Running back Maurice Turner added 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns to give the Green Wave its second win of the year.
A win is a win, but the Tulane Green Wave's. (2-2) 24-21 Week Four victory over the Southern Miss Golden Eagles (1-3) was incredibly ugly.
The home team scored 10 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to come from behind and steal the win in a game that it was heavily favored in. Even with some players putting up monster numbers, the comeback win was borderline miraculous.
The Green Wave would strike first on a 47-yard touchdown pass from Kadin Semonza to Anthony Brown-Stephens midway through the first quarter, but from there, things quieted down significantly.
Southern Miss started the second quarter with a long touchdown reception of its own to tie the game at seven points apiece, but that seemingly motivated Tulane to turn up the heat and regain the lead. Maurice Turner's 43-yard rushing score with 9:47 left before the half marked the program's second explosive score of the night. USM would respond with another score to tie the game at 14 heading into the locker room.
Things fell apart significantly for Tulane in the third quarter, with the Golden Eagles claiming their first lead of the night on another pass from QB Landry Lyddy to Mario Sanders II -- his second six-point catch of the evening. Down 21-14, the Uptown boys faced some unprecedented trouble.
After a string of ineffective drives, Tulane turned to true freshman quarterback Trace Johnson early in the fourth quarter to try to give the offense some juice. The rookie would go 2-of-5 on the night for 35 yards while relying heavily on his running backs to get the job done.
Cooper Helmke helped the Green Wave cut the deficit to four after connecting on a 26-yard field goal halfway through the fourth quarter. After a big defensive stop by the home team, Turner rattled off another massive rushing touchdown to put his team ahead for good, taking the ball 74 yards downfield for the score.
Turner finished the night with 200 rushing yards and two scores on 12 carries. Johnnie Daniels took the brunt of the action with a team-high 19 carries for 70 yards.
Semonza had an up-and-down night, and there's no doubt he's unhappy with his performance. The signal-caller went 12-of-24 passing for 129 yards, one touchdown and one interception. His top target was Brown-Stephens, who racked up 85 yards and a score on five catches.
Defensively, Tulane limited Southern Miss to 131 rushing yards, but the Golden Eagles amassed 270 yards through the air. The team managed to come in clutch often on late downs, allowing just three third-down conversions on 14 tries and picking up seven tackles-for-loss and four sacks. Kevin Adams III led the program with nine tackles, Jack Tchienchou had seven and Ed Smith IV added three tackles, two tackles-for-loss and one sack.
The Green Wave will now enjoy a week off before heading right into American Conference play. Tulane is set to face the Army Black Knights on October 10th at 11 a.m. CT.
