Tulane University
UCF
UCF Spoils Senior Day, 61-14
Nov 20, 2010 | Football
Nov. 20, 2010
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NEW ORLEANS - Orleans Darkwa rushed for his ninth touchdown of the season and topped the 100-yard mark in the rushing column for the fifth straight game, but the Tulane football team dropped a 61-14 decision to UCF on Saturday (Nov. 20) inside the Louisiana Superdome. It was the final home game for 17 seniors, but the Knights scored on the first and last play of the game to claim the Conference USA contest.
"First of all let me say that we had to overcome an insurmountable lead," said Tulane head coach Bob Toledo. "We dug ourselves into a horrible hole. I thought we may have had our kick-off situation solved but after we kicked off the first time I saw that we obviously haven't had that corrected. We just spotted them way too many points. One thing I thought is that our kids tried to battle back, and scored a couple touchdowns, had a 99 yard drive, we came out the second part of that drive. We tried to compete but we played against a very good football team.
The Knights took control of the game with a 31-point opening quarter, which started when Quincy McDuffie took the opening kickoff 95-yards for a touchdown, and eventually led 38-0 before the Green Wave would close the half with a pair of scores. McDuffie had the kickoff return and a receiving touchdown for the Knights, while Nick Cattoi kicked a 35-yard field goal. The scoring was capped by off by a pair of rushing touchdowns from Ronnie Weaver and Latavius Murray. The TD runs went for 29 and 46-yards, respectively.
A 60-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Godfrey to Kamar Aiken opened the second quarter scoring, but Orleans Darkwa put the Green Wave on the scoreboard with nine minutes remaining the half. The freshman is now within one touchdown of the freshman rushing touchdown record when he scored from three yards out for his ninth rushing score of the season.
Senior Kevin Moore, who was playing in the final home game of his Tulane career, capped the first half scoring when he scampered from six-yards out for a touchdown run with nine seconds left on the clock. It was the first rushing touchdown of his career and made it 38-14 in favor of UCF heading to the locker room.
"We got into a hole and it felt like quick sand," said senior quarterback Kevin Moore. "The harder we fought the worse it got. It is always a privilege to play college football, but today was a tough one. I felt like we battled well in the second quarter and then we started off the third quarter with a good drive. If we score there that would have made it 38-21 and who knows from there, but they stopped us. They are a good team, they deserve the top 25 ranking that they had and they will be tough to beat the rest of the year."
The first half offensive numbers were close, with UCF holding a 239-193 yard edge, and the Green Wave held the Knights without a conversion on third-down (0-3).
UCF would account for all of the second half scoring, with Godfrey posting a pair of one-yard rushing scores, Cattoi kicking a 47-yard field goal and Jordan Ozerities posting a 100-yard interception return for a touchdown on the final play of the game.
It was the first start for Moore since Nov. 29, 2008 and he compiled 156 passing yards and was 15-of-34 throwing the football. He also rushed seven times for 19 yards and a touchdown, while not being sacked in the game. Ryan Grant and Cody Sparks each caught four passes to pace the receiving corps, with Grant accounting for 63 of the teams 192 receiving yards. Darkwa had 129 rushing yards, with a long of 28, and scored a touchdown in the loss.
Tulane falls to 4-7 overall, including a 2-5 mark in Conference USA play, and will close out the regular season with a trip to Marshall next weekend. The Green Wave and Thundering Herd will square off on Saturday, November 27 at 11:00 a.m. Central time, with the game airing on CBS College Sports.
--TulaneGreenWave.com--
--TulaneGreenWave.com--
