The Green Wave couldn't find a way to keep up with the Wildcats on either side of the ball.
For a few minutes, it seemed like the Tulane Green Wave might be on its way to pulling off a shocking upset over the Kansas State Wildcats.
A rough second quarter derailed all hope.
The Green Wave faltered to a 31-20 loss on the road, falling to 1-2 in the first season under head coach Will Hall.
Tulane was able to get off to a strong start, as quarterback Kadin Semonza rushed for a nine-yard score roughly halfway through the first quarter. The Wildcats would find a bit more rhythm in the following frame, scoring the next 17 points of the game to take a sizable lead. A record-setting 58-yard field goal by Cooper Helmke would cut the deficit to 17-10 heading into the locker room at halftime.
Kansas State added another rushing score midway through the third quarter to extend the lead to 24-10, and once again, the Green Wave could only find a way to muster a long field goal. The final nail in the coffin came with nine minutes left in the game on a rushing touchdown by KSU quarterback Avery Johnson to give his team a 31-13 lead. Though a 25-yard pass from Semonza to Maurice Turner would give Tulane one last score, it came with just under three minutes remaining in the game; too little, too late.
Semonza finished the night 13-of-26 passing for 165 yards and two touchdowns: one passing, one rushing. Turner posted a team-high 64 yards on seven rushing attempts and a touchdown catch.
Many of the offensive struggles ultimately come down to horrid offensive line play, which couldn't find a way to protect much of anyone on the field. Kansas State was in the backfield quite often, finishing the night with a whopping 12 tackles-for-loss and six sacks.
Defensively, the Olive Green and Sky Blue still had many of the same struggles that it has all year long. Kevin Adams III led the team with eight total tackles and a tackle-for-loss. Otherwise, the overall performance was less than inspiring. In fact, the D-line didn't register a single sack, and the team had no forced turnovers.
There's still lots of soul-searching ahead for the Green Wave, and things aren't looking too promising moving forward. The American Conference has plenty of talent this year, and with two losses already, Tulane will have to go undefeated to even be in slight consideration for a potential postseason bid. It's tough to feel like things are over when we are just three games into the season, but the team hasn't shown so far that it's ready to compete in the big games that matter.
Up next, Tulane will return to Yulman Stadium to face off against Hall's previous team, the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. CT on Saturday, September 26th.
