Iron Dragon's Tulane Green Wave Dynasty

[Iron Dragon]

2014 WRAP-UP

BOWL GAMES OF NOTE
New Mexico: Idaho 31, Air Force 24 (Idaho: 10 wins)
EagleBank: Army 16, Troy 12
Las Vegas: AZ State 27, Utah 9 (Utah loses 3 of their last 5)
Hawai'i: Marshall 31, #24 Nevada 17
Motor City: Miami OH 20, Rutgers 17 (Rutgers loses 3 straight)
GMAC: Eastern Kentucky 27, UCF 24 (Colonels have big confidence headed for '15)

Rose: #6 Georgia 38, #3 Ohio State 28
Sugar: #5 Michigan 21, Miami 17
Orange: #4 Virginia Tech 25, #8 West Virginia 7
Fiesta: #11 Buffalo 27, #22 Colorado 26.. YES!! BUFFALO BUSTS THE BCS!! Are you kidding me??
BCS NC: #2 USC 27, #1 Alabama 24 OT

FINAL TOP 25
1. USC (61)
2. Virginia Tech
3. Michigan
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. Buffalo (yeah!!! Buffalo!!) [I'll probably make them better for '11, they only lose six starters]
7. Ohio State
8. West Virginia
9. Notre Dame
10. Texas
11. Oklahoma State
12. Penn State
13. Tulane
14. Miami
15. USF
16. North Carolina
17. Iowa
18. South Carolina
19. Utah
20. Florida
21. Wisconsin
22. Colorado
23. Cal
24. Idaho
25. Arizona State

AAs and All-Big XIIs
1st team AA: Erik Madison, Abraham Ubekista
2nd team AA: Marlin Nelson
Freshman AA: Shaun Fontaine (RET)
1st team Big XII: O.J. Clarke, Marlin Nelson, Erik Madison, Abraham Ubekista
2nd team Big XII: Shaun Fontaine (RET)

UP NEXT: Players Leaving and such.

[Iron Dragon]

PLAYERS LEAVING

83 OVR QB John Stegall, SO, transferring: to Hawaii .. Stegall started earlier in the year before an injury put him on the sidelines and Burns took over the Green Wave team.

GRADUATING

86 OVR RB #10 Dan Thomas, rSR
Best year: 2011 - 48 car, 293 yards, 6 TD
Notes: Was the 70th man on the roster in 2011 only to show us what he was made of and run for 6.1 yards a carry. Thomas was third on the depth chart most of his career and never got out of that spot. A valuable backup when needed.

87 OVR RG #60 Jeff Keyes - rSR
Best year: 2013 - 9 cakes, 2 SA
Notes: Two-year starter on the o-line and was a very good blocker.

87 ovr RT #64 Chris WHite - rSR
Best year: 2014 - 15 pancakes, 5 SA
Notes: One-year starter after being moved around as a backup over the line, eventually landing as starting RT. Was a good blocker for the year we needed him most.

88 OVR WR #2 Brandon Palmer - rSR
Best year: 2014 - 64 rec, 827 yards, 6 TD
Notes: The JUCO transfer played very fine in his two years at Tulane winding up with almost 100 career receptions, 1332 yards, 11 TDs along with 37 rush yards. He had great hands and the ability to make plays after the catch.

89 OVR LG #63 Michael Landry - SR
Best year: None, really, they were all basically the same.
Notes: Three-year starter who gave up more sacks than he should have but was still solid.

89 OVR ROLB #55 Jason Nolen - SR
Best year: 2014 - 59 tkl, 9 TFL, 3 sacks, INT, 4 PD, FF
Notes: Two-and-a-half year starter who had two 50+ tackle seasons to end his career as a Green Wave. Came in for the injured Darryl Farley as a freshman and did well ever since. Ends with 7 INTs and 3 sacks, too.

94 OVR LOLB #45 Kyle Dickson - rSR
Best year: 2014 - 49 tackles, 3 TFL, INT, 2 FF, 2 FR
Notes: JUCO transfer who started for two years and winds up one tackle short of 100. Very good player who got his hands on the ball forcing three turnovers over just one last year. Very solid and quick LB.

99 OVR C #70 Anthony Patterson - rSR
Best year: 2014 - 20 'cakes, 1 SA (I lied, his Ville sack was his first allowed of the year. So close.)
Notes: This man just didn't allow anyone past him. Our first 99 OVR player and as a four-year starter, he knew what he was doing as an offensive leader. Blocked extremely well on the pass and the run. Over 70 career pancakes to just 9 sacks allowed. Great player, 1st round draft pick for sure.

And that's it.. a small class of players we lose. Now for a little break, as the next thing you'll see is NCAA '11 stuff.

[Iron Dragon]

Here's some of my favorite screencaps/shots from NCAA '10:


Season one: Game-sealing TFL in 45-42 win over SMU


Season one: Tyler Helm got tackled at the one-yard line with no timeouts left trying to tie the game, and Joe Kemp was stopped short as time expired


Season one: Chinoso picks up a late fumble sealing an upset over UCF.


Season two: D.J. Banks' miracle in Hawai'i.


Season two: Casey Robottom rips the ball out of the air to win it in 3OTs.


Season two: David Phillips seals Tulane's first C-USA title under Ron Draggo at the three-yard line in the game's second OT.


Season three: Kristifer Rhymes deflects the final pass in the Orange Bowl at the two-yard line as time expired


Season four.J. Banks' game-continuing pass flew away on the hit and that kept the Green Wave from possibly upsetting Ohio State again.


Season four: Casey Robottom's last-gasp tipped-reception against LSU was tackled three yards short with the clock reading 0:00.


Season five: O.J. Clarke says "Ohhhh yeahhhh" as he dives for the endzone.


Season five: If this fumble was never recovered, we would have never been national champions.




Season five: IT'S GOOD!! NATIONAL CHAMPS!! And the celebrating began.


Season six: All Tulane could do is watch A&M knock off the Green Wave on their 18-game winning streak on this field goal by a man by the name of Pedro.


Season six: Scott Barrett ends the 4OT decable with Missouri with a huge TFL.


Season six: O.J. Clarke leaps over a Texas defender.

Goodbye NCAA '10.

[ebin]

Your game reports and photos are fantastic! Keep up the great work; can't wait to see what happens in NCAA '11.

[Iron Dragon]

New alternate unis

[morsdraconis]

Nice!

[Iron Dragon]

2015 NCAA Preview

2014 FINAL TOP 25

Spoiler: show

1. USC
2. Virginia Tech
3. Michigan
4. Georgia
5. Alabama
6. Buffalo
7. Ohio State
8. West Virginia
9. Notre Dame
10. Texas
11. Oklahoma State
12. Penn State
13. Tulane
14. Miami
15. USF
16. North Carolina
17. Iowa
18. South Carolina
19. Utah
20. Florida
21. Wisconsin
22. Colorado
23. Cal
24. Idaho
25. Arizona State

And now we look at this year's preseason top 25:
(final top 25 rank - '14)
1. Alabama (#5)
2. Ohio State (#7)
3. Texas (#10)
4. Oregon (NR)
5. Boise State (NR)
6. Florida (#20)
7. Virginia Tech (#2)
8. TCU (NR) (Big XII)
9. Nebraska (NR) (Big Ten)
10. Iowa (#17)
11. Wisconsin (#21)
12. Georgia Tech (NR)
13. USC (#1)
14. Miami (#14)
15. Oklahoma (NR)
16. PITT (NR)
17. LSU (NR)
18. Penn State (#12)
19. Oregon State (NR)
20. Arkansas (NR)
21. Florida State (NR)
22. North Carolina (#16)
23. Utah (#19) (Big XII)
24. Cincinnati (NR)
25. Houston (NR)
29. Oklahoma St.
33. Missouri
42. Texas Tech (C-USA)
45. Baylor
49. Kansas
59. Iowa State
60. Tulane
68. Kansas State
119. WKU
120. Eastern Michigan

BIG XII OUTLOOK
1. Texas
2. TCU
3. Oklahoma
4. Utah
5. Okie St
6. Mizzou
7. Baylor
8. Kansas
9. A&M
10. Iowa St.
11. Tulane (remember, Colorado won the conference from a #10 rank last year)
12. K-State

HEISMAN WATCH
RB Greg Mathis, Alabama, JR
QB Joe Reed, Houston, SR
QB Kendrick Davidson, Boise State, JR
QB Dustin Brown, Ohio State, JR
QB Paul Marshall, Washington, SR

UP NEXT: 2015 SCHEDULE

[Iron Dragon]

2015 SCHEDULE

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Tulane has released their 2015 football schedule today. Despite earlier thoughts, Tulane's 2014 Big XII schedule doesn't mirror their 2015 schedule due to a change made by the Big XII which would have made Tulane play the exact home/away games as last year, which would have been a disappointment for the Green Wave getting the same schedule two years in a row. Tulane's schedule features a matchup on November 20th as they face former C-USA opponent in Houston, who rounds out the preseason top 25.

Tulane has five first-time matchups on the schedule: Colorado St., Ohio, Kansas, Kansas State, and #8 TCU.

2015 SCHEDULE
WEEK 1 - Colorado State - C+ OVR, B- OFF, C+ DEF
WEEK 2 - BYE
WEEK 3 - Ohio - C- OVR, C OFF, C- DEF (Throwback Day)
WEEK 4 - at #17 LSU - A- across the board
WEEK 5 - Kansas - B- across the board
WEEK 6 - Baylor - B- OVR, B OFF, C+ DEF
WEEK 7 - at #8 TCU - B+ OVR, A OFF, B+ DEF
WEEK 8 - Kansas State - B- across the board
WEEK 9 - at #3 Texas - A- OVR, A OFF, A- DEF
WEEK 10 - at Oklahoma State - B+ OVR, A- OFF, B+ DEF
WEEK 11 - Texas A&M - B+ OVR, A- OFF, B DEF
WEEK 12 - Oklahoma - A OVR, A OFF, A- DEF
WEEK 13 - at #25 Houston - B- OVR, B+ OFF, C+ DEF
WEEK 14 - BYE
WEEK 15 - BYE
CCG - ??
BOWL - Likely

[Iron Dragon]

2015 ROSTER

NOTE: Redshirts have been messed up through TeamBuilder.. so yeah. Ratings are also different with the whole locomotion thing.

OFFENSE

QB #5 Jamal Burns - JR - 82 OVR, 80 SPD, 88 THP, 80 THA
QB #17 Rich Nelson - rFR - 74 OVR, 88 SPD, 78 ACC, 84 THP, 78 THA
QB #12 Joe Brett - FR - 72 OVR, 83 THP, 85 THA

RB #25 O.J. Clarke - SR - 95 OVR, 93 SPD, 96 ACC, 92 BTK
RB #37 Mike Marquardt - JR - 84 OVR, 86 SPD, 89 ACC, 88 BTK
RB #24 Chuck Graham - rFR - 77 OVR, 87 SPD, 85 ACC, 89 ELU
RB #40 Matt Redd - rFR - 74 OVR, 84 SPD, 90 ACC, 88 ARM
FB #28 Blake Walters - JR - 80 OVR, 79 SPD, 76 ACC
FB #42 Tyler Rollins - SO - 71 OVR, 75 SPD, 76 ACC, 77 CTH

WR #7 J.D. Williams - JR - 81 OVR, 85 SPD, 90 ACC, 85 RR
WR #84 Taylor Mackey - JR - 81 OVR, 85 SPD, 87 ACC, 85 CIT
WR #88 Adrian Anderson - JR - 78 OVR, 80 SPD, 91 ACC, 82 CTH
WR #8 DeShawn Larsen - rFR - 78 OVR, 87 SPD, 78 RR, 78 CIT
WR #4 Rick Nixon - FR - 74 OVR, 91 SPD, 92 ACC, 72 CIT
WR #86 Viktor Harris - rSO - 71 OVR, 86 SPD
WR #82 David Tyler - rSO - 70 OVR, 71 RR

TE #83 Chad Flowers - rJR - 84 OVR, 78 SPD, 86 ACC, 83 CTH
TE #85 Brian Bailey - SO - 80 OVR, 81 SPD, 78 ACC, 81 CTH
TE #47 Vernon Blair - rSO - 79 OVR, 79 SPD, 83 ACC, 77 CTH

LT #78 Brandon Lewis - rJR - 86 OVR
LT #75 Reggie Ross - rSR - 80 OVR
LT #60 Stephen James - rFR - 74 OVR
LG #61 Derrik Wright - rFR - 76 OVR
LG #72 Kenneth Woods - rFR - 73 OVR
C #65 Ron Daniels - rSR - 85 OVR
C #67 Joel Ferwerda - rSO - 78 OVR
RG #68 Scott Rogers - rJR - 82 OVR
RG #79 Nick Butler - rSO - 80 OVR (starting at LG)
RG #63 Vance Danderson - FR - 72 OVR
RT #62 John Williams - rSR - 87 OVR
RT #76 Rocky Van Hoskgad - rFR - 74 OVR

DEFENSE

LE #95 Dwayne Horne - SR - 83 OVR, 82 SPD, 85 ACC, 81 TKL
LE #93 Dustin Peterson - rJR - 80 OVR, 77 SPD, 84 TKL
RE #66 Stephen Harris - SR - 82 OVR, 74 SPD, 89 TKL
RE #91 Glen Wilkinson - SO - 78 OVR, 83 SPD

DT #71 Marlin Nelson - JR - 92 OVR, 85 SPD, 82 ACC, 89 TKL (now bulked up from 235 to 260)
DT #58 Derek Larson - SR - 89 OVR, 90 SPD, 77 ACC, 89 TKL
DT #90 Melvin Dickson - rJR - 85 OVR, 78 SPD, 85 TKL
DT #96 Jared McCoy - rJR - 78 OVR, 74 SPD
DT #77 Charlie St. Helens - rFR - 75 OVR, 59 SPD, 82 ACC, 82 TKL

LOLB #51 Jay Kerr - SR - 83 OVR, 83 SPD, 78 AWR
LOLB #94 Matt West - rSO - 76 OVR, 86 BSH
LOLB #92 Aaron Talley - rFR - 71 OVR, 78 TKL
MLB #50 Terrance Carr - SR - 94 OVR, 84 SPD, 88 ACC, 91 TKL
MLB #59 Ralph Hall - rSR - 84 OVR, 72 SPD, 85 ACC
MLB #54 Brandon Lewis - rJR - 80 OVR, 76 SPD, 85 PUR
MLB #53 Garrett Jones - rSO - 74 OVR, 88 SPD, 82 TKL
ROLB #57 Frank Davis - rSO - 84 OVR, 83 SPD, 88 PRC
ROLB #56 Lamont Coleman - rSR - 81 OVR, 84 SPD, 90 BSH
ROLB #97 Bruce Meade - SO - 75 OVR, 82 SPD

DB #6 Erik Madison - SR - 92 OVR, 87 SPD, 96 ACC, 98 MCV, 99 ZCV, 90 PRC
DB #11 Shaun Fontaine - SO - 85 OVR, 96 SPD, 94 ACC
DB #39 Wade Brooks - JR - 82 OVR, 87 SPD, 95 MCV
DB #20 Corey Bratton - JR - 80 OVR, 87 SPD, 94 ACC, 95 MCV
DB #35 Keenan Tate - SR - 79 OVR, 85 SPD, 90 MCV
DB #23 Kendall Thomas - rFR - 76 OVR, 90 SPD, 72 AWR
DB #18 Xavier Brooks - FR - 74 OVR, 93 SPD, 83 ZCV

FS #48 Kasey Capps - rJR - 83 OVR, 83 SPD, 95 ACC, 90 ZCV
FS #32 Jason Cleveland - rFR - 76 OVR, 93 ACC, 85 MCV
FS #29 Keith Franklin - rFR - 73 OVR
FS #33 Alphonso Lamb - rFR - 71 OVR

SS #30 Scott Barrett - SR - 85 OVR, 92 SPD, 85 ACC, 89 ZCV
SS #36 Brad Chase - SO - 79 OVR, 85 SPD
SS #21 Jamaal Archer - rFR - 77 OVR, 90 SPD, 79 ACC
SS #2 Jordan Katz - FR - 74 OVR, 82 SPD, 95 ACC

K/P #19 Abraham Ubekista - SR - 87 OVR, 90 KPW, 86 KAC
K/P #44 Regular Gonzalez - rFR - 79 OVR, 83 KPW, 78 KAC

And there you have it..

UP NEXT: Games!

[morsdraconis]

NOTE: Redshirts have been messed up through TeamBuilder.. so yeah. Ratings are also different with the whole locomotion thing.

Yeah. I had to deal with that as well with mine. It sucks, but it's not the end of the world.

Also it's interesting to see how different some people come out rated this year to last year. Had a QB that was 5 or 6 points ahead of my 2nd string QB because he was pretty fast, had pretty good awareness, and decent passing abilities. Put him in teambuilder for '11, and he dropped like 7 points and is no longer the 1st string QB. Apparently Awareness doesn't play as big of a role in player overall as it used to.

[ebin]

NOTE: Redshirts have been messed up through TeamBuilder.

Yeah. I had to deal with that as well with mine. It sucks, but it's not the end of the world.

That was an issue last year as well. I can't for the life of me figure out why they don't just let us edit redshirt status on the Teambuilder site.

[Iron Dragon]

BAD 2 & 3/4 QUARTERS, A GOOD 1 & 1/4 QUARTERS


Erik Madison starts off 2015 the same place he ended in 2014.. intercepting passes.


The first score of 2015 was Ralph Hall's safety on CSU RB Keyes.


DeShawn Larsen, the newest man to wear #8 catches his first TD pass on his first reception.. a good start.

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- The last time the Green Wave took the field, they beat Louisville in the Indepedence Bowl. Over the summer, the Superdome got looking a little different and so did the lighting, but now Green Wave football is back, and is it better than ever before? And yes, this is the new reporting style, the same one as 2014 but look - three pictures!! And this year, we'll have highlights when they are cool enough to be on video. Anyways, the Colorado State Rams would take the field against the Green Wave led by their white runningback David Keyes, who wears #7 and is like Toby Gerhart.. but who is that? Since he was sucky on the original rosters in NCAA '10, Gerhart didn't have a runner-up Heisman year in 2009 like he did in the actual world.

On to the action..

Colorado State got the ball first and Billy Walker, QB for the Rams fired a great pass straight to Shaun Fontaine to bring in the new year (and game year - NCAA '10 started with an INT, too, what will '12 be like? another INT??), however, Jamal Burns takes Tulane inside the ten and throws a pick in the endzone, which was stupidly returned out to two-yard line by the Colorado State defender. He was six yards deep in the endzone. Why would you ever bring it out? Anyways, he cost his Rams as the Rams ran a screen pass.. in the endzone.. and Jeff Keyes was dropped by Ralph Hall for a safety, giving Tulane a 2-0 lead. Tulane reaped the rewards of a shorter field but stalled late in the drive as Ubekista nailed a 34 yard field goal, giving Tulane a 5-0 lead. Jamal Burns, obviously still rattled from pick #1 was intercepted again in the early 2nd quarter, but CSU couldn't do anything with the ball. Finally Burns found his late season rhythm from last year hitting a wide open Taylor Mackey for a 60 yard TD pass mid-way through the second quarter.

Ron Draggo was tempted to go for two here, no clue why, but an 11-0 lead sounded interesting if we didn't get it. But we did kick the XP and made it 12-0. After Colorado State fumbled the ball away, Tulane tried to put up more points before halftime and got into field goal range for a 42 yard kick with 2 seconds left in the half. Ubekista's field goal had the distance but it nailed the right upright and bounced into the endzone and it was no good and Tulane took a 12-0 lead to the locker room.

After going three and out, Colorado State took advantage getting a field goal to make 12-3.. an uncomfortable lead for the Green Wave. Burns got more rhythm with his 17 yard TD pass to DeShawn Larsen one minute later, but Tulane went for 2 to make it a 17-point game and the read option was stuffed keeping the score at 18-3. Tulane ran away with the game literally, in the fourth quarter, as O.J. Clarke's 4 yard TD run and Mike Marquardt's 3 yard TD run made it a 32-3 game. Colorado State scored on a 4 yard TD run late, and missed the two point conversion, and then failed to recover an onside kick. Other Colorado State highlights included an INT to Erik Madison and even CSU's backup QB got in on the pick-love throwing one to Terrance Carr. Lastly, Rich Nelson took late snaps for Tulane at QB, as well as the Green Wave won it 32-9 after only leading it 12-3 with 1:30 to play in the third quarter.

PLAYER STATS
Jamal Burns: 10-for-19 passing, 146 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 6 car, 14 yards
O.J. Clarke: 21 carries, 104 yards, TD, 3 rec, 14 yards
Mike Marquardt: 5 carries, 20 yards, TD
DeShawn Larsen: 3 rec, 42 yards, TD
Taylor Mackey: Rec, 60 yards, TD
Frank Davis: 7 Tot Tack (4 solo, 3 ast), FF, FR
Derek Larson: 4 tackles, 3 TFL, Sack
Stephen Harris: 3 TFL, Sack
Jay Kerr: 5 Tot Tack (2 solo, 3 ast)
Marlin Nelson: 3 Tot Tack, TFL
Shaun Fontaine, Terrance Carr, Erik Madison: INT each

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK 1 AROUND THE NCAA

BIG XII SCORES
Iowa State 37, Eastern Kentucky 14
#3 Texas 44, Rice 10
#23 Utah 69, Western Kentucky 3
Missouri 38, Illinois 7
Texas A&M 54, SE Louisiana St. 0
UCLA 37, K-State 16
Kansas 39, Sac State 3
Oklahoma St. 29, Colorado 12
#8 TCU 52, UC Davis 10
#15 Oklahoma 44, Utah St. 7
Baylor 26, SMU 14

TOP 25/NCAA SCORES
Fresno State 31, #24 Cincinnati 24
#17 LSU 14, #22 UNC 13

TOP 25 UPDATE
Cincy, UNC out
WVU, Georgia in
Fresno up to #26

NEWS & NOTES
Mike Conley, Missouri's starting QB is out for eight weeks.
Clay Woods, USC's starting QB is out for the season.

UP NEXT: Week 2 Around the NCAA

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK 2

BIG XII SCORES
#3 Texas 41, Wyoming 7
Okie St. 30, Troy 13
#22 Utah 42, Idaho 3
Missouri 56, Eastern Wash 13
#12 GT 41, Kansas 14
A&M 48, L-Tech 7
Baylor 27, New Mexico 9
K-State 45, North Dakota 10
#8 TCU 48, California 20
#15 Oklahoma 46, #21 Florida State 14
#10 Iowa 21, Iowa St. 14

TOP 25/NCAA SCORES
#1 Alabama 37, #18 Penn State 14
South Carolina 24, #25 Georgia 21
#14 Miami 21, #2 Ohio State 20
Boston College 28, #6 Florida 23
North Dakota St. 40, Akron 13 - WTG Akron.

TOP 25 UPDATE
Ohio State drops to #9, Miami only up to 11th.
Florida drops to #17.
Boston College jumps straight to #20.
Fresno State cracks the top 25 at #25.
Florida State and Georgia fall out.

UP NEXT: 1-1 Ohio

[Iron Dragon]

Mr. Do It All


O.J. Clarke on his way to a 54 yard TD run.


And yes, he throws too, here he hits J.D. Williams for a 36 yard gain.


Before it became the O.J. Clarke show, Ohio's fumble return TD gave them their first of two leads in the 2nd quarter

NEW ORLEANS, LA --- Tulane had their problems with Ohio for awhile in this one, that was until a man named O.J. Clarke took the game away from the Bobcats by himself, as the Green Wave's Heisman candidate's full potential and ability was on display against the Bobcats as O.J. Clarke, showing that he can do everything - pass, run and recieve - totaled up 244 yards and accounted for 3 TDs, two in crunch time to turn a close game into a blowout in the 4th quarter. With the Bobcats lurking, O.J. Clarke delivered a blow that they couldn't bounce back from.

Tulane played in their new alternate uniforms for the first time unveiling a new white helmet and green and light blue jersey which looks great in the newly redone Superdome. But we're not Oregon, so we won't be talking about uniforms for long. We care about football, not the things we wear to play it. Well, anyways, the Ohio Bobcats were in town with their 1-1 record. In the game's first quarter, Jamal Burns hit Taylor Mackey for a 24 yard TD pass. Burns also fumbled the ball away twice in this quarter, blowing up potential scoring drives and questioning his leadership.

The Bobcats could only muster up a field goal off the turnovers, to make it 7-3 in the early 2nd. However, the game took a shocking turn of events when Shaun Fontaine let loose the ensuing kickoff and the Bobcats scooped it up for six points and the little team from Athens had a 10-7 lead. Things only got worse for the Green Wave as Jamal Burns threw an INT to Ohio's star LB and Ron Draggo was disappointed in the junior QB. Three turnovers by one player in four possessions? Not good. The Bobcats, however, ended up missing a field goal keeping it at 10-7.

This is where Clarke started to show his muscle. His 6 yard TD run gave Tulane a 14-10 lead, but the Bobcats were fiesty and drove right back at the Green Wave, as Reed found Robinson for a 2 yard score, to give Ohio a 17-14 lead. That score seemed likely to be the halftime score, only if Tulane hadn't completed a Boise State-esque hook and lateral on fourth and four with 31 seconds left in the half, as Burns hit Clarke short for a 2 or 3 yard gain, only for Clarke to lateral it to Taylor Mackey, who picked up 26. Eventually that set up Taylor Mackey's 2nd TD grab of the day giving Tulane a 21-17 lead at the break.

However, the Green Wave only got a field goal in the 3rd quarter, and headed for the fourth, it was a scary 24-17. However, the Bobcats went into a 3-and-out style offense, but Ubekista's 46 yard FG made it 27-17. Still not a comfortable mark, only until O.J. Clarke broke the game open with a 54 yard TD run, then another bad drive for the Bobcats, as Clarke found J.D. Williams out of the "Wild Wave" for a 36 yard gain, setting up Mike Marquardt's jet sweep 20 yard TD - his first run of 20+ in his career. Clarke added to the fourth quarter fun with a 9 yard TD run to make it 48-17. That wasn't the final score, as Ohio actually ended up scoring on a hail mary - a 30 yard TD with one second left where everyone went to the endzone to make it 48-24, but Tulane's 31 straight was too much to overcome but yet, they still got a scare.

Jamal Burns: 11-for-21 passing, 155 yards, 2 TD, INT, 2 fumbles lost, 5 carries, 58 yards
O.J. Clarke: 1-for-1 passing, 36 yards, 21 carries, 205 yards, 3 TD, 2 rec, 3 yards
Mike Marquardt: 6 carries, 33 yards, TD
Taylor Mackey: 4 rec, 89 yards, 2 TD
Dwayne Horne: 2 sacks
Derek Larson, Marlin Nelson, Stephen Harris: Sack each

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK 3

BIG XII SCORES
Kansas 14, Southern Miss 10
A&M 34, FIU 3
Oklahoma State 32, UAB 17 (UAB led 17-3 at the half)
#14 Oklahoma 41, Air Force 17 (Oklahoma 41-0 at the half)
#4 Boise State 39, Missouri 13
Washington 21, #21 Utah 10
Iowa State 23, K-State 6
#2 Texas 31, Baylor 27
#6 TCU 49, Hawai'i 3 (TCU ran the ball 66 TIMES for 430 YARDS. Holy crap.)

NCAA SCORES
Miss State 43, #16 LSU 26
UCLA 31, #22 Houston 24
#25 Fresno State 38, Utah St. 0 (Fresno State finally gets revenge on the team that has ruined their BCS party previously)
UCF 13, Buffalo 10 (OT) (Buffalo's run for back-to-back BCS bids ends here)

TOP 25 UPDATE
Top 15 unchanged.
Washington, Florida State, Okie State all in the top 25 now.
Utah getting votes.

UP NEXT: The attempt for three straight vs LSU (2-1)

[Iron Dragon]

ONE-TWO-THREE


This was an interesting play by DeShawn Larsen.


J.D. Williams broke away from the LSU secondary on a TD catch.

Jamal Burns ties the game with his 12 yard TD run in the 4th.

Dwayne Horne's game-saving tackle on fourth & four gave Tulane three straight against LSU

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Ever since LSU won the national title three years ago, they've struggled to even have winning seasons. There is probably no doubt that the 2012 version of LSU is probably going to be the greatest team of the 10s, but that team that once had Tulane under an almost 20-game losing streak has now seen that change into a 2-win streak for the Green Wave, and it grew to a third straight for the Tiger Rag as Tulane defeated LSU in a comeback OT performance.

"I told them you just gotta believe. So what if we're down 14-0, it's the 1st quarter. I think we responded well today to those who thought this was a down year for us. Our first big test and we passed it.", said Ron Draggo after the game. LSU, yes, had a 14-0 lead in the 1st quarter. But that's when the Green Wave came to life. After DeShawn Larsen's crazy catch (video), he caught a 20 yard TD pass later that drive to cut the lead to 14-7. Ubekista's 45 yard FG made it 14-10 at the break after Tulane had experienced an INT before those scoring drives (also got an INT).

Tulane's final three minute momentum continued with a 42 yard TD pass to J.D. Williams, giving the Green Wave a 17-14 lead. Another INT by the Tigers gave Tulane a chance to score, but LSU shot down Tulane's fake FG on a 53 yard try. LSU took this momentum and turned it into a 4 yard TD pass. After a 3 and out, the Tigers early 4th quarter field goal made it 24-17. Tulane wasn't done yet as Burns found Taylor Mackey for a 27 yard TD, to make it 24-24. LSU drove back down the field in the final two-and-a-half minutes and were stopped to a fourth and goal. LSU daringly went for it as Tulane would have to play conservatively to avoid a safety if they got the stop. Of all the plays to call, LSU called a HB pass, and it worked. RB Spicer threw a TD and Tulane was in utter shock as a trick play had delievered a huge blow with 62 seconds to go as LSU took a 31-24 lead. However, Jamal Burns wasted no time finding DeShawn Larsen - the freshman - who was left open for a 65 yard catch and run which put the Green Wave at the 14 just seconds later. Without calling a timeout, the Green Wave put the ball in Burns hands and on a designed run Burns found the endzone with 30 seconds to go. LSU couldn't do anything in the final seconds and OT it was.

LSU won the toss for OT but Tulane didn't mind it. Tulane had no problem scoring a TD on O.J. Clarke's 3 yard TD run. However, the XP was a different story, somehow someway, LSU got through Tulane's line, but missed blocking the FG by mere inches and it was good. If LSU had scored a TD, this would have been the reason we lost. Now it was either TD or game over with a 35-28 deficit for LSU. After three plays, the Tigers got six yards. On fourth down, they tossed a pass to the RB and Dwayne Horne made the game-saving tackle about three yards short of the 15 and Tulane won their third straight against the Tigers 35-28 in OT.

PLAYER STATS
Jamal Burns: 16-for-31 passing, 316 yards, 3 TD, INT, 22 rush yards, TD
O.J. Clarke: 16 carries, 91 yards, TD, 7 rec yards
DeShawn Larsen: 5 rec, 129 yards, TD
J.D. Williams: 4 rec, 98 yards, TD
Taylor Mackey: 2 rec, 42 yards, TD
Dwayne Horne: 7 tackles, 3 TFL, 2 sacks
Terrance Carr: 7 tackles, TFL, INT
Erik Madison: 7 tackles, INT

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK 4

BIG XII SCORES
Utah 38, Eastern Washington 7
Kansas St. 13, UCF 7
Iowa State 38, Northern Iowa 14
#14 Oklahoma 40, Cincinnati 7
Missouri 31, Miami U. 0
UCLA 22, #2 Texas 20 (UCLA GW FG with :02 left)
Kansas 35, NM State 18

NCAA SCORES
#15 PITT 29, #11 Miami 23
Kentucky 23, #16 Florida 0
Nevada 34, BYU 20 -- Nevada is 4-0.. BYU is 0-4

TOP 25 UPDATE
1. Alabama, 2. Oregon, 3. Boise, 4. VT, 5. TCU, 6. Nebraska, 7. Iowa, 8. Ohio State, 9. Wisky, 10. GT are the top 10.
Texas dropped to #12.
Miami dropped to #16.
UCLA jumped to #18.
18 of the 25 teams in the top 25 are undefeated.
Florida dropped out.

UP NEXT: 3-1 Kansas, at home, first meeting.

[Iron Dragon]

2ND HALF OFFENSIVE BLOWOUT

EASW is down. Pictures to come later.

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Tulane walked into the locker room with a hard-fought 7-0 lead at the half where the game had 5 first half turnovers and Kansas out-yarded Tulane 244-210 at the break, but their 3 turnovers to Tulane's 2 were the difference. The Green Wave's passing attack had been unsuccessful while O.J. Clarke's 37 yard TD run in the first quarter had the running game just at 100 yards total. A different team took the field in the second half, though.

After two Kansas INTs, a fumble on a catch + run near the end of the half in field goal range, the Jayhawks were scoreless. Tulane's Jamal Burns had had thrown a pick, and he'd fumbled the ball away in the first half, another bad week for him so far. However, when things we're going our way, we ran the ball. And in the second half, we ran it like crazy.

O.J. Clarke's 3 yard TD run on the opening drive of the 3rd made it 14-0. Then after another Kansas turnover on a fumble, O.J. Clarke went 44 yards for the score, making it 21-0. Kansas got their first TD of the day on a 12 yard TD pass as the 3rd quarter ended from Carter to their to WR Ronnie Brown. Tulane's running show didn't stop there, as O.J. Clarke got TD #4 on a 9 yard option pitch from Jamal Burns to make it 28-7. The rout continued with Jamal Burns' 22 yard strike to Vernon Blair, the team's 3rd TE.

The Green Wave got the ball back and with the reserves in, it looked like Corey Graham would be getting his first score, but he fumbled the ball away, and Kansas scooped and scored to make it 35-14. Obviously upset, Mike Marquardt - whose career long run was 20 yards to this point and after off-season talk of "why is someone who has less than 3.5 YPC the Green Wave's 2nd RB?", he continued to show new power as he busted through the Kansas defense for a 41 yard TD run with one minute left. In this game, he ran for 19.8 yards a carry. Jeez. That would seal the deal completely in the 42-14 victory.

PLAYER STATS
Jamal Burns: 11-for-24 passing, 207 yards, TD, INT, Fumble lost
O.J. Clarke: 18 carries, 213 yards, 4 TD, 2 rec, 18 yards
Corey Graham: 6 carries, 42 yards
Mike Marquardt: 5 carries, 99 yards, TD
Chad Flowers: 3 rec, 28 yards
Vernon Blair: Rec, 22 yards
Taylor Mackey & Blake Walters: both had 59 yard receptions (Mackey 2 YAC, Walters 59)
Kasey Capps: INT, FR
Jay Kerr: INT
Marlin Nelson: FR
Scott Barrett: FF
Derek Larson: FF

[Iron Dragon]

WEEK 5

BIG XII SCORES
A&M 31, #25 Okie Jr. 3
Iowa State 35, Baylor 14
#12 Texas 32, #14 Oklahoma 14 / there were 8 field goals in this game. Texas had 6 of them.
#4 TCU 24, Georgia 23

NCAA/TOP 25 SCORES
Stanford 22, #2 Oregon 10
#7 Iowa 20, #19 Penn State 16
#22 Washington 34, #13 USC 31 2OT

TOP 25 UPDATE
1. Alabama, 2. Boise, 3. VT (remember - this game never happened), 4. TCU, 5. Nebraska, 6. Iowa, 7. Ohio State, 8. Wisky, 9. GT, 10. Texas.
Oregon fell to #12.
Stanford in at #22.
We got 10 votes in the AP poll, none in the Coaches, so I'd say we're like 35th.

NEXT UP: Baylor (2-2)