KNOW YOUR FOE: Tulane, AAC's top defense, prepares for rare top-25 home game with UCF

For the first time since 1949, Tulane is set to host a football game pitting nationally ranked opponents head-to-head.

The Green Wave, No. 17 in Tuesday's updated College Football Playoff rankings, host No. 22 UCF at 3:30 p.m. Saturday with enormous stakes in the American Athletic Conference. The winner takes sole possession of first place in the league, and gains the inside track on both home field advantage for the AAC's championship game and the Group of Five's automatic bid into a New Year's Six bowl.

LAST TIME OUT: UCF ends road woes with win at Memphis, sets up showdown with Tulane

Tulane (8-1, 5-0 AAC) is the league's lone unbeaten team in the standings. The Green Wave pulled off an impressive non-conference win at Kansas State in September, but faltered the following week in a surprising home loss to Southern Mississippi.

UCF (7-2, 4-1) picked up an important road win at Memphis last week, improving to 3-5 away from the Bounce House under head coach Gus Malzahn. The Knights hold a tiebreaker for second place in the AAC on Cincinnati due to its head-to-head win on Oct. 29.

Checking in this week for Know Your Foe is Guerry Smith, a contributing writer who covers Tulane for the Times-Picayune/New Orleans Advocate and NOLA.com.

Boyle: Tulane has been one of the most surprising teams in college football this season. Did you expect this sort of turnaround? Where has the biggest improvement come from compared to 2021?

Smith: I did not expect this huge of a turnaround, but it is not a complete shock. First, you can throw out what happened in 2021. Hurricane Ida displaced the team to Birmingham for nearly a month at the start of the season, throwing everything into disarray. Still, the 8-1 start this season is a dramatic improvement on the previous three years, when the Green Wave went to minor bowl games and finished with six losses each time. Willie Fritz had finished better than 3-5 in conference play only once in his first six seasons.

The biggest jump is on defense, where Tulane has gone from 10th (in the AAC) in 2021 to first in 2022 under second-year coordinator Chris Hampton. The improvement actually started in the last five games a year ago after a dreadful first half, but everything has come together this year. It is an experienced, talented group that buys in totally to what Hampton is teaching.

Boyle: What has been the general reaction from those within the program and fans/alumni outside of it when College GameDay spurned New Orleans in favor of a return trip to Austin this weekend for TCU-Texas?

Smith: People were really disappointed inside and outside the program. When Illinois lost to Michigan State and Alabama lost to LSU, rendering the Purdue at Illinois game meaningless and the Alabama at Ole Miss game much less significant, it appeared to be a slam dunk that College GameDay would come to New Orleans. Apparently, Tulane was pushing to have the set in the French Quarter and ESPN preferred to do it on campus, but we will never really know the exact reason why they chose to go to Texas for the second time this year.

Having already gone to Appalachian State and Jackson State, they may have been under pressure from higher-ups to pick a Power Five conference game. By making that choice, they missed the opportunity to hype Tulane's first home game matching two ranked teams in 73 years. That chance will never come again — anywhere.

Boyle: The Green Wave gashed Tulsa for 357 rushing yards, the 13th highest single-game total in school history. How are carries being split by Tyjae Spears, Michael Pratt, Iverson Celestine and Shaadie Clayton-Johnson, and what challenges does each create for defenses in the open field?

Smith: Tyjae Spears is the best running back in the seven-year, Willie Fritz era and a true difference-maker. He was on pace to rush for 200 yards against Tulsa when what appeared to be a minor hamstring injury sent him to the sidelines early in the third quarter, limiting him to one carry the rest of the way. Because he tore his ACL two years ago, the coaches have been careful with his workload, a luxury they can afford thanks to his talented backups. Clayton-Johnson, a star running back at a local high school who did not do much in two years at Colorado, started slowly after returning to New Orleans but has picked it up in recent games and was terrific against Tulsa. Celestine is a powerful north-and-south runner, so they likely will divide the carries three ways again Saturday. Pratt's ability to read defenses on run-pass options adds another element to the offense, and he is a willing scrambler, too. If the line gives these guys some space, they are very dangerous.

Boyle: Tulane has already set an AAC record with five, separate Defensive Player of the Week award winners. What are the strengths of this unit, the league's best in total defense and scoring defense, and who are the stars UCF needs to slow down?

Smith: The defense is experienced and strong across the board, but senior linebackers Dorian Williams and Nick Anderson are the heart of the unit. Williams, the College Football News AAC preseason defensive player of the year in 2021, is living up to that billing a season later. He makes plays everywhere. In one two-play sequence against Memphis, he broke up a pass nearly 30 yards downfield and then forced a throwaway on a blitz. Anderson, though shorter than Williams, has similar skills and plays with incredibly high energy. The other key players to watch are nickelback Macon Clark, a third-year starter, defensive tackle Patrick Jenkins, a TCU transfer, and rush end Darius Hodges. Although Hodges' numbers are down from last year, when he led the AAC in tackles for loss, he is the Wave's best pass rusher.

Boyle: Much like UCF, Tulane has greatly benefited from additions in the transfer portal. Who have been the most impactful newcomers for the Green Wave? Is this avenue one Willie Fritz will prioritize in recruiting going forward?

Smith: Fritz is old-school and would prefer the free transfer rule did not exist, but he took full advantage of it this year. Tulane brought in 10 players from the portal and hit on all 10, so this is not the same roster as last season. Jenkins, free safety Lummie Young (Duke) and cornerback Jarius Monroe (Nicholls State) will start Saturday. Defensive end Tylo Phillips (Lamar) might start. Offensive guard Prince Pines (Sam Houston State/Baylor) is having an outstanding year. Kanan Ray (Colorado) was the starter at the other guard spot before suffering a season-ending knee injury. Wideouts Lawrence Keys (Notre Dame) and Dea Dea McDougle (Maryland) do not start, but they are key elements in the offense as motion men who can take jet sweeps. McDougle also leads the team in receptions. I mentioned Clayton-Johnson above. Placekicker Valentino Ambrosio (Rutgers), who missed the first five games with a leg injury, has stabilized one of the Wave's weakest spots since returning. Keys, Jenkins and Clayton-Johnson were all highly recruited local players who never really considered Tulane out of high school, and that is the model Fritz will use going forward. If things do not go well at their first school, he wants them to feel Tulane can be a heck of a landing spot.

This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: UCF Knights football: Know Your Foe, Tulane Green Wave