NEW ORLEANS — Tulane rolled to another American Athletic Conference regular season first place finish and will battle at home for the conference championship for the second year in a row and Wednesday they were honored by the conference.
Willie Fritz was named Coach of the Year for the second consecutive year. He has a two-year record of 23-3 and has the Wave number 22 in the College Football Playoff rankings and in the running for a second consecutive New Year’s Six bowl game.
Last year the Wave bested USC in the Cotton Bowl.
In addition to Fritz, Michael Pratt was named as the Offensive Player of the Year while Makhi Hughes was rated as the Rookie of the Year as the conference’s top freshman.
Pratt finished the regular season with 2,168 passing yards and 21 touchdowns against 4 interceptions and a passing completion percentage of 66 percent. He also ran for 376 yards and four touchdowns.
Hughes filled a big void left when Tyjae Spears left for the NFL. Spears was the 2022 Offensive Player of the Year.
Hughes actually gained more yards than Spears with 1,246 vs. Spears’ 1,177 a year ago.
Tulane had a staggering 18 players on the All-AAC first, second, third and honorable mention teams.
Tulane hosts SMU at Yulman Stadium Saturday at 3 p.m. for the All-American Athletic Conference title.
Joining Pratt and Hughes from the offense as AAC First Team All-Conference selections this year is offensive tackle Cameron Wire and center Sincere Haynesworth. This was the first time that Wire has earned All-AAC honors since he transferred to Tulane from LSU, while this is the fourth time that Haynesworth has been an All-AAC choice (Second Team in 2020, Honorable Mention in 2021 and First Team in 2022).
Wire and Haynesworth have helped paved the way for a Tulane offense that is averaging 27.9 points a game. The offense is putting up 167.3 yards rushing and 221.1 passing yards a contest. Tulane has topped the 20-point barrier in 11 of the team's 12 games with a high of 37 points against South Alabama.
Earning First Team All-AAC honors from the defense this year for Tulane are defensive lineman Darius Hodges, defensive lineman Patrick Jenkins and cornerback Jarius Monroe. This is the second All-AAC selection for Hodges as he earned Second Team honors last season. This was the second All-AAC selection for Jenkins as he was also a Second Team choice a season ago. This is the second time that Monroe has earned an honor from the league after also being a First Team choicer in 2022.