Tulane University
Army
Tulane Upends Army, 45-31
Nov 13, 2004 | Football
Nov. 13, 2004
By BRETT MARTEL
AP Sports Writer
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Matt Forte had 283 total yards and four touchdowns to help Tulane overcome an injury to starting quarterback Lester Ricard in the Green Wave's 45-31 victory over Army on Saturday night.
Forte, who turned a short sideline pass from Ricard into a 47-yard score in the second quarter, had two short touchdown runs and another scoring run of 48 yards after Ricard left early in the third quarter with an unspecified injury to his throwing arm.
Forte ran for 216 yards on 34 carries, with 159 yards coming in the second half as the Green Wave (4-5, 2-4 Conference USA) shifted from their usual pass-oriented attack to a time-consuming ground game.
Ricard completed 11 of his first 13 passes for 214 yards and two touchdowns over the first 20 minutes of the game. His first scoring pass was a quick slant over the middle to Roydell Williams, who accelerated between a pair of converging defenders and outran all other pursuers on a 63-yard play.
Ricard left after a 12-yard completion to open the second half and finished with 227 yards. Reserve quarterback Richard Irvin was 10-of-14 for 123 yards, including several difficult drive-extending passes.
He turned the ball over twice in Tulane territory on an interception and a fumble, but Army (2-7, 2-5) managed only a 28-yard field goal by Austin Miller. The other drive ended on a failed fourth-down pass late in the fourth quarter.
Army had only one touchdown on offense through the first three quarters. It came in the first quarter on a 1-yard run by Carlton Jones, which capped a drive that began on the Tulane 39 after Scott Wesley's 53-yard kick return.
In the third quarter, Wesley returned a kickoff 97 yards for a touchdown. In all, he returned seven kickoffs for 269 yards.
Jones scored his second touchdown on a 3-yard run early in the fourth quarter to make the score 38-24. Army's final touchdown came on a 20-yard pass form Zac Dahman to Aaron Alexander.
Dahman was 22-for-41 passing for 232 yards. He was intercepted twice.
Ray Boudreaux had a 1-yard touchdown run for Tulane, which finished with 593 total yards.
