Tulane University
3-5 , 0-4
SMU* (Homecoming)
4-4 , 2-2
Football Falls 35-31 in Back-And-Forth Battle with SMU
Oct 29, 2016 | Football
Green Wave possessed a 31-21 lead in fourth quarter
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Postgame News Conference
NEW ORLEANS – It was a tale of two halves for Tulane football in its homecoming contest against SMU on Saturday afternoon inside Yulman Stadium.
After the Green Wave obtained just 80 yards in the first half, Tulane then surged for 311 yards in the second half, garnering a 31-21 lead just minutes into the fourth quarter. However, the Mustangs retaliated with two late fourth quarter touchdowns, including a 10-play, 78-yard go-ahead drive with just 1:16 remaining to clinch the 35-31 victory.
"Obviously a really disappointing game," head coach Willie Fritz stated. "It was a game that I thought would have been a really good win for the program. I was really impressed with our guys' effort and toughness throughout the game. There were just times, particularly in the first half, when we didn't play real smart. We made some penalties and our margin for error was very small. We had some self-inflicted wounds, and we need to stay away from those kinds of situations or else it's going to be hard for us to win and overcome bad situations. We're going to get this program turned around, unfortunately I wish it was sooner rather than later. We're really close. We just have to hang together and keep working hard."
SMU (4-4, 2-2 American Athletic Conference | West) only needed three minutes and two seconds in the first quarter to score 14 points, utilizing a 54-yard pass on their first scoring drive and a 41-yard rush on the next. Tulane (3-5, 0-4 The American | West) reached the end zone in opening quarter as well, as Dontrell Hilliard capped a nine-play, 47-yard drive with an eight-yard touchdown run.
Later, trailing 21-10 at half, the Green Wave picked up its intensity by recording 14 unanswered points in the third quarter. The defensive unit led the way, creating opportune field position as Tulane's first scoring drive of the quarter began on SMU's 38-yard line. Glen Cuiellette then connected with Terren Encalade for a 24-yard touchdown strike, only to repeat said performance and play on their ensuing drive to take a 24-21 lead.
The Wave then extended its lead to 31-21 in the first five minutes of the fourth quarter when they went 92 yards on six carries from Sherman Badie, Josh Rounds and Hilliard, including a season best 67-yard rush from the latter. The drive was capped by a nine-yard carry from Badie, which marked his first touchdown of the year.
Yet, SMU retaliated with two late fourth quarter touchdowns, completing back-to-back 10-play, 70-yard drives, to escape with the 35-31 victory.
Up next, Tulane heads to Orlando for their make-up game with UCF, on Saturday, Nov. 5. The game will kickoff at 4 p.m. CT on ESPN3.
Green Wave Notes
• This marked 23rd meeting between Tulane and SMU. Tulane still leads the all-time series 13-10 with an 8-5 record at home.
• This was the first home game played during the day under head coach Willie Fritz.
• Freshman OL Tyler Johnson played in his first career game, earning his first career start.
• Freshman DB P.J. Hall earned his first career start.
• Sophomore SS Roderic Teamer recorded his first career sack for a loss of 10 yards in the first quarter.
• Junior RB Dontrell Hilliard scored his eighth touchdown of the season and the 17th of his career to put Tulane on the board in the first quarter. Hilliard's 33-yard reception from Glen Cuiellette in the third quarter was his longest reception of the season. In addition, he recorded a season-long 67-yard run in the fourth quarter, which gave him over 100 rushing yards for the third time this season and for the second-straight game.
• Redshirt sophomore WR Terren Encalade has catches in five consecutive games. He finished with four receptions for 75 yards and two touchdowns. Encalade scored his fifth and sixth touchdowns of the season and of his career on a pair of 24-yard receptions in the third quarter to give Tulane a 24-21 lead.
• Redshirt sophomore QB Glen Cuiellette threw his seventh and eighth touchdowns of the season and of his career on the pair of 24-yard passes to Encalade.
• Both Cuiellette and Encalade notched their second multi-touchdown games of the season against SMU.
• Redshirt junior DE Quinlan Carroll caught his first career interception near the end of the first quarter.
• Redshirt junior RB Sherman Badie's fourth-quarter, nine-yard touchdown run was his first of the season and sixth of career
• Sophomore DB Taris Shenall grabbed his first interception of the year and second of his career in the second quarter. Shenall recorded five tackles, a season high.
• Junior PK Andrew DiRocco's 43-yard field goal in the second quarter was his third successful kick of 40 yards or more this season (41, 43, 48).
• Senior LB Eric Thomas and redshirt sophomore LB Eric Bowie combined to record a sack in the second quarter. It was the first career sack statistic for Bowie in his career, while Thomas now has two and a half career sacks and 0.5 sacks this season.
• Junior WR Trey Scott caught his first pass of the year with a seven-yard reception in the second quarter.
• Redshirt junior DE Ade Aruna set a career-high seven tackles against the Mustangs. He recorded his third and fourth sacks of the season in the second half to increase his career-high total to eight. It marked Aruna's first career multi-sack game.
• Senior LB Nico Marley recorded his fourth sack of the season and seven and a half in his career to start the fourth quarter. He notched 10 tackles, marking his ninth career double-digit tackle performance.
• Senior TE Marshall Wadleigh and freshman LB Larry Bryant both recorded their first tackles of the season, both on special teams. The tackle was Wadleigh's 16th of his career and Bryant's first.• Redshirt junior FS Jarrod Franklin recorded 11 tackles for a career high.
• Eight players extended their double-digit starting streaks on Friday against Memphis: OG Chris Taylor (35), LB Nico Marley (33), DT Tanzel Smart (32), CB Parry Nickerson (29), FS Jarrod Franklin (20), OT Todd Jacquet (20), DE Ade Aruna (14), RB Dontrell Hilliard (10).
• Sophomore S Sam Davis carried out the No. 18 Flag in honor of former Green Wave player Devon Walker.
• Game captains were senior DT Tanzel Smart, redshirt sophomore C John Leglue, redshirt junior FS Jarrod Franklin and senior OT Chris Taylor.
• Attendance for today's game was 25,780.
Team Stats
SMU 7, TLN 0
SMU - PROCHE, James 8 yd pass from HICKS, Ben (WILLIAMS, Josh kick) 5 plays, 67 yards, TOP 1:53
SMU 7, TLN 7
TLN - HILLIARD, D. 8 yd run (DiROCCO, Andrew kick), 9 plays, 47 yards, TOP 3:46
SMU 14, TLN 7
SMU - FREEMAN, Ke'Mon 1 yd run (WILLIAMS, Josh kick), 4 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:09
SMU 14, TLN 10
TLN - DiROCCO, Andrew 43 yd field goal 4 plays, 1 yards, TOP 1:27
SMU 21, TLN 10
SMU - PROCHE, James 35 yd pass from HICKS, Ben (WILLIAMS, Josh kick) 8 plays, 68 yards, TOP 3:24
SMU 21, TLN 17
TLN - ENCALADE, T. 24 yd pass from CUIELLETTE, G. (DiROCCO, Andrew kick) 4 plays, 38 yards, TOP 1:53
SMU 21, TLN 24
TLN - ENCALADE, T. 24 yd pass from CUIELLETTE, G. (DiROCCO, Andrew kick) 5 plays, 59 yards, TOP 1:48
SMU 21, TLN 31
TLN - BADIE, Sherman 9 yd run (DiROCCO, Andrew kick), 6 plays, 92 yards, TOP 3:02
SMU 28, TLN 31
SMU - WEST, Braeden 1 yd run (WILLIAMS, Josh kick), 10 plays, 73 yards, TOP 4:08
SMU 35, TLN 31
SMU - WEST, Braeden 1 yd run (WILLIAMS, Josh kick), 10 plays, 78 yards, TOP 2:26
