Football Falters in 50-27 Loss at Tulsa

Saturday, October 22

Tulsa, Okla.

2:45 p.m. CT

Tulane University

3-4 , 0-3

Tulsa*

5-2 , 2-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Tulane

Tulsa

Photo by: Parker Waters

Oct 22, 2016 | Football

Box Score

Hilliard and Rounds combine for 290 rushing yards

Photo Gallery | Printable Stats

TULSA, Okla. – Tulane football hit a major road bump on Saturday in Tulsa, falling to the Golden Hurricane, 50-27. The Green Wave were susceptible to the big play all afternoon, as Tulsa recorded 30+ yard plays on all but two of its scoring drives.

Despite the defeat, running backs Dontrell Hilliard and Josh Rounds each recorded career days. Hilliard notched his fourth multi-touchdown game of his career, garnering a career best 124 yards on the ground. Meanwhile, Rounds earned a career best 166 yards, including a career long 84-yard carry. Round's day marked the first 150+ yard rushing performance since Sherman Badie's 215 yards at Tulsa two years ago.

"Congratulations to Tulsa, who did a great job and got after us," Tulane head coach Willie Fritz said. "Very impressed with how they ran the football effectively against us. We haven't had anyone run the ball on us like that this season, even Navy. We made some mistakes. I'm tired of saying it but it's true. Where we're at with our roster right now, we've got to play really clean football and we've got to play really smart football. We've been close to doing that at times but we've made some mistakes. We started running the ball effectively against them kind of when the game was out of hand – that happens sometimes – but I was happy seeing us be able to run the ball with some effectiveness in the second half. We just have to rally the troops and find a way to play better. We've got to find a way to manufacture depth."

After the Golden Hurricane (5-2, 2-1 American Athletic Conference | West) struck on their first possession, Tulane (3-4, 0-3 The American | West) quickly retaliated via Hilliard, who exploded on the ensuing drive, carrying the ball four times for 51 yards, including one run of 31 yards.

Tulsa then responded by recording 31 unanswered points, accumulating 323 yards by halftime, before ultimately finishing with 566 total yards on the game.

The Green Wave's offense began to churn late in the second half but by then it was too little, too late. Rounds, Hilliard and Lazedrick Thompson combined for 70 yards on the ground on the Wave's third quarter nine-play scoring drive which was capped by a Thompson five-yard touchdown run. Then, just a few minutes later, Tulane's Robert Kennedy recovered a Tulsa fumble, which led to a 30-yard touchdown carry by Hilliard.

The Golden Hurricane tacked on 12 more points before Rounds rounded out the Green Wave's scoring with a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, bringing the final score to 50-27.

Up next, Tulane returns to New Orleans to host SMU for its homecoming game, set for Saturday, Oct. 29. The contest will air live on ESPNews at 3 p.m. CT.

Green Wave Notes
• This marked the 13th meeting between Tulane and Tulsa. The Golden Hurricane lead the series 11-2. Tulane is now 0-6 against Tulsa at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

• Tulsa's 50 points marked the most scored against the Green Wave since Georgia Tech scored 65 in Atlanta on Sept. 12, 2015.

• The Golden Hurricane's 566 total yards was the most against the Green Wave since SMU tallied 518 on Nov. 21, 2015.

• Junior RB Dontrell Hilliard scored his sixth and seventh touchdowns of the season, and 15th and 16th of his career. It marked his fourth career multi-touchdown game. Hilliard rushed for a career high 124 yards, averaging 10.3 yards per carry, topping his previous high of 123 set against Cincinnati on Oct. 31, 2014.

• Redshirt senior RB Josh Rounds ran for a career-high 166 yards on 15 carries, averaging 11.1 yards per carry. Rounds' 166 rushing yards was the first time a Green Wave player carried the ball over 150 yards since Sherman Badie recorded 215 rushing yards at Tulsa on Aug. 28, 2014. His fourth quarter touchdown marked his fifth rushing touchdown of the season and sixth of his career.

• The performance between Hilliard and Rounds marked the second game this season the Green Wave had two players with 100+ rushing yards – previously achieved vs Southern on Sept. 10.

• Redshirt senior Lazedrick Thompson recorded a season long 41-yard carry in the third quarter, topping his previous high of 36 yards. Thompson finished with 66 yards on seven RB .Thompson's third quarter touchdown carry was his fourth of the season and ninth of his career.

• Tulane had three running backs (Hilliard, Rounds and Thompson) rush for touchdowns for the third time this season, last achieved at UMass on Oct. 1.

• Junior LB Rae Juan Marbley bested his previous high of six tackles with a career best 11 tackles this afternoon, of which nine occurred in the first half.

• Redshirt sophomore DE Robert Kennedy finished with a career best 10 tackles.

• Sophomore P Zachary Block's first four punts of the game went 58, 53, 56, and 50 yards. Block finished with an average of 45.7 yards on seven punts.

• Freshman WR Darnell Mooney and redshirt sophomore WR Terren Encalade each recorded a reception in today' game. The duo now have receptions in four straight games.

• Senior NB Richard Allen earned his second fumble recovery of the season and third of his career after a Tulsa muffed punt in the opening minutes of the third quarter.

• Tulsa blocked a 41-yard field goal attempt by junior PK Andrew DiRocco to end the first half. It marked the first blocked field goal against Tulane since SMU in Dallas on Nov. 21, 2015.

• Redshirt senior WR Larry Dace grabbed his first reception since the season opener at Wake Forest on Sept. 1.

• Six Tulane players extended their double-digit starting streaks on Friday against Memphis: OG Chris Taylor (34), LB Nico Marley (32), DT Tanzel Smart (31), CB Parry Nickerson (28), FS Jarrod Franklin (19), OT Todd Jacquet (19).

• Game captains were Allen, Marbley, redshirt senior WR Devon Breaux and redshirt sophomore QB Glen Cuiellette.