Remembering The 1998 Tulane Greenwave-Undefeated at 12-0
By: Tony Thomas October 17, 2019
The Tulane Greenwave is 5-1 this season, 2-0 in American Athletic Conference play. They are averaging 496 yards per game, have the #4 rushing attack in the country at 288 yards per game, and are scoring 39 points per game. They are off to their best start in years.
But let’s go back and remember the 1998 team that went undefeated at 12-0.
That version of the Greenwave was coached by Tommy Bowden, who amassed an 18-4 record in just 2 seasons as head coach. Tulane ranked #2 nationally in scoring at 45 points per game. They scored 50 points twice, 63 points against La. Tech, and 72 points against Louisiana. Tulane scored 540 points, setting a single-season school record.
On the field, The Greenwave was led by dynamic QB Shaun King. King accounted for 4149 total yards and 49 touchdowns that season. For his career, he passed for 8695 yards, 72 TDs and 34 INTs.
The running game was split between RB Toney Converse and RB Jamaican Dartez, who combined for 1653 yards and 15 TDs.
King had a couple of very good wide receivers to throw to in P.J. Franklin and JaJuan Dawson. Both combined for 154 catches for 2251 yards and 23 TDs.
Tulane would be left out of the Fiesta Bowl, the site of the BCS Championship Game that year, because of their perceived strength of schedule and would instead play in the Liberty Bowl, beating BYU 41-27.
Shaun King would go on to the NFL, being drafted in the 2nd round by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Tommy Bowden would leave Tulane before the bowl game, taking the head coaching job at Clemson.
The 2019 version of the Greenwave has a tough second-half schedule still to play, with their 6 remaining opponents having a combined record of 26-9. They begin that gauntlet of a schedule on the road at Memphis this Saturday.
They also have road games at Navy, a BYE week before traveling to Temple, and close out the regular season on the road at SMU. Their remaining home games are against Tulsa and UCF.
Thanks for reading.
Material for this article sourced from http://crescentcitysports.com http://sports-reference.com http://cfbstats.com http://sportslogos.net
