Now what?

"I talked to them, and I told them the biggest thing is individual and team pride because we really have nothing else to play for," Toledo said. "There is no goal left that we set other than pride. We are about to find out who has individual pride, and let's see what kind of team pride we have now. That's the thing that I emphasized to them in the locker room after the game. That's all you got is your own personal pride."

The Green Wave's self-esteem has taken a hit in recent weeks, losing close games to Army, Alabama-Birmingham and Memphis.

But Toledo is concerned with how his team will bounce back after its most emphatic loss of the season in which the Green Wave was whipped in every phase.

Tulsa dominated the line of scrimmage, gaining 600 yards, the most yielded by Tulane this season. Tulsa's defense limited Tulane running back Matt Forté, who had rushed for more than 200 yards in four consecutive games, to 103 yards and no touchdowns on 26 carries. Also, the Golden Hurricane's Roy Roberts returned a kickoff 92 yards for a second-quarter touchdown.

"As a team we got beat in all three areas -- offense, defense, special teams," Toledo said. "They just beat us. They just outperformed. They beat us pretty good. We had a good scheme. Defensively they put eight guys up there and said you are not going to run the ball. They just challenged us to throw it. We tried to throw it and we threw it OK, but not enough to win the football game.

"It's just one of those things where we didn't play well in any area. We physically got beat. This is the first game that I can honestly say that we were beaten in all three phases. Usually one phase or the other would play a little bit better, but they beat us in all three phases."

Toledo said he isn't sure how his team will respond to the loss. But he will keep a close eye out for any slackers, as he said it's important that the Green Wave end the season on a winning note in hopes of building for the future.

"We are going to try to finish up strong with the seniors and maybe win a game or so to give them a better feeling going out," Toledo said. "We are trying to build a program. I'm not a miracle worker, that's for sure. We are just trying to do the best we can with the best we've got. We are trying to be as competitive as we can be until we can put all the pieces in place."

FORTÉ STILL LEADING: Forté fell shy of tying the NCAA record for consecutive games with at least 200 yards rushing, but the Green Wave senior remained atop the nation's rushing list.

Forté has rushed for 1,652 yards (182.4 yards per game), Central Florida's Kevin Smith has rushed for 1,448 yards (160.9), and Michigan's Mike Hart has rushed for 1,188 yards (148.5).

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Nakia Hogan can be reached at nhogan@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3405.