Tulane survives OT thriller at ECU, 31-24

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GREENVILLE, N.C. – Junior quarterback Jonathan Banks found the end zone on a 16-yard keeper on fourth down in overtime and the defense held on with a goal line stand, as Tulane football defeated ECU, 31-24, Saturday night in front of a crowd of 36,178 at Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium.

The Green Wave (4-6, 2-4 American Athletic Conference | West) stopped a four-game slide and picked up the first road win of the season, while winning at ECU for the first time in program history.

Senior running back Dontrell Hilliard led the way with a career-high 189 yards on a career-high 28 carries, scoring two touchdowns. He hit the century mark for the fourth time this season, and the ninth time in his career. Banks tallied 96 rushing yards and two scores, including the game-winner.

Defensively, senior linebacker Rae Juan Marbley and junior linebacker Zachery Harris each recorded double-digit tackles, with 12 and 10 stops, respectively. Redshirt junior cornerback Donnie Lewis Jr. tallied a career-high six pass breakups, and redshirt senior cornerback Parry Nickerson picked off the 14th interception of his career.

On the overtime possession, Tulane reached the ECU 16-yard line, but faced a fourth-and-1 situation. The Green Wave elected to go for it and Banks faked the handoff and raced 16 yards for the touchdown to give the Wave a 31-24 lead after the point after.

On the alternate possession, the Pirates (2-8, 1-5 American Athletic Conference | East) advanced to the Tulane three-yard line with first-and-goal, before a pair of stops by Marbley and an incomplete pass made it fourth down at the one-yard line. The defense held on, as redshirt junior defensive end Robert Kennedy was credited with the fourth-down tackle short of the goal line, giving the Green Wave the victory.

The Pirates forced overtime with a touchdown on a nine-yard pass from Gardner Minshew to Deondre Farrier. The score, which knotted the game at 24-24, left 0:36 on the clock.

Tulane led 17-14 at the half, and extended that lead to 24-14 at the end of the third quarter on a 26-yard touchdown run by Hilliard. The run came two plays after the Wave successfully ran a fake punt, when junior quarterback Glen Cuiellette faked a pooch punt on fourth-and-11, and connected with sophomore wide receiver Darnell Mooney for a first down. The 66-yard drive took 10 plays and 4:40 off the clock.

ECU pulled within 24-17 at the 12:18 mark of the fourth quarter on a 29-yard field goal by Jake Verity.

Tulane outgained ECU, 446-389 in total yardage. The Green Wave rushed for 325 yards and passed for 121, while the Pirates totaled 228 passing yards and 161 rushing yards.

Tulane took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in 14 plays, scoring on a two-yard run by Banks. The quarterback run came two plays after Hilliard plunged ahead for a five-yard gain on fourth-and-two at the ECU 7. It was the first opening-possession touchdown for the Green Wave since Oct. 7 against Tulsa.

The Pirates responded with a touchdown on their first possession, scoring on a two-yard run by Darius Pinnix. ECU took 12 plays to go 75 yards to tie the game, 7-7.

After trading a pair of punts Tulane and ECU once again scored back-to-back touchdowns to make it a 14-14 game. Hilliard bounced off traffic at the line of scrimmage and raced 60 yards to the end zone on the first play of the drive to give the Wave a 14-7 lead. The Pirates then tied the game on a 25-yard run by Hussein Howe with 6:13 to play in the half.

The Green Wave then elapsed 5:43 to drive 67 yards to take the lead on a 26-yard field goal by sophomore placekicker Merek Glover with 0:30 left in the half. Tulane held a 17-14 advantage at the break.

Tulane plays its final home game of 2017 next Saturday, as the Green Wave host Houston for Senior Day. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. on ESPNews.

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TULANE FOOTBALL POSTGAME NOTES AT ECU

Nov. 11, 2017

GAME

• Game captains were senior running back Dontrell Hilliard and senior linebacker Rae Juan Marbley.
• ECU won the coin toss and deferred. Tulane defended the West goal in the first quarter.
• Attendance was 36,178.

TEAM

• Tulane wore green helmets, white jerseys and green pants.
• Redshirt senior defensive end Luke Jackson carried the No. 18 flag, honoring former Tulane football student-athlete Devon Walker, who was injured and paralyzed during a game in 2012. Redshirt junior tight end Kendall Ardoin carried the American Athletic Conference P6 (#AmericanPow6r) flag leading the Green Wave out of the tunnel.
• Tulane won its first overtime game since defeating UL Lafayette 41-39 in four overtimes on Sept. 24, 2016.
  •  The Green Wave are 2-0 in overtime games under head coach Willie Fritz
• Tulane moved to 4-1 this season and 6-1 under Fritz when leading at halftime.
• Tulane scored a touchdown on its first offensive possession for the first time in five games. The last time the Green Wave scored on their first offensive possession was vs. Tulsa on Oct. 7 when Tulane scored touchdowns on the team’s first seven offensive possessions.
• Of Tulane’s 37 touchdowns scored this season, 18 have been with plays that went 20 yards or longer.
• The Green Wave have rushed for 100 or more yards in 25 straight games, dating back to the final three games of the 2015 season.
• Tulane rushed for 200 or more yards for the sixth time this season. The previous five occurrences were 296 vs. Grambling, 237 at Oklahoma, 253 vs. Army West Point, 488 vs. Tulsa and 203 at FIU.
• The Green Wave lost a fumble and threw an interception in the same game for just the third time this season. The other two games this season were at Oklahoma and at FIU, both losses.
• Tulane passed for more than 100 yards for the seventh time this season. The other six games were vs. Grambling State (185 yards), vs. Army West Point (103 yards), vs. Tulsa (165 yards), vs. USF (221 yards), at Memphis (203 yards) and vs. Cincinnati (196 yards).
• In 22 games under Fritz, the Green Wave have recorded an interception in 16 games (eight last season and Grambling State, Navy, Army West Point, Tulsa, FIU, USF, Memphis and ECU this season), including in 12 of the team’s last 14 games and 15 of the team’s last 18 games.

PLAYERS

• Redshirt senior cornerback Parry Nickerson made his 43rd career start, redshirt senior Jarrod Franklin made his 34th consecutive start (36th start in his career), senior running back Dontrell Hilliard made his 23rd straight start (31st in his career) and redshirt junior offensive lineman John Leglue (23rd in his career) and junior receiver Terren Encalade (29th in his career) made their 22nd consecutive starts.
• Redshirt junior defensive end Robert Kennedy got his first start of the season and the eighth of his career. Kennedy played in his 25th career game.
• Junior quarterback Jonathan Banks now has seven rushing touchdowns this season. He has scored a touchdown on the ground in three straight games.
• Banks completed his first four passes of the game. He completed his first six passes in last week’s game vs. Cincinnati.
• Banks threw just his third and the team’s fourth interception through 10 games.
• With a single-game, career-high 189 rushing yards, senior running back Dontrell Hilliard moved to 2,854 career rushing yards, which ranks fifth in school history. His previous single-game high was 175 rushing yards vs. Tulsa earlier this season.
• Hilliard recorded his fourth 100-yard performance of the season and the ninth of his career. His nine 100-yard rushing performances moved him into a tie for fifth most in school history with André Anderson (2006-09)
• Hilliard now has 29 rushing touchdowns in his career, which ranks fifth in school history.
• Hilliard carried the ball a career-high 28 times, topping his previous high of 25 at Houston on Nov. 8, 2014.
• Junior wide receiver Jabril Clewis had his streak of seven straight games with a catch snapped. His streak had dated back the Oklahoma game on Sept. 16.
• With his interception at the 9:35 mark in third mark in the third quarter, Nickerson now has 14 career interceptions. He ranks tied for third in school history with Lynaris Elpheage (2000-02).
• With one pass breakup, Nickerson sits tied for third in school history with Israel Route (2003-06) with 29 career pass breakups.
• With a single-game, career-high six pass breakups, redshirt junior cornerback Donnie Lewis Jr. now has 23 career pass breakups. His 23 pass breakups rank tied for ninth in school history with Sean Lucas (2002-05) and Rod McDowell (1989-92).
• Kennedy recorded Tulane’s first sack since the Tulsa game on Oct. 7 with an eight-yard sack on the final play of the third quarter.
• Redshirt junior quarterback Glen Cuiellette connected on his first pass of the season on a fake punt in the third quarter. On fourth and 11, Cuiellette completed an 11-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Darnell Mooney for a first down.
• Sophomore placekicker Merek Glover hit his fourth field goal in two games with 26-yarder in the second quarter.
• With 15 kickoff return yards, redshirt senior running back Sherman Badie moved to 1,159 kick return yards for his career, which ranks seventh in school history.