Tulane University
Southern Miss
Green Wave Falls Short To Southern Miss 32-14
Sep 26, 2004 | Football
Sept. 25, 2004
NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Dustin Almond threw two touchdown passes in Southern Mississippi's 32-14 victory over Tulane in the Conference USA opener for both teams Saturday night.
The Golden Eagles, who upset Nebraska on the road in their season opener, are 2-0.
Both teams were playing for the first time in two weeks, each having postponed home games last week because of the threat from Hurricane Ivan.
Almond completed 15-of-22 passes for 152 yards, while Anthony Harris rushed for 118 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
Lester Ricard completed 6-of-15 for 55 yards and one touchdown for Tulane (1-2), but was intercepted twice, with both turnovers leading to scores.
The Southern Miss defense, which set up 18 points by forcing five Nebraska turnovers in its first game, created a scoring opportunity on the first possession of the game.
Michael Boley hit Ricard while he was attempting to pass and Trevis Coley intercepted and returned the ball to the Green Wave 6-yard line.
Three plays later, Wayne Hardy ran in from the 1.
Almond threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Antwon Courington, then ran for a two-point conversion to give USM a 14-0 lead with 9:48 left in the second quarter.
That completed a 95-yard drive that began with a questionable call as Ricard was ruled to have fumbled, although it appeared the ball came loose after his elbow hit the turf.
On Tulane's next possession, Ricard threw a 13-yard touchdown pass to Carl Davis on third-and-5 to cut USM's lead to 14-7 with 6:48 left in the second quarter, but that would be as close as the Wave got.
The Eagles took the second-half kickoff and drove 64 yards for Darren McCaleb's 22-yard field goal, which gave them a 17-7 lead.
The Green Wave drove into scoring position on the next possession, but Jackson was stopped for a 2-yard loss on fourth-and-2 at the USM 21.
Almond's 22-yard touchdown pass to Marvin Young gave the Eagles a 23-7 lead with 3:29 left in the third quarter.
After McCaleb's 26-yard field goal, Martavious Prince intercepted Ricard to give USM the ball at the Tulane 2-yard line and Harris scored on the next play to make the score 32-7 with 8:41 remaining.
The Green Wave's Ray Boudreaux scored on a 25-yard run to cut the lead to 32-14 with 4:50 left.
Tulane's Jovon Jackson rushed for 112 yards on 18 carries.
