Tulane blows away Temple, 38-3

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane football team picked up its first American Athletic Conference win of the 2020 season in a 38-3 rout over Temple at Yulman Stadium.

The Green Wave’s defense allowed just 222 total yards in the game and only 84 in the second half, while the offense outscored the Owls, 28-0, in the second half.

Freshman quarterback Michael Pratt accounted for three touchdowns while passing for 205 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 56 yards and one more score. Junior wide receiver Duece Watts hauled in both of Pratt’s scores through the air and finished the day with five catches for 114 yards.

Junior running back Amare Jones rushed for a game-high 92 yards on 12 carries, while junior Cameron Carroll totaled 63 yards on 13 carries with one touchdown.

Temple (1-3, 1-3 AAC) got on the scoreboard first with a 22-yard field goal on its first possession of the game at the 10:37 mark of the first quarter. Tulane was unable to punch back immediately, as the offense committed turnovers on back-to-back possessions, but the defense remained stout to hold the deficit at three points for the remainder of the quarter.

Tulane (3-4, 1-4 AAC) tied the game, 3-3, on a 40-yard field goal by Merek Glover with 11:55 left in the second quarter after a 10-play drive that covered 67 yards in over four minutes.

The Green Wave got the ball back after a defensive stop around midfield but were forced to start the next possession at their own seven yard-line after an Owls punt. On the second play of the drive, Pratt connected with Watts on a 52-yard pass completion down the right sideline. Four plays later, Carroll rushed over the right end for 13 yards and stretched over the goal line for the game’s first touchdown to give the Wave a 10-3 lead with 6:50 remaining in the first half.

Tulane took the seven-point advantage into halftime and outgained Temple, 242-138, in the opening 30 minutes of action. The Green Wave offense proved to be more efficient in the first half, producing 14 first downs to the Owls’ seven.

The Wave got the second half started by forcing a punt and then going on a productive, seven-play drive that ended on a fumble going into the end zone that was recovered by Temple.

Tulane made a big stop on fourth down on its next defensive possession and then turned right around with a six-play drive in two-and-a-half minutes capped by a 31-yard touchdown pass from Pratt to Watts to give the Olive and Blue a 17-13 lead with 5:36 left in the third quarter.

After an interception by redshirt junior cornerback Willie Langham was returned to the Owls’ 30 yard-line, a 26-yard pass completion to sophomore wide receiver Jha’Quan Jackson on the second play of the drive set up a six-yard touchdown pass to Watts three plays later to extend the lead to 24-3 with 1:37 remaining in the quarter.

Following another fourth-down stop by the defense early in the fourth quarter, the Green Wave continued its scoring barrage with a pass completion, a 20-yard rush by senior running back Stephon Huderson and a nine-yard rushing touchdown by Pratt to increase the advantage to 31-3.

Tulane tacked on one more score through the air with under four minutes remaining when redshirt senior quarterback Keon Howard hit senior wideout Jaetavian Toles for a 15-yard touchdown.

Defensively, junior linebacker Nick Anderson racked up a career-high 14 tackles (11 solo) with 2.5 tackles for loss.

Up next, Tulane heads back on the road for a matchup at East Carolina on Saturday, November 6. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.

TULANE 38, TEMPLE 3 – POSTGAME NOTES

TEAM NOTES
• Tulane’s last win over Temple was in 1934 when the two teams met in the Sugar Bowl at Tulane Stadium.
• Tulane’s matchup with Temple marked the sixth all-time meeting between the two teams.
• The Green Wave’s all-time record against Temple is now 2-4.
• The gameday captains for this week were TE Tyrick James, Sincere Haynesworth, Cam Sample and Kevin Henry.
• The Wave of Change flag carrier was LB Dorian Williams.
• The No. 18 flag was carried by WR Jha’Quan Jackson.
• With the win, Tulane head coach Willie Fritz moves to 219-105-1 all-time. In the month of October, Fritz owns a career record of 76-51-1.
• The Green Wave have scored 30-or-more points for the fifth time this season.
• Tulane outgained Temple 504-222 in total offense.
• The Green Wave trailed 3-0 at the end of the first quarter, but Tulane would respond in a big way as it outscored the Owls 38-0 and outgained Temple 396-124 over the final three quarters of play.

OFFENSIVE NOTES
• Offensive starters for the Green Wave were QB Michael Pratt, WR Duece Watts, WR Jha’Quan Jackson,WR Mykel Jones, RB Stephon Huderson, TE Tyrick James, OL Sincere Haynesworth, OL Corey Dublin, OL Ben Knutson, OL Trey Tuggle and OL Caleb Thomas.
• Corey Dublin made his 45th consecutive start.
• Pratt posted his second straight game of 200 yards passing. He also threw for a pair of touchdowns and ran for another. The freshman signal-caller also rushed for a career-high 56 yards on 12 carries.
• Pratt has rushed for a score and passed for a score in four of his five appearances. Pratt has thrown for a touchdown in every game he has appeared in at Tulane.
• With the win, Pratt became the first true freshman quarterback to win a start since Terrence Jones did so back in 1985.
• Tulane finished the game with over 100 yards rushing for the 59th time in its last 60 games.
• The Green Wave surpassed 200 yards rushing for the 13th time in their last 20 games dating back to the start of the 2019 season.
• Amare Jones posted a career-high 92 rushing yards.
• Duece Watts finished the game with a career-high 114 yards receiving. He also hauled in a career-high two touchdowns. His 52-yard reception in the second quarter was a career-long.
• Redshirt sophomore Cam Carroll scored his team-best ninth touchdown on the year (eighth rushing).

DEFENSIVE NOTES
• Defensive starters for the Green Wave were LB Kevin Henry, LB Dorian Williams, S Chase Kuerschen, S Macon Clark, DL Patrick Johnson, DL Cameron Sample, DL Jeffrey Johnson, DL Eric Hicks Jr., S Larry Brooks, CB Jaylon Monroe, CB Willie Langham.
• Eric Hicks Jr. made his first career start.
• Nick Anderson posted a career-high 14 tackles (11 solo). He also recorded a career-high 2.5 tackles for loss.
• Junior defensive lineman Jeffery Johnson recorded his fourth sack of the season.
• Redshirt junior Willie Langham hauled in his first career interception.
• As a team, Tulane’s defense finished the game with nine tackles for loss and three sacks.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
• Ryan Wright finished the game with 2 punts for 111 yards (55.5 average). He also had one punt land inside the 20-yard line.
• Merek Glover connected on a 40-yard field in the first quarter. Glover has now made 37 field goals in his career. His 37 career field goals rank seventh all-time.
• Jha’Quan Jackson had five punt returns for 55 yards.