Sept. 20, 2004

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2004 TULANE FOOTBALL
Game 4 -- Southern Miss (1-0, 0-0) at Tulane (1-1, 0-0) -- Sept. 25, 2004
Louisiana Superdome (64,900) -- 7 p.m. (CDT)

GREEN WAVE FACTS
2004 Record: 1-1
2004 C-USA Record: 0-0
2003 C-USA Record/Finish: 3-5/8th
Head Coach: Chris Scelfo
Alma Mater/Year: UL-Monroe/1985
Record at Tulane/Year: 27-35/6th
Career Record/Years: Same
President: Dr. Scott Cowen
Athletics Director: Rick Dickson
Ticket Office Phone: 504-861-WAVE
Website: www.TulaneGreenWave.com

2004 SCHEDULE & RESULTS

GOLDEN EAGLES' FACTS
2004 Record: 1-0
2004 C-USA Record: 0-0
2003 C-USA Record/Finish: 8-0/1st
Head Coach: Jeff Bower
Alma Mater/Year: Southern Miss/1975
Record at UL/Year: 90-62-1/14th
Career Record/Years: Same
President: Dr. Shelby Thames
Athletics Director: Richard Giannini
Ticket Office Phone: 601-266-5418
Website: www.SouthernMiss.com

2004 SCHEDULE & RESULTS

SERIES FACTS
Games Played: 25
Series Record: USM leads 18-7
First Meeting: Oct. 13, 1979, TU 20-19
Last Meeting: Nov. 15, 2003, USM 28-14
In New Orleans: USM leads 8-4
Current Streak: 1 by Southern Miss
Scelfo vs. USM: 1-4

TULANE HEAD COACH Chris Scelfo
Now in his sixth season as the head coach of the Tulane Green Wave, Louisiana native Chris Scelfo owns a career record of 27-35 to rank tied for sixth all-time at Tulane in coaching victories. The only coach in Tulane history with two bowl victories, Scelfo began his head coaching career at the 1998 Liberty Bowl. He has sent eight of his Green Wave players to the NFL, including a pair of first-round draft choices at quarterback in Patrick Ramsey (Redskins) and J.P. Losman (Bills). Scelfo's last three teams have posted graduation rates of 89, 82 and 79 percent, respectively and more than 60 Green Wave football players have earned their degrees in the last four years. A 1986 graduate of Northeast Louisiana (now University of Louisiana-Monroe), Scelfo spent the 1996-98 seasons as the assistant head coach and offensive line coach at Georgia and won a Division I-AA national championship as an assistant coach at Marshall, where he worked for six years (1990-95). The Thundering Herd also claimed three I-AA runner-up finishes during his time at Marshall. Scelfo was a three-year letterwinner at center at ULM where he served as team captain in 1985.

NEWS & NOTES

After the Storm
After a crazy week which saw the Green Wave coaches and players scatter, along with most residents of New Orleans, to escape Hurricane Ivan, Tulane returns to the Louisiana Superdome to play host to Conference USA foe Southern Miss Saturday. The game will be the league opener for both teams and is Tulane's second straight home contest.

Time Change
Kickoff time for Saturday's Tulane-Southern Mississippi game has been CHANGED to 7 p.m.. The change was made to accommodate observance of the Jewish holiday Yom Kippur, which concludes at 6 p.m. Saturday.

Altered State
The Tulane-Louisville game scheduled to be played last Saturday will be played as the final game of the regular season on both team's schedules, on either Dec. 3rd or 4th. The contest will be played in the Louisiana Superdome. The last time Tulane's regular season stretched into December was 1993, when the Green Wave concluded the year Dec. 4 at Hawaii.

Lost Week
When New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin and other local leaders called for citizens to evacuate last Monday, Tulane officials cancelled classes, and closed the school and its dorms beginning Tuesday. From there, it was only a matter of hours until Tulane and Louisville, in conjunction with Conference USA, decided to postpone last week's scheduled football game, given the uncertainty of the hurricane's path. Meanwhile, Tulane Athletics officials and coaches worked to ensure that each student-athlete, including the entire football team, had safe and approved locations to evacuate to. The Green Wave reported back to New Orleans for a Sunday practice after five days off.

Down Time
Both Tulane and Southern Miss are coming off an extra "open date" thanks to Hurricane Ivan. The Golden Eagles' home game with #10 Cal last Thursday was postponed just like the Tulane-Louisville contest.

Before the Storm
Before last week's postponed game, Tulane posted its first win of 2004 versus Florida A&M with a 39-19 victory at the Superdome on Sept. 11. The Green Wave offense compiled 457 yards with Jovon Jackson rushing for 134 on 19 carries, while Tulane defenders sacked Rattler quarterbacks 11 times. After tying the score at 13 in the second quarter, FAMU was held without a touchdown until the final minute of the game.

Continuous
Tulane and Southern Miss meet for the 26th consecutive season in the "Battle for the Bell." It is the longest continuous series on the Green Wave schedule, dating back to the 1979 campaign. Southern Miss has won 14 of the last 17 meetings and 10 of 13 under Jeff Bower. However, Tulane triumphed the last time the two teams met in New Orleans, claiming a 31-10 upset win over USM in 2002.

The Last Time...
After jumping out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead, Southern Miss needed a 34-yard touchdown pass on a fake field goal to secure a 28-14 victory over Tulane in Hattiesburg. The Green Wave shut out USM in the second and third quarters and pulled to within a field goal on a 17-yard connection from J.P. Losman to Chris Bush. With momentum turned toward the Wave, USM holder Dustin Almond hit Alan Whitney with the pass and the tight end rumbled 34 yards for the score with 1:27 left to cement the win.

30 Years in the `Dome
Tulane is playing its 30th season in the Louisiana Superdome in 2004 and has an all-time record of 77-89 (a .464 winning percentage) in the building. The Wave won its home opener Sept. 11 to claim its second straight win in the Superdome. Since the beginning of the 1997 season, Tulane is 28-14 (.667) in its home stadium.

Ch-ch-ch-Changes
Tulane, with the 1998 C-USA football crown to its credit, and Southern Miss, are two of six football-playing members of Conference USA that will remain with the league next season when the latest round of conference-hopping continues. The league will bid farewell to football members Army, Cincinnati, Louisville, South Florida and TCU while adding Marshall, Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UCF and UTEP. Next season, Conference USA will consist of 12 schools competing in all sports and will hold its first football championship game. Tulane will play in a division with Rice, SMU, Tulsa, UTEP and Houston and will play crossover opponents Southern Miss, UCF and Marshall next year.

Conference Matters
The Green Wave is 24-29 (.453) in Conference USA play over the last eight seasons after posting a 3-5 mark in league games in 2003. Tulane went 1-3 in its C-USA home games a year ago and was 2-2 on the road. Tulane will meet eight of its 10 C-USA comrades in 2004, skipping South Florida and Cincinnati for the second straight year. The Green Wave is 15-12 versus C-USA foes at home since the league began play in 1996.

Versus the League
The Green Wave has an all-time record of 48-67-2 (.419) against the teams that currently make up Conference USA.

Longevity
Now in his sixth season at the helm of the Tulane program Chris Scelfo is the longest-tenured coach at Tulane (in seasons) since Andy Pilney, who coached the Wave for eight years from 1954-61. In addition to Pilney, only Hall-of-Famer Clark Shaughnessy (1915-20, 1922-26) with 11, has more seasons than Scelfo's six and the New Iberia, La. native is only the fifth mentor all-time to coach six seasons at Tulane. Scelfo, the 36th head coach in Tulane football history, already ranks third all-time in games coached with 61 and needs just two wins to move into the school's top five in coaching victories.

"Shaq" is Back
Nicknamed "Shaq" after shattering a basketball backboard as a youngster, Jovon Jackson shredded the Florida A&M defense for 134 yards rushing and three touchdown runs - of 8, 17 and 4 yards - last time out. The junior from St. Petersburg, Fla. averaged 7.1 yards per carry and had a season-long rush of 31 yards. Jackson became the first Tulane player in five seasons, since the 1999 game versus SMU, to score three rushing TDs in one game.

Sack Happy
You have to go back a ways to find the last time a Tulane defense compiled 11 sacks in a game, a feat the Green Wave "D" achieved versus Florida A&M. In fact, you have to go back so far that the research is ongoing. One thing is certain, no Tulane team in at least the last 16 seasons -- since prior to the 1989 campaign -- has tallied 11 sacks in a game. Since 1989, the highest single game sack total was eight by the 2002 Green Wave in the Hawai'i Bowl and by the 1997 squad versus Memphis. A year ago, Tulane had just 15 sacks on the season. Through two games this year, Tulane has 12.

Sharing the Wealth
Nine different Green Wave defenders had a hand in Tulane's 11-sack total, which led to Florida A&M quarterbacks losing 67 yards. Freshman defensive tackle Avery Williams led the way with 2.5 sacks Saturday and now has 3.5 on the season, more than a single Tulane player compiled all of last year. (Billy Harrison and Daniel Nevil had three sacks in 2003 to lead TU.) In the FAMU game, three linebackers -- Blake Baker, Wesley Heath and Anthony Cannon -- cornerback Bruce Youmans and five defensive linemen, Williams, Julian Shives-Sams, Taurean Brown, Antonio Harris and Tremell Jack, each recorded at least half a sack. Cannon, with two sacks, including one which caused a fumble and led to a Green Wave touchdown, and Williams, were the only players with multiple sacks.

Booming Beckman
Sophomore Chris Beckman, who was named to the Watch List for the 2004 Ray Guy Award, has shown not only the strong leg he displayed in the last half of his freshman season, but also more finesse, giving Tulane a field position advantage. Versus FAMU, his two punts, one a 50-yarder, were downed at the seven and one-yard lines, respectively, and he has now had three punts downed inside the 10. A week earlier, Beckman booted punts of 52 and 50 at Mississippi State while averaging 43.7-yards on seven punts. In addition, after having just 10 punts fair caught a year ago, Mississippi State called for four fair catches on Beckman's high, hanging kicks.

Green, Green Wave
Fourteen players, 13 freshmen and QB Lester Ricard, saw the first action of their collegiate careers at Mississippi State and another six freshmen made their debuts in the Florida A&M game for a total of 19 freshmen (true & redshirt) who have seen action for Tulane so far this year. True freshmen fullback Ade (Add-DAY) Tuyo and defensive linemen Avery Williams and Antonio Harris have started both games for Tulane. Other true freshmen who have made their Tulane debuts are d-linemen Frank Morton, Julian Shives-Sams, Reggie Scott and Ryan Johnson, linebacker Michael Cox, running back Matt Forte', tight end Gabe Ratcliff and defensive back Joe Goosby. Redshirt freshmen Aryan Barto (C), Nick Beucher (K), Kenneth Guidroz (WR), Richard Irvin (QB), Justin Wade (DL), Ray Boudreaux (RB) and Scott Holt (OL) have all seen their first game action in the last two weeks as well.

Two-Way?
Meanwhile, true freshman Michael Parenton had a unique two weeks. The Thibodaux product played his first snaps as a collegian late in the Mississippi State on the defensive line. But following that game, he was switched back to offensive line, where he saw action versus FAMU.

Full Speed
Junior linebacker Anthony Cannon appears to have regained the form he showed in his freshman season after playing through a series of injuries last year. Cannon drilled FAMU quarterback Ben Dougherty to record his second sack of the game and force a fumble, which Tulane converted into a score. Cannon, who has back-to-back 100-tackle seasons, currently ranks second on the team in stops with 16.

Out of the Frying Pan
After a quarterback competition that began last spring, redshirt sophomore Lester Ricard was moved into the top spot on the Tulane depth chart on August 23rd and made his first career start versus Mississippi State, where he said he was "going 100 miles an hour, I almost hyperventilated." A Parade and SuperPrep All-American out of Amite High School in 2001, Ricard joined the Green Wave during preseason practices in 2003 after transferring from LSU. He spent last season sitting out as a transfer and picked up his first win as a starter versus FAMU.

Inexperienced
Tulane's quarterbacking corps -- sophomores Ricard and Nick Cannon, redshirt freshman Richard Irvin and true freshman Scott Elliott -- entered the 2004 season with fewer career passing attempts (2) than all but two teams in the nation. Cannon, the back-up to J.P. Losman in 2003, saw action in four games and was 2-for-2 on pass attempts with a touchdown toss versus Navy. Irvin saw his first career action in the FAMU game and completed 4-of-8 passes for 50 yards and a 16-yard TD.

A Quarterbacking Legacy
Each of Tulane's last three starting quarterbacks is currently in the NFL -- Shaun King (Tulane starter 1996-98) with the Arizona Cardinals, Patrick Ramsey (1999-2001) of the Washington Redskins and J.P. Losman (2002-03) with the Buffalo Bills. Ramsey and Losman were both first-round draft choices as the Redskins chose Ramsey 32nd in 2002 and Losman went to the Bills No. 22 in 2004. Having sent three straight starters to the NFL, Tulane ranks fifth among all Division I-A schools, behind only Michigan, Florida, Washington and Oregon (see chart).

TDs for CB
Although slowed a little, Chris Bush continues to score touchdowns. Bush entered the season with touchdowns on each of his last three catches of the 2003 season. Although the string was broken with his first grab at Mississippi State, the senior from LaPlace, La., scored on his next catch -- a 59-yard deep ball over the middle. His string of four straight games with a TD catch was broken versus FAMU, when he had one grab for 18 yards, but he does own Tulane's longest current streak of consecutive games with a reception at 14.

Slow Start
Roydell Williams is one of the top returnees in Conference USA and one of the top receivers in the country after catching a career-high 66 passes for 1,006 yards a year ago, but the fifth-year senior has had a slow start to his 2004 season. Williams did not make a catch in the Mississippi State game while playing limited downs, and did not play at all versus FAMU. With 163 catches for 2,381 career yards and 23 touchdowns, Williams ranks seventh, fifth and fourth on the Tulane career lists. The LaPlace, La. product has a chance to move into the TU top three, joining All-American Marc Zeno (1984-87) and JaJuan Dawson (1996-99). Williams was named to the 2004 Preseason All-Conference USA team after earning first team all-league recognition a year ago.

Apples to Apples
As a private school operating under stringent academic requirements, Tulane's win total over the last five years (since the arrival of Head Coach Chris Scelfo) stands up pretty well in comparison with other "like institutions". All of the following schools are private with high academic requirements and, for the most part, do not admit junior college players. In the comparison, Tulane ranks third of the schools in wins. No schools on the list posted more than two winning seasons during the five-year span from 1999 to 2003.

Forever Young
Tulane's 2004 active roster, including walk-ons, features only 11 seniors and 18 juniors. The remainder of the 94-man roster is composed of freshmen (true and redshirt) and sophomores, for a total of 66 underclassmen, or more than two-thirds of the 2004 team. The Green Wave's 62-man travel roster to Mississippi State included just 24 juniors and seniors and 20 freshmen.

Green Wave in the Pros
Eight former Green Wave players were on NFL opening day rosters, including two members of the 2003 team, and a pair who will remain on injured reserve this year. QB J.P. Losman, a quarterback with the Bills, and Vikings RB Mewelde Moore both played for Tulane last year while former TU kicker Seth Marler (1999-2002) is on injured reserve with the Jaguars, the same place that DB Alphonso Roundtree (1995-98) finds himself. The New York Jets have running back Corey Sewell (1998-2001) while lineman Dennis O'Sullivan (1995-98) is now a Texan. Quarterbacks Shaun King (1995-98) of the Arizona Cardinals and Patrick Ramsey (1999-2001) of the Washington Redskins round out the group.

Key Contributors
Though the senior class is small, each of the seniors -- SS Tra Boger, FS Joey Dawson, RB Gerald Brobbey, LB Wesley Heath, LB Blake Baker, DS Lane Macaluso, OG Joe Mitchell, OT Jimmy Kosienski, WR Chris Bush, WR Roydell Williams and WR Carl Davis -- are key contributors to the team. Eight of the 11 see extensive playing time on either offense or defense, while Brobbey and Macaluso are special teams stalwarts.

Tight Targets
Green Wave tight ends Bobby Hoover and Gabe Ratcliff have combined to catch five passes in the first two games of the season, including three catches for 29 yards and a touchdown by the freshman Ratcliff. Hoover and Ratcliff combined for four catches versus Florida A&M, the most in a single game by Tulane tight ends since Hoover caught five passes for 50 yards versus Cincinnati in 2001.

Leading the Way
Following preseason practices, Tulane players elected four of their teammates to serve as captains throughout the 2004 season. Three of the four -- FS Joey Dawson, OT Jimmy Kosienski and WR Roydell Williams -- are seniors. They were joined by junior linebacker Anthony Cannon. After the graduation of Tulane's four senior captains a year ago, none of the players had served in the captain's role previously.

Rookies
The Green Wave defensive line is once again one of the "greenest" positions on the team. A year ago, Tulane lost eight key players off the defensive line, and had to move a wide receiver and a linebacker to defensive end. In February, Tulane signed eight freshmen defensive linemen to fill the gap. Seven of those freshmen have now played and three -- Avery Williams, Antonio Harris and Ryan Johnson, have started at least one game. With Michael Roberts still sidelined while continuing to rehab his foot, Tulane has just one junior (DE Willie Christian) and NO senior defensive linemen on its active roster for 2004.

Line Time
Meanwhile, with four juniors and a senior now playing their third season together as starters, the Green Wave offensive line is one of the most seasoned groups on the Tulane team. The five-man unit -- senior right tackle Jimmy Kosienski, junior right guard Donald Madlock, junior center Joe Traina, junior guard Matt Traina and junior left tackle Chris McGee -- have 105 starts between them. Matt Traina and McGee have each started every game they have played in the last two years (27 and 26, respectively). Each of the five except Madlock redshirted their initial season at Tulane so the five have 15 combined seasons under their belts.

ON THE AIR

Tulane-Southern Miss on TV
The Tulane-Southern Miss game will be seen statewide on Cox Sports TV beginning at 11 p.m. Saturday night with a second replay Monday at 4 pm in New Orleans on Cox 10. Calling the game will be Bob DelGiorno, Jr. and Rich Mauti.

Tulane Coaches' Call-In Show
Head Coach Chris Scelfo joins host Sean Kelley and other members of the Green Wave head coaching staff each Monday night during the season at Superior Grill (3636 St. Charles Ave.) from 7-8 p.m. The show can be heard on several stations of the Tulane ISP Radio Network, including Tulane flagship WTIX-AM 690.

"Tulane Football with Head Coach Chris Scelfo"
Catch highlights of the Green Wave's previous game, comments from Scelfo on the upcoming opponent, and player features, each week on the Tulane football coaches' television show. The show airs on Cox Sports Television across the state each Thursday night at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday morning at 8 a.m.

Tulane Football Replays on Cox Sports TV
Every Green Wave home game will be broadcast on a tape-delay basis on Cox Sports Television. The statewide network will air the replays at 11 p.m. Saturday nights with possible re-airings during the week. Bob DelGiorno Jr. and Rich Mauti will call the action.