Postgame Notes Tulane vs. Duke
Sep 4, 2015 | Football
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NOTES FOLLOWING TULANE FOOTBALL'S 37-7 LOSS TO DUKE
Duke 37, Tulane 7
Tulane Game 1
Yulman Stadium
New Orleans, La.
• Thursday's game marked the fifth meeting between Tulane and Duke on the gridiron and the first time the two teams played in New Orleans since Nov. 28, 1964 in old Tulane Stadium. With the loss, Tulane falls to 2-3 in the all-time series and 1-1 in head-to-head matchups in The Crescent City.
• The Green Wave defense recorded a pair of turnovers against the Blue Devils -- both via fumble recovery -- to mark the 36th time in 38 games under head coach Curtis Johnson that Tulane forced at least one turnover. In the "CJ" era, Tulane now tallied 89 total turnovers, including 38 fumble recoveries.
• Senior SS Darion Monroe's fumble recovery with 7:42 to go in the third quarter was the seventh of his career, which ties the school record established by Jay Rink from 1987-90. Rink, who died from complications of ALS on June 6, was honored prior to Saturday's game.
• With 10 punts for 366 yards, senior punter Peter Picerelli moves into second place in Tulane history in career punts (229) and remains third in the Green Wave annals in punt yardage (9,154). He moved ahead of Chris Beckman (222 punts from 2003-06) in total punts and is 20 boots behind Chip Clark's career mark of 249 from 1990-93.
• Junior LB Nico Marley led the Green Wave defense with a career-high 15 tackles (13 solo, 2 assists). It was the fifth time he tallied double-digit tackle totals and his previous high-water mark for stops was 12 (4 solo, 8 assists) at Duke on Sept. 20, 2014.
• Marley was one of three Tulane players to post double-figure tackle performances against Duke as junior CB Richard Allen and redshirt-sophomore NB Jarrod Franklin had 10 each (8 solo, 2 assists).
• Allen also added three pass break-ups, becoming the first Tulane defender to bat away three passes in a game since Jordan Sullen did so against East Carolina on Oct. 12, 2013, in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
• Redshirt-sophomore quarterback Tanner Lee's 76-yard touchdown pass to redshirt-junior WR Devon Breaux was the longest play of both student-athletes' careers and is tied for the 16th-longest pass play in Tulane history. The last time the Green Wave posted a play of at least 76 yards was on Oct. 13, 2012, when Ryan Griffin hit Marc Edwards for a 79-yard touchdown against SMU in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
• Breaux finished the day with career highs in both receptions (4) and receiving yards (92). His effort against the Blue Devils marked the first multiple-catch outing of his career.
• Lee was 24-of-42 passing for 246 yards, one touchdown and an interception. His passing yardage was the second-highest of his career, behind the 262 Lee had at Tulsa on Aug. 28, 2014, and his completion total was tied for the fourth-most of his career.
• Duke's DeVon Edwards' 95-yard kickoff return for score 10:32 left to play in regulation was the first allowed by Tulane since Nick Adams of UAB had a 92-yard return on Sept. 17, 2011, in Birmingham's Legion Field.
• Nine Tulane players extended their double-digit scoring streaks on Thursday against Duke: SS Darion Monroe (38), OT Arturo Uzdavinis (26), LB Nico Marley (15), C Nathan Shienle (15), OG Chris Taylor (15), OG Colton Hanson (13), DT Tanzel Smart (13), DE Royce LaFrance (12) and CB Parry Nickerson (12).
• Three Green Wave players earned the first starts of their respective careers as redshirt-sophomore Richard Allen opened the game at one of the cornerback spots, redshirt-sophomore Ade Aruna began the game at defensive end and redshirt-freshman Donnie Lewis, Jr., started at free safety.
• The start was Lewis' first collegiate appearance, and the redshirt-freshman was one of 12 Tulane players to make their collegiate debuts against the Blue Devils. Lewis was joined by fellow redshirt-freshmen TE Kendall Ardoin, center Junior Diaz, OT Devon Johnson, LB Robert Kennedy, OT John Leglue, CB Stephon Lofton and DE Luke Jackson, along with true freshmen DB Malik Eugene, WR Ricky Preston, CB Taris Shenall and DB Roderic Teamer.
• The Green Wave welcomed back five familiar faces to the field on Thursday against Duke as sophomore NB Jarrod Franklin, junior RB Josh Rounds, senior RB Rob Kelley, junior OT Todd Jacquet and junior DT Calvin Thomas each redshirted during the 2014 campaign. Of the five student-athletes to return after a year away from the gridiron, three earned starting nods against the Blue Devils: Franklin, Kelley and Jacquet.
• Tulane's game captains for Thursday's contest against Duke were redshirt-senior OT Arturo Uzdavinis representing the offense, senior SS Darion Monroe representing the defense and senior P Peter Picerelli representing the special teams.
Duke Notes
Duke Individual Notes
• Redshirt junior quarterback Thomas Sirk made his first career start and became the seventh modern era Duke quarterback to complete 20 or more passes (27) in his first career start.
• Sirk's 27 completions are tied for the third most by a modern era Duke quarterback in his first career start.
• He entered the game with 10 career completions in 12 games, 0.83 completions per game.
• Sirk also became the 10th Duke modern era quarterback to throw for 200 or more yards in his first career start (289).
• His 289 yards are tied for the fifth most by a Blue Devil quarterback in the modern era in his first start.
• Sirk won his first career start.
• Of the 11 Duke quarterbacks to start their first career game since 2000, Sirk joins Adam Smith (2002/East Carolina), Mike Schneider (2003/Western Carolina), Chris Dapolito (2003/North Carolina), Sean Renfree (2010/Elon) and Anthony Boone (2012/Virginia) as the six to win.
• Sirk is the first Duke quarterback to win his initial career road start since Dapolito led the Blue Devils to a 30-22 victory at North Carolina on November 22, 2003.
• Sirk rushed for 68 yards. In two career games against the Green Wave, he has tallied 162 rushing yards, 81.0 yards per contest, and one rushing touchdown.
• Junior wide receiver Johnell Barnes caught a career-high 11 passes for a personal-best 109 yards.
• In Barnes' last four games he has made 19 catches for 266 yards. In the first 10 games of 2014 he caught only 15 passes for 80 yards.
• Barnes added his second career touchdown, and second in as many games as his first was in the 2014 Hyundai Sun Bowl.
• Freshman wide receiver T.J. Rahming made his first career start. He became Duke's first true freshman wide receiver to start since Brandon Braxton started five games as a true freshman in 2010.
• Rahming is the first true freshman to start a season opener since Johnny Williams started at wide receiver against James Madison August 30, 2008. That contest was head coach David Cutcliffe's first game at Duke.
• Senior tight end Braxton Deaver returned to the field for his sixth season after missing 2014 due to knee surgery to repair a torn right ACL.
• Deaver caught one pass for 14 yards.
• Redshirt junior kickoff returner DeVon Edwards returned a kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown in the third quarter.
• The runback was Edwards' fourth career kickoff return for a score, the most in Duke history.
• Edwards broke a tie with Randy Jones (1987-90) for the most in program history.
• In the last four games, Edwards has tallied 376 kickoff return yards, 94.00 yards per game.
• Sophomore linebacker Zavier Carmichael made his third career interception in the third quarter.
• Two of the picks have been against Tulane.
• Two of his interceptions have also been in road games.
• Redshirt senior safety Jeremy Cash, a preseason All-America selection, tallied five tackles to bring his career total to 240. He is looking to become the 16th player in Duke history to reach the 300-tackle mark.
• Cash booked 1.0 tackle for lost yardage. In his last five games, Cash has tallied 6.5 TFL.
• Sophomore cornerback Alonzo Saxton II made his first career start in place of the injured Bryon Fields and booked a career second-best three tackles.
• Senior kicker Ross Martin, the Duke career points record holder, made three field goals to give him 55 in his career tied with Sims Lenhardt (1996-99) for the Duke record.
• Martin converted four PATs and has made 114 consecutive, extending his school record.
• Martin has kicked 158 career extra points, the eighth most in ACC history.
• Martin has scored at least one point in 40 straight games.
• Martin increased his career point total to 323, tied for the 10th most in ACC history.
• Junior wide receiver/punt returner Ryan Smith returned two punts for 29 yards. Smith entered the year with two career punt returns for 45 yards.
Duke Team Notes
• With the win, Duke claimed its season opener for the fifth straight campaign, a first for the program since 1984-88.
• The Blue Devils have won five or more consecutive season openers only four times in program history.
• In its last four season openers, Duke has outscored its opponents 180-46, an average of 45-12 per game.
• Duke is now 6-2 in season openers under head coach David Cutcliffe.
• The Blue Devils won a road season opener for the first time since a 31-21 win at Northwestern on Sept. 3, 1988.
• Duke's last season opener on the road was a 24-21 setback at East Carolina in 2005.
• The Blue Devils had gone 0-8-1 in their last nine season openers on the road.
• Duke has gone 14-1 in regular season nonconference games against non-Power 5 programs during the last four-plus seasons.
• The lone loss was a 23-21 setback to Richmond on Sept. 3, 2011.
• Cutcliffe has guided the Blue Devils to 10 straight regular season non-conference victories, the longest streak in Duke history.
• Duke is 10-1 in its last 11 true road games, only falling 22-10 at Miami on Sept. 27, 2014.
• The Blue Devils improved to 7-6-1 in regular season Thursday night contests.
• Duke has gone 18-3 (.857 winning percentage) in its last 21 regular season games.
• Duke has claimed 26 wins in its last 40 games. From 2003-11, a span of 106 games, Duke tallied 25 wins.
• The victory gives members of the senior class 26 in their careers. A victory next week and the group would tie for the 16th winningest in program history, tied with the 2014 senior class.
• Duke limited Tulane to 25 rushing yards, the fewest by a Blue Devil club under Cutcliffe.
• The previous low was 55 rushing yards by Tulane on September 24, 2011.
• Duke held Tulane to seven points.
• In their last three season openers, the Blue Devils have surrendered just 20 total points.
• A year ago, Duke surrendered 16.4 points per nonconference game, the 12th best mark in the country.
• Duke kept Tulane under 20 points. Last season, Duke held seven foes to fewer than 20 points, the most in a year since keeping eight under 20 points in 1974.
• Duke allowed one touchdown pass. In the last five games, the Blue Devils have surrendered 10 TD tosses. In the first nine games of 2014, Duke gave up just five touchdown passes.
• Duke intercepted a pass in the third quarter, its first pick since Breon Borders' third quarter interception against Virginia Tech on November 15, 2014.
• Tulane was held to eight punt return yards. Last year, Duke surrendered just 33 punt returns all year.
• The Blue Devils' offensive line surrendered zero sacks. A year ago, the unit was tied for the eighth best mark in the nation, allowing just 1.00 sacks per game.
• Duke threw two touchdown passes. In the last two season openers, the Blue Devils have thrown six TD passes.
• The Blue Devils tallied 206 rushing yards. In Duke's last five regular season nonconference games, the team has rushed for 1,250 yards, an average of 250.0 per contest.
• Duke's starting lineup featured nine first-time starters in: junior WR Johnell Barnes, redshirt sophomore Gabe Bradner, redshirt junior Tanner Stone, freshman wide receiver T.J. Rahming, redshirt junior quarterback Thomas Sirk, redshirt junior defensive tackle A.J. Wolf, redshirt senior defensive end Britton Grier, sophomore linebacker Zavier Carmichael and sophomore cornerback AlonzoSaxton II.
• Making their Duke debuts were: true freshmen Rahming, cornerback Jeremy McDuffie, defensive tackle Brandon Boyce, defensive end Marquies Price, linebacker Ben Humphreys and redshirt freshmen: linebacker Tinashe Bere, cornerback Johnathan Lloyd, running back Nicodem Pierre, defensive tackle Quaven Fereguson, defensive tackle Edgar Cerenord, center Zach Harmon and wide receiver Chris Taylor.
