Wake Forest @ Tulane preview

Last Meeting ( Sep 1, 2016 ) Tulane 3, Wake Forest 7

Tulane took steps forward under coach Willie Fritz last season, enough to earn the coach a contract extension and higher expectations heading into the 2018 season. Fritz and his squad will have a chance to get off to a strong start when they host Wake Forest in the season opener on Thursday night.

The Green Wave continued to adapt to Fritz's triple-option offense last season but struggled on the defensive end, where they were torched for averages of 436 yards and 29.2 points. "We've got a better understanding of what we're doing in the 3-4 defense," defensive coordinator Jack Curtis told the team's website. "We're playing with a lot of young guys, so you've got to get them playing hard, lined up. ... We've cleaned up a lot, we've studied in the offseason and I think we'll be much-improved." The Demon Deacons had similar issues last season with averages of 444 yards and 26.3 points allowed and made a big effort to bring in different players along the front seven with this year's freshman class. "Physically, what we recruited in the front seven as true freshmen is different than what we've had in the past," Wake Forest coach Dave Clawson told reporters. "These guys are (in terms of), height, weight, speed, better than what we've brought in before. Whether they become the players that these other guys did, who knows?"

TV: 8 p.m. ET, CBS Sports Network. LINE: Wake Forest -7

ABOUT WAKE FOREST (2017: 8-5): The Demon Deacons let their offense lead them to eight wins and a 55-52 victory over Texas A&M in the Belk Bowl last season, but they lost senior quarterback John Wolford (3,192 yards, 29 TDs, six INTs, 683 yards rushing). Clawson held an open competition in camp and freshman Sam Hartman came out on top over sophomore Jamie Newman. "He's comfortable back there in the pocket, I've never seen anything like it. He's able to anticipate throws that, at his age, I haven't seen from any quarterback that's ever come in here," senior receiver Alex Bachman told the Winston-Salem Journal. "...The kid just comes in (and) he's able to play well beyond his years, for sure."

ABOUT TULANE (2017: 5-7): The Green Wave run a triple-option offense but lost 60 percent of a rushing attack that ranked 20th in the nation at an average of 231.5 yards last season with leading rusher Dontrell Hilliard (1,062 yards, 12 TDs) and others gone. Junior Darius Bradwell (411 yards) is the leading returning running back, and Tulane could have 12 or more rushers get carries, including quarterbacks. "The older guys have done it before and they know what the expectation is," running backs coach Jamaal Fobbs told the team's website. "They're continuing to tweak and sharpen and just becoming better overall football players. The younger guys are coming along but having to learn it as they go. They're working hard and going 100 miles per hour, and they're going to help us this year. The depth is a good problem to have."

EXTRA POINTS

1. Tulane returns senior QB Jonathan Banks, who threw for 1,797 yards in 2017 while finishing second on the team with 592 rushing yards.

2. Wake Forest QB Kendall Hinton and TE Thomas Cole are suspended for the first three games of the season for a violation of team rules.

3. Former LSU quarterback Justin McMillan announced his transfer to Tulane on Friday and will be eligible to play immediately as a graduate transfer.

PREDICTION: Tulane 35, Wake Forest 32