That Tulane Green Wave capping a season that will test them mentally and physically in a short week in Charlotte, they will need to focus in the crunch time.

They encountered adversity on the field, except for the hurricane that altered preparation before Oklahoma. Back-to-back road games on Saturday and Thursday present a unique challenge by extraneous factors and additional mental and physical effort.

It is essential to build the mental strength of the team before these moments – this meant getting youngsters on the pitch in critical situations as early as possible in the year.

Against Kansas State, freshman safety Jack Tchienchou’s playmaking ability pushed him into a big snap, while sophomore Kevin Adams continued to sneak down the field like his counterpart.

Six games later, Tchienchou led Tulane with eight solo tackles against North Texas, saving a crucial run with a tackle similar to the one Adams made to bring down Dean Connors to prevent a touchdown against Rice. Adams recovered the fumble on special teams.

They’ve shut down several contests since Week 2, and Tchienchou sees how time spent on the job has created toughness and bonds.

“Coach Gas (Gasparato) tells us you’re not young after the spring season. You’re not a young guy anymore. Kevin and I took it upon ourselves as if it was our job to go in and not miss a step or lose pace. We can’t afford to have a slump in the big games I think we just kept raising the bar and the older guys in front of us started leading by example so we. I’m just able to keep it going.”

Veterans Jalen Geiger and Bailey Despanie were essential role models for the two players to learn from. There was no better display of the team’s core values ​​than Despanie stepped on the sideline after his ejection for targeting Oklahoma. I remember him hugging the young players next in line and some in-game coaching moments that translated quickly.

“His experience is something you can’t teach,” agreed Tchienchou. “He’s able to help me even on the field to let me know and alert me about things he thinks might be coming. And even if it doesn’t happen, it sticks in the back of my mind and I’m able to continue to make songs from things that helped me.”

Geiger spoke earlier in the year about the temperament of the young defensive backs and pointed to Tchienchou in particular as a true young leader.

“Even though he’s young, he’s still going to step up, he’s going to speak up. I think we all have that connection with each other. We’re all sitting outside of football, so we all know in these big moments, so hard. moments, we know that we have each other’s backs.”

One level up Green Wave linebackers display equal bonds of brotherhood. Despite Sam Howard Not having transferred to Tulane until this summer, Tyler Grubbs couldn’t believe how perfectly they connected, a sign that the ultimate culture fits the bill.

“With Sam coming in, it’s difficult to build relationships when things move so quickly. You can’t build great relationships when you’re worried about this and that. It’s hard to sit and talk to someone. But he and I, for some reason, connected really well. We see many things the same way. who wants that greatness.”

“I think our friendship and the way we push each other rubs off on our team in some ways with everyone seeing how we push each other. It’s a great show of leadership for everyone else. So to have him next to me every match and throughout the game. this leadership role we have is special.”

When in the face of adversity, Tulane’s answer is universal: good. This only works to the extent that a team-wide buy-in throws it off. They won’t be immune to those moments Thursday against the 49ers. But they won’t have fresh legs or enough diligent preparation to leave that up to the schemes on the field.

It is essential that the Green Wave players look at each other as brothers and build on that competitive edge to level the playing field in Charlotte.