Coach Jon Sumrall was only half joking when he asked for a monsoon on Friday night when 20th-ranked Tulane (10-2) hosts No. 24 North Texas (11-1) in the American Conference championship game.

Even in a forecast of messy conditions materializes, the challenge of facing the nation’s leading offense in points and yards will be less than ideal.

What makes the Mean Green unique is not the fast pace of the top FBS offense in scoring and yards. Tulane, a 2½-point underdog despite playing at Yulman Stadium, faced even quicker tempos from Florida Atlantic, East Carolina, Tulsa and Ole Miss earlier this year.

The difference is the effectiveness of North Texas’s ground game in an Air Raid scheme under coach Eric Morris.

Since suffering its lone loss to South Florida on Oct. 10, North Texas ha

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