Nicholls State @ Tulane preview

Tulane battled to force overtime in its season opener at home against Wake Forest but ultimately fell short and knows it has several areas in which to improve. The Green Wave will try to put together a complete game on both sides of the ball Saturday, when they host a Nicholls squad that just knocked off a BCS team.

Tulane is trying to establish itself as a team that can compete in the American Athletic Conference and was disappointed in its inability to close at home against a Power 5 opponent. "It's frustrating, there's no doubt about that," Green Wave coach Willie Fritz told reporters. "You've got to just keep forging ahead when you get these games. Our expectations are very high here. When I first came in, there were very little expectations. Just lining up right and playing hard were a plus to a lot of people, but now we feel like we're at a point in our program where we need to start winning these games." Fritz needs to get his team ready to avoid an upset against the Colonels, who have a squad capable of winning the FCS this season. Nicholls earned the program's first ever win over a BCS Power 5 opponent with its 26-23 overtime victory at Kansas in which it held the Jayhawks to 56 rushing yards.

TV: 8 p.m. ET, ESPN3. LINE: None

ABOUT NICHOLLS (1-0): The Colonels had three different players score touchdowns at Kansas, including quarterback Chase Fourcade, and finished with 187 yards on the ground. Kendall Bussey, who is from New Orleans and transferred to Nicholls from Texas A&M, led the way with 123 rushing yards and was named the Southland Conference's offensive player of the week. The victory catapulted the team to No. 10 in the FCS coaches poll.

ABOUT TULANE (0-1): The Green Wave are trying to be a run-heavy offense under Fritz but had more success in the passing game in Week 1 and need to improve up front. "We have to be assignment sound," Fritz told reporters. "We have to do a good job of staying on our blocks. We got whipped a few times up front. A lot of that was technique, just not stepping properly. We need to see some big-time improvement between Week 1 and Week 2 with our offensive line." The difficulty running allowed quarterback Jonathan Banks to show off his arm, and he responded with 281 yards and a pair of TDs through the air.

EXTRA POINTS

1. Tulane is 10-0 against FCS competition since 2005.

2. Colonels DL Sully Laiche was named the Southland defensive player of the week.

3. Green Wave WR Terren Encalade gained 189 receiving yards in Week 1 and needs four more to reach 1,700 for his career.

PREDICTION: Tulane 28, Nicholls 24