Memphis vs Tulane is the Friday night college football game on ESPN this week. The Tigers travel to Yulman Stadium in New Orleans on Friday, October 16, and kickoff is set for 7:30 p.m. Eastern (23:30 UTC). Memphis arrives at 5-1 and unbeaten in conference play. Tulane is 2-3, has lost all three of its road games and has not played at home since the last week of September.
The records point one way, but this pairing has not followed records lately. Tulane won three of the last four meetings, two of them in Memphis.
Kickoff time on your clock
New Orleans is on Central time, so the stadium clock will read 6:30 p.m. at kickoff. For viewers in the UK the game starts after midnight, in the first minutes of Saturday. The schedule on our NFL and college football page shows every start on your own device's clock, so nobody has to do the sums.
| Zone | Day | Kickoff |
|---|---|---|
| Eastern (EDT) | Friday, Oct 16 | 7:30 p.m. |
| Central (CDT), New Orleans | Friday, Oct 16 | 6:30 p.m. |
| Mountain (MDT) | Friday, Oct 16 | 5:30 p.m. |
| Pacific (PDT) | Friday, Oct 16 | 4:30 p.m. |
| UK (BST) | Saturday, Oct 17 | 12:30 a.m. |
| UTC | Friday, Oct 16 | 23:30 |
ESPN carries the game nationally. It is one of three FBS games on Friday night in ESPN's listings, with Washington at Purdue and App State at Coastal Carolina both starting half an hour later.
Where Memphis stands after six games
Memphis has scored 231 points in six games, an average of 38.5, and allowed 125, or 20.8 a game. The only loss came in Week 2 at Boise State, 38-20. Since then the Tigers have won three straight by a combined 100 points: 45-21 over UT Martin, 59-8 at Charlotte and 38-13 over UAB last Saturday.
Quarterback Marcus Stokes has completed 101 of 144 passes (70.1%) for 1,535 yards, with 16 touchdowns and 3 interceptions, according to ESPN's season leaders. Jaylin Carter leads the ground game with 645 yards on 89 carries, which works out to 7.2 a carry, and 8 touchdowns. Hunter Tipton is the top receiver by yards with 367 on 19 catches and 5 scores. On defense, Elijah Kinsler has 4.5 sacks.
Memphis is 2-0 in the American Conference. UTSA and North Texas are also 2-0 in league play, so Friday's result matters for the top of the table. The Tigers have one more short week after this one: they host East Carolina on Thursday, October 22, at 7:30 p.m. Eastern (23:30 UTC).
Tulane's season so far
Tulane's year has split cleanly by venue. At Yulman Stadium the Green Wave are 2-0, with a 28-24 win over South Alabama and a 24-21 win over Southern Miss. Away from home they are 0-3: 17-3 at Duke, 31-20 at Kansas State and 20-17 at Army last Saturday. All five games were decided by 14 points or fewer, and two of them, Southern Miss and Army, by three.
The scoring numbers are thin. Tulane has 92 points in five games (18.4 a game) and has given up 113 (22.6). Kadin Semonza has thrown for 804 yards, completing 64 of 119 (53.8%), with 4 touchdowns and 2 interceptions. Maurice Turner leads the rushers with 277 yards and 2 touchdowns, and Destyn Hill has 17 catches for 223 yards. Linebacker Dickson Agu has 46 tackles, the most on the team.
The Army loss left Tulane 0-1 in conference play. The Green Wave had a bye before that trip, so Friday is their first home game in three weeks.
Memphis vs Tulane: the last four meetings
The two schools met once in each of the last four seasons, and the results have been close and mostly green. Tulane scored 131 points across these four games and Memphis 115.
| Season | Date (Eastern) | Venue | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | Fri, Nov 7 | Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, Memphis | Tulane 38, Memphis 32 |
| 2024 | Thu, Nov 28 | Yulman Stadium, New Orleans | Memphis 34, Tulane 24 |
| 2023 | Fri, Oct 13 | Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium, Memphis | Tulane 31, Memphis 21 |
| 2022 | Sat, Oct 22 | Yulman Stadium, New Orleans | Tulane 38, Memphis 28 |
The only Memphis win in that run came in New Orleans on Thanksgiving night in 2024. The other three went to Tulane by six, ten and ten points. Three of the four were played on a weeknight, which makes Friday's slot nothing new for either side.
The stadium and the schedule around it
Yulman Stadium has an artificial playing surface, per ESPN's venue data, and Friday's game is Tulane's third there this season. Memphis has alternated road and home dates across its last four games: Boise State away, UT Martin at home, then Charlotte away after the bye and UAB at home. After New Orleans the Tigers go straight back to Simmons Bank Liberty Stadium for the East Carolina game six days later.
The bye weeks fell differently. Memphis had its week off on September 26, before the Charlotte game. Tulane had October 3 off, right before the Army loss. Neither team gets another break before this game.
Season results side by side
| Team | Record | Home | Away | Points for | Points against |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Memphis | 5-1 | 3-0 | 2-1 | 231 | 125 |
| Tulane | 2-3 | 2-0 | 0-3 | 92 | 113 |
Memphis's away record includes a 27-21 win over UNLV at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas on opening weekend. The point differential is +106 for Memphis and -21 for Tulane.
After Friday
Tulane stays home for the next game too, against UTSA on Saturday, October 24, at 8 p.m. Eastern (00:00 UTC on Sunday). UTSA is one of the two teams level with Memphis at 2-0 in conference play, so Tulane meets two of the three teams that are 2-0 in the league on back-to-back home dates.
Finding the game on Methstreams
The Memphis at Tulane game page has the kickoff and the listing for Friday night. The rest of the week's college games and the NFL slate sit together on the NFL and college football page, and the full schedule lists every sport for today.
College football and NFL games this week →Memphis at Tulane game page →Today's full schedule →
