Tag: Tulane Green Wave

Sep 18, 2021; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Cougars running back Alton McCaskill (22) runs the ball during the first half against the Grambling State Tigers at TDECU Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-USA TODAY Sports

Surging Houston hits road to face Tulane

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Houston and Tulane are heading in opposite directions as they prepare to meet Thursday night in an American Athletic Conference game at New Orleans.

The Cougars (4-1, 2-0) have won four games in a row and are coming off a 45-10 thrashing of host Tulsa last Friday.

The Green Wave (1-4, 0-1) opened the season by playing Oklahoma to the wire, but have lost three in a row, including Saturday’s 52-29 loss at East Carolina in their conference opener. Tulane has been outscored 141-71 in consecutive losses to Ole Miss, UAB and East Carolina, and now it takes on a Houston team that has outscored its last four opponents 162-37.

Houston has allowed just four touchdowns during its four-game winning streak and head coach Dana Holgorsen called the performance against Tulsa “complete dominance.” The Cougars had a smothering run defense, intercepted three passes (returning one for a touchdown) and recorded four sacks.

“We hope we made a statement,” said safety Gervarrius Owens, whose 45-yard interception return for a touchdown came in the first minute of the second half, making the score 35-3. “We showed how exciting and dominant we can be when we’re clicking on all cylinders.”

Cougars freshman Alton McCaskill scored three times against Tulsa and already has eight total touchdowns this season.

Tulane, meantime, has not led in a game since an easy 69-20 victory against Morgan State on Sept. 11.

“We can’t let negativity sink in. We can’t let outside things creep in,” said Green Wave running back Cameron Carroll, who had 147 all-purpose yards and a rushing touchdown against East Carolina. “We have to just stay focused and stay positive. We can’t get down on ourselves. We constantly have to lift each other up.”

Tulane fell behind 24-0 to East Carolina and gave up 612 yards, including 310 rushing. The Green Wave committed four turnovers, two of which led to Pirates touchdowns.

“You’ve got problems when you dig a hole as big as we did,” said Fritz, whose team has its worst record after five games in his six seasons as head coach.

The quick turnaround for the Thursday game didn’t leave much time for Tulane to dwell on its most recent loss.

“I like it,” linebacker Dorian Williams said. “You always like to play big Thursday night games on ESPN. We just have to get going and get back into the groove.”

–Field Level Media

Sep 18, 2021; Oxford, Mississippi, USA; Mississippi Rebels quarterback Matt Corral (2) scores against Tulane Green Wave at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Marvin Gentry-USA TODAY Sports

Matt Corral (7 TDs) leads No. 17 Ole Miss in rout

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Matt Corral tied an Ole Miss record by producing seven touchdowns — four rushing, three passing — as the No. 17 Rebels throttled Tulane 61-21 in a weather-delayed contest Saturday night in Oxford, Miss.

Corral — 23-of-31 for 335 yards and no interceptions — tossed a scoring pass for his 15th straight game and added 68 yards rushing on 13 carries. He did all of his scoring in three quarters.

The Rebels (3-0) received two touchdowns from Dontario Drummond (rushing, receiving), and a scoring reception from Jonathan Mingo (six catches, career-high 136 yards) and Braylon Sanders. Henry Parrish Jr. rushed for one. Jerrion Ealy rushed 15 times for a game-high 105 yards.

Drummond scored via the air for the eighth consecutive contest — the longest active streak in the FBS.

Ole Miss won for the 12th straight time in the series, moved to 13-2 against Tulane in Oxford, and started a season with three wins for the first time since 2015.

Cameron Carroll, Shae Wyatt and Tyrick James scored for the New Orleans-based Green Wave (1-2), who have been training in Tuscaloosa, Ala., at the Crimson Tide’s facility in the wake of Hurricane Ida.

Michael Pratt played three quarters and finished 10-for-18 for 166 yards with two TDs and no picks.

In a matchup featuring two of the top FBS offenses, Ole Miss notched 707 total yards to Tulane’s 305.

Kickoff between the former SEC foes was delayed nearly two hours because of day-long rain and lightning, but Ole Miss showed the soaked home fans that the wait was worth it.

In an explosive first half, Parrish dashed 19 yards for the first score. Corral called his own number on a 9-yard draw and again later on a 15-yard run.

After Carroll put Tulane on the board with a plunge, Corral rushed for one and threw for another to give the Rebels a 26-7 lead.

Pratt’s 39-yard strike to Wyatt with 7:21 left before halftime gave the second-year freshman quarterback a passing TD in all 13 games of his career.

But Corral hit Mingo for 50 yards and Drummond scampered in as the Rebels led 40-21 at the half.

In the second half, Corral ran for two more scores and the Rebels were never threatened in the nonconference victory.

–Field Level Media

Dec 30, 2020; Arlington, TX, USA; Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler (7) rolls out during the fourth quarter against the Florida Gators at ATT Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Heitman-USA TODAY Sports

Tulane’s challenges continue with tall order at No. 2 Oklahoma

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Tulane coach Willie Fritz is trying to keep things in perspective as his Green Wave prepare to open the season with an unexpected trip to No. 2 Oklahoma on Saturday.

“We got a curveball,” Fritz said. “We’ve just got to adjust to it. Our players are really champing at the bit to play a high-caliber team like Oklahoma.”

The game was supposed to be played at Tulane’s Yulman Stadium, but Hurricane Ida forced it to be moved to Norman instead, although Tulane will remain the designated home team, for whatever that is worth.

The Green Wave left New Orleans on Saturday night, about 24 hours before the hurricane made landfall, and moved to Birmingham, Ala., to continue preparing for the game.

Saturday’s game might not be the only contest on Tulane’s schedule affected by the storm.

The Green Wave have another home game scheduled for Sept. 11 against Morgan State and then against Alabama-Birmingham on Sept. 25. Tulane’s campus is currently closed through Sept. 12, and in-person classes at the school aren’t scheduled to resume until at least Oct. 7.

For now, though, the Tulane football team’s focus is on the Sooners, a squad with sky-high expectations, especially after winning eight consecutive games to end last season.

“I feel like we’re ready to play,” Sooners coach Lincoln Riley said. “We’re ready to go play somebody else, ready to see what this young team is going to look like early in the season, how young guys are going to come along, the chemistry, adapting to all that’s new.

“We’ll get a good litmus test Saturday about where we’re at.”

The Sooners haven’t lost a nonconference game on their home field since falling to Ohio State in 2016 and haven’t lost to an unranked nonconference opponent anywhere since 2005.

Among the biggest reasons for optimism are the development of Spencer Rattler at quarterback and the improvement of the defense a year ago in the second season under defensive coordinator Alex Grinch.

Rattler enters the season among the favorites for the Heisman Trophy after coming on strong over the second half of last season, his first as a starter.

“Something I feel like I’ve gotten better at is just my decision making,” Rattler said. “Being more consistent. Not turning the ball over.”

After preaching the importance of takeaways since his arrival, Grinch’s defense finally forced turnovers in bunches late last season, getting 14 in the final six games after recording just 16 in the first 19 games of his tenure.

“A few years back, I would say it was just like, ‘Coach Grinch is just saying all these things,’ and we’re just like, ‘OK, we got to do this,’” Sooners linebacker Nik Bonitto said. “I feel like it really didn’t start clicking until those things actually started happening. Like once people started running to the ball, like, we’ve seen it can work. Once you start getting takeaways, we see it equals victory.

“A lot of those things that he preaches — once we started doing it, it all started coming into fruition and we started believing it and trusting in what he’s saying.”

–Field Level Media

Dec 22, 2020; Boise, Idaho, USA; Nevada Wolf Pack wide receiver Justin Lockhart (17) catches a touchdown pass during the first half of the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl versus the Tulane Green Wave at Albertsons Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brian Losness-USA TODAY Sports

Strong’s 5 TDs tosses lead Nevada over Tulane in Potato Bowl

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Carson Strong threw five touchdown passes and Nevada compiled eight sacks and three interceptions in a 38-27 win over Tulane on Tuesday in the Famous Idaho Potato Bowl at Boise, Idaho.

Strong, the Mountain West Offensive Player of the Year, completed 22 of 28 passes for 271 yards with no interceptions.

The Wolf Pack were led on the ground by Devonte Lee, who gained 105 yards on 18 carries. Toa Taua produced 102 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Taua also caught six passes for 77 yards, including a 44-yard touchdown.

Nevada (7-2) finished with 209 rushing yards.

The Wolf Pack achieved their seventh bowl win in program history, including three in their past four attempts.

Tulane quarterback Michael Pratt, who entered the game with only five interceptions on the year, was picked off three times, leading to two Nevada touchdowns. Pratt completed 12 of 25 passes for 168 yards and two touchdowns.

Tulane (6-6) was unsuccessful in its attempt to achieve three bowl victories in the past three seasons.

Trevor Price, Lawson Hall and Tristan Nichols each had two sacks for Nevada.

Nevada led 26-7 at halftime with a time-of-possession edge of 20:16 to 9:44 after tallying 334 yards in total offense with 14 first downs.

Tulane had the first possession of the second half and drove 75 yards for a touchdown to pull within 13 points. The 12-play drive, which culminated on a 6-yard touchdown by Pratt, took 4:57.

At the end of Nevada’s ensuing possession, Tulane’s Jha’Quan Jackson returned a punt 27 yards to the Wolf Pack’s 45. Four plays later, Pratt connected with Jackson for 28 yards with 6:30 left in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 26-20.

Senior E.J. Muhammad recorded his first career interception, Pratt’s third of the game, to end the Green Wave’s next possession. Muhammad returned the ball 32 yards to the Green Wave 20.

Strong then completed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Cole Turner, and the Wolf Pack led 32-20 with 13:22 left in the fourth quarter after the two-point conversion pass failed.

The lead grew to 38-20 on Strong’s 21-yard pass to Jamaal Bell with 4:19 left.

Nevada’s halftime lead was built behind three touchdown passes by Strong and 76 rushing yards by Taua, who scored on a run and also a pass from Strong.

–Field Level Media

Nov 7, 2020; Greenville, North Carolina, USA; Tulane Green Wave quarterback Michael Pratt (7) looks on before the snap of the ball against the East Carolina Pirates at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports

Tulane would like to find success against Memphis

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No lead is safe against the Memphis Tigers.

No lead is safe with the Tulane Green Wave.

So a dramatic momentum shift could be in the offing when those two teams meet in an American Athletic Conference game Saturday in New Orleans.

The visiting Tigers (6-2, 4-2 AAC) have come from behind in five of their wins. The Tigers had the biggest comeback win in school history when they overcame a 21-point margin to defeat UCF 50-49 back in October on a touchdown with a little more than a minute to play.

They trailed South Florida by 13 with four minutes remaining and scored two touchdowns, including another game-winner with a little more than a minute left, to prevail 34-33.

The offensive fireworks were absent in a 10-7 victory at Navy last week, but fourth-quarter dramatics were not. Memphis kicked a tiebreaking field goal early in the fourth quarter and the defense made it hold up.

“The defense is starting to come together,” Tigers coach Ryan Silverfield said. “The guys have a better idea of what we’re trying to do. The defense has been one of the bright spots for us this year, for sure.”

If the offense can regain its form of earlier in the season, Memphis can still make a run. It’s mathematically alive for a berth in the conference title game, though it would take quite a bit of help.

“We’re trying to find a way to get into a rhythm running the football,” Silverfield said. “We’ve got to find ways to get our offense going in the right direction.”

Silverfield said it’s especially important to establish the run and viable play action to slow down the Green Wave pass rush, which leads the AAC with 33 sacks.

Tulane had seven sacks when it beat the Tigers 40-24 two seasons ago, the teams’ last meeting in New Orleans.

“They took us behind the woodshed and kicked our tail,” Silverfield said.

That’s the Green Wave’s only victory in the last 13 meetings. Memphis prevailed at home last season, 47-17.

Tulane (5-5, 2-5) hasn’t played since a gut-wrenching 30-24 loss in double overtime at Tulsa on Nov. 19.

The Green Wave led 14-0 after three quarters and watched Tulsa’s third-string quarterback, Davis Brin, who was thrust into action because of injuries, produce three touchdowns, including a tying 37-yard Hail Mary touchdown pass as time expired in the fourth quarter.

After both teams kicked a field goal in the first overtime, Zaven Collins intercepted Michael Pratt and returned it 96 yards for the Golden Hurricane’s winning touchdown.

“We had our foot on their necks and we let it slip,” Green Wave linebacker Nick Anderson said.

Tulane led Navy 24-0 but was outscored 27-0 in the second half of its home opener in September.

Two games later, it led Houston 24-7 early in the second quarter before being outscored 42-7 the rest of the way. The Green Wave lost four leads against SMU before losing in overtime.

“We still have yet to play a full game,” running back Stephon Huderson said. “We are getting tired of these ‘almost’ games.”

This game was postponed one week as the AAC rearranged several games to accommodate COVID-related make-ups.

–Field Level Media

Oct 16, 2020; New Orleans, Louisiana, USA; Tulane Green Wave quarterback Michael Pratt (7) throws against the Southern Methodist Mustangs during the first half at Yulman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Derick E. Hingle-USA TODAY Sports

Pratt powers Tulane past short-handed Temple

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Michael Pratt threw two touchdown passes and ran for a third score as host Tulane routed short-handed Temple 38-3 in an American Athletic Conference game on Saturday in New Orleans.

Pratt, a freshman making his fourth start, passed for 205 yards and threw scoring passes of 31 and 5 yards to Duece Watts, who had five receptions for 114 yards. Cameron Carroll’s 13-yard scoring run was his eighth rushing touchdown and ninth score overall this season.

Tulane (3-4, 1-4 AAC) ended a three-game losing streak during which it had allowed more than 1,700 total yards. It held Temple to 222 total yards and overcame three turnovers.

The Owls (1-3, 1-3) played without starting quarterback Anthony Russo, who suffered a shoulder injury in a loss at Memphis last week, as well as 13 players who were in the COVID-19 protocol.

In Russo’s absence, Trad Beatty and Re-al Mitchell split the snaps at quarterback. Beatty completed 11 of 18 for 122 yards and an interception, while Mitchell passed for 23 yards and was Temple’s leading rusher with 37 yards on seven carries.

Tulane squandered an opportunity to extend its 10-3 halftime lead on its first possession of the third quarter.

On first-and-goal from the 2, Watts fumbled just before he reached the goal line and Jordan Magee recovered the football for Temple.

Watts redeemed himself on the Green Wave’s next possession when he caught the 31-yard touchdown pass from Pratt to extend the lead to 17-3.

Willie Langham intercepted Beatty on the ensuing possession, leading to Pratt’s 5-yard touchdown to Watts.

Pratt ran 9 yards for a touchdown to increase the lead to 31-3 early in the fourth quarter.

Backup Keon Howard threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Jaetavian Toles to complete the scoring with 3:53 left.

Despite all the absences, the Owls scored first as Rory Bell’s 22-yard field goal gave them an early 3-0 lead.

Merek Glover kicked a 40-yard field goal to pull the Green Wave even early in the second quarter.

Carroll’s touchdown run completed a 93-yard drive and gave Tulane a 10-3 halftime lead.

–Field Level Media

Oct 10, 2020; Annapolis, Maryland, USA; Temple Owls quarterback Anthony Russo (15) waves to the crowd after throwing a second half touchdown against the Navy Midshipmen at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

Tulane defense needs to step up against Temple

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Tulane has allowed an excessive amount of yards during its three-game losing streak.

The total in that stretch is 1,746 yards.

The Green Wave (2-4, 0-4 American Athletic Conference) hope to reduce that rate of opponent production when they host Temple (1-2, 1-2) in an AAC battle on Saturday.

Tulane allowed 689 total yards in a 51-34 loss at UCF last week.

“We get in the film room and learn from our previous game every week,” Green Wave defensive end Cameron Sample said. “We are getting better as a team. That’s the one thing we’re focused on right now — going into the film room and fixing our mistakes.”

The Green Wave have hurt themselves with both mental and physical breakdowns while allowing a series of big plays during the losing streak.

“Offenses are hard to just shut down like you did 20 years ago,” Tulane coach Willie Fritz said. “It’s totally different. It’s hard to shut anybody out nowadays, and when you’re not assignment-sound, it makes it very difficult.”

The Green Wave have an experienced defense that was expected to be one of the team’s strengths this season as Tulane seeks an unprecedented third straight bowl trip.

“We’re a senior-led team,” Sample said. “I feel like we’ve got the right guys as seniors and leaders on this team, and it starts with Coach Fritz’s mindset. We’ll get ready going forward for these (remaining) games.”

The Green Wave do have a lot of seniors, but their quarterback is a freshman, Michael Pratt, who will make his fourth start on Saturday. Pratt threw three touchdown passes against UCF.

“When we protect,” Fritz said, “he’s a pretty darn good, accurate quarterback.”

Temple’s Anthony Russo has been a pretty good quarterback, too.

The graduate senior is completing 68 percent of his passes and is coming off a four-touchdown performance in which he passed for 387 of his team’s 500 total yards in a 41-29 loss at Memphis.

However, Russo also had three interceptions and for the season his nine touchdown passes are offset by six interceptions.

“I’m pleased with the way he has bounced back from the turnovers, but I’m not pleased with the turnovers,” Owls coach Rod Carey said. “He’s getting over the bad plays. Now the next step is to eliminate the bad plays. We’ll have a little more emphasis on getting that corrected this week.”

Russo could be limited in practice this week after playing through a shoulder injury that he kept quiet as he threw 63 passes against Memphis.

“He wasn’t going to tell me that he banged up the shoulder during the game,” Carey said. “He’s tough.”

Russo was scheduled to undergo an MRI on the shoulder, but the Owls are hopeful he’ll be ready to start Saturday.

Despite the yards that Tulane has been allowing to some of the most prolific offenses in the country, including Houston and SMU in addition to UCF, Carey said the Green Wave have “probably the best defense all around that we have played to date.”

–Field Level Media

Oct 5, 2019; Dallas, TX, USA; SMU Mustangs quarterback Shane Buechele (7) looks downfield during the second quarter against Tulsa Golden Hurricanes at Gerald J. Ford Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Timothy Flores-USA TODAY Sports

Tulane looks for first conference win vs. No. 17 SMU

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SMU is eyeing an American Athletic Conference championship.

Tulane is just trying to get an AAC victory.

The No. 17 Mustangs (4-0, 1-0 AAC) will visit the Green Wave (2-2, 0-2) on Friday night.

SMU, which didn’t play last week, signaled its contender status when it defeated defending conference champion Memphis 30-27 two weeks ago.

Quarterback Shane Buechele, who is 14-3 as the starter since transferring from Texas, completed 32 of 46 passes for 474 yards and three touchdowns against Memphis. For the season, he has completed 68.6 percent of his passes for 1,326 yards with 10 touchdowns and two interceptions.

“He has played exceptionally well,” Mustangs coach Sonny Dykes said. “I think he has a really high ceiling. He’s just getting better and better and more comfortable all the time.”

The Mustangs lost two key offensive weapons to injuries against Memphis. Wide receiver Reggie Roberson Jr. had five catches for 243 yards, including touchdowns of 70 and 85 yards, before sustaining a serious knee injury.

Starting running back TJ McDaniel was lost to an ankle injury on the first play of the game.

Dykes said Monday that both players will require surgery and miss the rest of the season.

T.Q. Jackson and Calvin Wiggins, neither of whom has a catch this season, will get added opportunities in Roberson’s absence.

“They’re two very capable young receivers who are big, fast and athletic, just not as experienced as Reggie,” Dykes said. “I think both of those guys have a ton of upside. We expect both of them stepping up and playing at a high level.”

Ulysses Bentley IV is the Mustangs’ leading rusher — 412 yards, seven touchdowns, 8.4 average. McDaniel rushed for 297 yards.

Tulane has lost big leads in both of its conference defeats.

The Green Wave led Navy 24-0 in the third quarter of its home opener before falling 27-24 on a field goal as time expired. Last week at Houston, which was playing its belated season opener because of five scheduled changes due to other teams’ COVID issues, Tulane led 24-7 and wound up losing 49-31.

“This is our league,” Green Wave coach Willie Fritz said. “We are going to have to play extremely well all four quarters because everybody in this league is good.”

Tulane built its lead over Houston thanks in part to two defensive touchdowns and finished plus-5 in turnovers.

“I was feeling good at 24-7,” running back Amare Jones said. “I feel like we took our foot off the gas and it hurt us.”

The Green Wave, who have nonconference victories against South Alabama and Southern Miss, are allowing averages of 395.3 yards and 31 points. They were outgained by Houston 476-211.

“There were some times when we covered well but just didn’t have any pressure, and there were some other times where we had a little bit of pressure and got beat,” Fritz said. “There were some times we played well defensively, but particularly in the second half we did not.”

Freshman quarterback Michael Pratt, who came off the bench to help lead a comeback against Southern Miss, made his first start against Houston. He completed 11 of 25 for 141 yards and a touchdown and was sacked six times.

–Field Level Media

Nov 2, 2019; Orlando, FL, USA; Houston Cougars head coach Dana Holgorsen looks on during the first quarter against the UCF Knights at Spectrum Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Reinhold Matay-USA TODAY Sports

Houston hopes to finally open season vs. Tulane

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The Houston Cougars are finally going to get to play a football game.

They think. They hope.

The host Cougars are scheduled to play their first game of the season against American Athletic Conference rival Tulane on Thursday night.

But they have been left at the altar five times already.

Games against Washington State, Rice, Baylor and North Texas have been canceled for a variety of COVID-related issues. Another game against Memphis has been rescheduled for Dec. 5.

“One thing we all know about 2020,” Houston coach Dana Holgorsen said, “is you better get ready for things to change.”

The game against Washington State was canceled in July and the one against Rice was canceled in August. The others were called off much closer to game day, including the hurriedly scheduled makeup game against Baylor that was nixed just 22 hours before it was supposed to kick off on Sept. 19.

“We’re used to this,” Holgorsen said. “It’s OK to be disappointed, it’s OK to be upset, but you can’t hang on to it. We’re ready to go.”

All of the lost opportunities have been because of issues related to the Cougars’ opponents — not them.

“We’re healthy, we’re in a good place,” Holgorsen said. “We’re prepared, we’re eager, we’re motivated.”

If somehow everything from here on out goes according to plan, Houston, which reported for preseason practice in mid-August, will play nine games in nine weeks.

“Can we just play one game man,” wide receiver Keith Corbin tweeted. “Does anybody wanna play the houston cougars?”

Tulane (2-1, 0-1 AAC) does. The Green Wave, who have played three games despite seeing their opener canceled, had an open date last week and has already changed starting quarterbacks.

“It’s very unusual,” Tulane coach Willie Fritz said of the disparity in games played. “They’ve had some tough luck with different schools not being able to field a team, so I feel for them. I know that’s difficult.”

The Green Wave won last year’s meeting 38-31 on a 53-yard touchdown pass with three seconds left. That wound up being the last game as a Cougar for star quarterback D’Eriq King.

The loss dropped Houston to 1-3 and King chose to transfer. He’s now the starting quarterback for No. 7 Miami (FL).

Fritz benched his starting quarterback, Keon Howard, early in Tulane’s last game — at Southern Miss on Sept. 26. Freshman Michael Pratt entered the game late in the first quarter and the Green Wave rolled to a 66-24 victory.

Pratt, who completed 9 of 19 passes for 142 yards with two touchdowns, will make his first start against the Cougars.

“We’re going to run our offense,” Fritz said. “There are going to be different wrinkles, but it’s not going to be totally different in any way, shape or form.”

The Green Wave lost their leading rusher, Tyjae Spears, for the season after he suffered a torn ACL against Southern Miss, but running back is one of the deepest positions on the team.

Cameron Carroll has seven rushing touchdowns and one receiving touchdown in three games.

–Field Level Media

Sep 26, 2020; Hattiesburg, Mississippi, USA; Tulane Green Wavehead coach Willie Fritz yell to his team in the first quarter against the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles at M. M. Roberts Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports

Carroll leads the way as Tulane swamps Southern Miss

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Cameron Carroll rushed for three touchdowns and also caught a touchdown pass Saturday as Tulane wiped out a quick 14-0 deficit to rout Southern Mississippi 66-24 in a non-conference game in Hattiesburg, Miss.

The Green Wave (2-1) rushed for 430 yards and put two players over 100 yards. Carroll collected 163 yards on 15 attempts, while Stephon Huderson added 120 yards on 11 tries, including a 47-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter.

Jack Abraham completed 23 of 38 passes for 299 yards with two touchdowns and one interception for the Golden Eagles (0-3). Most of his damage occurred in the first half, before they were swamped by the visitors’ ground game.

Southern Miss needed only 4:29 to establish a two-touchdown lead. Kevin Perkins rushed for a 2-yard score and Abraham hooked up with Jason Brownlee on an 88-yard scoring strike. It was mostly downhill after that for the Golden Eagles.

Tyjae Spears tied the game on consecutive touchdown drives for Tulane on 2- and 15-yard runs, respectively.

After Abraham found Naricuss Driver for a 61-yard score with 12:57 left in the first half, the Green Wave rattled off 24 unanswered points.

Carroll sandwiched Marek Glover’s 41-yard field goal with a 16-yard touchdown catch and a 30-yard scoring run in the last 6:14 of the half for a 31-21 halftime advantage. Carroll ripped off a 52-yard touchdown jaunt on the third quarter’s second play for a 17-point cushion.

Following a Briggs Bourgeois 49-yard field goal that pulled Southern Miss within 38-24, Tulane turned it into a laugher with four more unanswered touchdowns. Quarterback Michael Pratt threw his second scoring strike of the game and added a 1-yard touchdown run.

Pratt relieved an ineffective Keon Howard, who started and was 1 of 3 for 0 yards. Pratt connected on 8 of 18 passes for 142 yards and also chipped in 40 yards on seven rushes.

–Field Level Media