Lucas' Legs Leads Tulane to 28-24 Win over South Alabama
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Like a pair of heavyweight fighters, the Tulane-South Alabama game in Yulman Stadium Saturday night came down to who would be the last man standing.
By game's end, it was the Green Wave, who took the 28-24 victory over the Jaguars.
This game belonged to senior transfer running back Jaylin Lucas. The Edna Karr graduate ran the ball 11-times for a whopping 214-yards from the line of scrimmage. His 19.5 yard per carry average set a new American Conference record in that category.
Hear from Will Hall and players later tonight on our On SI Tulane website.
Though things ended well, they didn't start that way.
First Half Back and Forth
Maybe it was a Durham hangover.
Maybe it was the absence of star linebacker Chris Rodgers, who was sidelined during the opening drive by South Alabama and was seen on the sidelines in a boot on his lower left leg.
Maybe it was the humidity, which we measured at 374%. Now, our instruments might have been off a bit.
But it sure felt that humid.
Whatever it was, the Tulane football team started sluggishly in the first half.
The Green Wave defense gave up back-to-back scoring drives to South Alabama, spotting the visiting Jaguars a 10-0 lead.
Meanwhile, the Wave had a punt and a missed field goal in their two attempts. Jackson Courville missed wide left on a 45-yard attempt.
Then, a Light Switch was Turned On
On its next three possessions of the first half, South Alabama gave it up on downs to a no bend-but-don't-break defense, then was forced to punt and ran out of downs at the end of the half.
Tulane countered with two touchdowns in their next three possessions. It was the big plays that set things up:
- A deep pass up the middle from Kadin Semonza to Fat Hill ends up at the USA 3.
- A Jaylin Lucas rush up the middle ends up 54-yards down the field at the Jaguars' 33. Lucas would follow with a 16-yard run to the USA 3 just three plays later.
Both of those drives saw Johnnie Daniels legs powering into the end zone to bring both drives to a conclusion.
Lucas would have 117-yards on five carries by the end of the first 30-minutes.
Second Half Slugfest
The second half started conspicuously similar to the 1st 30-minutes, with South Alabama pushing it right down the field for an opening 3rd quarter touchdown, capped off by a 43-yard fly route for that TD.
Then Tulane had to punt on its first possession.
Then USA sets up for a field goal, but missed a 34-yard try way left.
Lucas to the Rescue Again
In the first half, it was the Jaylin Lucas show. His first touch of the 2nd half would be more of the speedster showing off.
On the second play of Tulane's second possession, Lucas got the hand off deep in the backfield, worked his way right, split two great blocks and sprinted 80-yards, pulling away from defenders for a touchdown.
@jaylinlucas1's 80-yard rushing touchdown#RollWave 🌊 pic.twitter.com/NMDsPvFh9q
— Tulane Football (@GreenWaveFB) September 13, 2026
Tulane would not hang on to their advantage for long. South Alabama took the lead, 24-21 with under 12-minutes to go in the game Neither team could get anything going, even though it seemed like Tulane would have a leg up on the Jaguars as the Wave defense forced what was thought to be a fumble recovery and an ensuing touchdown. It didn't work that way.
The Turnover that Wasn't
An apparent fumble return by Tulane, in what would have been a go-ahead touchdown was overturned by officials saying the USA quarterback had started to slide to the turf before the football was punched out by Dickson Agu. The play had the ball being recovered by Joshua Moore and run into the endzone, but on further review, officials used the new NCAA rule that protects the quarterback once they expose themselves in the slide. The Jaguars would be forced to punt.
With 4:39 to go in the game, and Tulane down by three, the Green Wave received the ensuing punt and drove down the field via Semonza's arm.
- A 13-yard completion to Garrett Mmahat gets the ball to the Tulane 44.
- A fly pattern from Kadin to his brother Cash Semonza pushed the ball to the Jags 20 yard line.
- Two plays later, a back shoulder fade into the end zone from Semonza to Fat Hill from 14-yards out gave the Wave the lead with 1:17 to go in the contest.
The Tulane defense held USA, forcing them out on downs, enabling the offense to line up in the victory formation.
Final Stats to Note
Player | Run/Pass/Tkl/Punt | Receptions | Total Yards/Solo |
|---|---|---|---|
Jaylin Lucas | 11 rushes | N/A | 214 |
Kadin Semonza | 14-for-22 passing | N/A | 212 yds, 1 TD |
Johnnie Daniels | 6-rushes | N/A | 8 yds, 2 TDs |
Fat Hill | N/A | 4 | 91 yds ,1 TD |
Dickson Agu | 14-tackles | N/A | 4-solo tackles |
Garrett Mmahat | N/A | 3 | 40-yards |
William Hudlow | 4 punts | 46-yd aver |
Emptying the Notebook
- Punter William Hudlow was punting earlier for coffin corners. In the 3rd quarter, he let loose a cannon of 55-yards that had the USA returner still backing up when he caught it.
- As mentioned earlier, linebacker Chris Rodgers had a boot on his lower left leg after the first South Alabama possession. The senior wore a towel over his head and his pads were off the rest of the game.
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Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.