Five Turnovers Power Green Wave over Owls

Saturday, October 19

NEW ORLEANS

2:30 p.m.

Tulane University

5-2 , 3-0

Rice

2-5 , 1-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Rice

Tulane

Photo by: Parker Waters

Oct 19, 2024 | Football

Box Score

FINAL STATS
ESPN HIGHLIGHTS
POSTGAME SUMRALL PRESS CONFERENCE
POSTGAME HUGHES PRESS CONFERENCE
POSTGAME HOWARD/ROBINSON PRESS CONFERENCE
PHOTO GALLERY (BY PARKER WATERS)

NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane football team (5-2, 3-0 AAC), behind the ground effort of Makhi Hughes and a defense that forced five turnovers, ran the winning streak to four in a thrilling 24-10 victory over Rice (2-5, 1-3 AAC) at Yulman Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Hughes, a redshirt sophomore running back, led the offensive effort for the Green Wave with 140 yards on the ground on 27 carries plus a rushing score. He also had a spectacular 29-yard touchdown catch and run on a screen pass where he tight-roped the sideline before reaching the end zone. Redshirt freshman quarterback Darian Mensah went 12-for-25 passing for 152 yards and a passing touchdown. Senior receiver Yulkeith Brown totaled three catches for 34 yards. Junior receiver Mario Williams picked up three catches for 25 yards. Senior receiver Donate Fleming tallied a pair of catches for 36 yards. Redshirt junior receiver Bryce Bohanon had a pair of catches for 25 yards.

Sophomore punter Will Karoll played a key role in the defensive-themed game with six punts for 302 yards for an average of 50.3 yards a kick. He had a long of 64 to help pin Rice deep in its territory in the fourth quarter of a one-score game.

Senior linebacker Sam Howard tallied three tackles, a pass breakup and two fumble recoveries with the second one being a touchdown return for the defense. Junior cornerback Micah Robinson picked up four tackles, an interception, two pass breakups and a forced fumble. Redshirt junior safety Bailey Despanie totaled four tackles. Senior defensive lineman Adin Huntington accumulated three tackles, a sack and two stops for loss. Fellow defensive lineman Patrick Jenkins also had a pair of stops for loss. Senior linebacker Tyler Grubbs had three stops and an interception. Sophomore Matthew Fobbs-White, redshirt junior Parker Petersen and Eric Hicks Jr. all had a tackle for loss.

Rice was able to outgain the Green Wave 344-306 in the game, but Tulane capitalized and forced five turnovers plus were able to hold the ball for 34:57. The Green Wave also totaled 154 yards on the ground, scored on both the attempts in the redzone and held an 18-16 advantage in first downs.

After an interception from Grubbs gave the offense a short field, Tulane scored first as Jacob Barnes knocked in a 28-yard field goal to put the Green Wave up 3-0 with 1:43 remaining in the opening quarter.

Rice took the 7-3 lead early in the second quarter as E.J. Warner connected with Elijah Mojarro on a 31-yard pass play on third down with 14:12 remaining in the second.

Tulane grabbed the lead back right before the half on a 29-yard screen pass to Hughes from Mensah to put the Green Wave up 10-7 with 1:04 until the half.

Rice tied the game up Tim Horn made his field goal from 35 to tie the game at 10 with 6:48 left in the third.

Tulane took the lead for good as Hughes rushed it in from the one to finish off a seven play, 70-yard drive with 8:22 remaining in the game. He accounted for 52 yards on the ground on the drive.

The Tulane defense scored the game's final touchdown as Howard recovered a fumble forced by Javion White and returned it for a 15-yard score to put the Green Wave 24-10 with 1:35 left in the game.

Next, the football team is on the road to Denton, Texas to take on North Texas at 11 a.m. in a game that will be show on either ESPN2/U from Denton Area Credit Union Stadium (DATCU).

NOTES:

- Makhi Hughes' 140 yards rushing was his fourth game this season with 100+ yards on the ground and the 11th of his career…The 11-career 100+ rushing games places him fifth all-time at Tulane…He is also now 11th all-time at Tulane in rushing (2,122).as he passed Darius Bradwell's (2016-19) 2,062…He is just 30 yards from tying Marvin Christian (1977-79) and moving into the top-10 in school history.

- The Green Wave is 3-0 in conference play for the third straight year and the 10th time overall (2024, 2023, 2022, 2019, 2013, 1998, 1997, 1949, 1939, 1934)

- The victory was the fifth for Tulane in the team's first seven games…It marks the first time since 2019 that Tulane has won exactly five of the first seven games, but the third time in as many seasons that Tulane is 5-2 or better…Overall, Tulane is 5-2 or better for the 31st time in school history.

- The win was the first time that Jon Sumrall has won his first three conference game in three years as a head coach…It was his 10th straight regular season conference victory dating back to the Sun Belt Conference league game he lost to James Madison while at Troy last season (9/16/23).

- The win improved Coach Sumrall to 6-0 all-time against current AAC teams.

- The victory made Tulane 5-0 this season when outrushing the opponent.

- The home win improved Coach Sumrall to 16-2 in his career in home games…He is also now 21-0 in his coaching career when his team outrushes the opposition.

- The win was Tulane's 13th straight in AAC regular season play dating back to the 2022 season (11/17/22 vs. SMU - Present)…The streak is now the third longest in league history and only trails UCF (9/30/2017 – 9/28/19) and Cincinnati (10/2/20 – 10/29/22) by four for the all-time record of 17 straight conference games victories…Tulane's 13 straight conference wins is the longest active streak in the country.

- The win improved Tulane to 17-20-1 all-time against Rice…The program has won each of the last two games against the Owls.

- Coach Sumrall improved his all-time record to 28-6 (.823)…He entered the weekend with the fourth-highest winning percentage among current FBS head coaches behind Ohio State's Ryan Day (.871 - 61-9), Georgia's Kirby Smart (.853 – 99-17) and Oregon's Dan Lanning (.848 – 28-5).

- Since the start of the 2022 season, Tulane is now 28-7, including a mark of 23-3 (.884) when scoring first.

- With five turnovers forced against Rice, Tulane has now won 24 of the last 28 games when forcing an opponent turnover.

- Tulane has now outrushed the opposition in 25 of the last 33 games (including 19 of the last 23)…In such contests, Tulane holds a 23-2 record (losses in 2022 vs. Southern Miss and 2023 vs. Ole Miss).

- Since the beginning of the 2016 season, Tulane is 47-7 (.870) when leading at the half and 49-9 (.844) when leading after three quarters.

- The Green Wave has not committed a turnover in four consecutive games, the longest streak for the program since the last five games of the 1998 season.

- Tulane leads the nation in both defensive touchdowns (5) and non-offensive touchdowns (7).

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