Iron Dragon's Tulane Green Wave Dynasty

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Week Six Around the NCAA

C-USA SCORES

#13 Ohio State 23, UAB 7 - Jordan Hall: 43 carries, 218 yards, TD

Tulsa 31, Marshall 24 - After starting 0-3, Tulsa is now 2-3 and 2-1 in C-USA play

Rice 19, Utah State 10

ECU 27, UTEP 17

Southern Miss 31, SMU 21

UCF 35, Memphis 32 - UCF is 4-1 (3-0)


NCAA SCORES

BYU 37, Wyoming 27

Colorado 44, #19 Okie State 24

#1 Alabama 48, #4 Georgia 3 - Is this the new LSU?

EXCITEMENT! #2 USC 3, #6 Cal 0 OT - No I'm not kidding. The sim engine pulls out some crazy-ass game like THIS? Cal and USC combined to pass for 16-for-67 passing. USC's 45 yard field goal in OT won it. The only score of the game.

#10 Florida State 35, Wake Forest 9

#14 Penn State 41, #9 Wisky 10

#5 LSU 27, #16 Florida 6


NCAA UPDATE

Missouri joins the top 25, along with Indiana and the world explodes. Kevin Newsome takes the lead in the Heisman watch. UCF, Southern Miss, Tulane all 3-0 in conference.


Next game.. we play a Sunday night game against winless UTEP. If we beat Houston 52-13.. what can we do to UTEP? Lose?

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Notes from the Coach

>> Horne replaces Harris as starter at right end

Freshman Dwayne Horne has replaced freshman Stephen Harris at starting right defensive end, as Horne has two sacks in mop-up duty against opposing starting offenses - or two of our three sacks in the last two games. We are still looking for someone to step up and take the void that Devin Williams' depature caused. We looked for either CiGar or Harris to step up, but it may be Dwayne Horne. We'll have to see how he does making his first career start against UTEP on Sunday.

>> Carr's role increased

We're still looking for Terrence Carr's first big play.. a sack, an interception or a forced fumble, but last year's #1 overall recruit is slowly seeing the field more and more as we have used 4 LB sets a bit more in the past two games. Carr recorded a career-high 6 tackles against Houston.

>> And that other five star guy..

Dickson still waits for his redshirt year to end as the junior college prospect plans to start along side Terrance Carr and most likely Jason Nolen in 2013 as a junior. Dickson has looked very impressive in practice and we can't wait to see him on the field next year.

>> Minor looks to become Major

Marcus Minor saw more time on the field as he was the only other QB to record a pass after Ryan Griffin started out the third quarter as QB against Houston. Minor's still our third-string guy, but Griffin knows he's a redshirt senior and will be called upon if needed, but Minor looks to be our QB from 2013-2015. Mr. Minor has showed us quite a bit for a redshirt freshman as he has played smart football (whether it be in meaningless time or not), and has 2 TDs on the year to show for it, hopefully this is building his confidence.

>> Speaking of Confidence

Tinzen Ubekista who had rough weeks kicking has regained his confidence and has not missed a field goal or been close to missing one (or an XP) and his punting average has went up since his struggles on field goals earlier on in the year.

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UTEP PRE-GAME NOTES


The lowdown.. UTEP is a C across the board team in ratings. They average only 12.6 points a game, and have the 115th best rush offense and 102nd best pass offense. Or combined, the NCAA's 23rd worst offense. Their defense is ranked 107th and run and pass are both 104th. Notably, UTEP scored 21 points against UCF and only lost by 10. Game will be played on the road on a Sunday night. They average 18 points per game at home, and 9 on the road.


The team.. Tim Curry will be throwing for the Miners. He's been less than stellar this year with just a 41.6 completion rating and 2 TD's and 8 picks. UTEP probably wishes they had DeShaun Sands, but he's a transfer. Vernon Frazier instead starts, but he averages only 32.8 yards a game. Their recievers would be led by captain Evan Davis, but he's out for the season. So they have Hunter Nix (33-324-TD) and Eric Bridges (21-186), and TE Craig Wenrick (10-144-TD). So why does UTEP's offense suck? Their line. If we needed a game to break out against, it better be UTEP. If we have no sacks against them, I'll be worried. UTEP's key defensive spot is DB where all of their starters are at least 79 OVR, which isn't bad for this team. UTEP's special teams guru is freshman Skyler Brown who is 5/9 on FGs and hits 42.2 yards a punt. He leads the C-USA in punts inside the 20.

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After early mistake, Tulane rolls over UTEP

Ponder's sack to lucky "pick-six" in opening minute gives UTEP early hope, but Tulane goes on 28-0 run


EL PASO, TEXAS --- Tulane's still at the top of the C-USA as Tulane won their fourth straight conference game this year, and their 23rd C-USA victory in a row, the most of any team in C-USA history. Tulane continued to roll through the weaker part of their schedule in a 44-14 win over winless UTEP, although without the lucky early pick-six for UTEP, this could be a 51-7 game, and without Tinzen Ubekista's blocked 48 yard FG, 54-7? Not really that close.


The game went down starting with UTEP's 31 yard pick-six of Ponder, when he was going to be sacked, the ball came out of his hands and was ripped from just above the ground by Jeff George and he went untouched for the score. After that Tulane went to work.


Donny Richardson's 19 yard TD tied the game at 7 in the 1st, and that would end the scoring for quarter no. 1. In the early second, it was Richardson again for a 7 yard TD, later on in the 2nd, Ponder found D.J. Banks for a 46 yard TD, and then Ponder's 3 yard TD run made it 28-7 at the half.


UTEP opened the second half and drove down the field with now backup QB Patrick Branch in and he delievered a 9 yard TD pass to Wenrick. The third quarter then featured 3 Ubekista field goals from 23, 29 and 51. Tulane's 37-14 lead in the 4th quarter was increased to the game's final score of 44-14 with Donny Richardson's 3 yard TD run, his third of the day.


Elsewhere.. Tulane had 5 sacks, Jason Nolen had an interception, Cody Leford forced a fumble and Kristifer Rhymes recovered it. The so close to scoring player of the day was George Harrison who had 5 catches for 58 yards, including two catches setting up two of Donny Richardson's shorter TD runs.


___________________________


D.J. Ponder: 18-for-29 passing, 233 yards, TD, INT, 14 yards rushing, TD

Donny Richardson: 26 carries, 110 yards, 3 TD

Jarmon Fortson: 8 rec, 79 yards

George Harrison: 5 rec, 58 yards

D.J. Banks: 3 rec, 84 yards, TD

Rio Mares: 4 'cakes

Cody Leford: 8 tackles, 3 TFL, Sack, FF

Gregory Hallinsworth: 5 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack

Harry CiGar: 5 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack

Christian Martindale: 4 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack

Dwayne Horne: 4 tackles, TFL

Chris Asomnu: 3 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack

Jason Nolen: 3 tackles, INT

Kristifer Rhymes: Tackle, FR

Tinzen Ubekista: 3-4 FG (one blocked), long of 51, 5-5 XP

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Week 7 Around the NCAA

C-USA SCORES

Maryland 52, Memphis 10 - Memphis led 10-0 with 5:27 left in the 1st qtr., at 5:27 in the second quarter, it was 38-10 Maryland, and they scored 38 points in the 2nd.

Marshall 25, UAB 8

Tulsa 38, Rice 10

Houston 24, ECU 13

UCF 21, Southern Miss 3 - Clash of the undefeateds is won by UCF.


TOP 25/NCAA SCORES

#4 Texas 26, #24 Missouri 21 - Missouri drops their first game.

#13 Ohio State 28, #14 Wisconsin 23

Oregon 30, #11 Cal 13

#7 Virginia Tech 34, #6 Florida State 23

K-State 37, Oklahoma 21 - Oklahoma's 4th loss and 3rd in Big XII play this year

Eastern Michigan 17, EKU 14 - Eastern Michigan is 6-0

TCU 52, BYU 28 - BYU is now down to 2-4.


THE TOP TEN

1. Alabama (33)

2. USC (21)

3. Georgia Tech (5)

4. Texas (1)

5. Penn State (1)

6. Virginia Tech

7. LSU

8. Georgia

9. Arkansas

10. Florida State

25. Missouri (drops only 1 spot)

28. UCF

31. TCU

33. Tulane (Well, we are playing our best football right now..)


NEXT UP: 1-win Rice

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Quickie Report: Tulane rolls lowly Rice 44-10

O.J. Clarke's punt return for TD, Ponder's 3 TD passes bury Owls


By quickie report, I mean very quick report. And sorry for the lack of the pre-game. Rice just sucks.


After Rice won the toss and took the ball, they punted and O.J. Clarke took the ball 60 yards down the field on the punt return for the touchdown and Tulane went up 7-0 and never looked back. Rice cut it to 7-3 with a field goal, but D.J. Ponder's 9 yard TD pass to Jarmon Fortson made it 14-3, Ubekista's 33 yard FG, made it 17-3, and Rice came back to make it 17-10.


And then Rice was dead in the second half. Ubekista booted a 44 yard FG, then Ponder's 13 yard TD pass hit up Devin Figaro, then Ubekista hit a 43 yard FG, Donny Richardson's 2 yard TD run made it 37-10 on the first play of the 4th quarter. D.J. Ponder's 22 yard TD pass on a play action to Jarmon Fortson got the game to it's final score of 44-10.


With that, Tulane wins it's 5th straight to improve to 6-2 and 5-0 in the C-USA.

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D.J. Ponder: 140.6 QB Rating, 21-for-35 passing, 266 yards, 3 TD, INT, 30 yards rushing

Donny Richardson: 24 carries, 96 yards, TD

O.J. Clarke: 2 rec, 37 yards, punt return TD

Jarmon Fortson: 10 rec, 125 yards, 2 TD

Devin Figaro: 5 rec, 77 yards, TD

D.J. Banks: 3 rec, 19 yards

Anthony Patterson: 6 pancakes

Kristifer Rhymes: 12 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack

Scott Barrett: 6 tackles (Gregory Hallinsworth missed 3 qtrs.)

Sammy Boudreaux: 5 tackles

Cody Leford: 5 tackles, FR

Terrance Carr: 4 tackles, TFL

Chris Asomnu: 4 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack

JJ Black: 3 tackles, FF

Tinzen Ubekista: 3-3 FG, 5-5 XP

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Week 8 Around the NCAA

C-USA SCORES

Marshall 33, Vandy 30 - Marshall's Dembry had 4 tackles, 2 INTs, a FF and a TD.

Tulsa 20, UCF 13 - Mr. Beaver makes his presence known throwing a pair of TD passes in the final quarter, both to Freedom Kelley.

Houston 35, UTEP 10 - Since our beating of the Cougars, Drew Hollinshead has thrown 5 TDs and one INT.

ECU 14, Memphis 10

Southern Miss 34, UAB 10


TOP 25/NCAA SCORES

Ohio 20, Eastern Michigan 17 - The Eagles fall for the first time this year.

Stanford 27, #15 Arizona State 21

#16 Florida 34, #8 Georgia 20

Oregon 32, #2 USC 24 - USC didn't know quack

#23 Clemson 35, #6 VT 32

#3 Georgia Tech 24, #17 Miami 21 - GT RB Lockhart: 31 car, 115 yards, TD, 1 rec, 4 yards, TD, 81 KR yards, 88 PR yards, TD


BCS

1. Alabama, 2. GT, 3. Penn State, 4. Texas, 5. LSU, 6. Arkansas, 7. Florida St., 8. USC, 9. Ohio State, 10. Notre Dame

> In the Coaches, we have lost all of our votes for the top 25.


NEXT UP: at Memphis (3-3), this dynasty's 50th game

Here an explanation for the next post. This is where most of the season goes away since I took a month break.. so here's the rest of the C-USA in one post.

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WHERE WE AT: The continuation of the 2012 season


Week 9: at Memphis - W 23-17


> D.J. Ponder's two TD throws including one to Jarmon Fortson gave Tulane the small victory.


Week 10: vs ECU - W 31-24


> The Tulane offense struggled until Gregory Hallinsworth's 97 yard pick-six ignited the Tulane Green Wave from a 17-0 deficit eventually winning the game on Jarmon's Fortson TD catch with 51 seconds to go.


Week 12: at Tulsa - W 38-21


> O.J. Clarke had his second straight 100-yard rushing game while D.J. Ponder 231 passing yards and 46 yards on the ground giving Tulane a 9-2 record. Donny Richardson eclipsed 1000 yards with a 76 yard performance.


After the victory, Tulane ends up #24 in the rankings, with a game against rival #10 LSU in the Superdome coming up next. The Tigers were #1 two weeks ago before falling to #10.


MEANWHILE IN THE C-USA..

Tulane will take on 7-1 in conference play UCF again, for the conference title, in the Superdome, again.


Also, Tulane's two prior losses on the year to BYU and Ohio State look very bad and just fine. BYU is a terrible 2-9 and have been killed by injuries. Ohio State is 9-3.


AROUND THE NATION..

TOP 10 (entering week 14):

1. Penn State

2. Georgia Tech

3. Notre Dame

4. Alabama

5. Florida

6. North Carolina

7. USF

8. Arkansas

9. Wisconsin

10. LSU

26. UCF

30. Eastern Michigan


UP NEXT: The boys are back in town as they try to go to 10-2 against #10 LSU.

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THREE YARDS SHORT - #10 LSU 35, #24 TULANE 28

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- One again, LSU is the King of Louisiana as Tulane lost another heartbreaker to the Tigers, at home, to the team from Baton Rouge.

Looking to go up 14-0 early after Richardson's one-yard TD run, backup QB Marcus Minor had to come in for the injured D.J. Ponder, who returned after that drive, as Ryan Griffin was questionable for the game and didn't play. Minor got the Green Wave to the three before getting picked off by Davis, who had 2 picks on the day, and he went to the house. This started a 24-7 LSU run with D.J. Ponder's 7 yard strike to O.J. Clarke being Tulane's only other score as they trailed 24-14 at the half.

D.J. Ponder cut the lead to 24-21 with his 13 yard TD pass to Devin Figaro, but a LSU FG made it 27-21 after three. Early in the 4th quarter, Tulane's defense failed to hold LSU and Allen pounded it in from inside the one, LSU greedily went for two and a tipped pass was caught in the endzone for the eight-point scoring drive, making it 35-21. D.J. Ponder didn't give up throwing a 45 yard TD pass to D.J. Banks.

LSU, with the ball with under 2 and a half to play drove down the field and missed a game-clinching FG with under 45 seconds to play. Tulane moved quickly with no timeouts and reached the LSU 29 yard line with three seconds to go. Ponder stepped back and looked for Jarmon Fortson under a linebacker blitz, the pass sailed inside the ten yard line where it was tipped by a LSU LB/S, but the defender slipped up allowing Jarmon Fortson to make the grab off the tip, run inside the five, only to be brought down by the last man - the original tipper of the pass after time had expired.


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After the game Ron Draggo said that he "would have definitely went for the win if they had scored on that play."

#10 LSU 35, #24 Tulane 28

D.J. Ponder: 23/33, 326 yards, 3 TD, 2 INT, 11 rush yards
Donny Richardson: 9 carries, 37 yards, TD, 4 rec, 23 yards
Jarmon Fortson: 6 rec, 131 yards
George Harrison: 5 rec, 73 yards
D.J. Banks: 3 rec, 72 yards
Figaro, Clarke: TD catches
Darryl Farley: 8 tackles, INT

LSU player of the game: RB Michael Ford 45 carries [wow] 186 yards TD 3 rec 14 yards (Shepard: 13/25 - 142yds - TD, 2 INT)

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NCAA UPDATE: End of Regular Season


TOP 25

1. Penn State (12-0)

2. Georgia Tech

3. Notre Dame

4. Alabama

5. Florida

6. North Carolina

7. USF

8. Arkansas

9. Wisconsin

10. LSU

11. Oregon State (11-1)

12. Michigan

13. VT

14. WVU

15. Ohio State

16. FSU

17. Texas

18. Rutgers

19. Colorado

20. UCLA

21. Mizzou

22. Washington

23. UCF

24. Cal

25. Clemson

28. E. Michigan

29. Tulane


HEISMAN WATCH

1. Kevin Newsome, QB, Penn State

2. Blaine Dalton, QB, Missouri

3. DJ Coles, WR, Virginia Tech

4. Denard Robinson, QB, Michigan

5. Jonnie Fields, WR, Missouri


BOWL PROJECTIONS

AutoZone Liberty Bowl: Pittsburgh (7-5) vs Tulane (9-3)

Rose Bowl: Alabama vs Oregon State

Sugar Bowl: LSU vs UNC

Fiesta Bowl: Missouri vs Wisconsin

Orange Bowl: Notre Dame vs WVU

BCS National Title: Georgia Tech vs Penn State

Accepted bids


CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

ACC: #16 Florida State vs #2 Georgia Tech

SEC: #5 Florida vs #10 LSU

Big XII: #17 Texas vs #21 Missouri

MAC: Akron vs Eastern Michigan (1-loss)

C-USA: #23 UCF (10-2) vs Tulane (9-3)

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C-USA TITLE: Tulane 38, #23 UCF 19


Tulane took home their third straight Conference USA title, winning another title in the Big Easy, once more, against UCF, this time taking home the title 38-19. Despite a season-low 75 rush yards on 27 carries. However, it didn't matter as D.J. Ponder threw for 3 TDs and Ryan Griffin threw for one as Tulane took home another trophy and another title, as well as probably heading to the Liberty Bowl, where they are 0-1 in, after last year's Orange Bowl victory.


Tulane started out the game with a 17-0 lead, then expanding it to a 31-7 lead with 3 D.J. Ponder TD passes with two to Richardson, and one to Sullen. Donny Richardson also had a TD run. UCF made it someone of a game late cutting the lead to 31-19 but failed to convert either two-point conversions they tried.


Ryan Griffin's 2 yard TD pass to D.J. Banks sealed the deal and won it 38-19.


STATS


D.J. Ponder: 205.1 QBR, 20-for-26 passing, 279 yards, 3 TD

Ryan Griffin: 4/6 passing, 25 yards, TD

Donny Richardson: 13 carries, 18 yards, TD, 4 rec, 32 yards, 2 TD

Jarmon Fortson: 6 rec, 85 yards

Jordan Sullen: 3 rec, 63 yards, TD

D.J. Banks: 2 rec, 22 yards, TD

Melvin Dickson: 7 tackles (all for loss), 3 sacks

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CHAMPIONSHIP GAMES

ACC: #2 GT 35, #16 FSU 7

SEC: #5 Florida 24, #10 LSU 21

Big XII: #20 Missou 38, #17 Texas 35

MAC: Akron , EMU


HEISMAN WINNER

Blaine Dalton - 357-534 passing 4644 yards 161 carries 478 yards 52 Total TDs - 1761pts

Kevin Newsome - 1727pts


Tulane headed to Memphis


MEMPHIS, TN -- The Green Wave of Tulane after winning the C-USA title will take on the Big East's #2 team PITT (7-5) in the Liberty Bowl in Memphis, Tennessee on January 2nd, 2013 on ESPN. PITT is rated B across the board. PITT's best win on the year is #19 Rutgers (24-16), and they have a mutual win in UCF (27-17, wk3). Their worst loss was on week 1 to Buffalo (21-26) who finished at .500. PITT is lead by RB Dion Lewis, who ran for 1314 yards in 2012.

PRE-JANUARY 2nd BOWL RESULTS


New Mexico Bowl: Air Force 21, Hawaii 14

St. Petersburg Bowl: Ball State 26, FAU 9

EagleBank MAC Special Bowl: Western Michigan 23, Buffalo 16

R+l Carriers New Orleans Bowl: Southern Miss 45, Arkansas State 3

Las Vegas Bowl: Colorado State 27, #25 Oregon 20

Poinsettia Bowl: TCU 25, #22 Cal 18


Hawaii Bowl: UCF 17, North Texas 10

Motor City Snoozer Bowl: #19 Rutgers 20, Akron 3

Emerald Bowl: #20 Washington 52, Duke 14

Meineke Car Care Bowl: Virginia Tech 40, Ole Miss 17

Champs Sports Bowl: Purdue 21, #21 Clemson 11

Independence Bowl: Oklahoma St. 10, Boston College 7

Papajohn's Who Cares Bowl: UL-Lafayette 31, New Mexico 21

Routy's Humanitarian [laugh] Bowl: Miami (FL) 66, Idaho 3

Texas Bowl: Nebraska 35, Houston 17

Holiday Bowl: Texas 41, #17 UCLA 20


Armed Forces Bowl: Utah 28, USC (6-7) 21 - this game was Lane Kiffin's last as Trojan head coach

Sun Bowl: Arizona St. 31, Troy 10

Music City Bowl: Tennessee 17, Wake Forest 16

Champs Sports Bowl: #7 USF 59, South Carolina 14

Insight Disappointment Bowl: Oklahoma 31, Northwestern 27

Outback Bowl: #15 Ohio State 38, Georgia 3

Gator Bowl: #24 Florida State 35, Fresno State 10

Capital One Bowl: #10 Wisconsin 43, #13 LSU 37

Cotton Bowl: #8 Arkansas 29, #14 Colorado 22

Alamo Bowl: Minnesota 30, #25 Kansas State 16

International Bowl: Ohio 20, Nevada 16

GMAC Bowl: Eastern Michigan 40, Tulsa 21

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Liberty Bowl: Dion Lewis runs for 265 yards and 4 TD's - but was it enough?


PITTSBURGH (7-5) vs TULANE (10-3)


Pittsburgh's Dion Lewis had one goal for his final game in a Pittsburgh uniform - carry the team to one last victory. And boy did he ever try. At the end of the day, Lewis racked up 61 return yards (2 touches), 15 recieving yards (2 catches), and 265 rushing yards (35 carries) and four touchdowns. Added up, he touched it 39 times for 340 yards and every PITT TD.


On to the game action.. Mr. Lewis only took 29 seconds of the game to make his first impact - running through Tulane defenders on a 52 yard TD run. However, the Green Wave responded with a 3 yard TD run by freshman O.J. Clarke. Lewis came back with TD #2 on a 4 yard run as PITT held a 14-7 1st quarter lead. In the late 2nd, D.J. Ponder's 1 yard TD run cut the lead to 14-13 but Tinzen Ubekista missed another easy kick (oh boy), and it stayed at a one-point deficit. PITT increased the lead to 17-13 with a time expiring FG.


In the third, Jarmon Fortson got into the action in the Wildcat and went under center then went straight through the PITT defense for a 7 yard TD run. Tulane went for two and D.J. Ponder's option keeper gave Tulane a 21-17 lead. Fourty seconds later, Dion Lewis made a fool of JJ Black and Gregory Hallinsworth by tripping up Black and stiff arming Hallinsworth on his way to a easy 69 yard TD run. Ubekista's 32 yard FG made it 24-24 after three.


In the early 4th quarter however, Tulane broke a long play open as D.J. Ponder found a wide open D.J. Banks who took it 74 yards to the house, with 63 yards coming after the catch - in front of NFL coaches who viewed the game looking at Fortson and Banks, who could be top 100 picks in the NFL Draft, with Fortson peaking at round one. Anyways, that play gave Tulane a 31-24 lead.


Fast-forward to the late 4th, with the lead, 31-24, Tulane had the ball with just less than 2 minutes to go and faced a 3rd & 13 outside of field goal range and Ron Draggo called to go for six points, as Ponder looked for Banks, but the pass was intercepted at the goal line and returned to the fourteen, so PITT had one more chance to tie it up. PITT made it down to the eight yard line with a fourth and two with seven seconds to go. PITT came out in a four wide formation but then moved Dion Lewis over as a fifth WR. QB Sunseri for PITT threw the ball to a diving Lewis who put the ball across the goal line and the refs signaled TD with one second to play.


However, the play immediately went under review and after the referees looked at multiple angles the TD was overturned as Lewis' knee hit at the one-yard prior to the ball crossing the goal line. The play resulted in a first and goal with one second left at the one yard line. Once again PITT would put the ball in the hands of Lewis who took a pitch around the right side where Christian Martindale tripped him up..


..but Lewis dived over him and went into the endzone putting PITT an XP away from OT. The XP was up and good down the middle. The cointoss.. PITT lost and went on offense. This time the Lewis-led PITT team went dry and kicked a field goal.


O.J. Clarke took the next three carries getting Tulane to the 13 yard line where D.J. Ponder looked left towards the endzone..


...and that would be where he found JARMON FORTSON for a 13 yard TD pass!! Tulane wins it 37-34! Lewis' 265 on the ground not enough as Tulane's Jarmon Fortson wins it for Tulane - 37-34 as Tulane finishes the year at 11-3.


TULANE 37, PITTSBURGH 34

2012/2013 Liberty Bowl


SR D.J. Ponder - 23/32, 340 yards, 2 TD, 2 INT, 7 carries, rush TD

Donny Richardson - 11 carries, 54 yards

O.J. Clarke - 9 carries, 44 yards, TD

SR Jarmon Fortson - 2 carries, 4 yards, TD, 7 rec, 97 yards, GW TD

SR D.J. Banks - 4 catches, 116 yards, TD

SR Devin Figaro - 2 catches, 21 yards

George Harrison - 5 catches, 82 yards

SR Cody Leford - 9 tackles, TFL

SR Darryl Farley & SR Kristifer Rhymes - 7 tackles

Brooks, Hallinsworth - 6 tackles each

Black, Boudreaux - 5 tackles each

Melvin Dickson - 4 tackles, 2 TFL (FR, gonna be big next year)


PITT - Dion Lewis 35 car 265 yards 4 TD / Scott 6 tackles 3 TFL 2 sacks


UP NEXT.. end of year stuff

BCS BOWLS & NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP


Rose: Oregon State 27, Notre Dame 16

Sugar: North Carolina 18, Florida 13

Fiesta: Michigan 28, Missouri 13

Orange: Alabama 36, WVU 14

BCS National Championship: #1 Penn State 29, #2 Georgia Tech 21

MVP: Kevin Newsome - PSU - 19/35 - 291 yards - 2 TD - 0 INT


Top 10:

1. Penn State

2. UNC

3. Bama

4. GT

5. USF

6. Oregon State

7. Arky

8. ND

9. Wisconsin

10. Florida

22. Tulane

25. UCF


New Tulane Record: Jarmon Fortson, recieving yards (season), 1228 yards


UP NEXT: Senior Sendoff

PLAYERS LEAVING


HEADED FOR THE NFL


#47 Donny Richardson, RB, junior

82 OVR

1-year starter & partial starter in 2011

Best year: 2012, 261 carries for 1155 yards, 15 TDs, 349 yards after first hit, 4 20+ runs, 29 broken tackles

Notes: Coming in to the spring of 2012, Richardson transitioned into a true powerback, running over people in 2012 like he had never done before, never seeming to give up on the first hit. He played with alot of power in 2012, and that's what some NFL teams like in a down year for RBs in the draft it seems. The best projection's we've seen for Donny are the 5th round and we wish him the best of luck.


GRADUATING


#27 Brad Allen, FS

70 OVR

Recorded no starts, played in countless games over four years

Best year: 2010 - 8 tackles

Notes: Allen was just kinda there. He didn't ever get a start but he was there on special teams and defense when needed - even if it was with the backups. He didn't make an impact or isn't going to be remembered by many, but he was a hard worker.


#81 Brock Sanders, TE

73 OVR - senior honorary co-captain

5? starts, but played in every single game coached under Ron Draggo

Best year: 2011 - 9-149-16.6-TD / best play: 2010 66yd TD catch & run

Notes: Sanders never really panned out as we'd like him to despite his quickness for a TE, he just seemed to never find his way on the field. Sanders had 5 TDs in his career as a Tulane TE.


#29 Nathan Austin, RB

77 OVR - senior honorary co-captain

0 stars, but played in alot of games

Best year: 2010 - 33 carries, 124 yards, 2 TD

Notes: Austin was just kinda there too. He never could climb higher than third on the depth chart but still ended up taking a handful of carries over the last four years and scoring 2 TDs, both in his sophomore year.


#99 Chris Asomnu, DT

77 OVR

1-year starter, only played partially in 2011

Best year: 2012 - 43 tackles (19 TFL), 5 sacks

Notes: Asomnu came in to 2012 as the backup and in the spring played into the starting job with power and strength. Asomnu doesn't look like he'd be quick but he was a deception guy recording 19 TFLs this past year, in the top 25 in the NCAA.


#67 Eric Hall, RG

82 OVR

partially started 2012 (injury), played in 2011

Best year: 2011 - 3 'cakes

Notes: Hall got hurt and never recovered from injury but was still there at every practice. Hall isn't a disappointment, it's just a shame he got hurt early in the year and never got better.


#4 Jordan Garrett, DB

82 OVR

partially started 2010-2012

Best year: 2012 - 34 tackles, 4 INT, TD, 6 PD, blocked FG

Notes: Garrett was a realiable 3rd DB/S when we needed him. His best play was his pick-six against Houston this past year. For being the third-string DB this year, he got 4 picks of his 5 career INTs.


#37 Cody Leford, OLB

82 OVR

4-year starter

Best year: 2010 - 76 tackles, 10 TFL, 3 INT, 5 PD

Notes: Leford did it all - he covered the pass and the run, whenever, wherever against whoever. Leford started 54 straight games at OLB and he played his heart out in all of them.


#42 Kristifer Rhymes, OLB

82 OVR

4-year starter

Best year: any of them / best play: pick sixes against Ohio State

Notes: Just like Leford, Rhymes was a great linebacker and found his way into the endzone 3 times in his career. He had 50+ tackles in all four years of starting, and recorded 11 sacks, 7 picks, and 38 TFL in his career.


#11 Ryan Griffin, QB

83 OVR

0 starts, played not so much

Best year: 2012 - 7/13 passing, 50 yards, TD / best moment: 2009 TD run against McNeese State (who dat?)

Notes: Valuable backup who came on the field and played well when needed. Never turned the ball over in his 26 throws and 14 rushes in his Tulane history.


#14 D.J. Ponder, QB

84 OVR

two-year starter, originally WR/RET in '09/10

Best year: as a returner: 2009 - 26 KR, 22.2 avg / as a QB: 2012 - 249/383, 3199 yards, 28 TD, 14 INT, 65 percent completion, 293 rush yards, 4 TD

Notes: In 2009, D.J. Ponder was the last WR on the depth chart and was returning kicks, in 2010, he was sparingly used as WR and started to develop his arm, and in 2011, he started and threw <10 INT, and in 2012, broke the 3000 yard barrier and almost got 30 pass TDs. Ponder went 2-0 in bowl games, as well, and was a great QB.


#89 Devin Figaro, WR

85 OVR

started sometimes

Best year: 2012 - 22 rec, 309 yards, 2 TD, 23.0 avg KR, 7.0 avg PR

Notes: Figaro never found himself higher than the third WR on the depth charts, but he was a consistent WR catching 72 passes for 1005 yars in his career with just one drop in his senior year. He was also pretty good in the return game.


#79 Eric Jones, RT

87 OVR

started 2011 + 2012

Best year: 2011 - 22 'cakes, 4 SA

Notes: He blocked, and he did it well. He started 28 games and never was in question of losing his job and he was reliable. What else do I gotta say?


#5 D.J. Banks, WR

89 OVR

started 2011 + 2012, playing since '09

Best year: 2012 - 36 rec, 669 yards, 8 TD, 261 YAC

Notes: Banks was a quick-footed WR who wasn't afraid to run any route we planned for him despite his 5'9" height. Banks could be playing RB at the next level, and despite the fact we didn't want to use him at returner for injury-risk purposes, he's pretty fast for that too. He was reliable.


#34 Darryl Farley, MLB

90 OVR

started 2009-2012, despite injury in 2011

Best year: 2010 - 100 tackles, 8 TFL, sack, 3 INT, 6 PD, FF

Notes: First 300+ tackler in Draggo's coaching history, also recorded 34 TFLs, 9 sacks, 8 picks, 18 PDs, 5 FF and 2 FRs in his career. Farley was a short 5'11" middle linebacker which made him elusive enough to be a block shredding machine who could also defend the pass extremely well. A great player and a leader on defense.


#17 Jarmon Fortson, WR

95 OVR

started 2011, 2012 after transferring from Florida State

Best year: 2012 - 88 rec, 1228 yards*, 10 TD, 470 YAC, 3 carries, 21 yards, TD, 4-4 passing, 45 yards, TD

Notes: Jarmon Fortson showed off his NFL-ready skills in 2012 showing he can be a true #1 WR, run the ball and throw the ball in the Wildcat if he's got too. Fortson just wants to play and make a difference. And make a difference he did. He broke Tulane's recieving record for a season in yards*, and only dropped one pass in his senior year. Fortson has great size, speed and hands for the NFL and has great awareness and that's why he'll be a 1st-round pick in this year's draft.


And with that, the seniors + Donny Richardson pack their Tulane bags and the season is over.


UP NEXT.. Recruiting Results

Four seasons down and I'm two games from finishing season six as of now. So I've got you guys almost caught up.

RECRUITING RESULTS


In all.. only 18 players, smaller than normal, but we lost 15, so we didn't need too much.

TULANE 2013 SCHEDULE


We're not visiting anywhere we haven't been before this year, so no fancy "we're going here" on week __ this year on the schedule.

Tulane's ratings: B OVR, B- OFF, B+ DEF

Early season projection: 8-4 to 11-1

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2013 Season Preview


PRESEASON TOP 25 & OTHERS

1. Penn State

2. Alabama

3. Florida

4. Notre Dame

5. Ohio State

6. Michigan

7. USF

8. North Carolina

9. Virginia Tech

10. Georgia Tech

11. Wisky

12. Oregon State

13. Florida State

14. Arkansas

15. Texas

16. LSU

17. Miami

18. Colorado

19. Washington

20. Rutgers

21. WVU

22. Oklahoma

23. Missouri

24. UCLA

25. Tennessee

33. Tulane

36. UCF

37. Kansas State

44. Southern Miss

45. Auburn

57. Houston

63. ECU

67. UL Lafayette

73. Marshall

91. Tulsa

93. Memphis

108. Rice

114. SMU

115. UAB

116. UTEP


HEISMAN FAVORITES

QB Casey Pachall, TCU

OLB Eddie Harper, Florida State

TE Stacy Collins, Alabama

TE Chris Turner, UNC

WR Jeremy Jackson, Arkansas


THE BEST AT THEIR POSITIONS

QB: Garrett Gilbert, Texas, 99

RB: Michael Ford, LSU, 99

FB: Taimi Tutogi, Arizona, 91

WR: Jaz Reynolds, Oklahoma, 99

TE: Logan Thomas, VT, 98

LT: Tim Hobbs, Ohio State, 97 (Lawrence Abrams - 2nd @ 95)

LG: Kevin Graf, USC, 98

C: Josh Wilford, LSU, 99 (Anthony Patterson - 6th @ 96)

RG: Carneal Ainsworth, LSU, 96

RT: Quinn Harris, VT, 97 (Rio Mares - 6th @ 91)

DE: Five players at 99

DT: Gary Brown, Florida, 98

OLB: Five players at 99

MLB: Jerome Meadows, Cal, 96

DB: Dre Kirkpatrick, Bama, 99

FS: Brad Robinson, Neb, 94

SS: Jamie Wood, tOSU, 97

K: Tinzen Ubekista, Tulane, 87 (along with Bryon Jones, LSU and Brian Parker, Florida)

P: Zach Grossnickle, Colorado, 88


Quickest player: Ryan Bolden, RB, Florida - 98 SPD

Most aware: Ishmael Aristide, FS, Purdue - 95 AWR

Hard to bring down: Michael Ford, RB, LSU - 99 BTK

Making some crazy catches: Matthew Higgins, WR, Miami - 99 SPC

On target: Garrett Gilbert, QB, Texas - 95 THA

Best returner: Caleb Lester, DB, UAB - 91 RET


UP NEXT.. Tulane 2013 roster

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2013 Roster


REDSHIRTS

#81 TE/H-back Vernon Blair - 68 OVR

#89 WR Arthur Bell - 73 OVR

#98 DE Dwayne Johnson - 73 OVR

#94 OLB Matt West - 73 OVR

#91 DE Glen Wilkinson - 74 OVR

#67 C Joel Ferwerda - 75 OVR

#97 OLB Bruce Meade - 75 OVR

#99 DT David Blair - 75 OVR

#52 MLB Cedric Kemp - 75 OVR (JUCO)

#79 RG Nick Butler - 75 OVR

#36 SS Brad Chase - 76 OVR

#88 WR Adrian Anderson - 76 OVR

11 redshirts, 59 active players


ROSTER/DEPTH CHART


QB #8 Marcus Minor - rSO - 81 OVR, 84 SPD, 87 THP, 78 THA

QB #3 John Stegall - FR - 79 OVR, 66 SPD, 81 THP, 85 THA

QB #16 Jamal Burns - rFR - 74 OVR, 76 SPD, 87 THP, 70 THA


RB #25 O.J. Clarke - SO - 87 OVR, 92 SPD, 86 BTK, 75 CAR

RB #7 Mike Marquardt - rFR - 81 OVR, 86 SPD, 82 BTK, 81 CAR

RB #10 Dan Thomas - rJR - 80 OVR, 87 SPD, 77 BTK, 86 CAR

RB #31 Payton Jason - rSR - 79 OVR, 87 SPD, 84 BTK, 70 CAR

FB #41 Eric Jones - rSR - 80 OVR

FB #28 Blake Walters - rFR - 76 OVR, 80 SPD


WR #2 Brandon Palmer - rJR - 83 OVR, 77 CTH, 84 RR, 84 CIT, 88 SPD

WR #9 Wilson Van Hooser - rSR - 83 OVR, 78 CTH, 78 RR, 77 CIT, 90 SPD

WR #1 Jordan Sullen - rSR - 83 OVR, 77 CTH, 76 RR, 77 CIT, 91 SPD

WR #87 J.D. Williams - rFR - 77 OVR, 86 SPD, 70 CTH, 79 RR, 76 CIT, 86 SPD

WR #84 Taylor Mackey - FR - 77 OVR, 67 CTH, 79 RR, 77 CIT, 88 SPD


TE #80 George Harrison - SR - 80 OVR, 86 CTH

TE #83 Chad Flowers - rSO - 77 SPD, 81 CTH


LT #77 Lawrence Abrams - rSR - 95 OVR, 92 PB, 87 RB

LT #78 Brandon Lewis - FR - 79 OVR, 85 PB, 76 RB

LG #63 Michael Landry - JR - 86 OVR, 85 PB, 86 RB

LG #75 Reggie Ross - rSO - 79 OVR

C #70 Anthony Patterson - rJR - 96 OVR, 98 PB, 89 RB

C #65 Ron Daniels - rSO - 83 OVR, 83 PB, 78 RB

RG #60 Jeff Keyes - rJR - 80 OVR, 81 PB, 85 RB

RG #68 Scott Rogers - rFR - 75 OVR

RT #72 Rio Mares - rSR - 91 OVR, 88 PB, 87 RB

RT #64 Chris White - rJR - 83 OVR, 87 PB, 86 RB

RT #62 John Williams - rSO - 79 OVR


LE #53 Harry CiGar - SR - 82 OVR, 80 SPD

LE #93 Christian Martindale - SR - 79 OVR, 82 SPD

LE #49 Dustin Peterson - rSO - 77 OVR, 71 SPD

RE #66 Stephen Harris - SO - 83 OVR, 72 SPD

RE #95 Dwayne Horne - SO - 80 OVR, 85 SPD


DT #71 Marlin Nelson - FR - 85 OVR, 84 SPD, 83 STR

DT #58 Derek Lawson - rSO - 83 OVR, 76 SPD, 83 STR

DT #90 Melvin Dickson - rSO - 79 OVR, 77 TKL

DT #92 Joe Childs - rSO - 75 OVR, 50 SPD [laugh]

DT #96 Jared McCoy - rFR - 75 OVR, 72 SPD


LOLB #45 Kyle Dickson - rJR - 88 OVR, 86 SPD, 93 AGI, 88 TKL

LOLB #51 Jay Kerr - SO - 80 OVR, 86 SPD

ROLB #55 Jason Nolen - JR - 85 OVR, 85 SPD, 91 ACC, 85 TKL

ROLB #57 Frank Davis - FR - 80 OVR, 84 SPD, 80 TKL

ROLB #56 Lamont Coleman - rSO - 79 OVR, 84 SPD


MLB #50 Terrance Carr - SO - 89 OVR, 88 SPD, 86 TKL

MLB #59 Ralph Hall - rSO - 81 OVR, 74 SPD, 80 BS

MLB #54 Brandon Lewis - rFR - 80 OVR, 87 BS


DB #26 JJ Black - SR - 87 OVR, 90 SPD, 93 MAN

DB #6 Erik Madison - rSO - 87 OVR, 92 MAN, 93 ZONE

DB #21 Sammy Boudreaux - SR - 84 OVR, 87 SPD, 90 ACC

DB #13 Shakiel Smith - rSR - 82 OVR, 90 SPD, 91 ACC

DB #39 Wade Brooks - rFR - 82 OVR

DB #20 Corey Bratton - rFR - 80 OVR

DB #35 Keenan Tate - rSO - 78 OVR


FS #48 Kasey Capps - FR - 80 OVR, 89 TKL

FS #23 Samuel Brooks - SR - 79 OVR, 97 MAN

SS #33 Gregory Hallinsworth - SR - 85 OVR, 88 SPD, 89 MAN

SS #30 Scott Barrett - SO - 88 SPD, 88 ZONE


K/P #12 Tinzen Ubekista - SR - 87 OVR, 89 KP/KA

Week 1 Around the NCAA


C-USA SCORES

NC State 17, ECU 3

Baylor 48, Rice 14

TCU 34, SMU 20


NCAA SCORES

#18 Colorado 31, Colorado State 26

USC 31, #7 USF 7

#11 Wisky 22, #12 Oregon State 17

Fresno State 28, #20 Rutgers 23

#5 Ohio State 42, Cal 10

Thursday Night Kickoff: Ohio 21, Louisville 14

Thursday Night Kickoff II: Syracuse 20, Northwestern 17


UP NEXT.. vs UL-Lafayette (DNP, 0-0)

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Minor named starter, doesn't disappoint, Tulane shows off new weapons

NEW ORLEANS, LA -- Jarmon Fortson. Gone. D.J. Banks. Gone. Donny Richardson. Gone. Devin Figaro. Gone. D.J. Ponder. Gone. The trio of linebackers. Gone.

Brandon Palmer. J.D. Williams. Marcus Minor. O.J. Clarke. The new trio. Here.

Seems like a brand new team took the field for Tulane on Saturday afternoon. 4 starters gone on defense, 6 on offense. And it didn't take long to replace him. The big question was - who's the QB - Stegall or Minor? Marcus Minor took the starting job and it didn't take long for him to make an impact. After UL-Lafayette's failed first drive, Minor started out 3-for-3 (and eventually 7-for-7), and led Tulane down to the 2 and then Clarke put it in for six. Three minutes later, Minor showed his arm and found Wilson Van Hooser for a 59 yard TD pass where Hooser shook off a safety and dove past another into the endzone to cap off the play and give Tulane a 14-0 lead at the break.

Minor continued his hotstreak with a 17 yard TD pass to Jordan Sullen, now up 21-0. ULL finally broke into the endzone with a 16 yard TD pass from first time starter QB Wesley. After a Marcus Minor fumble on a bad snap, ULL got the ball and got a quick FG to make it 21-10 with 80 seconds left in the 2nd. However, Minor upset over his last turnover, led the team down the field and ran it in himself for a 4 yard TD to end the half up 28-10.

Ubekista's 38 yard FG was the lone score in the third and for a span until three minutes left in the game. After trading punts, Tulane pulled out the starting teams and John Stegall got his chance to be a Tulane QB. He found J.D. Williams for a 17 yard TD, and put Tulane up 38-10. Wesley for ULL trying to replace a QB who had 30 TDs last year and a bowl-winning season got another TD with a minute to go. Running out the clock, Dan Thomas scored on a 2 yard TD run and the final was 45-10.

TULANE 45, LOUISIANA'S RAGIN' CAJUNS 10
Marcus Minor: 14/21 passing, 223 yards, 2 TD, 12 rush yards, TD
John Stegall: 6/10 passing, 102 yards, TD
O.J. Clarke: 15 carries, 105 yards, TD, 2 rec, 26 yards, 15.5/yards a PR
Dan Thomas: TD rush
Brandon Palmer: 5 rec, 58 yards
Jordan Sullen: 3 rec, 34 yards, TD | J.D. Williams: 3 rec, 62 yards, TD
Wilson Van Hooser: 2 rec, 83 yards, TD
Gregory Hallinsworth: 8 tackles
Terrence Carr: 6 tackles
Jay Kerr: 4 tackles
Kyle Dickson: 3 tackles, 2 TFL
Jason Nolen: 3 tackles, TFL
Derek Lawson: 2 TFL, Sack
Erik Madison: 2 tackles, 3 deflections
Tinzen Ubekista: 1/1 FG, 6/6 XP, 42.0 punt average

UL-L: Ronnie Welsey 20/40 passing 221 yards 2 TD (r-FR)

Week 2 Around the NCAA


C-USA SCORES

UAB 26, Arkansas St. 8

UTEP 34, Northwestern St. 3

Tulsa 34, Georgia St. 10

Houston 31, North Texas 18

UCF 24, FIU 12

Oklahoma State 52, SMU 7

Nebraska 10, Southern Miss 9

ECU 44, #8 Virginia Tech 16 [wow][wow][wow]

Memphis 23, Mid Tenn St. 14

Texas 33, Rice 0


TOP 25 SCORES

#1 Penn State 28, Virginia 21

#7 North Carolina 10, #9 GT 0

#4 Notre Dame 24, #6 Michigan 20

TCU 20, #14 LSU 17

#3 Florida 28, #15 Miami 21

#20 Washington 13, #2 Alabama 10

#21 WVU 35, #11 FSU 16


TOP 25 MAJOR CHANGES.. UNC up to #4, Wisky up to #6, Bama to 7, USC has went from 37 to 12, VT from 8 to 24


NEXT UP: Kansas State (1-0)

4 THINGS TO WATCH FOR vs KANSAS STATE


1. KSU QB Jason Atkinson is just making his second ever start.


Last week against UL-L, Tulane played against first-time starter Ray Wesley who struggled at times and was rushed against Tulane's quickest defense yet. In their 27-7 win over Louisville, Atkinson threw a pair of picks and was sacked twice. However, once Atkinson got the ball going to his recievers, the passing went smoothly and he went 28-for-41.



2. KSU recievers Sheldon Smith and Marcus Kennard spread the field easily.


Last week, we didn't a set of great receivers, but this week, Sheldon Smith (90, 93 ACC) and Marcus Kennerd (85, 91 SPD) can easily have big games. Kennard had a 121-yard game against Louisville, and both guys can make people miss after the catch and turn it upfield. When they aren't passing, Brandon Finely out of the backfield is dangerous as he's a mix of power and speed who had 130 yards and 2 TDs last week.


3. Marcus Minor's first big test.


UL-L's defense was not-so-great against the pass while KSU's secondary could be one of the best in the Big XII. Ian Peters (91), Nick Foster (88), Patrick Quinn (87), Ronnie Williams (86), Robin Adkins (84) are players we could be hearing alot on Saturday, all planning to make an impact. All of them are quick and all of them can make plays.


4. No starters worse than 80 OVR on KSU's defense.


Going against anyone on this defense will be a challenge. Kansas State's DEs all have more than 80 SPD and ACC, while their DTs are big and strong, and their linebackers have a trio themselves, with true sophomore 2012 Bednarik award winner Nick Thompson on the right side, who had 6 TFLs and 3 sacks against Louisville. Last year he had a monster year with 92 tackles (14 TFL), 5 sacks, 3 picks, 6 PDs, 5 FFs and a blocked kick. He could be the one to watch on this defense, but we should be watching everyone.

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Despite 4 turnover day, Minor's 381 passing yards too much

Tulane's next big WR is discovered


NEW ORLEANS -- Wilson Van Hooser has been worse than 4th on the depth chart in all of his years a Green Wave, and as a senior, he's found his way to the top of the charts and he's making the most out of it as he caught 8 passes for 157 yards and set up touchdowns on saturday against K-State. Van Hooser has almost 250 yards in two games this year. Meanwhile, Marcus Minor passed up 600 yards already on the season with his 381 on the day.


Anyways, on to the recap.. Kansas State scored first on a 57-yard pick six by Hester, but then Tulane tied it at 7 with O.J. Clarke's 10 yard trot to the endzone and that was the score after one. Marcus Minor found Brandon Palmer for a 14 yard score to make it 14-7, then Jordan Sullen for a 2 yard TD pass to make it 21-7. KSU closed the gap after a 17 yard TD pass from Atkinson to Sheldon Smith, and then Marcus Minor lost the ball on a option and KSU got a last-second FG out of that, to make it 21-17 at the half.


Minor's 5 yard TD pass to George Harrison gave him confidence after throwing pick #2 on Tulane's opening drive of the second half, however his third pick of the game set up KSU's 7 yard TD pass, but a tipped XP was no good and made it 28-23 with one quarter left to play.


In the game's final quarter, Tulane put the game away with two more touchdowns on O.J. Clarke's 14 yard sideline tip-toe run with a dive over a defender to end the run to start the 4th, and then Dan Thomas got a 1 yard TD run replacing Mike Marquardt as Tulane's 2nd RB who was injured in the mid-4th on a kickoff. Marquardt should return after the BYE week. Kansas State's desperation ended on a Nelson's back-to-back sacks, his second & third of the day, and Tulane won 42-23.


TULANE 42, K-STATE 23

Marcus Minor: 24/31 passing, 381 yards, 3 TD, 3 INT, 10 car, 41 rush yards, fumb lost

O.J. Clarke: 13 carries, 84 yards, 2 TD, 2 rec, 17 yards

Dan Thomas: 6 carries, 19 yards, TD

Wilson Van Hooser: 8 rec, 157 yards

George Harrison: 6 rec, 70 yards, TD

Brandon Palmer: 5 rec, 106 yards, TD

Jordan Sullen: 2 rec, 17 yards, TD

Marlin Nelson: 10 tackles, 6 TFL, 3 sacks

Jason Nolen: 6 tackles, 2 TFL, INT

JJ Black: 8 tackles

Hallinsworth: 3 tackles / Brooks: 2 tackles

Ubekista: 59.0 avg/punt


K-STATE: Atkinson 21/37 301 yards 2 TD INT / Finley (inj. 3rd qtr - did not return) 17 car 58 yards [only 3 carries for k-state after his injury or so]

WEEK 3 AROUND THE NCAA


C-USA SCORES

Memphis 23, Ark. State 10

Marshall 19, UAB 7

#21 Oklahoma 42, Tulsa 0

Akron 33, UTEP 20

Baylor 31, SMU 14

Wake Forest 31, Rice 21

UCF 57, Temple 10 (UCF: two defensive TDs totaling just 14 yards)

Houston 31, Sam Houston State 17

ECU 23, USM 14


NCAA SCORES

#4 North Carolina 24, #5 Ohio State 17

Oklahoma St. 42, #19 Oregon State 18 (0-2)

Sparty 28, #2 ND 14

#7 Alabama 23, #8 Arkansas 12


CURRENT TOP 10: 1. Penn State, 2. UNC, 3. Florida, 4. Alabama, 5. Wisky, 6. Michigan, 7. Texas, 8. Ohio State, 9. USC (who was unranked to start the year!!), 10. Washington, 16. TCU, 23. USF (somehow still ranked at 1-2), 24. Fresno State


*Gregory Hallinsworth: C-USA Defensive Player of the Week with 2 FF and a FR along with three tackles.

*Marcus Minor's 190.8 QB rating is top in the NCAA

*Wilson Van Hooser's 24 yards a catch is fourth in the NCAA.


NEXT: at SMU (0-3)

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Minor's 5 TD day too much for Mustangs


Tulane passed it's first road test on Saturday night as they beat SMU 48-22, as SMU had a TD in garbage time to cut the 48-14 lead to 48-22 in the final minutes.


Marcus Minor played great despite throwing 2 INT's (including one being returned 101 yards for a TD), scoring 5 TDs on the day, and John Stegall scored his first TD on a fake field goal. SMU fell to 0-4 as Kyle Padron continued to struggle going 15-for-41 on the day. SMU still has no run game as they have no good backs just getting 34 yards on 15 carries.


Without SMU's garbage TD and the pick-six, Tulane blew out SMU. They had 535 offense yards to SMU's 249 yards. Tulane as a team went 26-for-39 passing for 375 yards and 5 TDs. They also added 160 yards on the ground, showing that their new mix of spread & power on offense is working well in the 2013 season.


Tinzen Ubekista continued his perfect FG run on the year, hitting two more attempts on the day, as he is obviously improved from his woes a year ago. Jinx! We hope not. He also continues to hit almost 50 or more yards a punt a game.


Last week, Wilson Van Hooser had 157 yards and 8 catches.. this week he caught 11 passes for 143 yards and a pair of TDs, starting to become an outside chance at winning the NCAA's best WR award. Also catching TDs on the day were Brandon Palmer and Jordan Sullen from Minor, and Stegall found Chad Flowers for six. On the ground, Marcus Minor had 25 yards and score, and O.J. Clarke had 108 rush yards, 27 receiving, and 40 on punt returns, as he continues to be our all-purpose back.


With the win, Tulane is now 3-0 and SMU is 0-4.


TULANE 48, SMU 22

Marcus Minor: 24-for-37 passing, 331 yards, 4 TD, 2 INT, 25 rush yards, rush TD

John Stegall: 1-1, 26 yards, TD / Burns: 1-1, 18 yards

O.J. Clarke: 16 carries, 108 yards

Jordan Sullen: 3 rec, 94 yards, TD

Harrison: Catch, 22 yards / Flowers: 26 yard TD rec / Palmer: 3-35, TD

Harry CiGar: 4 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack

Derek Larson: Sack

Marlin Nelson: Sack

Jason Nolen; INT

Ubekista: 2-for-2 FG, 50.0yds/punt

WEEK 4 AROUND THE NCAA


C-USA SCORES

Arizona 42, ECU 40 - Arizona's 30 yard TD pass with 47 seconds to go sealed the deal.

UAB 17, Bowling Green 13

Memphis 26, Tulsa 13

Houston 24, UTEP 14 - Houston's first 3-0 start since the days of Case Keenum

UCF 30, Marshall 17

KU 28, Rice 6

Southern Miss 33, Northern Iowa 0


TOP 25/NCAA SCORES

#1 Penn State 30, #20 Missouri 20

#16 TCU 44, Wyoming 6 - Despite going 5-7 last year, Wyoming is 0-4 this year and J.T. Wallenstein is on the Hot Seat.

NC State 20, #2 North Carolina 14

Oregon 33, #9 USC 21


HEISMAN REPRESENTATION

Yes, the C-USA has some of that, Rod Davis of Memphis has pretty good stats through 3 games.. 29 rec, 600 yards, 4 TD, 200 yards a game, 292 yards after the catch. Oh my.

WEEK 5 AROUND THE NCAA


> Tulane BYE week.


C-USA SCORES

Memphis 30, UTEP 25 - Memphis 4-0

UAB 31, Rice 7 - UAB 3-1

Houston 20, Tulsa 14 - Houston 4-0

The Ville 16, USM 9

Marshall 21, SMU 14


TOP 25/NCAA SCORES

BYU 29, Wyoming 10 - Wyoming drops to 0-5 against a team that had a worse record then them last year (and yes, we did lose to them)

#16 USC 31, #8 Washington 10 - USC continues on the top 25 rollercoaster

#4 Wisconsin 38, #1 Penn State 17 - Wisconsin makes it case for #1 upsetting Penn State in Happy Valley


TOP 15

1. Wisconsin (34)*

2. Florida (25)*

3. Alabama

4. Texas (2)*

5. Michigan

6. Ohio State

7. Penn State

8. Notre Dame

9. UNC

10. Miami

11. Georgia Tech**

12. TCU*

13. USC

14. Oklahoma*

15. Washington

21. Fresno State*

31. UCF*

32. Tulane*

*undefeated

*two losses


> Fresno State's WR Richard Love moves to #1 in the Heisman race, while Memphis WR falls out.. Love has 36 rec for 456 yards and 8 TD this year. Casey Pachall (QB, TCU) is 2nd, and Tony Fletcher (QB, Florida) despite only 2:1 TD:INT ratios round out the top 3. In the QB snubbing race is Marcus Minor (Highest QB rating, 3rd most yards per game, highest comp. %), David Martin of USC (11-4 TD:INT), and Chris Siegel of Notre Dame (9-0 TD:INT). Minor needs love!


UP NEXT: vs Houston (4-0)

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Tulane still C-USA's top dog, continues defense & offensive dominance


NEW ORLEANS, LA --- Obviously Ron Draggo was mad after giving up big yards near the end of the 2012 season on the ground and for the 3rd straight week, held a team to under 100 rushing yards (we gave up 102 to UL-L, however 26 came on a WR reverse). They've also held team's top backs to low YPC.. UL-L 3.7, KSU 3.4, SMU 3.7, and now Houston 4.0. Meanwhile, the offense continues to score in the 40s, with 45, 42 and 48 points coming into today's game against 4-0 Houston. The most points Houston had allowed so far this year was 18, and that would change on this day.


Tulane didn't waste time getting on the board as Marcus Minor found Wilson Van Hooser for a 47 yard score, after a Houston punt on Tulane's first drive. Houston tied the score just 12 seconds later on Thompson's 90 yard kick return for TD. Houston's Berry hit a 31-yard FG and Houston led 10-7 after one.


However, that quickly changed as Marcus Minor scored on a 16 yard QB draw. Later in the quarter, Marcus Minor's 4 yard TD to Wilson Van Hooser made it 21-10, and Ubekista's 47 yard FG with one second left in the half gave Tulane a 24-10 lead. Tulane extended the lead on Marcus Minor's 12 yard strike to Chad Flowers in the 3rd, the lone score of that quarter. After a Minor pick, Houston got back into the game with a 22 yard TD pass to cut the lead to 31-17.


But the Cougars were really never back in it, after Wilson Van Hooser's 60 yard reception to the 1, a hurry-up offense pass play to Van Hooser gave him a 1 yard TD, his third TD catch of the day. After a failed fourth down attempt, Houston gave the ball back to Tulane at midfield, and what should have been a clock-milking drive turned into a terrible defensive call for Houston, bringing a safety blitz and O.J. Clarke went 50 yards untouched to the house, and that would cap off the game's final score of 45-17.


TULANE 45, HOUSTON 17

Marcus Minor: 18-for-26 passing, 348 yards, 4 TD, INT, 7 carries, 24 yards, TD

O.J. Clarke: 22 carries, 161 yards, TD, 1-1 pass, 12 yards (HB pass to J.D. Williams), 1 rec, 8 yards, 53 KR yards, 37 PR yards [31 touches, 273 yards]

Wilson Van Hooser: 7 receptions, 164 yards, 3 TD

Jordan Sullen: 3 receptions, 112 yards

Flowers: 2 rec, 22 yards, TD / Harrison: 2-16 / Mackey 2-14

Stephen Harris: 2 TFL, Sack

Marlin Nelson: 2 TFL, 2 Sacks

Brooks, Black: 4 tackles each

Bordeaux: 3 tackles

Kasey Capps: Tackle, FF, FR

Tinzen Ubekista: 1-1 FG, 6-6 XP

WEEK 6 AROUND THE NCAA



C-USA SCORES

Virginia Tech 20, Marshall 13

SMU 13, UAB 6

ECU 38, Rice 9

Memphis 13, UCF 6 - Memphis 5-0

Southern Miss 30, Tulsa 21


TOP 25/NCAA SCORES

#1 Wisky 24, Illinois 0

#4 Texas 21, #14 Oklahoma 14

Indiana 32, #5 Michigan 7

Arizona State 27, #8 Notre Dame 24

Ole Miss 20, #2 Florida 15

Maryland 23, #9 UNC 12

San Diego State 31, #12 TCU 28


TOP 10: 1. Wisconsin, 2. Texas, 3. tOSU, 4. Penn State, 5. Miami, 6. GT, 7. Florida, 8. USC, 9. Washington, 10. Michigan, 14. Maryland (NR LW), 15. Indiana (NR LW), 17. Fresno State, 23. UCLA (10th in AP, NR LW, 5-0).


HEISMAN: Love for Richard Love, who's still #1.


UP NEXT: UTEP (1-3)

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Ubekista's missed 57 yard field goal lone problem in crushing of UTEP

Tinzen Ubekista's missed 57 yard field goal in the 4th quarter was the only problem in Tulane's 40-7 win over the Miners of El Paso on Saturday afternoon. Marcus Minor's momentum and confidence grew some more, throwing for 288 yards and 3 TDs and no turnovers. Tulane as a team had no turnovers, while Kyle Dickson improvised on a UTEP INT and scored on a 33 yard pick-six.

Despite his miss in the 4th, Ubekista hit FGs from 32, 38, 27 and 33 yards out. O.J. Clarke didn't find the endzone again in this one, but had 102 yards on the ground (22 carries), 59 yards recieving (3 catches), and 55 punt return yards (6 returns).

Wilson Van Hooser continued his great year with a pair of TD catches and 21.6 yards per catch, while Jordan Sullen had a TD and an average of 11.3 YPC. Tulane had no sacks in this game - the first time this year.

UTEP could never get anything going all day with their return yards totaling up more than their offensive yards, and they were held to just 110 passing yards, a season-low on defense for Tulane, and just 85 rush yards. Their lone score was a 9 yard TD pass in the early 2nd quarter in their only trip to the red zone. UTEP's kicker also missed two attempts: one from 46 yards and one from 52 at the end of the 1st half.

TULANE 40, UTEP 7
Marcus Minor: 18-for-33 passing, 288 yards, 3 TD, 16 rush yards
O.J. Clarke: 22 rush att, 102 yards, 3 rec, 59 yards
Jordan Sullen: 8 catches, 91 yards, TD
Wilson Van Hooser: 6 catches, 130 yards, 2 TD
Lawrence Abrams: 5 pancakes
Kyle Dickson: 2 tackles, INT, TD
Scott Barrett: 6 tackles, INT, FF
Ubekista: 4-5 FG, miss from 57

WEEK 7 AROUND THE NCAA


C-USA SCORES

West Virginia 16, Marshall 13

Houston 37, Memphis 0 - A team we beat 45-17 blanks a 5-0 squad

Tulsa 38, Rice 14

Southern Miss 26, UCF 20 2OT - USM's game-winning score went the entire 25 yards.

ECU 27, SMU 3


TOP 25/NCAA SCORES

Minnesota 38, #10 Michigan 14 - Indiana last week, Minnesota this week

#3 Ohio State 42, #1 Wisconsin 19 - Buckeyes could move into the #1 spot with a loss

#13 Florida St. 17, #5 Miami 14

#14 Maryland 14, Troy 7 - After moving 17 spots to #14, Maryland gets just 14 points in a win

#17 Fresno State 28, North Texas 23 - Richard Love's 125 yard day was capped off with the game-winning 13 yard TD catch with :59 left.

#2 Texas 52, #11 Colorado 20

Northwestern 31, #15 Indiana 18 - Indiana in the top 25? Ha!

Stanford 27, #9 Washington 10


TOP 10: 1. Texas*, 2. Ohio State, 3. Penn State, 4. Florida, 5. GT, 6. USC, 7. Wisconsin, 8. Maryland*, 9. FSU, 10. Miami, 12. Fresno State*, 13. UCLA*, 25. Missouri (159 votes), 26. Tulane (158!!, no. 25 in AP)


UP NEXT: at 3-2 UCF

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Week 8 & Week 9: Tulane football


Week 8: at UCF


The main contender to us of the C-USA ever since their transfer dominance a few years back is UCF. We return to BrightHouse Network(?) Stadium for the second time where Chinoso Echebelum won the game for us back in August? Yeah. Tulane's first half took them to a 20-14 lead. Wilson Van Hooser had a 25 yard TD grab from Minor, and a 2 yard TD reception over to the freshman Mr. Mackey (his first TD). Ubekista's 28 + 34 yard field goals got us to 20. Meanwhile for the Knights, Muhammad for UCF had 2 1st half rush TDs.


In the second half, Ubekista's 21 yard FG made it 23-14, and then a 1 yard TD pass for UCF made it 23-21. O.J. Clarke's 13 yard TD run made it 30-21, but Brandon Rich's 43 yard TD pass to Key made it 30-27, however the XP was no good, keeping it at a field goal with 2:21 to play. UCF stopped Tulane to get the ball back, but since they wanted to go for the win than force it to OT, their over aggressiveness forced them to be intercepted at Tulane's 38 yard line by Erik Madison with 37 seconds to go.



PotG: Marcus Minor 26/32 283 yards 2 TD




Week 9: Marshall


Remember when Darius Marshall was Marshall's lead of success? He's been long gone. Tinzen Ubekista broke a Tulane record, but not a C-USA record with a 62 yard FG in the 2nd quarter. He also had FGs made from 48 and 40. O.J. Clarke had a pair of TD runs while Dan Thomas caught one, and Eric Jones caught another in a 37-0 win.


PotG: O.J. Clarke 25 car 138 yards 2 TD 2 rec 23 yards

Tulane's improbable comeback almost falls short, but defeats Auburn on last gasp 40 yard TD pass

NEW ORLEANS -- Trailing 22-7 was a big hole for Tulane to overcome, much like me trying to remember I game I played back on May 21st. Tyrik Rollison's pair of 1st quarter TD passes put Auburn up 13-0 (minus one XP), on two short TDs, that is.

Tulane found their groove when O.J. Clarke had a 8 yard TD run, but Ray's 27 yard FG made it 16-7 at the half. In the early third, Auburn returned someone's fumble from Tulane back 56 yards to the house (who it was, I don't know), and they went for two and didn't get it. Then Dan Thomas' 14 yard TD scamper put Tulane down 22-13, but they failed to get the two point conversion. Headed to the early 4th, Jordan Sullen was on the recieving end of a 7 yard TD putting Tulane down 22-20.

Then came the 24 second mark of the game where Tulane faced a 4th & 4 from Auburn's 40 yard line, making it a 57 yard FG. Instead of kicking the field goal, Tulane went for it, and in dramatic fashion, sophomore QB Marcus Minor hit freshman Taylor Mackey over the middle for what seemed to be a 7 or 8 yard gain until Mackey sped away from Auburn defenders and wound up in the endzone on the 40 yard TD play with 16 seconds to go, capping a three-TD comeback in the game's final 10 minutes.

To cap off the game, Auburn's Tyrik Rollison was intercepted on the game's final play well short of the endzone.

________________________________

Marcus Minor: 23-41, 253 yards, 2 TD, INT, 16 carries, 119 yards
Dan Thomas: 15 car, 70 yards, TD, 3 rec, 32 yards
O.J. Clarke: 6 car, 36 yards, TD
Wilson Van Hooser: 7 recpetions, 72 yards
Taylor Mackey: 2 rec, 57 yards, TD
Marlin Nelson: 5 tackles, 3 TFL

NCAA Update


Top 25

1. Maryland(33) [Yes, Maryland is #1, and I'm not sure how either]

2. Texas(27)

3. Fresno State(1)

4. Ohio State

5. Florida

6. Alabama

7. UNC

8. Georgia Tech

9. Tulane (no. 8 BCS)

10. UCLA

11. AZ State

12. Wisky

13. Michigan

14. Florida St.

15. USC

16. Penn State

17. Oklahoma

18. Notre Dame

19. Nebraska

20. Mississippi

21. Iowa

22. Stanford

23. VT

24. WVU

25. TCU


HEISMAN WATCH

Garrett Gilbert, QB, Texas (16 TD, 4 INT, 6 Rush TD)

Richard Love, WR, Fresno (60 rec, 754 yards, 9 TD, 800 ret yards)

Marcus Minor, QB, Tulane (22 TD, 7 INT, 3 Rush TD)

Carlos Hyde, RB, Ohio State (225 car, 1162 yards, 9 TD)

Drew Allen, QB, Oklahoma (18 TD, 16 INT, 4 Rush TD)


TULANE AWARD SEMIFINALISTS

Maxwell: Marcus Minor 3rd

O'Brien: Marcus Minor 3rd

Walker: O.J. Clarke 5th

WR: Wilson Van Hooser 2nd

Groza: Tinzen Ubekista 7th


ON THE SLATE

at Rice (0-9)

Tulsa (3-6)

at Southern Miss (4-5)

at LSU (4-4)

Tulane 51, Rice 0


Tulane went on over to Texas and handed Rice another crushing loss. Tulane improved to 9-0 while the Owls fell to 0-10.


Marcus Minor was the star of the show throwing 5 first half TD passes, two to Wilson Van Hooser (4, 71 yards), two to Brandon Palmer (19, 11 yards) and one to Taylor Mackey (15 yards). His five TDs gave Tulane a 35-0 lead as the Heisman hopeful took a seat on the bench at the half.


In the second half, Tulane only scored a pair of TDs, one coming on Gregory Hallinsworth's 91 yard option pitch pickoff, on what seemed to be Rice's only scoring opportunity as it was their only trip to the redzone. Tinzen Ubekista hit a 25 yard FG and 3rd-string QB Jamal Burns had a 1 yard TD run one play after ripping Rice's defense up the middle on a QB draw for 42 yards.


Marcus Minor's 16-27 for 231 yards and 5 TD (plus 67 rush yards) performance moved him to 2nd in the Heisman race. Meanwhile, backup QBs John Stegall and Jamal Burns both went perfect on passing in the second half. Also the defense recorded four sacks including one by JJ Black (who was subbed in as a LB?) on a 4th & 18 - the game's final play.


___________________________________


Tulane 45, Tulsa 17


Tulsa rushed Marcus Minor like crazy on this day only leading to one TD throw but that blitzing defense was prone to the run game where O.J. Clarke had a career day on the Golden Hurricane defense.


Clarke accounted for 300+ yards on Tulsa's defense and four TDs on the day - his best day of his short Tulane career. Despite an early pick-six, Tulane quickly made this game another rout. Marcus Minor had just one pass TD to Clarke, but he also ran for two scores and showed great duel-threat ability.


But the star of the show was O.J. Clarke who had a 3 yard TD run, a 49 yard TD run (his most impressive, cutting from the right side of the field, slipping his way through defenders all the way to the left side and into the endzone. He got through about four defenders on this run.), a 27 yard TD run and a 2 yard TD catch.


On the defensive side, Tulane had 3 sacks, also on special teams, Tinzen Ubekista hit a career high 54.2 yards a punt with all five of his punts landing inside Tulsa's 20 yard line.


Now Tulane sits at 10-0 with two road games to go: 5-5 Southern Miss and 4-6 LSU.


UP NEXT: NCAA UPDATE

POST-WEEK 12 NCAA UPDATE


MAJOR HEADLINES

#3 Fresno State was upended up Utah State on the road 20-17 in OT. Utah State's coach called it "the greatest victory in Utah State athletics history", Utah State were two-TD underdogs. Fresno State's BCS hopes crushed.

#9 Arizona State falls from Pac-10 lead with loss to 3-win Cal 24-14.

Stanford's 0-4 start now has them 6-4 and sitting at #17 due to wins over USC, UCLA. Next up has them taking on #12 Notre Dame.

Army looks to crack top 25 for first time in who knows how long. The Black Knights resume includes a 34-10 win at Stanford.


TOP 10

1. Maryland (32)

2. Texas (27)

3. Tulane (2)

4. Ohio State

5. Florida

6. Alabama

7. UNC

8. GT

9. UCLA

10. Michigan

14. Fresno State

22. Auburn

30. Army



HEISMAN WATCH

1. Garrett Gilbert, QB, Texas - 2709 yards, 22 TD, 5 INT, 410 rush, 6 TD

2. Marcus Minor, QB, Tulane - 2762 yards, 28 TD, 8 INT, 338 rush, 5 TD

3. Boo Anderson, LB, Utah - 111 tackles, 35 TFL, 11 sacks, 3 INT, 5 FF


TULANE AWARD FINALISTS

Maxwell - 2. Marcus Minor (1st - Garrett Gilbert)

O'Brien - 2. Marcus Minor (1st - Garrett Gilbert)

Walker - 5. O.J. Clarke (1st - Carlos Hyde)

Best WR - 2. Wilson Van Hooser (1st - Willie Jefferson, Baylor)


ON THE SLATE

at 5-5 Southern Miss (Battle for the Bell)

at 4-6 LSU (Tiger Rag)

C-USA Championship (ECU if they beat UAB, if not.. Southern Miss if they beat Tulane OR Memphis if they beat Marshall OR UCF (no C-USA games remaining, will advance to C-USA title with ECU loss, USM loss and Memphis loss))

USM's offense has more yards, but loses 41-13

So the Battle for the Bell was won by Tulane, for the first time, on the road under Ron Draggo. Southern Miss may have had more yards than Tulane on the offensive side of the ball but it really didn't matter as two of Tulane's 5 TDs came on defense and special teams.

Marcus Minor got the scoring started on a 3 yard QB draw with 14 seconds left in the 1st half, just one drive after being picked off at the goal-line by USM. USM tied the game mid-way through the 2nd with a 4 yard TD run by their QB. But on the ensuing kickoff, senior DB Shakiel Smith returned the kickoff from the 15, slipped through a couple defenders and ran down the left side for a KR TD. After a USM punt, Marcus Minor found Brandon Palmer for a 29 yard TD pass, Palmer's 3rd TD in the last three games. Then, down 21-7 USM looked to get at least 3 before the half, just until a pass was unthrown into the hands of Sammy Bordeaux and he returned it 51 yards to the house giving Tulane a 28-7 halftime advantage.

Tinzen Ubekista nailed two FGs in the 3rd, a 40 and 43 yarder. USM had a 15 yard TD pass but missed on the two point try. The game was sealed 33 seconds into the 4th quarter with Marcus Minor's 16 yard TD pass to a wide open Wilson Van Hooser, who is closing on Jarmon Fortson's recieving yards in a season record, which was just set last year. The final quarter was scoreless after that and Tulane won 41-13.

____________________________________

Marcus Minor: 12-for-20 passing, 176 yards (lowest on the season?), 2 TD, INT, 11 car, 69 yards, TD
O.J. Clarke: 7 car, 37 yards, 2 rec, 37 yards
Brandon Palmer: 2 rec, 42 yards, TD / Hooser: 2-33-TD
Samuel Brooks: 9 tackles, 2 TFL (one on 3rd & 2, one on 4th & 1)
Sammy Boudreaux: 6 tackles, TFL, INT, TD
Marlin Nelson: 4 tackles, 2 TFL, Sack
Shakiel Smith: 3 KR, 135 yards, 85 yard TD

LSU surely doesn't look like a 4-7 team, but four picks doesn't help either


BATON ROUGE -- Well, if the streak of 22 straight losses to LSU was gonna end, it was gonna probably be today. A 11-0 Tulane with the Rose Bowl on their mind for the biggest of them all takes on a 4-7 LSU team with nothing to play for except for the fact that's it a rivalry and senior day. They've got nothing to lose. For QB Marcus Minor, this could be the game that could deliver him a Heisman trophy in December based on his performance.


Why is LSU 4-7? Well, for one, they have a 74 OVR true freshman QB, but that's because their starter got injured early in the year who is alot better, but the freshman ain't that bad. Well, maybe he isn't great. Erik Madison had a 70 yard pick six to start out the game, putting Tulane up 7-0 after one. O.J. Clarke's 3 yard TD run made it 14-0. Tinzen Ubekista's 50 yard FG extended the lead to 17-0. LSU cut the lead to 17-3 with a 53 yard FG, the a 64 yard TD pass just before halftime.


LSU tied the game up on a 47 yard fumble return on a punt return. LSU continued to fight until Tulane broke through on Marcus Minor's 1 yard TD pass to Chad Flowers, putting them up 24-17. Tinzen Ubekista's 45 yard FG put the game up to a 27-17 score with 5:30 to play. LSU's backup RB took his only carry of the game with inside four minutes to go and it was a good one as he scored a TD to cut the lead back to a one-possession game as Les Miles' Tigers didn't give up.


After a Tulane punt, LSU had one final chance to win or tie the game. LSU started to move down the field until Erik Madison intercepted LSU QB Eric Lacey with 57 seconds left and sealed Tulane's first victory against LSU in forever, and Ron Draggo's first win against LSU in five tries. #3 Tulane 27, LSU 24.


This is Tulane's first perfect regular season also in 15 years (they did not play LSU in 1998). Ron Draggo said after the game, "I am so proud of this team. We got it done, 12-0 and we could still get in the BCS title. We're outsiders but we've got the guys to take it all."


____________________________________


Marcus Minor: 20-for-30 passing, 233 yards, TD, 16 car, 47 yards

O.J. Clarke: 19 carries, 55 yards, TD

Terrance Carr: 10 tackles, INT

Erik Madison: 5 tackles, 2 INT, Def TD

Samuel Brooks: INT


NEXT UP: The #3 Green Wave take on ECU for the C-USA title and a BCS berth.

Tulane's last C-USA game?: Tulane blasts ECU 59-15 for C-USA title


NEW ORLEANS -- Four-peat for Tulane as their C-USA dominance continued while Marcus Minor, hearing of Garrett Gilbert's injury prior to taking the field had one last chance to wow the Heisman comittee, and he played his best game of college football yet. Minor was done by the game's fourth quarter but he only needed three quarters to be named C-USA Player of the Year.


Marcus Minor went 16-for-22 for 397 yards for 4 TDs and no picks, along with 10 yards rushing and a TD. Who had the most of his recieving yards? Seniors George Harrison and Wilson Van Hooser, and Jordan Sullen who accounted for all but 15 yards of Minor's 397. George Harrison was the surprise of the day catching 6 passes for 197 yards including an incredible 82 yard TD, the craziest thing is, he had 117 yards after the catch or 19.5 yards after each grab. Harrison caught two TD passes, the second being 45 yards. Wilson Van Hooser, a possible New York invitee, had 6 grabs for 115 yards and a 70 yard TD. Finally Jordan Sullen had 3 catches for 70 yards. Minor's 4th TD pass was to Marquardt.


On the rushing side of things, Clarke and Marquardt both had rushing TDs, but neither averaged more than 3.1 yards a carry due to ECU's very talented front seven. That's why Minor had great success all day, and that's why Harrison was open, well, wide open early on.


On the defensive side of the ball, Terrance Carr played like an absolute freak of nature. 13 tackles, 6 TFL and 2 Sacks. True Freshman LB Frank Davis also had 7 tackles and an INT. Jay Kerr, Stephen Harris, and Melvin Dickson all recorded a sack. Meanwhile, the team recorded 5 INTs, one by Nolen, one by Boudreaux, one by Samuel Brooks, and one by freshman S Capps, who returned it 26 yards for a TD as he was in with the backups in the game's final quarter.


East Carolina didn't have much success. Their starting QB was pulled after throwing three picks and their backup was an improvement throwing a TD and 2 INTs. ECU was only 33 percent on third downs and was 50 percent in the redzone and had 6 turnovers to Tulane's zero. ECU actually led the game 3-0, 9-7, and were only down 28-15 at the half, but they collapsed completely giving up 31 Tulane points in the second half, leading to the rout for the C-USA title. ECU had a good fight, but you can't win with 6 turnovers and the opposing QB throwing 397 yards on just 16 completions.


MVP: Marcus Minor: 16-for-22 passing, 397 yards, 4 TD, Rush TD