No. 11 Seed Football Falls 41-10 To No. 6 Seed Ole Miss In First Round of College Football Playoff
Dec 20, 2025 | Football
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OXFORD – The No. 11 seeded Tulane football team (11-3) saw the program's five game winning streak snapped in a 41-10 loss to No. 6 seeded Ole Miss (12-1) in the First Round of the College Football Playoff at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium on Saturday afternoon, Dec. 20.
Ole Miss scored first as Kewan Lacy completed the three play drive with a 20-yard touchdown with 14:01 remaining in the opening quarter.
After a forced turnover, the Rebels scored another quick touchdown as Trinidad Chambliss rumbled in from the four to put Ole Miss up 14-0 at the 7:26 mark of the first quarter.
The Green Wave got on the board as Patrick Durkin knocked in a 39-yard field goal to draw Tulane to 14-3 with 14:06 remaining in the second quarter.
Ole Miss added three to the lead as Lucas Carneiro knocked in a 42-yard field goal to put the Rebels again up two touchdowns, 17-3, at the 3:48 mark of the second quarter in what would ultimately be the scoring at the half.
After a stop by their defense to start the second half, Ole Miss scored the team's third touchdown of the game as Chambliss connected with De'Zhaun Stribling on the 13-yard touchdown reception to put the Rebels up 24-3 with 10:13 left in the third quarter.
The Ole Miss offense added a 48-yard field goal from Carnerio to go up 27-3 with 4:57 remaining in the third quarter.
The Rebels scored the program's fourth touchdown of the game, 34-3, to start the fourth as Logan Diggs rushed it in from the one with 14:55 remaining.
The Ole Miss offense, after a defensive stop, scored the fifth touchdown of the game, 41-3, as Chambliss rumbled in from the eight with 10:45 remaining.
Tulane scored the program's first touchdown of the game as Retzlaff connected with Justyn Reid on a 26-yard pitch-and-catch with four minutes remaining to put the final score at 41-10.
Next, the football team will start the off-season conditioning under new Head Coach Will Hall and get ready for the 2026 campaign.
Offense: Jake Retzlaff was 20-for-35 for 306 yards plus a passing touchdown. Anthony Brown-Stephens totaled six catches for 57 yards. Shazz Preston totaled five catches for 125 yards. Omari Hayes had four catches for 52 yards. Justyn Reid had a catch for 29 yards and a touchdown.
Defense: Kevin Adams III and Bailey Despanie tied for the team lead with eight tackles each. Jack Tchienchou and Sam Howard each had eight stops. Chris Rodgers had five tackles and half a sack. Mo Westmoreland had a sack. Harvey Dyson III had a sack. Eliyt Nairne recovered a fumble.
Special Teams: Patrick Durkin knocked in a field goal.
Team: Tulane passed for 306 yards and ran for 115 for 421 yards of total offense. The team went 5-for-13 on third down but went 0-4 on fourth down and also committed three turnovers. Ole Miss totaled 497 yards with 151 on the ground and 346 through the air.
NOTES
- The made field goal from Patrick Durkin was his 25th of the season to add to his single school record total…His 116 points this year is also the most points for a kicker in school history…His 116 points are the fifth-most in school history for any player…He also moved to a tie for 10thh all-time at Tulane in career made field goals with 27.
Single Season Field Goal List
1. Patrick Durkin (2025, 25)
2. Brad Palazzo (1997, 23)
t-3. Valentino Ambrosio (2022, 21)
t-3. Cairo Santos (2012, 21)
t-4. Seth Marler (2002, 20)
Single Season Points Kicking
1. Patrick Durkin (2025, 116)
2. Brad Palazzo (1997, 109)
3. Valentino Ambrosio (2022, 105)
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. Patrick Durkin (2025, 116)
6. Brad Palazzo (1997, 109)
7. Valentino Ambrosio (2022, 105)
8. Makhi Hughes (2024, 102)
9. Bill Banker (1929, 99)
Career Field Goals Made
1. Seth Marler (1999-02, 66)
2. Cairo Santos (2010-13, 61)
3. Brad Palazzo (1995-98, 48)
4. Merek Glover (2017-21, 46)
5. Ed Murray (1976-79, 45)
6. Tony Wood (1981-84, 42)
7. Ross Thevenot (2006-09, 40)
8. Valentino Ambrosio (2022-23, 32)
9. Todd Wiggins (1987-89. 34)
t-10. Andrew DiRocco (2014-16, 27)
t-10. Patrick Durkin (2024-Current, 27)
- Jake Retzlaff ended his season with 16 rushing scores…His 16 rushing touchdowns, besides being a school record for a Tulane quarterback, are the third-most in school history…Overall, Retzlaff is just the third different Tulane player to rush for 16 or more touchdowns in a season along with Matt Forte (2007 – 23) and Tyjae Spears (2022 – 19).
Tulane Single Season Rushing Touchdown List
1. Matt Forte (2007, 23)
2. Tyjae Spears (2022, 19)
3. Jake Retzlaff (2025, 16)
4. Makhi Hughes (2024, 15)
5. Orleans Darkwa (2011, 13)
t-6. Justin McMillian (2019, 12)
t-6. Dontrell Hillard (2017, 12)
t-6. Orleans Darkwa (2012, 12)
- With 306 yards passing against Ole Miss, Jake Retzlaff allowed him to finish third all-time at Tulane in a single season passing.
1. Patrick Ramsey (1999, 3410)
2. Shaun King (1998, 3232)
3. Jake Retzlaff (2025, 3168)
4. JP Losman (2003, 3077)
5. Michael Pratt (2022, 3009)
6. Patrick Ramsey (2001, 2935)
7. Patrick Ramsey (2000, 2833)
8. Lester Ricard (2006, 2795)
9. Ryan Griffin (2012, 2771)
10. Darian Mensah (2024, 2723)
- Jake Retzlaff and Patrick Durkin ended up being the second leading scoring duo in Tulane history in a single season finishing only one point off the all-time lead.
1. 213 pts – Matt Forte (140) / Ross Thevenot (73) – 2007
2. 212 pts. – Patrick Durkin (115) / Jake Retzlaff (96) – 2025
3. 202 pts. – Tyjae Spears (126) / Valentino Ambrosio (76) - 2022
- The loss dropped Tulane's all-time record to 28-45 all-time against Ole Miss (after vacated Rebel wins) since the start of the series in 1893…The team's has now fallen to Ole Miss in the last 15 games with the last victory being in 1988 (W, 14-9 in 11/5/88)
- The team's 11 wins in 2025 are tied for third-most in the program's history for a single season
Tulane Victories In a Season
t-1. 2022 12
t-1. 1998 12
t-3. 2025 11
t-3. 2023 11
t-5. 1934 10
t-5. 1931 10
- The loss to Ole Miss, who were ranked No. 6 in the Associated Press (AP) Poll in the final released rankings before the start of bowl games, dropped Tulane to 25-129-2 all-time against ranked AP opponents.
- Since the start of the 2022 season, Tulane is now 43-13 (.768).
- Tulane is one of six schools to win 43+ games from 2022-25
1. Georgia – 51
2. Ohio State – 48
3. Oregon – 46
4. Michigan – 45
t-5. Tulane – 43
t-5. Notre Dame – 43
- Head Coach Jon Sumrall is now 30-5 (.857) 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 fall to 43-12 (.781) with the loss to the Rebels…His .781 career winning percentage ranks him fifth among current FBS coaches with 50 games coached only behind Ohio State's Ryan Day (82-11, .881), Oregon's Dan Lanning (46-7, .865), and Georgia's Kirby Smart (117-20, .854) and Indiana's Curt Cignetti (143-37, .794).
- With the loss, Coach Sumrall saw his all-time record fall to 1-5 against Southeastern Conference opponents.
- Coach Sumrall has defeated 29 different schools in his head coaching career between his time at Troy and Tulane.
- 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 a turnover forced against the Rebels, Tulane has now won 36 of its last 44 games when forcing a turnover.
- The Green Wave have outrushed the opposition in 39 of its last 54 games (including 33 of its last 44)…In those games, Tulane holds a 36-3 record (losses in 2022 to Southern Miss and 2023 to Ole Miss and 2025 to UTSA).
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