Short-handed Tulane battles hard in 31-12 loss to No. 2 Cincinnati

NEW ORLEANS – The upset bid for Tulane University football (1-7) went cold after a tight first half at Yulman Stadium as the Green Wave ultimately fell to the No. 2-ranked Cincinnati Bearcats (8-0) 31-12 Saturday.

The matchup was the first time Tulane has hosted a top five opponent on campus since facing No. 5 Ole Miss in 1963. The Bearcats were the highest ranked opponent to ever play inside Yulman Stadium. The loss dropped the Wave to 11-7 all-time against Cincinnati.

“I thought we took a step forward, particularly on the defensive side of the ball,” head coach Willie Fritz said. “We ran the ball a little bit more effectively than we have been running the ball. There are some good things to take away from this.”

Tyjae Spears led the Green Wave offensive attack rushing for a season-high 110 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries.

In his first collegiate start, freshman quarterback Kai Horton completed 7-of-16 pass attempts for 79 yards with no touchdowns and a pair of interceptions.
The Tulane defense forced at least one turnover for the fourth time this season and collected multiple sacks for the fifth time of the year. Jaylon Monroe paced the Wave with six total tackles including four solo stops. Meanwhile, Nick Anderson, Darius Hodges and Marvin Moody each added a sack.

It was a slow first quarter with each team holding the ball for only for one possession each. The Green Wave put together a first drive after the opening kickoff marching down the field before stalling in Cincinnati territory. Ryan Wright pinned the Bearcats at the one-yard line, but Cincinnati drove 99 yards on 16 plays to find the end zone first.

After another punt downed inside the 10-yard line by Tulane, Moody put the Olive and Blue on the scoreboard early in the second quarter by sacking Desmond Ridder for a safety. The sack for Moody was his first of the season. It was the first safety by the Wave since October 20, 2018, against SMU.

Spears cashed in for the Tulane offense on the ensuing possession scampering 47 yards around the right side to give the Green Wave its first lead of the game 9-7.

“As a whole team we’re getting better, we just keep falling short,” Spears said. “We’re going to have the mindset tomorrow that we’re back to work. We’re going to watch the film tomorrow and see the things we did wrong. Go back to work Sunday, and hope for the best Saturday. We’re trying to win, we’re hoping for a win.”

Following a turnover by Tulane, Macon Clark gave the ball right back to the Green Wave offense snatching his first interception of the season. The Wave capitalized on the turnover as Casey Glover knocked through a 41-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to cut the deficit to 14-12 at halftime.

Cincinnati added the only points of the third quarter on a touchdown with 3:12 left on the clock to push the score to 21-12.

The third turnover of the contest by the Wave allowed the Bearcats to put a few more points on the board, but the defense limited Cincinnati to just three points after recovering the Spears fumble inside the Tulane 10-yard line.

The Bearcats tacked on one final score with just over four minutes to play in the contest to put the final tally at 31-12.

The Green Wave is back in action Saturday, Nov. 6, on the road in Orlando, Florida, against UCF. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. CT.

Post Game Quotes:
Willie Fritz, head coach
“Our defense had some good stops. I put them in some bad situations there at the end of the ball game going for it. We wanted to win the game rather than just try to come close.”
“Tyjae Spears is a good back, he’s tough and has good speed. There was a nice touchdown run by him. He had a couple of tough yards in there as well too. He’s not a really big guy but he’s a good short yardage back because he’s not afraid to hit it up in there.”

“We’ve just got to keep improving. We have a little bit of an injury bug, and when that happens that next guy has to step in and play well. Some guys have. Some guys have gotten an opportunity and made the most of it.”

Tyjae Spears, redshirt freshman, running back
“We’ve got to find a way to finish. There’s a lot of things we did, but a lot of things we need to clean up, both on offense and defense.”

“You look back at those two games and the way that we played, we aren’t just getting lucky. We just have to come together as a team, offensively and defensively, and we have to focus. We need to push each other harder at practice, and I think if we keep our engine like that and then push it up a notch, we can win every game out. There’s no team on the schedule for the rest of the schedule that can beat us.”

Nick Anderson, junior, linebacker
“You know like I said prior to the game, this is a great opportunity on our home turf to get exposure. We are playing the number two team in nation and to not win the game is devastating honestly. Simply because I feel like we came out on fire, but we have to do a great job of keeping that fire going off all four quarters, not letting it dim out and just playing for each other. Keeping everybody motivated is tough, we had them. It one of those on situations where at some point you have to get tired of the “almost,” tired of the “we had them” and pull through. We are hitting the hump, just not quite getting over it and that’s something we have to change going forward in the next four games.”

“Offense did a great job running the ball, a great dynamic job of running the football. Which is needed, due to Michael Pratt being out. Kia got in and stepped up, and CD got in at the end of the game and stepped up and he hasn’t played quarterback in probably a year or two. There were definitely some positives on the offensive side of the ball. (On the) Defensive side of the ball we tackled great, had good pursuit to the ball. We gave up a few explosive plays but for the most part we played physical defense.”

Dorian Williams, sophomore, linebacker
“As a defense we want to be very physical. We know these guys are big so we want to be very physical with them. We want to play good on the back end. Guys played very well on the 50/50 balls and made it more 75/25 balls.”

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TULANE 12, NO. 2 CINCINNATI 31 – POSTGAME NOTES (17,012)

TEAM NOTES
• Tulane’s matchup with Cincinnati marked the 18th all-time meeting between the two teams.
• With the loss, Tulane fell to 11-7 all-time against Cincinnati.
• Tulane has now dropped four straight games to Cincinnati.
• Cincinnati was the highest ranked team to ever play in Yulman Stadium. The last time Tulane faced a Top 5 opponent on campus was back in 1963 when Tulane welcomed fifth-ranked Ole Miss to New Orleans.
• Tulane has now played four games against nationally-ranked opponents in 2021. The last time Tulane played four nationally-ranked teams was back in 1971.
• The Green Wave’s setback marked the first time since 2017 that Tulane has lost six straight games.
• The Green Wave opened up a 9-7 lead midway through the second quarter, but were unable to hold on to the lead, as the Bearcats scored 24 of the next 27 points.
• Tulane trailed by just two points at the half (14-12) and only by nine points heading into the fourth quarter.
• As a team, Tulane was outgained 351-280. Tulane did hold a 187-124 advantage in rushing yards.
• Nick Anderson, Jeffery Johnson, and Dorian Williams served as the team captains.
• Tulane linebacker Kevin Henry carried the Wave of Change flag and Green Wave quarterback Sincere Haynesworth carried the No. 18 flag in honor of former Tulane student-athlete Devon Walker.
• With the loss, Tulane head coach Willie Fritz moved to 223-114-1 all-time.

OFFENSIVE NOTES
• Offensive starters for the Green Wave were QB Kai Horton, RB Cameron Carroll, RB Tyjae Spears, WR Duece Watts, WR Shae Wyatt, TE Tyrick James, OL Sincere Haynesworth, OL Caleb Thomas, OL Corey Dublin, OL Rashad Green, OL Joey Claybrook.
• Dublin’s start was the 57th of his career. Dublin has the most starts of any player on the team.
• Horton made his first collegiate start at quarterback.
• Quarterback Michael Pratt’s consecutive start streak ended at 16 games.
• Spears totaled a season-best 106 rushing yards and became the first Tulane running back to surpass 100 yards rushing on the year.
• Carroll also chipped in as he finished with 64 yards on just 10 carries.
• Wide receiver Jha’Quan Jackson led the team in receiving yards with 34. He also hauled in a team-best three receptions.

DEFENSIVE NOTES
• Defensive starters for the Green Wave were DL Noah Seiden, DL Jeffery Johnson, DL Eric Hicks, DL Darius Hodges, LB Kevin Henry, LB Nick Anderson, LB Kevin Henry, DB Ajani Kerr, DB Jadon Canady, DB Jaylon Monroe and DB Macon Clark.
• Johnson’s start was the 40th of his career which is the most of any player on the defense.
• Tulane recorded its first safety since 2018, as Marvin Moody sacked UC quarterback Desmond Ridder in the endzone.
• Anderson and Hodges also finished with one sack apiece.
• Monroe led the team with six tackles.
• Clark picked off his first pass of the season and third of his career. The interception was the Green Wave’s first turnover since the UAB game.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
• Punter Ryan Wright finished the game with 4 punts for 179 yards (44.8 average). He also totaled a long punt of 61 yards.
• Merek Glover connected on one extra point and a field goal. He now has 321 career points. He needs just 12 more points to become the school’s all-time leading scorer.