Football Bowl Eligible With Thrilling Win Over Navy

Saturday, November 24

New Orleans, La.

11:00 AM

Tulane University

Navy

Photo by: Parker Waters

Football Bowl Eligible With Thrilling Win Over Navy

Nov 24, 2018 | Football

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NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane offense exploded for 21 points in the second quarter, but its biggest score came in the fourth quarter to get the lead back and held on for a thrilling 29-28 victory over the Navy Midshipmen to reach bowl eligibility for the first time since 2013 and claim a share of the American Athletic Conference West Division.

The Green Wave (6-6, 5-3 American Athletic Conference) at one point held a 21-3 lead over Navy (3-9, 2-6), but a furious third quarter by the Midshipmen that saw the visitors score 18 points and use nearly all of the fourth to score one touchdown put Tulane on the ropes with just minutes remaining in regulation.

The home side needed just seven plays to go 71 yards, paced by a Justin McMillan 26-yard touchdown pass to Jaetavian Toles, and instead of kicking the extra point the Green Wave went for the 2-point conversion and McMillan found Charles Jones II in the back of the end zone to covert and retake the lead at 29-28 for the final score of the contest.

McMillan finished the afternoon going 18-for-29 for 291 yards, three touchdowns and an interception, hitting big-play receivers Darnell Mooney, Jabril Clewis and Toles for plays of 55, 52 and 26 yards, respectively.

Tulane dialed up the pressure much like it did in the first half on Navy's final drive of the game, as Patrick Johnson forced a pair of fumbles on the drive and the Midshipmen would not be able to get anything going in a resulting turnover on downs to secure the victory for Green Wave in the end.

Linebacker Zachery Harris led all players with 10 tackles, including six solo stops and a tackle for loss. Taris Shenall had nine tackles, while two of Johnson's seven stops being tackles for loss, along with the two forced fumbles.

Navy had the opportunity to strike the first blow, after a 26-yard pass completion got the Midshipmen to the Tulane nine, but the Green Wave defense stood firm for the next three plays and Navy came up fruitless with a missed 26-yard field goal.

Tulane got the ball back on the next possession and took it into the second quarter, where on the first play of the new period McMillan linked up with Mooney for the 55-yard score to put the Green Wave on top 7-0.

After a Navy field goal, Tulane got the ball back with 7:33 left in the half and opened the drive with a 15-yard gain by Darius Bradwell to start moving. After a McMillan scramble for five yards, he linked up with Clewis for a completion of 12 and five yards to get into Midshipmen territory.

McMillan fooled the Navy defense and picked up 28 yards with his feet, and after Bradwell got five more the Tulane signal caller did the rest himself with a touchdown run to make it 14-3 Green Wave.

At the 2:15 mark of the second, McMillan once again found Moody for a big gain as he picked up 19 yards to go from the Tulane 25 to the 44. Following a rush of four yards for Corey Dauphine, Clewis grabbed a McMillan pass and took it 52 yards to the house to put the Green Wave up 21-3.

Mooney led all receivers with five catches for 135 yards and a score, followed by Clewis with 83 yards on four catches and Terren Encalade with 35 yards on five catches.

Navy made a game of it in the third quarter, getting a field goal and consecutive touchdowns on three straight drives to knot the game at 21 with a quarter left to play.

The Midshipmen received the ball with 11:57 remaining in the fourth quarter, and proceeded to go on a 14-play, 80-yard drive that consumed 8:13 off of the clock and resulted in a touchdown for Navy to take its first lead of the game up 28-21.