. They rank 11th among FBS teams in this category, but this will be difficult to do against Army. While the 3-3 record isn’t overly convincing, two of the three losses came in overtime by a combined 10 points. Their 28-6 loss to East Carolina is the only time they have truly struggled, going 2-for-15 on third downs and allowing 431 yards of total offense. It is worth at least acknowledging that Tulane took down this same ECU team 26-19 last week. But the transitive property does not exactly apply to sports handicapping.
Expect Army’s rushing attack to cause some problems in this game, and for Tulane to need to put some points on the board to match. The 10-point spread is too much for my liking as the Black Knights are beginning to find their stride and look more like the 12-2 team last year that peaked at 16th in the AP Poll. Tulane has been impressive to the point where I am not calling for the outright upset. But expect this to be a battle and finish within the margins of a one-score game. The 10-point spread is too large for my liking, and I expect Army to have this matchup circled as a potential turning point of their season. Count on the Black Knights to have success on the ground and cover the 10-point spread in this conference battle.
