FACTS & STATS: Site: Superdome (64,900) -- New Orleans, Louisiana. Television: Local. Home Record: SMU 1-1, Tulane 1-1. Away Record: SMU 0-2, Tulane 0-1. Neutral Record: SMU 0-0, Tulane 0-0. Conference Record: SMU 0-1, Tulane 0-1. Series Record: Tulane leads, 11-5.

GAME NOTES: A couple of Conference USA foes hit the field a bit early this week, as the Tulane Green Wave entertains the SMU Mustangs in New Orleans on Thursday night. The Mustangs, now under the direction of head coach June Jones, have yet to beat a team from the Football Bowl Subdivision here in 2008. Back on September 6th, the squad posted its first and only win of the campaign thus far with a 47-36 victory over Texas State at home. Aside from that, there has been little to cheer about in Dallas thus far with the team having lost to fellow Lone Star State programs Rice, Texas Tech and TCU. The last two weeks the Ponies have been outscored by a combined 91-14. As for the Green Wave, this is the third of four straight games scheduled for the squad at home. The beginning of the homestand was met with a 28-24 loss to East Carolina, but followed up with a 24-10 triumph over UL-Monroe last weekend. On October 4th the squad hosts Army at Tad Gormley Stadium. As far as the all- time series is concerned between these two teams, already off to 0-1 starts in conference play, Tulane holds an 11-5 edge dating back to the first meeting in 1943. Last season the teams played into overtime, one of three such games for the Mustangs, with Tulane capturing a 41-34 triumph on the road. The win was the sixth in the last seven meetings for the Green Wave.

Were it not for a four-yard touchdown reception by Cole Loftin last Saturday in the third quarter, the offense for the Mustangs would have never made a sound against TCU at home in Ford Stadium. Loftin finished with five catches for 52 yards for SMU, while quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell hit on 20-of-36 pass attempts for 218 yards, but was sacked three times and intercepted twice in the lopsided setback. Even more disturbing was the fact that the once-proud running team had to settle for minus-eight yards on the ground. After Saturday's poor performance, the Ponies fell to last, not only in Conference USA but among all 119 FBS programs with a pitiful 31.3 ypg rushing. The passing attack for the squad is much further along, just as it was for Jones in Hawaii, but even with 281.8 ypg that angle has the squad ranked just fifth in the conference. Part of the problem is that the offensive line is giving up two and a half sacks per game, which has the group ranked 11th in the 12-team conference entering play this week.

While the SMU ground attack was being stopped at every turn, the Horned Frogs had no trouble rolling up 271 yards on 47 attempts in the meeting over the weekend. Add to that another 227 yards through the air and TCU easily beat up on the SMU defense from beginning to end. Tyler Jones led the defense with his game-high eight tackles, but not once did the unit manage to take down the opposing quarterback or force a turnover. While it would be nice to have just one aspect of the SMU program floundering (see rushing offense), the team can't seem to do much right on the defensive side of the ball either. With last week's performance taken into account, the Ponies are dead last in the entire nation with 530.5 ypg allowed. The group has surrendered 45.8 ppg, which is better than only North Texas and Idaho at the moment, but not by all that much. Tied for fourth on the team in total tackles with 19, Youri Yenga is the standout performer for the squad by leading them with 2.5 sacks, two forced fumbles, a blocked kick and a fumble recovery.

Using a career-high effort of 157 yards rushing by Andre Anderson, the Green Wave picked up its first win of the season on Saturday in New Orleans. Anderson carried the ball a total of 38 times and scored the first points of the game early in the first quarter for Tulane. Kevin Moore added to the assault with his 19-of-32 passing effort for 272 yards, one touchdown and one interception as well. Moore has completed better than 57 percent of his pass attempts over three games, yet he still has more interceptions (three) than he does TDs (two). Anderson has carried the bulk of the weight for the offense with his 84 rushing attempts leading to 271 yards and three TDs. The rest of the team has accounted for just 30 combined carries for 73 yards and a score. Because Anderson is not getting the support he needs, the Tulane running game is currently 10th in Conference USA and 95th in the country with an average of only 114.7 ypg.

As far as the Tulane defense was concerned, it dominated the field against the UL-Monroe offense, holding the visitors to a mere 182 yards of total offense. More importantly, the unit was only on the field for 46 plays, compared to 79 offensive plays by the Tulane offense. ULM managed to convert a mere 1-of-10 on third down and controlled the ball for less than six minutes in the final frame. Although he was credited with only two tackles in the contest, Logan Kelley made both against the opposing quarterback. Over the course of three games, Kelley has a grand total of only six tackles, yet four of those have been sacks to lead the team. His two forced fumbles are half the unit's total as well. Thanks to the efforts of Kelley, Tulane is currently first in Conference USA and tops in all the nation with 4.3 sacks per game. In terms of tackles for loss, the Green Wave is second in the league and 30th in the country with close to seven per outing. Surrendering a mere 223.3 ypg, Tulane is first in the conference and eighth in the nation in that department.

With a sputtering offense that doesn't know where to turn, Jones and the Mustangs could be in for a long night on Thursday if the Tulane defense comes to play.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Tulane 31, SMU 10

Thursday, September 25th, 8:00 p.m. (et).