Football Falls Late in 21-14 Battle with Navy

Saturday, September 17

Yulman Stadium

6 p.m. CT

Tulane University

1-2 , 0-1

Navy*

3-0 , 2-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

NAVY

Tulane

Photo by: Parker Waters

Football Falls Late in 21-14 Battle with Navy

Sep 17, 2016 | Football

Box Score

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Postgame News Conference

NEW ORLEANS – Tulane football battled back-and-forth with Navy on Saturday night in Yulman Stadium, possessing a 14-13 lead to start the fourth quarter before falling by the final score of 21-14. In fact, each time the Midshipmen scored, the Green Wave immediately countered with a touchdown drive of their own. With three minutes left in the game, Navy rallied with a 10-play, 72-yard touchdown drive to regain a seven-point advantage and a lead Tulane could not come back from.

"For us to win games like this, we have to be assignment sound," head coach Willie Fritz stated. "We got to learn how to win these kind of games. We are going to get the culture changed here and teach the guys how to have that grit to win these contests."

It was a defensive battle in the opening 15 minutes as Tulane (1-2, 0-1 American Athletic Conference | West) and Navy battled for field position throughout a scoreless first quarter. It marked the second game this season the Wave defense started strong, holding their opponent off the board in the opening quarter.

The Midshipmen (3-0, 2-0 The American | West) were the first to break through, recording a 15-play, 94-yard touchdown drive, spanning 7:17. Navy's Chris High capped the season-high 15-play drive with a 6-yard touchdown run with 14:28 on the clock.

On the ensuing Tulane drive, running back Josh Rounds caught fire, recording five carries for 52 yards on the drive, including runs of 12, 16 and 18 yards. With 10:22 remaining till half, Rounds capped the impressive eight-play, 75-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run.

Navy struck first in the second half, as Shawn White earned a 4-yard touchdown run which capped a nearly five minutes possession midway through the third quarter, but it failed to connect on the PAT following the score.

Tulane proved resilient once more, immediately countering with a touchdown drive of its own on the next series. The Wave offense again received a boost from Rounds when he converted a fourth-and-one on their own 44-yard line, maintaining a drive in which three plays later, Dontrell Hilliard executed a 36-yard touchdown run to hand Tulane the 14-13 lead.

Tulane's Peter Woullard then kept the momentum in the Wave's favor. After a 23-yard carry by the Midshipmen pushed them into Tulane territory at the 32-yard line, Woullard recovered a Will Worth fumble, giving the Green Wave the ball back with 12 minutes remaining in the game.

Forwarding ahead to 7:39 remaining, Navy took over from its own 28-yard line and rallied behind quarterback Will Worth, who carried eight times for 58 yards on the ensuing touchdown drive. After a successful two-point conversion, Navy regained the lead at 21-14 with 2:57 on the clock. On Tulane's final offensive possession, its comeback attempt fell short, suffering a four-and-out and turnover on downs as Navy then kneeled down for the victory.

Despite the loss, it was a big day for several of Tulane's defensive members. Nico Marley earned his first career multi-sack game, also finishing one tackle shy of his career high with 14. Jarrod Franklin also came one tackle shy of his career high with nine on the night, followed by a career high of eight tackles from Roderic Teamer. In addition, Tulane won the turnover battle as Franklin recorded his second career forced fumble, while Woullard and Ade Aruna each added a fumble recovery to their career resume.

Tulane returns to action on Saturday, Sept. 24, as it remains at home to host UL-Lafayette at 7 p.m. on ESPN3

Green Wave Notes

Tulane held Navy scoreless in the first quarter, marking the second time this season (at Wake Forest) that the Green Wave have not allowed their opponent to score in the opening quarter.
For the first time in his head coaching career, Willie Fritz lost a game when his team was +2 or better in turnover margin.
Senior LB Nico Marley notched the first game of his career with multiple sacks finishing with two against Navy for 13 yards lost. He now has 5.5 sacks in his career. Marley's 14 tackles made it the seventh game of his career with 10+ tackles.
Redshirt senior RB Josh Rounds scored Tulane's first touchdown, totaling 52 yards on five carries on the scoring drive.
Redshirt sophomore DE Peter Woullard recorded his first career sack. He entered the game with one career tackle and finished the Navy game with five. Woullard's fourth quarter fumble recovery was the first of his career.
Redshirt junior FS Jarrod Franklin forced a fumble for the first time this season and second time of his career. On the same play, reshirt junior DE Ade Aruna recovered a fumble for the first time in his career.
Sophomore SS Roderic Teamer, Jr., made a career-high eight tackles.
Redshirt sophomore CB Donnie Lewis, Jr., tallied multiple pass break ups in a game for the second time in his career.
Freshman QB Johnathan Brantley, redshirt sophomores NT Braynon Edwards and DT Eldrick Washington and redshirt junior DE Quinlan Carroll all made their first career starts.
Six Tulane players extended their double-digit starting streaks: OG Chris Taylor (30), LB Nico Marley (28), DT Tanzel Smart (27), CB Parry Nickerson (24), FS Jarrod Franklin (15), OT Todd Jacquet (15).
Senior DT Tanzel Smart carried carried out the No. 18 Flag in honor of former Green Wave player Devon Walker.
Tulane's game captains were redshirt senior LT Todd Jacquet, senior LB Nico Marley, redshirt senior RB Josh Rounds, senior TE Marshall Wadleigh.
Tonight's attendance was 21,503.