The Green Wave struggled in its rematch with Ole Miss, ultimately falling by a score of 41 to 10.
The Tulane Green Wave capped off a season for the ages on Saturday night, as the team fell to the Ole Miss Rebels 41-10 in the first round of the College Football Playoff.
Unfortunately for the Green Wave, the postseason showdown was very similar to the regular season matchup between the two programs: it was another lopsided game in which Ole Miss seemed set for a victory early. There were some better moments this time around, but the game once again got out of hand far too quickly for the visiting squad.
The Rebels needed just three plays over the span of 59 seconds to score their first touchdown of the day, and they continued to pour it on from there. Tulane did manage to find somewhat of a rhythm its subsequent opening drive, but that came to a swift end with an interception by quarterback Jake Retzlaff in Ole Miss territory. Once again, the Rebels needed just four explosive plays to make it downfield and add seven more points.
Down 14-0 halfway through the first quarter, it almost seemed like the hole that the Green Wave had dug itself was too much to crawl out of. Nevertheless, Tulane didn't give up, and proceeded to put together some gutsy defensive outings. The problem? The offense went flat, aside from a 39-yard field goal by Patrick Durkin. Ole Miss matched that kick with one of its own and maintained a 17-3 lead heading into the locker room at halftime.
At that point, the Green Wave did have a bit of a spark. The team forced Ole Miss to fumble in the red zone with 15 seconds left and knew it was getting the ball back to start the second half -- it could become a one-possession game quickly.
Six plays into the third quarter, Tulane booted the ball back to the home team... and from there, the deficit became insurmountable. The Rebels added a touchdown and a field goal in the frame to push the lead to 27-3. A pair of touchdowns gave Ole Miss 41 points, and by the time the Green Wave was able to strike on a 29-yard scoring pass from Retzlaff to Justyn Reid, there were only four minutes left in the game.
Retzlaff had a tough outing to wrap up his season -- he went 20-for-35 passing for 306 yards with one touchdown, one interception and two fumbles. He tried a bit too hard to do everything for his team, and it was just too costly. Jamauri McClure led the rushing attack with 15 carries for 84 yards, and Shazz Preston had five catches for 125 yards.
As a whole, the offense's biggest problem was its inability to maintain drives. The unit had a greater time of possession than Ole Miss, but it converted just five of its 13 third-down attempts and went 0-for-4 on fourth down. Interestingly enough, the Rebels also had a worse third-down conversion percentage -- 3-for-10 -- but they had so much more success because they were rarely forced to run a third-down play.
Defensively, the visiting squad did well enough in shorter-yardage situations, but it just couldn't stop the explosive plays. The Rebels had 497 total yards and converted both of their fourth-down attempts.
Tulane ends its historic season with an 11-3 overall record. The Green Wave finished the year as the American Conference Champions with a 7-1 mark in conference play and a victory over the North Texas Mean Green in the conference championship game.
The team will now look to move forward under new head coach Will Hall, as Jon Sumrall officially heads to the Sunshine State to take over the Florida Gators.