When the name Tulane comes up, Tulsa fans can't help but think about last year's miracle game that featured a Hail Mary and a walk-off interception return in overtime.

The excitement over this season had a lot to do with Davis Brin's one game last year where he played a little more than a quarter and lit up the Tulane defense.

This week, Tulane fans will get to revisit a nightmare ending from which they have not recovered when the Green Wave hosts TU in a 3 p.m. game Saturday afternoon in New Orleans at Yulman Stadium.

Brin's entry as a third-stringer late in the third quarter down 14-0 was like stuff in the movies, and his Hail Mary to JuanCarlos Santana on the last play of regulation was unbelievable.

Of course, Zaven Collins upstaged him like only Zaven Collins could, as the National Defensive Player of the Year and first round draft pick intercepted quarterback Michael Pratt and went 96-yards for the winning score in double-overtime.

Whether Pratt has nightmares about Mike linebacker Justin Wright blitzing and pummeling him on Collins' big play is hard to tell. Pratt is having a decent year so far.

But it is amazing that Tulane (1-8, 0-5 AAC) has only won one D-1 game since that loss at TU last year -- incredibly, it was next game after the Tulsa game. Tulane beat Memphis at home in that game, lost its bowl game against Nevada, and finished 6-6 last season. No D-1 wins this year is hard to fathom considering that they play competitively against most teams.

"This is basically the same team that we played last year who we had to go into overtime, at home, to beat," said TU coach Philip Montgomery.

Meanwhile, Tulsa (3-6, 2-3) continues to show that it can play with any team in the nation and have a chance to win on the road against top 10 opponents.

As long as the game is on Saturday.

Last Saturday's heartbreaking 28-20 loss at No. 2 Cincinnati is a prime example

Tulsa' three non-Saturday contests this season, all at H.A. Chapman Stadium, have been nothing short of disastrous. Losses to UC Davis (Thursday) and Navy (Friday) are games that TU should not lose. And the Houston (Friday) game was a contest where Tulsa didn't compete.

Luckily, there are no more non-Saturday games for TU this season. Tulsa must beat Tulane in order to have a chance at finishing .500 in the regular season.

Tulsa goes into the game at Tulane with confidence it can play really well. But hopefully for the Golden Hurricane, the heartbreaking loss against Cincy won't be demoralizing.

Four attempts after having first-and-goal at the Cincy 2-yard-line with a chance to tie the game in the last minute failed. Tulsa must do a better job taking advantage of its opportunities.

"It's frustrating. It also shows how close we are, and the difference between last season to this season has been those close ball games," Montgomery said. "We came out on top in the majority of those, and this season, it's been a struggle in some of those senses."

Not having Collins hurts. Collins was Tulsa's X-factor who bailed the Golden Hurricane out of many close games last year. Without Collins on the field, since his decision to turn pro, TU is 3-6, with five of those losses being close games.

Tulane is coming off a 14-10 loss at UCF last week. The week before, the Green Wave lost 31-12 to Cincinnati. In their opener, Tulane lost 40-35 at No. 8 Oklahoma.

All of Tulsa's Saturday losses have been on the road to Top 10 teams. TU almost beat No. 10 Oklahoma State, losing 28-23. And Tulsa outgained No. 4 Ohio State, scaring the Buckeyes before losing 41-20. The final score was deceptive, as Tulsa had the ball at midfield midway through the 4th quarter of that game with a chance to tie.

Tulsa was impressive in pushing Cincinnati around on the line of scrimmage on the offensive side, with not only one but two players topping the 100-yard rushing mark. Shamari Brooks had 132 yards on 25 carries (5.3 per carry), and Anthony Watkins rushed for 105 yards on 15 carries (7.0 average).

Tulsa outgained the mighty Bearcats 456-383 last week.

Davis Brin didn't have a great game against the tough Cincinnati secondary, but did complete 18 of 27 for 160 yards. He made some key passes to lead a comeback by Tulsa.

For comparison, Brin was 18 of 28 for 266 yards, 2 TD passes and a TD run in his brief stint against Tulane last year. Pratt was 8 of 17 for 76 yards, with 2 TD's and an interception.

Pratt has upped his game this season, running Tulane's unique offense that features a lot of option running to go along with its passing game. Pratt is averaging 193.9 yards passing per game, completing 59.2 percent of his passes, and has 16 touchdown passes and only 5 interceptions in his second year as Tulane's QB.

But that number really should be 218.1 yards per game since he only played briefly against Cincinnati two weeks ago, not even throwing a pass. Pratt was banged up for that game, but returned for the UCF game.

Pratt can run but is to be respected, not feared in that area. He has rushed for 162 yards and 1.1 yards per carry.

Tulane does have talented running backs. Cameron Carroll has 476 yards at 5.2 per carry, while Tyjae Spears has 384 yards at 5.2 per carry.

The problem is that Tulane's offense hasn't put up big numbers while its defense has given up some large point totals. The Green Wave gave up 66 to Ole Miss, 55 to SMU, 52 to East Carolina, and 40 to Houston.

Quite simply, you aren't going to win many games with that type of defensive performance. However, giving up only 14 points at the Bounce House to UCF is encouraging for the Green Wave.

Tulane's defense will have to stop Brin, something in which it had no clue how to do last season. Brin has passed for 2,255 yards, averaging 250.6 yards per game. He has thrown 12 touchdown passes, but his 11 interceptions have hurt.

Brooks is having a nice senior season, averaging 80 yards per game with 720 yards at 5.0 yards per carry. Watkins is averaging an outrageous 8.4 yards per carry and 51.44 yards per game, and has 463 yards rushing.

Josh Johnson is leading Tulsa in receiving with 52 catches for 665 yards, averaging 73.9 yards per game.

Favored by three points, Tulsa has a chance to finish the season strongly with three wins, starting with Tulane.

"If we continue to play at that type of level, good things are going to happen," Montgomery said of how his team has played against top-caliber teams.