Football Hangs On For 24-22 Victory Over Tulsa

Saturday, November 11

NEW ORLEANS

11 a.m.

Tulane University

9-1 , 6-0

Tulsa

3-7 , 1-5

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Tulsa	0	10	3	9	22
Tulane	14	0	7	3	24

Photo by: Parker Waters

Football Hangs On For 24-22 Victory Over Tulsa

Nov 11, 2023 | Football

Box Score

FINAL STATS | POSTGAME FRITZ PRESS CONFERENCE | RADIO HIGHLIGHTS | PHOTO GALLERY (BY PARKER WATERS)

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane football team won its eighth-straight game in earning a narrow 24-22 victory over Tulsa (3-7, 1-5 AAC) on Saturday afternoon at Yulman Stadium. The Green Wave is currently ranked 20th in both the Associated Press Top 25 and USA Today Coaches Poll, while sitting 23rd in the College Football Playoff committee ranking.

Running back Makhi Hughes led the charge with his 131 yards and a touchdown, his sixth straight game topping the century mark on the ground. His 31-yard rush on the final drive helped sealed the victory. The yardage also allowed him to become the first Tulane freshman to ever reach 1,000 yards rushing in a season and only the eighth different Tulane player to hit the mark.

Quarterback Michael Pratt was steady in going 16-for-29 for 194 yards and a passing score.

Receiver Bryce Bohanon led the team with his four catches for 57 yards. Tight end Alex Bauman tallied three catches for 52 yards and a touchdown. Receiver Chris Brazzell II had three catches for 41 yards. His 10-yard catch late in the fourth quarter on third down when Tulane was deep in its own territory kept the critical last Green Wave drive going.

Shedro Louis totaled 195 total yards, including an electric 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown to start the second half. His 195 total yards are a season-high for any Tulane player in 2023.

Safety Bailey Despanie led the defense with eight tackles. Defensive back Lance Robinson had seven tackles and three pass breakups. Linebacker Jared Small picked up six tackles, as did Jesus Machado. Defensive back Jarius Monroe recorded five tackles, a sack, an interception and two pass breakups. Linebacker Tyler Grubbs had a sack and 1.5 tackles for loss among his five stops. Linebacker Devean Deal and anchor Kam Pedescleaux each had a tackle for loss in the game.

Following an interception from Monroe to thwart the opening drive for Tulsa, Tulane scored first with Hughes finishing off a 12 play, 70-yard drive with a one-yard rush to give the Green Wave a 7-0 lead with 7:14 remaining in the opening quarter.

On the last play of the opening quarter, Bauman got open down the field and hauled in a 39-yard pass from Pratt for a touchdown to put the Green Wave up 14-0 heading to the second quarter.

Tulsa scored a touchdown and field goal on back-to-back possessions to cut the Tulane halftime lead to 14-10.

Louis's return was the Green Wave's first kickoff return for a touchdown since 2019 when Stephon Huderson went 98 yards for a score against UCF. The touchdown put the Green Wave up 21-10 with 14:47 remaining in the third quarter.

Tulsa kept hanging around and, again, got to one score with a field goal to put the margin at 21-13 with 5:50 remaining in the third quarter. The Golden Hurricane closed the gap even further (21-16) to start the fourth with another field goal with 13:58 remaining in the game.

Tulane added a much-needed field goal of its own on the ensuing drive as Valentino Ambrosio knocked in a 30-yarder to again make it an eight-point contest, 24-16, with 9:21 remaining.

Tulsa drew to within two points on the touchdown catch by Kamdyn Benjamin. The ensuing two-point conversion failed and kept Tulane in the lead at 24-22 lead with 3:03 remaining.

The Green Wave offense picked up two crucial first downs on the Brazzell third-down catch and the Hughes' 31-yard rush on consecutive plays before three kneel downs salted away the thrilling 24-22 victory.

Next, the Tulane football team plays its final road game of the regular season next Saturday at 11 a.m. CT against Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, Florida in a contest that will be show on ESPN+.

NOTES:

Louis's 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown tied the school record…It was the eighth time that a Tulane player has had 100-yard kick return in school history and the first since 2003 and Fred Smith against TCU (9/1/03)…It was only the third 100-yard kick return for Tulane since 1985…The kick return touchdown was the first for Tulane since 2019 against UCF by Stephon Huderson (11/23/19)… Makhi Hughes reached 1,000 yards rushing (1,008) on the season with his 131 yards against Tulsa…It is the 10th time a Tulane player has reached the 1,000 yard mark on the ground and he is just the eighth different player to top the mark in a single season (Matt Forte x1, Mewelde Moore x2, Tyjae Spears x1, Eddie Price x2, Darius Braswell x1, Dontrell Hillard x1 and Andre Anderson x1)…It was the sixth straight game that Hughes has topped 100 yards rushing…He is the first freshman in the 129 years of Tulane football (In 1897, the school did not field a football team) to run for 1,000 yards in a season…It was the 207th time that a Tulane player has run for 100 yards or more in a game…Michael Pratt now has thrown a touchdown pass in 42 of 43 career games…Tulane is 9-1 on the season for the first time under Coach Fritz…Overall, the program is 9-1 or better for the 6th time since 1893 (2023- 9-1, 1998 – 10-0, 1948 – 9-1, 1934 – 9-1, 1931 – 10-0, 1925 – 9-0-1)…The Green Wave is 6-0 in conference play for the first time under Willie Fritz and the third time overall (2023, 1998, 1934)…The win made Tulane 21-3 in its last 24 games over the last two seasons…No Tulane has ever won 20 games over a two-year period of time…The six wins in conference play this season are tied for the third-most in school history behind the eight by the 1934 team (SEC), the seven from the 2022 team (AAC) and the six from the 1998 team (CUSA)…The 21 victories since the start of the 2022 season ranks third nationally behind 25 from Georgia and 23 from Michigan and one ahead of Ohio State (playing later on tonight)…The 21 wins in 24 games is the fourth time the program has won at least 21 of 24 games dating back to the start of the program in 1893 (21-3 between 2022 and 2023, 21-2-1 between 1930- 1931- 1932, 23-1 between 1929-1930-1931, 21-2-1 between 1928-1929-1930)…Tulane has run for 100 yards as a team in 95 of the last 99 games…The Tulane defense has now gone 31 straight games without allowing 100-yard to an individual running back (10/2/21 against ECU's Keaton Mitchell – 222 yards rushing)… Tulane is 40-6 (.869) when leading at halftime and 42-9 (.823) when leading through three quarters under Willie Fritz…Since the beginning of the 2022 season, the Green Wave is 17-1 (.944) when scoring first.

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