Tulane University
10-2 , 7-1
Charlotte
1-11 , 0-8
No. 24 Football Earns Fourth Straight Appearance In American Conference Championship With 27-0 Victory Over Charlotte
Nov 29, 2025 | Football
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NEW ORLEANS – The No. 24 Tulane football team (10-2, 7-1 American) earned a historic 27-0 victory over Charlotte (1-11, 0-8 American) on Saturday evening, Nov. 29, at Yulman Stadium to secure a place in the 2025 league championship game for the fourth straight season.
Tulane took the early 7-0 lead as Javin Gordon ran it in from the one with 12:34 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Green Wave doubled the advantage to 14-0 on the ensuing possession as Jake Retzlaff ran it from the one at the 6:13 mark of the first quarter. It was Retzlaff's quarterback school-record 13th rushing touchdown of the season.
Retzlaff made it two rushing touchdowns in the half as he dove in from the one with 1:11 remaining before the break to put the Green Wave up 21-0.
The game remained that way through the third quarter before Patrick Durkin knocked in a 36-yard field goal at the 13:54 mark of the fourth quarter to increase the lead to 24-0.
Durkin made his second field goal of the game, this one from 52, to put the Green Wave up 27-0 with 5:51 remaining in what would be the final score.
Next, Tulane hosts North Texas (11-1, 7-1 American) in the American Conference Championship Game at 7 p.m. on Dec. 5 at Yulman Stadium in a game that will also be shown on ABC
Offense: Jake Retzlaff went 28-for-38 for 291 yards with two touchdown runs. Jamauri McClure led the team in rushing with 69 yards on 11 carries. Javin Gordon totaled nine carries for 44 yards and a touchdown. He also had four catches for 29 yards. Anthony Brown-Stephens recorded nine catches for 98 yards. Shazz Preston totaled three catches for 43 yards. Johnny Pascuzzi also had three catches for 43 yards.
Defense: Chris Rodgers led the defense with nine tackles including 1.5 stops for loss. Jordan Norman had three tackles, two stops for loss and a sack. TJ Smith registered a sack. Mo Westmoreland picked up half a sack and his first career interception. Josh Lewis had half a sack. Kevin Adams III also had interception.
Special Teams: Patrick Durkin made a pair of field goals including his fourth 50+ kick of the season. Alec Clark punted twice and averaged 52 yards a kick with a long of 63.
Team: Tulane outgained the 49ers 463-140 including an edge of 151 to -3 in rushing yards. The Tulane defense only surrendered seven first downs plus forced two turnovers and had three sacks in the contest.
NOTES
- The victory guarantees that Tulane will be playing for the American Conference Championship for a conference-record fourth straight season. The other schools who have had longer conference championship game streaks are
6 – Clemson - ACC (2010-15)
6 - Marshall – MAC (1997-02)
6 – Northern Illinois – MAC (2010-15)
5 – Florida – SEC (1992-96)
5 – Oklahoma – Big 12 (2010, 2017-20)*
The Big 12 did not hold a conference championship game from 2011-16.
- The shutout was the first time that Tulane has blanked any opponent since league rival Navy 35-0 on the road last season in Annapolis (11/16/24).
- The home shoutout for the Green Wave was the first over a conference opponent since 1954 against Alabama (11/6/54).
- The seven first downs allowed was the lowest allowed for the defense since surrendering eight against Navy last season (11/16/24).
- The win improved Tulane to 6-0 at home this season. The 6-0 mark at home was the best for the program since 1998 when the team also won six contests.
Single Season Field Goal List
1. Brad Palazzo (1997, 23)
2. Patrick Durkin (2025, 22)
t-3. Valentino Ambrosio (2022, 21)
t-3. Cairo Santos (2012, 21)
t-4. Seth Marler (2002, 20)
Single Season Points Kicking
1. Brad Palazzo (1997, 109)
2. Valentino Ambrosio (2022, 105)
3. Patrick Durkin (2025, 102)
Single Season Total Points
1. Matt Forte (2007, 140)
t-2. Bill Banker (1928, 128)
t-2. Charles Flourney (1925, 128)
4. Tyjae Spears (2022, 126)
5. Brad Palazzo (1997, 109)
6. Valentino Ambrosio (2022, 105)
t-7. Patrick Durkin (2025, 102)
t-7. Makhi Hughes (2024, 102)
8. Bill Banker (1929, 99)
- Anthony Brown-Stephens' nine catches tied Omari Hayes for a season-high for a Green Wave receiver (vs. Northwestern – 8/30/25)
- With two rushing touchdowns, Jake Retzlaff has now run for 14 scores this season. His 14 rushing touchdowns are a school-record for a Tulane quarterback past Justin McMillan's 12 in 2019. His 14 rushing touchdown are the fourth-most in school history. Overall, Retzlaff is just the fourth different Tulane player to rush for 14 or more touchdowns in a season along with Matt Forte (2007 – 23), Tyjae Spears (2022 – 19), and Makhi Hughes (2024 – 15).
Tulane Single Season Rushing Touchdown List
1. Matt Forte (2007, 23)
2. Tyjae Spears (2022, 19)
3. Makhi Hughes (2024, 15)
4. Jake Retzlaff (2025, 14)
5. Orleans Darkwa (2011, 13)
t-6. Justin McMillian (2019, 12)
t-6. Dontrell Hillard (2017, 12)
t-6. Orleans Darkwa (2012, 12)
- With 291 yards passing against Charlotte, Jake Retzlaff has joined Tulane's top 10 in a single season and currently ranks 10th.
1. Patrick Ramsey (1999, 3410)
2. Shaun King (1998, 3232)
3. JP Losman (2003, 3077)
4. Michael Pratt (2022, 3009)
5. Patrick Ramsey (2001, 2935)
6. Patrick Ramsey (2000, 2833)
7. Lester Ricard (2006, 2795)
8. Ryan Griffin (2012, 2771)
9. Darian Mensah (2024, 2723)
10. Jake Retzlaff (2025, 2717)
- The win improved Tulane's all-time record to 2-0 all-time against Charlotte since the start of the series during the 2024 campaign.
- The win improved Tulane to 10-2 or better for the third time the last four years and the sixth time in school history (2025, 2023, 2022, 1998, 1934, and 1931.
- The victory makes Tulane 7-1 or better in conference play for the fifth time in school history (2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, and 1934) between the time in the American, Conference USA and SEC.
- With the win Tulane has won 24 of the team's last 26 regular season conference games (7-1 in 2025, 7-1 in 2024, 8-0 in 2023 and last two conference games in 2022).
- Tulane improves to 29-3 in conference regular season play since 2022. The .906 percentage is the second best in the country in that period of time.
1. Georgia 30-3 (90.9%)
2. Tulane 29-3 (90.6%)
t-3. Ohio State 32-4 (88.8%)
t-3. Oregon 32-4 (88.8%)
5. Boise State 27-4 (87.0%)
6. SMU 27-5 (84.3%)
t-7. Michigan 30-6 (83.3%)
t-7. Jacksonville St 20-4 (83.3)
t-9. Alabama 26-6 (81.2)
t-9. Ohio 26-6 (81.2)
- Since the start of the 2022 season, Tulane is now 42-12 (.777).
- Head Coach Jon Sumrall is now 29-4 (.878) over the course of his four-year head coaching career in games played in the months of October, November or December.
- Coach Sumrall saw his all-time record rise to 42-11 (.792) with the win over the 49ers. His .792 career winning percentage ranks him fifth among current FBS coaches with 50 games coached only behind Ohio State's Ryan Day (82-10, .891), Oregon's Dan Lanning (46-7, .865), Georgia's Kirby Smart (116-20, .853), and Indiana's Curt Cignetti (142-37, .793).
- The win improved Coach Sumrall to 17-3 all-time against American Conference programs. He has also defeated all 13 current teams in the American. Additionally, he has defeated 29 different schools in his head coaching career between his time at Troy and Tulane.
- Coach Sumrall is 33-1 in his coaching career when his team (Troy and now Tulane) outrushes the opposition as Tulane held a 151 to minus-3 lead in rushing yards over the 49ers. His teams are now 22-0 when holding the opposition under 100 yards rushing.
- Since the beginning of the 2022 season, Green Wave are now 36-4 (.900) when scoring first.
- Since the beginning of the 2022 season, Tulane has only had three games where it has been forced to punt more than six times (8 vs. Tulsa on Sept. 27, 2025, 9 on Dec. 2, 2023 vs. SMU and 7 on Sept. 17, 2022 vs. Kansas State).
- With two turnovers forced against the 49ers, Tulane has now won 35 of its last 42 games when forcing a turnover. The program also has won 14 consecutive games when committing fewer turnovers. Coach Sumrall is 31-2 in his head coaching career when winning or the turnover battle is tied (24-1 when winning and 7-1 when tied).
- The Green Wave has outrushed the opposition in 38 of its last 52 games (including 32 of its last 42). In those games, Tulane holds a 35-3 record (losses in 2022 to Southern Miss and 2023 to Ole Miss and 2025 to UTSA).
- The program also has won 35 consecutive games when leading at the end of the third quarter with the last defeat coming to Memphis in 2021.
- Since the beginning of the 2016 season, Tulane is 60-7 (.895) when leading at the half and 60-9 (.869) when leading at the end of the third quarter.
- Tulane has won 25 consecutive games when allowing 20 or fewer points to the opposition (Last: Tulsa won 20-13 in overtime on Nov. 13, 2021).
TICKETS
Tickets for the football and the men's and women's basketball seasons can be purchased by calling 504-861-WAVE (9283), logging on to TulaneTix.com or visiting the ticket office at the James W. Wilson Jr. Center.
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Team Stats
CLT 0, TLN 7
TLN - Gordon,Javin 1 yd run (Durkin,Patrick kick), 7 plays, 65 yards, TOP 02:26
CLT 0, TLN 14
TLN - Retzlaff,Jake 1 yd run (Durkin,Patrick kick), 9 plays, 72 yards, TOP 04:43
CLT 0, TLN 21
TLN - Retzlaff,Jake 1 yd run (Durkin,Patrick kick), 6 plays, 33 yards, TOP 02:14
CLT 0, TLN 24
TLN - Durkin,Patrick 36 yd field goal 11 plays, 71 yards, TOP 04:48
CLT 0, TLN 27
TLN - Durkin,Patrick 52 yd field goal 7 plays, 35 yards, TOP 02:31
