Tulane University
Army (Homecoming)
Football Drops Homecoming Contest To Army, 41-23
Oct 9, 2010 | Football
Oct. 9, 2010
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NEW ORLEANS - Sophomore linebacker Trent Mackey had a career-high 17 tackles and senior wide receiver Casey Robottom posted the first multiple-touchdown outing of his career, but it was not enough as the Tulane University football team fell to Army, 41-23, in its homecoming contest Saturday afternoon at the Louisiana Superdome.
The Black Knights ran for 312 yards and four touchdowns on 62 carries (5.0 avg.) and forced three Green Wave turnovers during a second quarter that saw Army outscore Tulane 17-0. With the loss, Tulane fell to 2-3 on the year. Army, meanwhile, improved to 4-2.
"Needless to say, we've got a disappointed locker room right now and rightfully so," Tulane head football coach Bob Toledo said. "You've got to give credit to Army. They're a very good football team. They made one mistake - they fumbled the ball and we capitalized on it - but we turned the ball over three times in about a seven-minute stretch, and that was basically the game. We gave them too many opportunities and then there's the kicking game.
"We fumbled two kick-offs. So, we kicked off, they run it to the 50. We on-side kick, they run it to the eight. We didn't perform well in the kicking game. We didn't run the ball very well. They had the ball almost 36 minutes, but snap wise, we had 64 snaps to their 67. So, we had enough opportunities. We threw the ball well. We didn't run the ball well at all and the turnovers were the name of the game today."
Mackey's tackle total was the most by a Tulane player since Adrian Mitchell had 17 stops at Navy on Nov. 10, 2001. Robottom, meanwhile, extended his streak of consecutive multiple-catch games to 14 with six receptions for 63 yards. In addition, Robottom caught a two-point conversion pass from sophomore quarterback Ryan Griffin to score the Green Wave's first two-point PAT since Matt Forté scored a deuce on a rushing attempt against Tulsa on Nov. 3, 2007.
Tulane fell behind 7-0 as Army fullback Jared Hassin scored from nine yards out on the Black Knights' first possession, but the Green Wave tied the game with some help from their defense. Junior defensive end Dezman Moses stripped Army quarterback Trent Steelman of the ball, which freshman linebacker Dominique Robertson recovered to give Tulane the ball at the Knights' 27-yard line. After punting on their first two possessions, the Green Wave offense took advantage of the short field and tied the game at 7-all when sophomore quarterback Ryan Griffin connected with Robottom for a six-yard touchdown.
The next three times the Green Wave touched the ball, however, it was with disastrous results as junior wide receiver Joe Kemp fumbled on the next possession and return specialists Jordan Sullen and Wilson Van Hooser both coughed the ball up on consecutive kickoffs.
Army turned the three turnovers into 10 points as Steelman hooked up with Davyd Brooks for an eight-yard touchdown pass and Alex Carlton connected on a 35-yard field goal attempt. Tulane dodged a bullet following its third fumble as Carlton's 40-yard try was off the mark, but a one-yard Steelman plunge with 1:59 left to play in the first half capped a five-play, 66-yard drive and gave the Black Knights a 17-point advantage heading into the break.
Tulane appeared to catch a break on the opening drive of the second half when Mackey stripped Hassin of the ball to give the Green Wave the ball. An Army challenge overturned the call and the Black Knights stretched the lead to 24 when Hassin hit paydirt from seven yards away 15 plays later.
A five-yard touchdown pass from Griffin to sophomore wideout D.J. Banks and Robottom's conversion catch cut the deficit to 16 early in the fourth quarter, but Army's Josh Jackson returned the ensuing kickoff 42 yards to the Green Wave 49 and Hassin scored his second touchdown of the afternoon eight plays later to make it a 34-15 contest. The two teams traded punts and Tulane made things interesting when Griffin hit Robottom for a second scoring strike and freshman running back Orleans Darkwa scored the two-point conversion on a toss sweep to the right to make it a 34-23 ballgame.
Tulane's on-side kick attempt, however, was plucked from the air by Donaovan Travis, who returned it 31 yards to the Green Wave eight. From there, Brian Cobbs put the finishing touches on the contest with a six-yard touchdown run with 50 second left in regulation.
"You make or break yourself, and we broke ourselves tonight," Toledo said. "We have no one to blame but ourselves. Again, we've got to stop from losing before we can win a football game and we obviously lost it because we gave them the ball."
Robottom was one of eight Tulane players to catch a pass against Army and Kemp tied Robottom for team-high reception honors with six and tallied a career-best 57 yards through the air. Sophomore Payten Jason, who started his first career game at running back, led the Wave with 38 yards on 10 carries, and Griffin completed 20-of-34 passes for a season-best 211 yards and a career-high tying three touchdowns.
Mackey was one of two Green Wave student-athletes to post double-digit tackle totals as Robertson was second on the club with a career-best 10 stops (4 solo, 6 assists). Sophomore defensive end Austen Jacks accounted for half of Tualne's four tackles for loss.
Hassin led all players with 144 yards and two scores on 25 carries, and Steelman accounted for 116 yards of total offense with 85 rushing yards and 31 passing yards. Steelman threw just five passes but completed three for 31 yards. Antuan Aaron paced the Black Knights with seven tackles (5 solo, 2 assists), and Josh McNary mixed in a pair of sacks among his six tackles for the day.
The Green Wave return to action on Saturday, Oct. 16, when they travel to Oklahoma to take on Conference USA foe Tulsa at 6 p.m. The contest against the Golden Hurricane is the first of two straight road games for Tulane, which will battle UTEP on Oct. 23 in El Paso, Texas. The Green Wave's next home game is slated for Saturday, Oct. 30, when they face SMU at 2:30 p.m. in the Louisiana Superdome
For ticket information to that game, as well as future Green Wave Athletic events, 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.
