Notes Following Tulane's 45-38 Overtime Win Over UTEP
Nov 7, 2009 | Football
Nov. 7, 2009
Recap | Final Stats | Quotes
Nov. 7, 2009
NOTES FOLLOWING TULANE FOOTBALL'S 45-38 OVERTIME WIN OVER UTEP
Tulane 45, UTEP 38 (Overtime)
Tulane Game 9
Louisiana Superdome
New Orleans, La.
• Saturday's game marked the fifth meeting between Tulane and UTEP on the gridiron. With the win, the Green Wave are now 2-3 all-time against the Miners.
• The win snapped a four-game losing streak on the year as Tulane improves to 3-6 in 2009. It was the first Conference USA victory for the Green Wave, who snap an 10-game league losing streak. Tulane's last league win was against SMU (34-27) last year in the Louisiana Superdome.
• Today's game was the first overtime contest for Tulane since the Green Wave defeated SMU, 41-34, on Oct. 20, 2007, in Dallas, Texas. Tulane is now 3-1 all-time in overtime ballgames.
• Tulane's 45 points are the most scored by the team in 2009 and the most overall since a 45-31 win at Rice on Nov. 17, 2007. It was the most scored by the Green Wave at home since a 45-31 win over Army on Nov. 13, 2004 in the Louisiana Superdome.
• Redshirt-freshman quarterback Ryan Griffin posted career-highs across the board for the fifth consecutive week, completing 24-of-36 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns. Griffin's passing total was the highest by a Tulane quarterback since Lester Ricard threw for 409 yards (33-of-43) against Army on Oct. 28, 2006, and the most by a Green Wave freshman since Scott Elliott threw for 298 yards (22-of-37) at Rice on Nov. 12, 2005.
• Griffin's three touchdown passes were the most by a Tulane quarterback in 2009 and marked the first time a Green Wave signal caller passed for three scores since Kevin Moore had three touchdown passes against SMU on Sept. 25, 2008.
• Senior wide receiver Jeremy Williams posted a career-high 324 all-purpose yards against UTEP, which ranks third in Tulane single-game history. Williams had 40 yards rushing on three carries, caught 10 passes for 139 yards and returned three kickoffs for 145 yards. Williams is third in school history behind Matt Forté's 342-yard effort at SMU on Oct. 20, 2007 and Mewelde Moore's 336-yard performance against Cincinnati on Oct. 6, 2001.
• Jeremy Williams' 88-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the first quarter was the first of his career and the first by a Tulane player since Israel Route returned a kick 97 yards for a score against Southeastern Louisiana on Oct. 1, 2005. That game was a Green Wave home game played in Tiger Stadium in Baton Rouge in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.
• Williams tied a career high with 10 receptions and finished the day with a team-leading 139 receiving yards. He now has 2,573 receiving yards on 175 catches for his career, which rank fourth and sixth in Tulane history, respectively.
• By surpassing the 100-yard receiving mark for the third time this season, Jeremy Williams now has nine 100-yard games for his career, which ranks fifth in Tulane history.
• André Anderson ran for 105 yards and a touchdown on 29 carries and hauled in two passes for 24 yards and a score in the Saturday's win. It was his third 100-yard rushing day of the season and Anderson now has seven 100-yard rushing performances during his career - which moves him into a tie for fourth place in Tulane history with Toney Converse (1997-98) and Jamaican Dartez (1995-98).
• With 105 rushing yards, Anderson now has 1,771 yards and 16 touchdowns on 377 carries for his career. He moves ahead of Terrence Jones (1,767 yards from 1985-88) for 11th place in career rushing yards and is one score shy of breaking the Top 10 in rushing touchdowns.
• With André Anderson surpassing the century mark in rushing yards and Jeremy Williams tallying 139 yards through the air, Tulane has its first 100/100 game since the duo had 199 rushing and 222 receiving yards, respectively, against McNeese State back on Sept. 26.
• With a touchdown rushing and receiving, André Anderson becomes the first Tulane player to score by land and by air in the same game since he did it against the same opponent last year in El Paso on Oct. 11, 2008.
• For the second consecutive week, Casey Robottom posted seven catches - the most in his career - and finished second on the club with a season-high 83 yards.
• Brock Sanders made his first career catch a memorable one as it went for a three-yard touchdown from quarterback Ryan Griffin. Sanders becomes the eighth freshman to catch a pass in 2009, joining redshirt D.J. Ponder and rookies D.J. Banks, Stephen Barnett, Kevin Burris, Ryan Grant, Devin Figaro and Payten Jason.
• True freshman Ryan Grant tallied his first career touchdown reception, hauling in a six-yard pass from Ryan Griffin with 10:21 left to play in the ballgame.
• After not posting a sack during a four-game stretch leading up to last weekend's game at LSU, the Tulane defense has now five sacks in the last two games, including a three-sack effort against UTEP. None, however, was bigger than Alex Wacha's sack of UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe to end the ballgame. The sack was the first of Wacha's career.
• A quintet of Tulane players extended their double-digit starting streaks - junior OT Pete Hendrickson and senior DE Adam Kwentua with 19 straight each, junior WR Casey Robottom at 15, and senior WLB Travis Burks and senior CB Charles Harris at 11 each.
