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2025 Tulane

11–⁠3 (7–⁠1 American Athletic Conference), coached by Jon Sumrall, finished No. 18 in the AP poll.

Schedule and results

Tulane in 2025, game by game: won vs. Northwestern 23–3; won at South Alabama 33–31; won vs. Duke 34–27; lost at No. 13 Ole Miss 10–45; won at Tulsa 31–14; won vs. East Carolina 26–19; won vs. Army 24–17; lost at UTSA 26–48; won at No. 22 Memphis 38–32; won vs. Florida Atlantic 35–24; won at Temple 37–13; won vs. Charlotte 27–0; won vs. No. 20 North Texas 34–21; lost at No. 6 Ole Miss 10–41+27−35Won 23–3 vs. Northwestern+20NorthwesternWon 33–31 at South Alabama+2South AlabamaWon 34–27 vs. Duke+7DukeLost 10–45 at No. 13 Ole Miss-35No. 13 Ole MissWon 31–14 at Tulsa+17TulsaWon 26–19 vs. East Carolina+7East CarolinaWon 24–17 vs. Army+7ArmyLost 26–48 at UTSA-22UTSAWon 38–32 at No. 22 Memphis+6No. 22 MemphisWon 35–24 vs. Florida Atlantic+11Florida AtlanticWon 37–13 at Temple+24TempleWon 27–0 vs. Charlotte+27CharlotteWon 34–21 vs. No. 20 North Texas+13No. 20 North TexasLost 10–41 at No. 6 Ole Miss-31No. 6 Ole Miss
Each game’s margin, wins above the line and losses below; orange marks an upset win.
DateOpponentResultElo
Aug 30vsNorthwesternW 23–⁠369%
Sep 6atSouth AlabamaW 33–⁠3148%
Sep 13vsDukeW 34–⁠2765%
Sep 20at13Ole MissL 10–⁠4530%
Sep 27atTulsaW 31–⁠1472%
Oct 9vsEast CarolinaW 26–⁠1967%
Oct 18vsArmyW 24–⁠1766%
Oct 30atUTSAL 26–⁠4861%
Nov 7at22MemphisW 38–⁠3231%
Nov 15vsFlorida AtlanticW 35–⁠2482%
Nov 22atTempleW 37–⁠1371%
Nov 29vsCharlotteW 27–⁠093%
Dec 5vs20North TexasAmerican ChampionshipW 34–⁠2158%
Dec 20Bowls & playoffat6Ole MissCFP First RoundL 10–⁠4129%

Elo: a pregame chance from scores alone.

How it ended: Lost to Ole Miss 41–⁠10 in the CFP First Round; No. 18 in the final AP poll; American Athletic Conference champions.

In program history: The 10th-best season in program history by end-of-season Elo (of 123 on file).

AP poll, week by week

  1. Wk 13: 24
  2. Wk 14: 22
  3. Wk 15: 21
  4. Wk 16: 17
  5. Final: 18

American Athletic Conference champions7–⁠1 in the conference

Record
11–⁠3
Conference
7–⁠1 tied for 2nd in American Athletic Conference
AP final
No. 18 peak No. 17
Points
388–⁠335
Coach
Jon Sumrall
Elo
1650 +86 this season
SP+ rating
6.3 No. 45 of 136; offense No. 35, defense No. 71, special teams No. 12
SRS
2.9 No. 56 of 136 in FBS
Returning
15% of last season’s EPA, No. 111 of 134
Recruiting class
No. 74 roster talent No. 68 in FBS
Offensive coordinators
Joe Craddock and Evan McKissack
Defensive coordinators
Greg Gasparato and Tayler Polk
Offense
West Coast
Defense
4–⁠2–⁠5

How good, play by play

  • Offense32nd of 136
  • Defense59th of 136
  • Offense, opponent-adjusted44th of 136
  • Defense, opponent-adjusted48th of 136
EPA per playSuccessExplosivenessFBS rank
Offense0.1545%1.2032nd of 136
Defense0.0845%1.1659th of 136
Opponent-adjusted0.13 off
0.06 def		43% off
43% def		—44th off
48th def

Passing and running

Pass successDepth of targetDeep throwsLine yardsStuffed
Offense49%9.3 yds11%3.1015%
Defense49%7.2 yds10%3.2014%
How these are measured

Play-weighted averages over games against FBS opponents; raw numbers, not adjusted for the strength of the opponent. EPA (expected points added) measures how much each play changed the expected score; success rate counts plays that kept the offense on schedule; explosiveness is the average EPA on successful plays. Lower is better on defense. Ranked by EPA per play among teams that were FBS that season. The opponent-adjusted row (offense / defense) is CollegeFootballData.com’s WEPA, which accounts for who each team played. Passing and running: depth of target is how far downfield passes traveled in the air; deep throws are the share thrown deep, of the passes whose depth and direction the play-by-play describes (about half); line yards are the running yards per carry credited to the blockers; stuffed is the share of carries stopped at or behind the line. The defense’s line is what its opponents did. From CollegeFootballData.com, 2025 on.

Drives and havoc

Points per trip inside the 40Average startHavoc
Offense3.9own 3513% allowed
Defense3.6own 2717% caused

CORE rating 7.6, 42nd of 136 (offense 6.6, defense -1.0).

A trip inside the 40 is a drive that reaches the opponent’s 40-yard line; points per trip is how many it scored on average (allowed, on defense). Average start is where drives began (the defense’s line is where its opponents started). Havoc is the share of plays ending in a tackle for loss, a forced fumble, an interception or a pass broken up. CORE is CollegeFootballData.com’s context- and opponent-adjusted rating (points better than an average team; lower is better on defense). From CollegeFootballData.com.

Leaders

Passing yardsJake Retzlaff QB3,168 yds
Passing touchdownsJake Retzlaff QB15 TD
Rushing yardsJake Retzlaff QB634 yds
Rushing touchdownsJake Retzlaff QB16 TD
Receiving yardsShazz Preston WR723 yds
Receiving touchdownsShazz Preston WR4 TD
TacklesChris Rodgers LB80 tkl
SacksHarvey Dyson III LB7 sacks
InterceptionsJaheim Johnson DB4 INT

Top recruits in the 2025 class

Josh Lewis DL★★★No. 619
Michael Igbinoghene CB★★★No. 660
Josh Sims CB★★★No. 683
Warren Roberts Jr. DE★★★No. 750
Antwaun Parham WR★★★No. 795

247Sports composite rankings via CollegeFootballData.com; national rank in the class.

The 2025 class by position

SignedStarsRating
Quarterbacks23.00.854
Running backs13.00.863
Receivers33.00.855
Offensive line23.00.858
Defensive line43.00.868
Linebackers13.00.837
Defensive backs33.00.872
Athletes and specialists22.50.818
Whole class182.90.856

High-school signees by position group, with their average stars and 247Sports composite rating (out of 1), via CollegeFootballData.com. Athletes are signees with no set position.

Roster 117

The 2025 roster

117 players, with numbers, heights, hometowns and each player’s 2025 line; 64 have a stat line. See the roster

Transfers in 30

The 2025 portal
Santana Hopper DL★★★from App State
Johnny Pascuzzi TE★★★from West Virginia
Brendan Sullivan QB★★★from Iowa
Isaiah Wadsworth CB★★★from Wofford
Kadin Semonza QB★★★from Ball State
L.J. Green CB★★★from Troy
Maurice Turner RB★★★from Louisville
Maurice Westmoreland DE★★★from UTEP
Trevon McAlpine DL★★★from Texas Tech
Anthony Brown WR★★★from Kentucky
Donovan Leary QB★★★from Illinois
Jack Hollifield OL★★★from App State

And 18 more, lower-rated or unrated.

Transfers out 27

Darian Mensah QB★★★★to Duke
Makhi Hughes RB★★★★to Oregon
Alex Bauman TE★★★to Miami
Parker Peterson DL★★★to Wisconsin
Rayshawn Pleasant CB★★★to Auburn
Adonis Friloux DL★★★to Baylor
Jesus Machado LB★★★to Houston
Matthew Fobbs-White DE★★★to Baylor
Jude McCoskey OT★★★to Purdue
Kai Horton QB★★★to Washington
T.J. Finley QB★★★to Georgia State
Ty Thompson QB★★★returned to Tulane

And 15 more, lower-rated or unrated.

2025 American Athletic Conference standings

Conference page
TeamConf.OverallAP final
Navy8–⁠111–⁠223
North Texas7–⁠112–⁠224
Tulane7–⁠111–⁠318
South Florida6–⁠29–⁠4
East Carolina6–⁠29–⁠4
Memphis4–⁠48–⁠5
UTSA4–⁠47–⁠6
Army4–⁠57–⁠6
Temple3–⁠55–⁠7
Florida Atlantic3–⁠54–⁠8
Rice2–⁠65–⁠8
UAB2–⁠64–⁠8
Tulsa1–⁠74–⁠8
Charlotte0–⁠81–⁠11

Ordered by conference winning percentage, then conference wins. Division splits and tiebreakers aren’t applied.