Football Blows Past Temple, 38-3

Saturday, October 31

11 AM

Tulane University

Temple

Photo by: Parker Waters

Oct 31, 2020 | Football

Box Score

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane football team picked up its first American Athletic Conference win of the 2020 season in a 38-3 rout over Temple at Yulman Stadium.

The Green Wave's defense allowed just 222 total yards in the game and only 84 in the second half, while the offense outscored the Owls, 28-0, in the second half.

Freshman quarterback Michael Pratt accounted for three touchdowns while passing for 205 yards and two touchdowns and rushing for 56 yards and one more score. Junior wide receiver Duece Watts hauled in both of Pratt's scores through the air and finished the day with five catches for 114 yards.

Junior running back Amare Jones rushed for a game-high 92 yards on 12 carries, while junior Cameron Carroll totaled 63 yards on 13 carries with one touchdown.

Temple (1-3, 1-3 AAC) got on the scoreboard first with a 22-yard field goal on its first possession of the game at the 10:37 mark of the first quarter. Tulane was unable to punch back immediately, as the offense committed turnovers on back-to-back possessions, but the defense remained stout to hold the deficit at three points for the remainder of the quarter.

Tulane (3-4, 1-4 AAC) tied the game, 3-3, on a 40-yard field goal by Merek Glover with 11:55 left in the second quarter after a 10-play drive that covered 67 yards in over four minutes.

The Green Wave got the ball back after a defensive stop around midfield but were forced to start the next possession at their own seven yard-line after an Owls punt. On the second play of the drive, Pratt connected with Watts on a 52-yard pass completion down the right sideline. Four plays later, Carroll rushed over the right end for 13 yards and stretched over the goal line for the game's first touchdown to give the Wave a 10-3 lead with 6:50 remaining in the first half.

Tulane took the seven-point advantage into halftime and outgained Temple, 242-138, in the opening 30 minutes of action. The Green Wave offense proved to be more efficient in the first half, producing 14 first downs to the Owls' seven.

The Wave got the second half started by forcing a punt and then going on a productive, seven-play drive that ended on a fumble going into the end zone that was recovered by Temple.

Tulane made a big stop on fourth down on its next defensive possession and then turned right around with a six-play drive in two-and-a-half minutes capped by a 31-yard touchdown pass from Pratt to Watts to give the Olive and Blue a 17-13 lead with 5:36 left in the third quarter.

After an interception by redshirt junior cornerback Willie Langham was returned to the Owls' 30 yard-line, a 26-yard pass completion to sophomore wide receiver Jha'Quan Jackson on the second play of the drive set up a six-yard touchdown pass to Watts three plays later to extend the lead to 24-3 with 1:37 remaining in the quarter.

Following another fourth-down stop by the defense early in the fourth quarter, the Green Wave continued its scoring barrage with a pass completion, a 20-yard rush by senior running back Stephon Huderson and a nine-yard rushing touchdown by Pratt to increase the advantage to 31-3.

Tulane tacked on one more score through the air with under four minutes remaining when redshirt senior quarterback Keon Howard hit senior wideout Jaetavian Toles for a 15-yard touchdown.

Defensively, junior linebacker Nick Anderson racked up a career-high 14 tackles (11 solo) with 2.5 tackles for loss.

Up next, Tulane heads back on the road for a matchup at East Carolina on Saturday, November 6. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m.