Tulane University
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UTEP
Fourth-Quarter Rally Lifts Football Past UTEP, 34-24
Oct 24, 2010 | Football
Oct. 23, 2010
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
Tulane vs. UTEP Game Book in PDF Format 
EL PASO, Texas - Senior wideout Casey Robottom and freshman tailback Orleans Darkwa both surpassed the 100-yard mark receiving and rushing, respectively, as the Tulane University football team defeated Conference USA foe UTEP, 34-24, Saturday night at the Sun Bowl.
With the score knotted at 24-all early in the fourth quarter, the Green Wave scored 10 unanswered points courtesy of Robottom's 43-yard touchdown grab from sophomore quarterback Ryan Griffin and a 20-yard field goal by freshman Cairo Santos to improve to 3-4 on the season and 1-2 in league play. The victory was Tulane's first C-USA road win since defeating Rice 45-31 back on Nov. 17, 2007. UTEP, meanwhile, falls to 5-3 on the season and 2-3 in conference action.
"I think this was a great team win for our program," Tulane head coach Bob Toledo said. "I thought we did some nice things on both sides of the ball tonight. We made some big plays with some turnovers defensively in the second half, and offensively we were able to make some big plays and kept our drives alive. I thought Casey Robottom had a big day. He's such a great performer, and we were able to run the ball extremely well and that gave us an opportunity to open up the offense."
As a team, Tulane surpassed the 200-yard mark both rushing and receiving with a season-best 260 yards on 51 carries (5.1 avg.) and 201 yards through the air as Griffin completed 19-of-34 passes for two touchdowns and one interception. It marked the first time the Green Wave had 200 yards rushing and passing in the same game since posting 205 rushing and 222 passing yards against McNeese State on Sept. 26, 2009, in the Louisiana Superdome.
Robottom posted career highs with 10 catches for 151 yards, and tied a career high with a pair of scoring grabs. Darkwa, meanwhile, became the first Tulane back to surpass the 100-yard barrier since then-senior André Anderson had 105 in last year's season finale at SMU. Darkwa finished the night with a career-best 114 yards and a pair of scores on 21 carries.
While Darkwa led the way on the ground, two other Tulane backs posted career-high yardage marks as junior Albert Williams had 94 yards on 19 carries (4.9 avg.) and sophomore Stephen Barnett had 41 yards - including a career-long 38 yard gallop - on a pair of totes.
"We were able to knock them off the ball and our backs ran very hard," Toledo said. "Orleans came in and gave is a spark and Albert ran well also. I told our players last night this was a must-win game. We had to win this football game. I told them I was sick and tired of coming into the locker room and saying we lost. I wanted them to come in here and have fun and be excited. They responded and we had a great locker room after the game. This win takes the monkey off our backs and now we will go home and play four straight in front of our home crowd."
With the score tied at 24-24 following a 28-yard touchdown pass from UTEP quarterback Trevor Vittatoe to Kris Adams 1:21 into the final stanza, the two teams traded possessions before Robottom put Tulane on top for good. On the drive, Tulane ran six times for 21 yards before Griffin found his favorite target streaking down the left sideline for what proved to be the winning score.
Senior cornerback Phillip Davis quelled any talks of a Miners' comeback when he stepped in front of a Vittatoe throw and intercepted his third pass of the season. Six plays later, Santos put the final points on the board with his second field goal of the contest.
UTEP made things interesting as Marlon McClure returned the ensuing kickoff 38 yards and the Miners marched all the way down to the Tulane 30. Vittatoe's heave into the endzone, however, was picked off by senior safety Alex Wacha with 50 seconds left in regulation and the Green Wave were able to run out the clock.
"This was a great team performance," Griffin said. "The offensive line played great and we were able to throw the ball effectively in the second half because we dominated the run game. They were running a lot of single safety and bringing a lot of pressure which we weren't really prepared for, but we made the proper adjustments and we were able to take the lead."
Tulane squandered a chance to take the lead on its first possession as Santos' 40-yard field goal attempt sailed wide right, but the Green Wave found paydirt on their next drive as Darkwa capped a nine-play, 54-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown plunge with 4:52 left to play in the opening quarter.
UTEP, which went three-and-out on its first two drives, but found its rhythm and turned its next two possessions into 10 points. Dakota Warren's 26-yard field goal with 18 seconds left in the first half made it 7-3 and a four-yard Donald Buckram touchdown run 8:28 later gave the Miners a 10-7 lead.
The Green Wave answered UTEP's second score with a nine-play, 59-yard drive which Santos capped with a 38-yard field goal to send the two teams into the locker room at the half tied at 10.
Travaun Nixon helped the Miners break the deadlock when he picked off a pass and returned it to the Green Wave 26 yard line on the opening drive of the second half. Five players later, Leilyon Myers scored a three-yard touchdown to put UTEP back on top 17-10.
Griffin made up for the interception when he found Robottom from seven-yard out to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive. The Green Wave defense got a turnover of its own when sophomore Austen Jacks stripped a scrambling Vittatoe of the ball which junior defensive end Dezman Moses recovered. Seven play and 56 yards later, Darkwa scored his second touchdown of the day to put Tulane back on top 24-17 and set up the fourth-quarter action.
Sophomore linebacker Trent Mackey led the Green Wave defense with 10 tackles (2 solo, 8 assists) to mark his sixth double-digit tackle contest in seven games so far this season. Sophomore corner Ryan Travis was next with nine stops while Wacha, Moses, Jacks, sophomore free safety Shakiel Smith and sophomore weak-side linebacker Darryl Farley each had seven.
Senior defensive tackle Justin Adams had 2.0 of Tulane's four tackles for loss against the Miners, including a sack of Vittatoe for a four-yard loss. The sack was his sixth of the year to put him in 10th-place tie in the Green Wave record book for sacks in a season.
Buckram led the UTEP ground game with 81 yards on 10 carries, and Vittatoe completed 10-of-21 passes for 102 yards, one touchdown and the two interceptions. McClure hauled in a team-best four passes and tied Evan Davis with 32 receiving yards. Four Miner defenders posted double-digit tackle outings, including a game-high 14-tackle performance by Wiston Jeune.
The Green Wave returns to action Saturday, Oct. 30, when they face SMU at 2:30 p.m. in the Louisiana Superdome. The contest against the Mustangs is the first of four straight home games for Tulane as the Wave will play Southern Miss, Rice, UCF at home before closing out the regular season on Nov. 27 at Marshall. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE. Tickets can be purchase in the Ticket Office, which is located on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center, over the phone or online at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.
