After two blowout wins to open American Conference play, Memphis football is heading on the road for what should — according to the oddsmakers — be a more competitive game.
The Tigers (5-1, 2-0 American Conference) will face Tulane (2-3, 0-1) on Oct. 16 (6:30 p.m., ESPN) at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans. The Green Wave have appeared in four straight American title games, but they've struggled so far this season under new coach Will Hall and are 7-point underdogs against the Tigers.
Still, Memphis isn't taking Tulane lightly. Tigers coach Charles Huff said at his weekly news conference that he told his team to view the Green Wave like they're the conference champions. Then there's the old adage about how it's hard to win on the road in conference play.
Add in the connection between Huff and Hall, and there's plenty to think about heading into this game.
Memphis is coming off wins over Charlotte and UAB, while Tulane lost on a last-minute field goal to Army in its conference opener.
Here's our scouting report and a prediction for the game.
Can Memphis' top-10 offense keep rolling?
It's the halfway point of the season, and Memphis has put together what consistently looks like one of the top offenses in the country. The Tigers are No. 7 in total offense and No. 7 in rushing offense. Only North Texas is higher when it comes to scoring offense in the American.
Quarterback Marcus Stokes has looked more and more comfortable in Kevin Decker's offense each week, while the running game got back to its elite level in the win over UAB. Jaylin Carter is No. 11 in the country in rushing yards and looks headed for a 1,000-yard season.
Tulane's defense has been bending and not breaking pretty well. The Green Wave are third to last in the conference in total defense but are fifth in scoring defense at only 22.6 points per game.
What will Tulane's offense look like?
Hall put it pretty bluntly in his news conference ahead of the game.
"We've got to play better at quarterback," he said. "Anybody with eyes can see that."
It's been a bit of a rollercoaster at quarterback for Tulane. Zeon Chriss-Gremillion won an offseason competition but then lost his job to Kadin Semonza after a half in the opener against Duke. Semonza has been the Tulane starter since then, but he's struggled along with the rest of the offense.
Freshman Trace Johnson has seen the field sparingly, and there's a chance he could make his first career start against Memphis. Hall was non-committal when asked about who his quarterback would be against the Tigers.
Will Hall, Charles Huff have (sort of) shared history
It's hard not to look at the connection between the two coaches. Both were recently at Southern Miss, but even just that fact doesn't really tell the story.
Hall was fired in 2024 during what ended as a 1-11 season for the Golden Eagles. Huff arrived at the end of that season after leaving Marshall and went 7-5 in his lone year in Hattiesburg before leaving for Memphis.
Just a year later, Hall was promoted after Jon Sumrall was hired by Florida. He had been an assistant during the 2025 season with the Green Wave.
At his introductory press conference in December, Huff said: "This is the first time in my career that I’m taking over a program that’s not broken.”
But he had plenty of praise for Hall this week.
"Which was a standard of excellence, which was a hard-nosed tough environment that we walked into (at Southern Miss), Huff said. "Which I give him and his staff credit for that. And obviously he's done a phenomenal job at Tulane this year. When you watch them on film, even the games that they haven't had the best outcome, they're in the game to the last drive, to the last phase of it, competing at a very high level."
Memphis football vs Tulane score prediction
Memphis 31, Tulane 17. Tulane's defense limits the Tigers a little bit more than Charlotte and UAB, but Memphis ultimately has more firepower and gets to 3-0 in conference play.
Reach sports writer Jonah Dylan at jonah.dylan@commercialappeal.com or on X @thejonahdylan.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Memphis football vs Tulane preview, prediction for Charles Huff, Will Hall
