Tulane drops No. 25 Army, 38-12, for third consecutive win

The sky-blue jersey was as bright as the blue-sky Saturday afternoon at Yulman Stadium.

The visiting Black Knights made every effort to leave Tulane fans seeing red. Instead, a Green Wave of momentum continued for what is now a white-hot team.

Tulane captured their third straight win by pulling away for a 38-12 victory over No. 25 Army.

The Wave had not beaten a ranked opponent since Oct. 6, 1984 when Tulane upset No. 19 Vanderbilt 27-23 at Nashville.

Of course, while it was a big win over a ranked opponent, the home team was favored over the Black Knights.

Despite losing a superb player in Tyjae Spears in the third game of the season at Southern Miss, the Tulane offense continues to produce on a consistent basis.

Tulane has now scored 30 or more points in seven straight games for first time since the unbeaten 1998 season, when the Green Wave actually scored 40 or more points in their last seven games of that season. Tulane scored 30 or more points in 10 of its 12 games that year.

Just three short weeks ago, Tulane was 2-4 with a three-game losing streak and could not stop anyone. Prospects were a bit bleak.

The defense, which gave up 49, 37 and 51 points in those three losses. The secondary was struggling mightily.

Since then, the defense has allowed just 36 points combined in three victories.

It was not perfect but it was superb.

Tulane jumped out to a 14-0 lead, controlling the first quarter but Army controlled the second quarter and trailed 14-12 at halftime.

Flashbacks of the nightmarish second half against Navy entered the mind.

That thought was erased definitely.

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This Tulane offense had a better quarterback at the helm.

This Tulane defense was simply better.

The second half was all Tulane.

When you face Army, you have to limit the Cadets and their time of possession.

Tulane went 6-of-13 on third down conversions, a huge factor in the contest.

Tulane scored 13 points off of three turnovers while committing none.

Toles put the cherry on top of the whipped cream when he caught a lateral across the field on an Army kickoff return attempt at a trick play. Toles caught it and pranced into the end zone from 8-yards out to start the celebration.

Once again, Michael Pratt was solid.

The freshman went 19-of-27 for 197 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions and there were still dropped passes, particularly in the first half. Pratt also rushed for 19 yards.

Freshman Justin Ibieta got in late and rushed three times for 29 yards.

Deuce Watts had six catches for 85 yards while Amare Jones had five rushed for 60 yards and a touchdown.

You will always struggle to get more snaps and win time of possession against Army.

The Cadets won both categories but Tulane did plenty enough with its opportunities to pull away late.

Army had 70 offensive snaps to 59 for Tulane. Army had the ball for 32:27 to 27:23 for the Green Wave.

The Green Wave played mistake-free football with no turnovers and just two penalties for 20 yards.

To get the much sought after third straight winning season and bowl game appearance, Tulane must win at Tulsa or win at home over Memphis.

Going into its game Saturday with SMU, Tulane had played just four games, going 3-1, having had scheduled games postponed.

Tulsa has a big win over UCF and played Oklahoma State tough.

It will not be easy, though Tulane has won three straight against the Golden Hurricane.

The final regular season game is at home against Memphis, a team Tulane has really struggled against.

Since 2002, the Tigers have beaten the Green Wave 12 of 13 times.

Of course, the one win was the last game played at Yulman Stadium, in 2018, as Tulane shocked Memphis 40-24.

On a beautiful day where Tulane honored its Year of the Green 1970 team, it was a beautiful sight to see the home team play sound football, as Jim Pittman’s team did in 1970.

It was a Green Day for the guys in blue. Now, it is time to turn the page to Sunday as the Saints are coming.

So is Tulane, at precisely the right time.

TULANE 38, ARMY 12 – POSTGAME NOTES

TEAM NOTES
• With the win over 25th-ranked (Coaches Poll) Army, Tulane picked up its first victory over a ranked opponent since it defeated Vanderbilt back on Oct. 6, 1984.
• The last time Tulane defeated a ranked opponent at home was back on Sept. 29, 1979 when it defeated SMU 24-17.
• With the win, Tulane captured its third straight victory. Since 2000, Tulane has only posted winning streaks of three-or-more games nine time since 2000 (three of those streaks came under head coach Willie Fritz).
• Army is the second ranked opponent to play at Yulman Stadium this fall (SMU, No. 17).
• With the win, Tulane improves to 13-9-1 all-time against Army. Tulane and Army met on an annual basis when both schools were members of Conference USA.
• The Green Wave’s win over Army marked the fourth consecutive win for Tulane against the Black Knights. Tulane has never defeated Army in four straight games.
• The Green Wave have now scored 30-or-more points for the seventh straight game. Tulane has not scored 30-or-more points in seven straight games (in the same season) since the 1998 campaign.
• Tulane outgained Army 368-303.
• The Green Wave defensive unit held Army to under 350 yards of total offense for just the third time this season.
• Tulane’s defense held Army to just 12 points. The Green Wave have now held two opponents to under 20 points this season.
• The Green Wave’s 26-point win over the Black Knights was Tulane’s largest margin of victory over Army in the all-time series.
• The gameday captains for this week were OL Ben Knutson, OL Joey Claybrook, DL Cam Sample and DL Jeffery Johnson.
• The Wave of Change flag carrier was WR Mykel Jones.
• The No. 18 flag was carried by K Merek Glover.
• With the win, Tulane head coach Willie Fritz improved to 221-105-1 all-time. Fritz has never lost to Army.

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 Joey Claybrook and OL Tim Shafter.
• Corey Dublin made his 47th consecutive start.
• Pratt finished the game with 197 passing yards. He also tossed a pair of touchdown passes. The freshman signal-caller has now thrown for multiple touchdown passes in five games.
• Junior running back Amare Jones rushed for 65 yards on just five carries. He also had a 50-yard touchdown run in the first quarter.
• Tulane finished the game with over 100 yards rushing for the 61st time in its last 62 games.
• Duece Watts posted a career high with six receptions. He also hauled in 85 yards receiving.
• Jha’Quan Jackson closed the game with five receptions for 37 yards and a touchdown reception. He also added a rushing touchdown. His rushing touchdown from 14 yards out was his first score on the ground in his career.

DEFENSIVE NOTES
• Defensive starters for the Green Wave were LB Kevin Henry, LB Marvin Moody, S Chase Kuerschen, S Larry Brooks, CB Jaylon Monroe, CB Willie Langham, DL Eric Hicks, DL Noah Seiden, DL Patrick Johnson, DL Cameron Sample, and DL Jeffrey Johnson.
• Patrick Johnson tallied another sack to increase his all-time career sack total to 24.5. Johnson surpassed Kenan Blackmon (1999-02) for the all-time lead last week at ECU.
• Chase Kuerschen, Dorian Williams and Marvin Moody finished the game with a team-best 7.0 tackles.
• Larry Brooks collected his fourth career interception.
• Willie Langham hauled in his second interception of the year.
• As a team, Tulane finished the game with 6.0 tackles for loss and one sack.

SPECIAL TEAMS NOTES
• Ryan Wright finished the game with four punts for 230 yards (46.0 average). He also had two punts land inside the 20-yard line. Wright entered the game leading the American Athletic Conference in punting average.
• Merek Glover connected on five extra points. He also drilled a 26-yard field goal. He now has 281 career points kicking which ranks fourth all-time.
• Jaetavian Toles recovered a fumble and returned the ball eight yards for a touchdown.