Tulane University
Houston
Football Falls To Conference USA Foe Houston, 44-16
Oct 17, 2009 | Football
Oct. 17, 2009
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
NEW ORLEANS - Saturday afternoon's Conference USA football game between Tulane and Houston read just like a Charles Dickens classic, but instead of comparing a pair of cities, it was a tale of two halves.
The Green Wave defense held the high-powered Cougar attack in check in the first half and Tulane trailed by just three at 9-6 at halftime. Over the final 30 minutes, however, Houston (5-1, 1-1 C-USA) piled up 295 of its 516 yards of total offense and scored touchdowns on five straight possessions to hand Tulane (2-4, 0-3 C-USA) a 44-16 defeat in the Louisiana Superdome.
"I was really pleased with the effort of our football team in the first half, but it was like a 12-round fight," Tulane head football coach Bob Toledo said. "They eventually wore us down and knocked us out. I don't think we stopped them in the second half.
"And you know, you're talking about one of the best offensive teams in the country, the best quarterback in the country. They score a lot points, and they did. In the second half, they cranked it up. We did a great job in the first half and held them under their average of yards. But we didn't score points."
Senior running back André Anderson posted his second 100-yard game of the season and the sixth of his career with 108 yards on 18 carries and senior wide receiver Jeremy Williams posted over 100 all-purpose yards on the day with six catches for 63 yards while running eight times for a career-best 45 on the ground. Senior placekicker Ross Thevenot scored a season-high 10 points, connecting on all three of his field goal opportunities - including a season-long 43-yarder in the first quarter - and knocking through his only PAT try.
Cougar quarterback Case Keenum, however, countered with 371 yards and two touchdowns on 33-of-46 passing and Houston ran for 145 yards as a team on 33 totes. Chaz Rodriguez was Keenum's favorite target on the day, hauling in six passes for 84 yards. James Cleveland and L.J. Castile both caught touchdown passes while Bryce Bealle and Justin Johnson each had a pair of scoring runs.
Green Wave free safety Alex Wacha tallied a career-high 14 tackles - including nine solo stops - and senior strong safety Chinonso Echebelem tied his personal best with 13 stops (11 solo, 2 assists), but it was not enough as the Cougars converted 9-of-13 third-down opportunities and blocked a punt early in the second half to spark the second-half onslaught.
"They were 9-of-13 - that's pretty darn good - and then in the red zone they were seven-of-eight," Toledo said. "You're talking about a guy (in Keenum) who was the Player of the Year in this conference a year ago, and is leading the nation in passing this year. You've got to give him credit. He's really good and he's got a lot of weapons."
Houston scored the game's first points on a 22-yard field goal by Ben Bell with 9:09 left to play in the opening quarter, but Tulane tied things up quickly as Thevenot capped a 12-play, 42-yard drive with his season-long boot. The Green Wave defense forced the Cougars to punt on their next possession, and the Tulane offense found a rhythm for another scoring drive. The Wave held first-and-10 at the Cougar 22 before the Houston defense stiffened and forced the home team to settle for a 35-yard Thevenot kick to give Tulane a 6-3 lead.
The advantage did not last long as Houston took the ensuing kickoff and capped a 10-play, 63-yard drive with Beall's first touchdown run of the game to take a 9-6 lead. Bell's PAT plunked off the right upright and he later missed a 25-yard field goal attempt, and the two teams went into the locker room at the break in a three-point battle.
The second half, however, was all Houston as the Cougars scored early and often over the final two frames. Johnson capped an eight-play 60-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run to open the third quarter, and the door appeared to be left open for the Green Wave as Bell's point-after try ricocheted off the left upright to keep it a 15-6 ballgame. Tulane went three-and-out on the ensuing possession, and Jeremy Smith blocked a punt to give Houston a short field at the Tulane six. One play later, Keenum found Cleveland in the endzone to give the Cougars a 22-6 advantage.
Beall scored his second touchdown of the day with 3:19 left in the third quarter to push the lead to 23, and Toledo decided to make a switch at quarterback as redshirt-freshman Ryan Griffin replaced Joe Kemp under center. Griffin breathed a bit of life into the Tulane offense, drove the team 75 yards in 11 plays, and threw a touchdown pass to a leaping Antoine Duplessis from three yards out to cut the deficit to 16.
The Cougars, however, thwarted any talk of a comeback as Johnson rambled in from six yards out on the next Houston drive. A two-point conversion pushed the advantage to 24 at 37-17 and Keenum capped the scoring with a seven-yard strike to Castile with 2:43 left to play. The Green Wave added a Thevenot 27-yad field goal earlier in the fourth quarter, but the game had already been decided.
"As I told the team, it was a tough loss to a very good football team - in my opinion the best team in this conference," Toledo said. "So next week, we've got to go down and try to beat Southern Miss. Then try and end this season on a good note down the stretch. We've gotten better, but it seems we take two steps forward and one step back."
Griffin posted career highs across the board with 126 yards and a score on 12-of-18 passing. Kemp finished the day 10-of-15 for 124 yards and an interception. Anderson caught four passes for 38 yards and the duo of junior tight end Tyler Helm and freshman wide receiver D.J. Banks had three receptions each.
The Green Wave return to action on Saturday, Oct. 24, when they travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., to take on C-USA foe Southern Miss at 6 p.m. at M.M. Roberts Stadium. The game against the Golden Eagles is the first of two straight road contests for Tulane as the team will play LSU in Baton Rouge on Oct. 31 before returning to the Louisiana Superdome on Nov. 7 to battle UTEP in the Green Wave's final home game of the 2009 season. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE. Tickets can be purchased in person, over the phone or via the internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
