Game Fourteen Billboard Slogan of the Week: "And Tulane Heard It"

BY TIM SCANDURRO

As he was talking with them, Goliath, the Philistine champion from Gath, stepped out from his lines and shouted his usual defiance, and David heard it….

David said to Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him…”

Then he took his staff in his hand, chose five smooth stones from the stream, put them in the pouch of his shepherd’s bag and, with his sling in his hand, approached Goliath.

1 Samuel 17

How much do we have to take?

Let’s recap.  Immediately following the celebratory announcement that Tulane was going to the College Football Playoff we knew we would have to deal with some trolls, the mostly local types who grew up hating us and who could never root for us even if we were playing Iran.  But the disdain from the larger-platform SEC/ESPN media shills is what has stood out.  The commentary has ranged from condescension to contempt to outrage.  Some examples:

“There should be a playoff that’s just for the G-5 schools, where they have an actual chance of winning.”-Multiple sources (Condescension)

”It’s like we are giving out participation trophies.”—Nick Saban (Contempt)

“It’s bad for television and it dilutes the playoff, like having minor league teams in the major league baseball playoffs.  I don’t want to watch those games.”—Paul Finebaum (Outrage)

That’s just a sampling. 

Seventh seeded Texas A&M fans have complained that it’s not fair that Ole Miss got seeded sixth and gets to play an easy game while they have to play a “real” team.  An unnamed “Power Four” assistant coach told The Athletic that Tulane’s only chance to win would be the Ole Miss bus breaking down and not getting to the stadium.

In what has otherwise been a celebratory and joyous week for Tulane fans everywhere, we have nonetheless been subjected to a barrage of slings and arrows launched by these big-money, big-conference and big-media interests masquerading as advocates for “fairness.”

Are you sick of hearing it?  If so, just imagine how the players and coaches on our team feel.  I can tell you that like David in the Valley of Elah, they have heard just about enough of it.  I watched a laser-focused Sam Howard practicing at a fever pitch of intensity Wednesday, and I know he’s heard it.  This team is counting down the hours until they can respond to it between the lines on Saturday in Oxford.

I don’t know if it will make a difference in the outcome; we got thumped pretty good up there just a few months ago and Ole Miss figures to be much more dialed in and amped up for this one considering the stakes.  It’s going to be electric.  Thanks to the soap opera that is their former coach, they will have a chip on their shoulders too.  The oddsmakers have them as a heavier favorite than they were back in September. 

But games aren’t played on paper.  Football is a momentum-driven,  emotional sport.  On one sideline Saturday is a team with a new coach, a new play-caller, and the uncertainty that comes with new leadership facing a team they crushed not that long ago.  On the other is a conference champion who won 11 games and beat two ranked opponents plus the ACC champion but have been told for two weeks they’re a fraud, they don’t belong on the same field as Ole Miss already proved, and they shouldn’t even be here. One team has a whole lot to lose; the other is playing with house money and has a whole lot to win. 

Our team knows they didn’t play well back in September, but they also know they are a different team now.  They are cherishing the opportunity they EARNED to play in this game, and the opportunity to avenge not just the September loss but the national disgrace of what’s been said about them.  They know and we know that there are a whole lot of powerful people in college football who are hoping we get blown out.  The columns are already written, the rants pre-rehearsed.

But this football game is going to get played, whether they like it or not.  On Saturday just before 2:30 PM about 70 sets of eyes will be on Coach Sumrall in the visiting locker room. What’s been simmering for two weeks is going to come to a full boil real quick, and the lid is going to come off the pot.  Never underestimate the motivational force of prior failure in the competitive heart of a football coach or his team.  There is precious little in this world more powerful for a football player than an army of ‘experts’ who thinks he can’t, and a family of teammates who thinks he can.

Again, it may not be enough.  We still have to play extremely well to have a chance, and they are good enough to beat us even if we do.  They are that talented.

But we don’t have to beat them two out of three, or four out of seven.  We just have to beat them once.  We are a live underdog in this spot.  If we can get them into the fourth quarter in a tight game, you have to like our chances.

Of course Nick Saban and Paul Finebaum won’t be watching.  They can’t even fathom the possibility of an upset. 

Neither could Goliath.

Roll Wave.