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The Call that Wasn't Reversed in Tulane's K-State Loss: The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly

Tulane comes up short in Manhattan, Kansas.
Doug Joubert|
Dec 20, 2025; Oxford, MS, USA; Tulane Green Wave running back Maurice Turner (0) runs the ball during the fourth quarter against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
Dec 20, 2025; Oxford, MS, USA; Tulane Green Wave running back Maurice Turner (0) runs the ball during the fourth quarter against the Mississippi Rebels at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

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The Tulane Green Wave dropped to 1-2 on the year, as home-standing Kansas State topped the Greenies 31-20 on Saturday afternoon. Here's what we saw from where we sat.

The Good

The Leg

Nicknamed "Leg" back when he was in middle school, Cooper Helmke was the brightest spot for the Tulane special teams and offense. The redshirt freshman hit not one but two field goals beyond the 50-yard mark. His first one with seconds left in the first half set a new school record of 58-yards.

As if to add icing on the kicking cake, Helke nailed a 53-yarder in the third quarter for the Wave's only scoring in that period.

Runnings Backs Whose Last Names Don't Start with "L"

We asked for more involvement from more running backs, and we got it.
- Mo Turner, 7-rushes, 64-yards
- Johnnie Daniels, 10-carries, 59-yards

Unfortunately we also asked for help stopping the K-State rushing attack, which we'll cover later.

Lack of Penalties

After the Week 1 debacle of 15-flags, Tulane has shown much more discipline in the last two weekends. Five total penalties for a negligible 20-yards, and they did not come at any time that would have thwarted an offensive drive or continued a defensive one.

The Bad

Not Stopping Avery Johnson

One player outgained the entire Tulane offense. Kansas State quarterback Avery Johnson had 377-total yards in the game: 227 of that through the air. Johnson's biggest moments, though, came via his legs, including a 66-yard sweep to the right and his two rushing touchdowns.

Humdrum Offense

Though the Tulane running attack had its moments, only 260 total yards in the game was not going to be enough. This Tulane offense seemed out of rhythm almost the entire day. Give K-State credit, they are a strong, physical team, but when you have zero receptions from your star wide out Fat Hill and just as many (zero) for Garrett Mmahat and Zycarl Lewis, something's not clicking. And that has to do with our next area.

Offensive Line

After showing improvement in the South Alabama game and steady play in the first quarter against K-State, the Tulane offensive front slipped a bit against a large, powerful defense. The Wave front gave up 6-sacks for a negative 45-yards. Additionally, the Wildcat front seven had a dozen tackles for loss, totaling 64-negative yards. The Green Wave offense managed 260-yards against Kansas State. That averages out to 4.4-yards per play out of the 59 Tulane ran.

The Ugly

The First Down that Wasn't

This was the turning point in the game.

On the opening drive of the third quarter, Kansas State was faced with a 3rd down and four at their own 31. A short pass into the left flat to stand out wide receiver Jaron Tibbs was complete, but appeared short of the line to gain for the first down, as TJ Smith wrapped up the wide out and drove him back. The Big-12 officials signaled first down. The instant replay we viewed seemed to prove otherwise.

When asked about the call, Tulane head coach Will Hall said, "We certainly thought he was short, They (the officials) didn't. When I asked them about the review, they told me that they were looking at it upstairs and verified the spot."

Could Hall have thrown his review flag anyway? Yes, if he felt strongly enough about it and ignored the advice of the official who was giving him this information.

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Published
Doug Joubert
DOUG JOUBERT

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.

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