Tulane Defense Plays Lights Out, as Tulane Upsets Memphis 31-17

Tulane D forced six turnovers in the game.

Tulane DB TJ Smith Celebrates | Corey Hughes

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The Tulane Green Wave defense was on a tear against the Memphis Tigers Friday night on national TV. Before 20,083 fans in Turchin, the Wave showed solid defense from start to finish to take their first conference win of the year, 31- 17 over Memphis.

This was a big win for Will Hall, as his Tulane squad secured his first conference victory as a coach and put the team on a different trajectory than it has been all year long.

First Half

After Memphis won the toss and deferred, freshman quarterback Trace Johnson starts his first game for Tulane with three straight runs into the teeth of the Memphis defense, leading to a three-and-out.

Right out the gate, Memphis attacks with a 48-yard completion on its first play to the Tulane 22, E'zaiah Shine lost coverage on the deep pass, but the Wave D held with bandit Jah'rie Garner getting the first sack of the game. A 44-yard field goal gives Memphis the lead. with10:20 to go in the 1st quarter.

Memphis 3 - Tulane 0

On his second drive at quarterback, a false start penalty puts the Wave behind the 8-ball, but Johnson completes an 8-yard roll out to Fat Hill. The drive stalled forcing another three an out. On 2nd down, Dagan Bruno came into the game to hand the ball off, then came out to give way to Johnson, who's 3rd down pass was incomplete as his receiver Oliver Mitchell Jr fell down on the route.

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Memphis begins their second drive at their own 32, gaining a 1st down near midfield, but bandit Warren Roberts Jr had a strip sack of the Memphis quarterback and recovered the loose ball at the Memphis 46, giving the Wave only their second defensive turnover of the year, both attributed to Roberts.

Johnson relied on Jamauri McClure's legs to get four yards, but two incomplete passes brings on William Hudlow for his second punt of the night that takes a Tulane bounce and the three before being downed by deep snapper Jason Arredondo.

A penalty backed up the Tigers further, as they start at their own 2. A sprint draw gets them to their 20, then a pass interference against Shine pushes it 15-yards more. The Memphis running game continued to show power, picking up chunks. The Tigers kept throwing for big plays downfield, but keep coming up empty, leading to a missed 54-yard field goal with the wind at back that sails wide left with 4:26 to go in the first half.

Johnson starts at his 36. McClure starts it with a short gain, then a 17-yard deep out to Zycarl Lewis Jr and a 10 yard out to Anthony Brown-Stephens gains two straight first downs to the Memphis 36. A Johnnie Daniels run picks up four, but another false start against the offensive line, sets the team back to a 3-and-13 as the first quarter comes to an end.

End of the 1st Quarter: Memphis 3 - Tulane 0

On SI Tulane 1st Quarter Analysis

Second Quarter

Though the running game has not produced what it should, Johnson has been given the opportunity to perform, and the freshman has done well: 3-for-6 for 36 yards. His incompletions would have been caught by his own players or no one at all.

The second quarter begins with an incomplete pass as Johnson was under pressure, leading to a 56-yard field goal by Cooper Helmke with the wind at his back that cleared the crossbar by about 5-feet to tie the game.

Tulane 3 - Memphis 3

Memphis begins at its 25. On a quarterback keeper, Makai Williams stops him for a yard loss, but on the very next play, the Tigers continued to pick on E'zaiah Shine, completing a deep post that went the distance, 76-yards for the touchdown. with 14:08 to go in the 2nd quarter.

Memphis 10 - Tulane 3

KIcking into the wind, the ball died quickly, ending up in no Tulane player's arms and fell to the Tulane 25 where Memphis recovered the loose ball.

First play was a deep post. The Memphis receiver got his hands on the ball, but safety Jack Tchienchou separated him from it, sending him to the sidelines rubbing his ribs. On the next play, Ed Smith IV forced the second sack fumble of the game, recovered by Josh Lewis at the Wave 23.

Two straight Jaylin Lucas runs gain. A pass to Jaylin Lucas was complete, but a hold by a Tulane offensive line pushes the ball back to the Tulane 15 for a 3rd-and-17. Lucas runs for six forcing Hudlow into a punting situation with the wind at his back. Hudlow launched a 72-yard punt to the Memphis 6 with 11:06 to go in the 1st half.

Three runs gain little, and a punt into the wind gives the Green Wave their best field position of the game, the Tigers' 44.

The offensive line is guilty of another penalty, this time a hold, pushing the ball into Tulane territory and negating a 15-yard pass from Johnson to Fat Hill. On a 1st and 20 from their own 46 and a zinger of a pass from Johnson to tight end Cameron Roberts gains 18. A back and forth run by Mo Turner picked his way forward 15-yards. Then another holding penalty backs up the ball again. Johnson scrambles for eight then throw incomplete behind his intended receiver. A pass for the end zone for Garrett Mmahat was too long, as the wind carried it out of the end zone, leading to another Helmke field goal, this one from 40-yards out that was good again with 6:42 to go in the 1st half.

Memphis 10 - Tulane 6

Memphis starts at their own 25, but the Tulane defense does it job again, as Smith strips the ball at the midfield where Kevin Adams III recovers.

Three plays later, Johnson claims his first collegiate touchdown pass, as he find Hill on a curl at the Memphis 32. Hill did the rest himself, splitting two defenders and getting blocking help downfield from fellow receiver Mmahat to go the distance, 38-yards for a TD with 4:18 to go in the second quarter.

Tulane 13 - Memphis 10

The ensuing drive saw the Tulane defense bearing its collective teeth with a Makai Williams sack and another strip sack, this time by Geordan Guidry, but this one was recovered by the Tigers, leading to a 36-yard punt and the Wave getting the ball at the Memphis 45 with 2:46 to go in the first half.

As the second quarter is winding down, Johnson got the time he needed and there weren't any holds, as the Wave drove down field. The frosh found Brown-Stephens twice, once on a 17-yarder, then on a scrambling 14-yarder that somehow found AB's hands to the Memphis 14 as the two-minute timeout sounds. A Turner rush picks up seven, then a sack of Johnson backs it up to the Tiger 12. On a 3rd-and-7, throws for the end zone incomplete to Mmahat on a pass that was thrown a little behind him. A 29-yard field goal by Helmke increased the Tulane lead with exactly one minute remaining.

Tulane 16 - Memphis 10

Memphis goes three and out again and is forced to punt giving Tulane another chance with the ball and one timeout remaining and 31-seconds on the clock.

The Wave start at their own 47. Johnson scrambles for five calling the final Tulane timeout with 21-seconds to go. The youngster made a freshman mistake throwing into triple coverage giving Memphis the ball after the return at the Tulane 32.

The Green Wave defense came to the rescue again, this time with its first defensive touchdown of the year, as TJ Smith picked off a Memphis pass and sprints 76-yards up field for a pick six as the clock expires to end the 1st half.

End of the 1st Half: Tulane 23 - Memphis 10

Second Half

Memphis receives the ball to open the 2nd half with a solid wind of 20-plus miles an hour at their back. The Tigers used the run game to gobble up chunks of yardage against the Tulane defense, not throwing the ball once to get to the Tulane 9. An errant snap forced Memphis back to the Tulane 15. Then Memphis tosses its first pass down to the Tulane 2 faced with a fourth and goal. The Greenie defense bowed up, stopping a quarterback run at the Wave 3.

Dagan Bruno opens the 3rd quarter at quarterback for one play and gains nothing. Johnson comes back in, hands off to Mo Turner who does the same up the middle: nothing. A short pass to Hill gets the ball out to the eight, setting up a Hudlow punt that sailed into a 20-mile an hour wind and was fair caught at the Tulane 46 with 6:39 to go in the 3rd quarter.

The Tigers use their running game again to pound the ball upfield, relying on Jaylin Carter to do most of the damage. The Wave D bowed up again, forcing the Tigers into a third and three at the Tulane 19. A pass over the middle was tipped by TJ Smith and intercepted by Kevin Adams III, the Green Wave's 5th forced turnover in the game.

The Wave take over at their 19 after the turnover with 4:09 on the third quarter clock. McClure gets four up the middle, then three more up the gut, setting up a 3rd and 3. A throw by Johnson into the wind was caught by Mmahat on an incredible diving catch at the Tulane 42. Two carries, including one by Johnson on a keeper around the end, pushes the ball to midfield where the where Mo Turner picks up the first. Turner picks up seven on first down as the 3rd quarter comes to an end with neither team putting points on the board.

End of the 3rd Quarter: Tulane 23 - Memphis 10

On SI Tulane 3rd Quarter Analysis

We were wondering when the Tulane defense would show what it is capable of this season. They picked a national television game to make its debut. Five turnovers in the first 45-minutes of play including a pick six to end the first half. What a difference a week makes!

The Tulane offense played about as vanilla as you can get with a freshman quarterback. Trace Johnson played within himself and counted on the Tulane running game to get important yardage when he needed it.

4th Quarter

Tulane gets the wind at their back to begin the final quarter, faced with a 2nd and 3 just shy of the Memphis 40. Faced with a fourth and one, Dagan Bruno comes in and draws the Tigers offsides for a first down. A couple of Johnnie Daniels runs get to a 3rd and five. An incomplete pass sets up a 47-yard field goal try by Helmke. A low snap was recovered by holder William Hudlow, but Helmke hooked the field goal wide left.

With 12-minutes to go in the game Memphis takes over at it's 29. Runs up the middle and short passes get the ball to the Tulane 13. Another pressure forces a missed pass, setting up a third and eight at the Tulane 11. Warren Roberts Jr stops the Tigers for no game. On fourth and 8, a pass into the end zone was broken up by Joshua Moore.

Tulane takes over first and 10 at their own 11 with 8:54 on the game clock. Two runs by Turner get the ball to the 15, as the Wave call a timeout with 7:24 on the 4th quarter clock. Faced with a 3rd and 7, Johnson throws a bomb for Hill down the West sidelines that was too far for the speedster as the winds carried it about three-yards too far. Hill was open. Hudlow unloads a 60-yard punt.

Memphis opens at its 22. A pair of passes get the ball to the Memphis 35. A deep pass was way underthrown as the wind played havoc with it. Third down had another pass fall incomplete. On fourth down, the Tulane defense commits a face mask and gives the Tigers a first down. A pass over the middle gets to the Wave 34. A sack, Tulane 7th of the game is followed by a pass toward the end zone that is broken up by Dickson Agu. On 2nd and 10 at the Tulane 18, an out pattern is complete to the TU 13 with 4:36 to go in the game. Rush up the middle picks up the first to the Wave six. A pass to the end zone is complete on a comebacker for the Memphis touchdown. It's the first scoring drive the Wave has given up since seconds into the 2nd quarter.

Tulane 23 - Memphis 17

The Tulane offense played very conservatively in its final drive, driving slowly upfield, forcing Memphis to take its timeouts. Then, with a fourth and one at the Memphis 48, Johnnie Daniels broke containment in the middle and sprinted 48-yards for the final nail in the Tiger coffin. The Wave converted the 2-point conversion on a back shoulder pass from Johnson to Hill.

Tulane 31 - Memphis 17

With 1:34 left in the game, Memphis' last gasp drive ended in an Adams interception in the end zone, giving the Tulane defense a half dozen for the game.

On Si Tulane Final Analysis

The Tulane defense did its job tonight, forcing six turnovers and hitting hard, the way we requested. Thank you.

The pick-six by TJ Smith to end the first half was the cherry on the sundae for what is, by far, the best performance by this group this year. Even with the late touchdown drive by the Tigers, this performance was needed.

The Tulane offense was as vanilla as you could get for their freshman quarterback. Trying to rely on the Wave rushing attack, which barely cleared the century mark, the Green Wave used the arm of Johnson only when it had to, and that included a pass to Mmahat for a first down on an impressive out pattern.

That rushing attack helped the Wave keep the ball out of the hands of a Memphis offense that could explode at any time, as they showed on their two touchdown drives. Tulane won the time of possession battle by 30-seconds, but won it nonetheless.