Football Falls In Homecoming Contest To Memphis, 38-17

Saturday, November 15

Yulman Stadium

2:30 PM

Tulane University

3-7 , 2-4

Memphis (Homecoming)

7-3 , 5-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Memphis

Tulane Green Wave

Football Falls In Homecoming Contest To Memphis, 38-17

Nov 15, 2014 | Football

Box Score

Nov. 15, 2014

Final Stats | Quotes | Notes | Photo Gallery

Tulane/Memphis Game Book In PDF Format

NEW ORLEANS - The Green Wave defense posted a season-high 12 tackles for loss, recovered a pair of fumbles and held its opponent to a 2-of-14 effort on third down, but it was not enough as the Tulane University football dropped a 38-7 decision to American Athletic Conference foe Memphis in a Homecoming contest on Saturday afternoon at Yulman Stadium.

Tulane's offense committed a season-high tying five turnovers, and the Tigers (7-3, 5-1 American) turned the Green Wave (3-7, 2-4) giveaways into 21 points as both Bobby McClain and Dontrel Nelson returned interceptions for touchdowns while Memphis followed up a third-quarter fumble with a 50-yard touchdown drive which Mose Frazier capped with a 38-yard touchdown reception from Paxton Lynch.

"As you all saw today, this was a very tough day for us, especially offensively," Tulane head coach Curtis Johnson said. "As good as we played last week, we did not do anything resembling that today. Our kids, and especially our quarterback did not learn from their early mistakes today. Our defense did a great job of keeping us in the game all night long, but our quarterback did not play well at all today. I still love him, and I just told him that the sun is going to come up tomorrow."

Sophomore nose tackle Tanzel Smart led the Green Wave defense with 2.0 sacks among 3.0 tackles for loss and both sophomore linebacker Edward Williams and junior defensive end Royce LaFrance added 2.0 tackles for loss each. LaFrance had a sack among his tackles behind the line of scrimmage and forced both of Memphis' fumbles, and redshirt-freshman cornerback Parry Nickerson tied a season-high with seven tackles for the second consecutive week to go with a career-best two pass break-ups.

On offense, redshirt-freshman Tanner Lee finished the day completing 26-of-48 passes for 196 yards but was picked off three times and averaged just 4.1 yards per pass attempt. Lee did, however, become the most prolific rookie passer in Green Wave history as his 114 completion, 260 pass attempts and 1,552 passing yards moved him ahead of Ryan Griffin's marks from 2009.

The Green Wave actually out-gained Memphis in total offense, 351-334, but the offense was held to just 199 yards through the first three quarters. Sophomore Lazedrick Thompson led the running game with 70 yards on 12 carries and freshman Dontrell Hilliard accounted for the team's lone score with a 19-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter while finishing with 65 yards on 15 totes. Hilliard and fellow freshman Teddy Veal led the aerial assault with six catches each, and rookie wideout Terren Encalade had a team-best 49 receiving yards on four grabs.

Turnovers proved costly early on as Lee was picked off by McClain on the Green Wave's second offensive play from scrimmage and returned it 15 yards for the score to give Memphis a 7-0 lead they would not relinquish. Neither team could get much going the rest of the first half, and a 22-yard field goal by the Tigers' Jake Elliott with 5:11 to play in the second quarter accounted for the only other points of the opening 30 minutes.

After punting on their first possession of the second half, the Green Wave marched to midfield the next time they had the ball before Ryan Coleman ripped the ball away and gave Memphis a first-and-10 opportunity at the 50 yard line. Four plays later, Lynch found Frazier on a deep corner route to extend the Tigers' lead to 17-0. Nelson's pick-six made it 24-10 with 2:56 to play in the third quarter and Lynch plunged in from four yards out on a quarterback keeper 2:52 later staked Memphis to a 31-0 advantage.

Tulane avoided the shutout late in the fourth quarter as the Green Wave marched 91 yards on 11 plays and Hilliard reached paydirt with 1:55 left to play. Memphis responded with a three-play, 47-yard drive which Robert Davis capped with a two-yard scoring run to account for the final score.

"We want to play tough teams now, because we know now that we are playing the best of the best," Johnson added. "We have not talked about bowl games all year. We have just talked about improving. This team knows we have the skills to hang with any team out there. Five turnovers equals 35 points for them, and if we can eliminate that, we can play with all of those teams."

Davis and Brandon Hayes shared team-high rushing honors for Memphis with 47 yards each, and Lunch finished with 178 yards on 14-of-25 passing to go with 26 rushing yards on eight carries. Frazier paced the receiving corps with five catches for 59 yards and the duo of McCain and Fritz Etienne headlined the defense with seven stops apiece.

Tulane returns to action on Saturday, Nov. 22, when they head to Greenville, N.C., to take on East Carolina before closing out the 2014 season on Dec. 6 against Temple in Yulman Stadium. For tickets to that game, as well as future Green Wave events, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE (9283). The Tulane Ticket Office is located on the first floor of the James W. Wilson, Jr. Center and is open weekdays from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tickets can also be purchased on-line at the official website of Tulane Athletics - www.TulaneGreenWave.com.