Before Tulane boarded a plane for Memphis on Nov. 6, coach Jon Sumrall challenged his defensive linemen to take over the game and win it by themselves. Because the Memphis quarterbacks hold on to the ball longer than most teams, he knew it was a huge opportunity for his deep, talented front to dominate.

Six sacks later , the Green Wave (7-2, 4-1) left Liberty Stadium with a massive victory for its American Conference championship hopes.

Florida Atlantic (4-5, 3-3) will not present the same opportunity for the pass rushers Saturday at Yulman Stadium (3 p.m., ESPN+). Quarterback Caden Veltkamp and his backups have been sacked 15 times while attempting a league-high 419 passes — the third-lowest sacks per attempt ratio in the conference.

This game, Tulane’s success hinges on the play of

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