Tulane University
Southern Miss
Football Falls To C-USA Rival Southern Miss, 46-30
Nov 6, 2010 | Football
Nov. 6, 2010
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
Tulane/Southern Miss Game Book in PDF Format 
NEW ORLEANS - Freshman running back Orleans Darkwa posted his third consecutive 100-yard rushing effort, but it was not enough as the Tulane University football team dropped a 46-30 decision to Conference USA rival Southern Miss Saturday afternoon in the Louisiana Superdome.
The Golden Eagles broke a 30-all tie when Quentin Pierce took a lateral pass and found Johdrick Morris for a 26-yard touchdown strike. The Southern Miss defense held Tulane to 72 yards and no points in the fourth quarter while getting on the scoreboard twice courtesy of a safety and a 41-yard fumble return by Alex Walters to account for the final score.
With the loss, Tulane falls to 3-6 on the year and 1-4 in C-USA play. Southern Miss, meanwhile, improves to 6-3 overall and 3-2 in league action. The win was the Golden Eagles' sixth straight win over the Green Wave dating back to 2003.
"It's called learning how to win and players making plays," Tulane head football coach Bob Toledo said. "That's the name of the game - players make plays. Their players made some plays and our guys didn't.
"(When) you lose, you lose. But we're losing closer now. It's getting to that point where we're still losing some games but we just played a team that should be 7-1. They lost by one point to two teams. They should be 8-1 right now. That's a great football team, with a lot of talent, and we played them toe to toe for the most part."
Special teams played a major role in the ballgame as Southern Miss averaged 27.3 yards on seven kickoff returns - including an 85-yarder by Reggie Hunt - and Golden Eagles' place kicker Danny Hrapmann connected on field goals of 33, 3 4 and 49 yards. Tulane, meanwhile, muffed a pair of punts - including one right before the end of the first half which led to a Southern Miss touchdown - averaged just 32.0 net yards per punt and 24.7 net yards per kickoff, missed a PAT and gave up an on-side kick.
As a result, the Golden Eagles had just one scoring drive of more than 45 yards and scored a pair of touchdowns on two drives which netted just eight yards on five plays.
"The biggest thing is that our special teams were disastrous," Toledo said. "I can't think of another word except for that we were disastrous. It was such a poor performance on so many peoples' part, special teams wise. That kind of did us in, in itself."
Darkwa, meanwhile, ran for 138 yards and two touchdowns on 27 carries. Combined with his 114-yard effort two weeks ago at UTEP and his 193 rushing yards last weekend against SMU, Darka becomes the first player to post three straight 100-yard games since André Anderson surpassed the century mark in four consecutive games in 2008. Darkwa is also the first Tulane freshman running back to post three straight 100-yard contests since Mewelde Moore did so in 2000.
Southern Miss opened the game with back-to-back Hrapmann field goals as the Golden Eagles' kicker hit a 33 yarder on the game's opening drive and connected from 49 yards out with 8:03 to go in the first half to stake the visiting club to a 6-0 advantage.
Following a Green Wave punt, the Tulane defense came up big with a turnover as sophomore linebacker Trent Mackey dislodged the ball from Southern Miss running back Kendrick Harvey which sophomore free safety Shakiel Smith recovered at the Golden Eagles' 36-yard line. Two plays later, sophomore quarterback Ryan Griffin connected with fellow second-year man D.J. Banks for a 24-yard touchdown strike to stake the Green Wave to a 7-6 advantage.
On the ensuing kickoff, Hunt broke free for an 85-yard return to the Tulane four and Hardy punched it in from one yard out three players later to put Southern Miss back on top, 13-7.
The Green Wave reclaimed momentum of the ballgame with an eight-play, 78-yard drive which culminated with a four-yard Darkwa touchdown run. Cairo Santo's point-after try was no good, but Tulane had a chance to pad its lead late in the first half as the defense held Southern Miss to a three-and-out on the next drive.
Banks, however, mishandled Peter Boehme's punt at the four-yard line and Chico Hunter recovered to swing momentum back to Southern Miss. Two plays later, Austin Davis found tight end Jonathan Massey in the endzone from one yard out to tie the ballgame with 22 second left to play in the second quarter.
Tulane started the second half off on a positive note as the Green Wave took the kickoff and drove 75 yards on 11 plays when Darkwa found paydirt from six yards out to make it a 27-20 contest. Southern Miss responded with a 60-yard touchdown run by Tracy Lampley to re-tie the game, but Tulane came right back with a 10-play, 68-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard Santos field goal to give the Green Wave a 30-27 advantage with 5:57 left to play in the third quarter.
That would be the Wave's final points of the day, however, and Southern Miss tied the game just over four minutes later on Hrapmann's final boot of the contest. Pierce's pass to Morris put the Golden Eagles on top for good with 12:35 left to play for Southern Miss' final offensive points of the day before the defense accounted for the final nine-spot.
The two teams traded punts over the next five possessions, and Southern Miss pinned Tulane at their own 14-yard line on a 52-yard boot by Boehme. As Griffin dropped back to pass on first down, he was hit by Cordarro Law and the ball squirted out the back of the endzone for a safety. Two drives later, Griffin hit sophomore Devin Figaro for a nine-yard gain, but Walters ripped the ball from his grasp and raced 41-yards down the left sideline to provide the winning margin.
"We're still missing a few pieces to the puzzle, that's called recruiting," Toledo said. "You can only get so many guys at a time. It's just taking us time. We were so far down when I started, and we've progressed steadily. We just haven't turned the corner yet. It's a little better; it's having a few more players. We need more guys who can score touchdowns; we need more guys who can makes plays. We didn't make a bunch of plays tonight."
Griffin completed 21-of-37 passes for 242 yards and two touchdowns, and Banks led the Green Wave receiving corps with seven grabs for 65 yards. Smith and sophomore defensive end Austen Jacks tied for team-high tackle honors with 11 apiece, while Mackey was next with 10.
Southern Miss ran for 230 yards and two touchdowns in the ballgame and were led by Lampley's 65-yard effort on two carries. Hardy had a team-best 14 carries and finished second to Lampley with 63 yards. Davis completed 18-of-35 passes for 102 yards and a score while Pierce and Bolden each had four catches for 29 and 39 yards, respectively. Jamile Collins led the Golden Eagle defense with nine tackles.
Tulane returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 13, when the Green Wave play host to Rice at 2:30 p.m. in the Louisiana Superdome. The contest against the Owls is the third of four straight home contests for Tulane as the Wave will face UCF on Nov. 20 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.
