Green Wave Takes On the Huskies

Tulane hopes to make Mack Brown’s departure a happy one by beating Washington today.

Brown, after three years of rebuilding at Tulane, becomes the coach at North Carolina with the final gun in the Independence Bowl (Channel 11, 5 p.m., PST).

Greg Davis, assistant head coach during those rebuilding years, was promoted Friday to head coach, effective at the end of the game.

Through his three years at Tulane, Brown established a reputation as a glib quipster, frequently masking the disappointment of a defeat with humor. In that respect, at least, Davis appears a worthy successor.

“If we beat Washington, I will humbly accept credit,” Davis joked. “If we lose, I will say, ‘It’s a shame Mack had to go out that way.’ ”

Tulane (6-5) is enjoying its first winning record in seven years and its first bowl appearance in eight years. Washington (6-4-1) is making its ninth straight bowl appearance under Coach Don James.

Offensively, Brown said, Tulane will spread and go wide open, trying to make the option work with quarterback Terrence Jones, to set up the passing game to receiver Marc Zeno.

“Defensively, we’ll never line up in the same place twice. We’ll try to make it hard for them to find us,” he said.

Tulane gave up an average of 230 rushing yards a game this season. Brown said Washington fullback Aaron Jenkins, 233 pounds, and tailback Vince Weathersby, 202 pounds, are as big as some of his defensive linemen.