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Tulane’s Protection Around Trace Johnson Critical for Win Over UTSA
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- Tulane’s Protection Around Trace Johnson Critical for Win Over UTSA
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
It will be really important for the Tulane Green Wave to give quarterback Trace Johnson some strong pass protection as they get set to take on the American Conference-leading UTSA Roadrunners at Yulman Stadium on Saturday night.
The good thing is, they seemed to handle the Memphis Tigers quite swimmingly last Friday night, who boast the number one pass rush in the league with a total of 20 sacks through their first eight games.
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In contrast, the Green Wave sit at eighth, with 12 sacks in six contests; the Tigers already got their game over with on Thursday night.
Their opponent tonight, the Roadrunners, have a mere six sacks in seven games. That's good for dead last in the conference despite their 6-1 overall and 3-0 undefeated conference record.
They also haven't done too much by the way of turnovers, faring a bit better with interceptions than by forced fumbles. UTSA is seventh in the American with five interceptions through seven games and one returned for a touchdown.
The Roadrunners rank 12th out of 14 in the conference in forced fumbles with just two so far on the year.
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In comparison, Tulane has only three interceptions through six contests, one returned for a pick six, and five forced fumbles so far.
With their bye week, the Green Wave also have one less game of stats than their opponent this Saturday night.
All things considered, that concern about pass protection seems to be something Tulane will be able to keep in check.
Against a stronger pass rush, Trace Johnson was only sacked one.
The team has also been really good at not turning the ball over and will have to continue in that aspect while also hoping to force some more on the Roadrunners' end as they look to chase their six-turnover dominant performance against Memphis.
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Johnson will also go in with a new starting line in front of him, though it's nothing new from last Friday's game that saw this switch happen before halftime.
It will go Dominic Steward at left tackle, Reese Baker now at left guard, Gavin Marks at center, John Bock at right guard, and Ryan Mickow at right tackle.
For one, it highlights how incredibly impressive and valuable Baker's versatility is, with him now starting at right guard, right tackle, and left tackle through six games for the Wave this year.
But it was a combo that really showed that it could work. Let's see how that test holds up against the conference's top dogs.
