Tulane Falls to Army in American Conference Opener, 20-17
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A back and forth affair to open the defense of their American Conference 2025 title saw the Tulane football team fall to Army on a last-second field goal, 20-17. It's the first time in four years the Green Wave has lost its league opening game.
Tulane head coach Will Hall said his offense needed to make the early plays to make a difference in the end.
"Early on, on offense, we have to make plays," Hall said referring to dropped and bobbled passes. "We're not talking about making windmill dunks and three-run homers. We're talking about making layups. You know, we got to make our layups early because if you can get a lead on a team like this it changes the way they play.
"I thought it was two really tough teams with great character playing. They made one more play than we did. We're disappointed as you can be. We're hurting. I'm hurting for these players. We've got to do better for them, and we've got to find a way to make one more play."
The Tulane defense did do its job for three quarters, holding Army to seven points. Senior linebacker Dickson Agu says things will turn around.
"It's just what we've been preaching, so, once again, just details," Agu stated. "Once we get to the point where we really have urgency with the details and what we're doing, we're going to be a completely different team. I promise you that."
Quarterback Kadin Semonza was asked about the game from a number of different angles, including some of the drops by his receivers and the start-and-stop of the offense. The junior kept coming blaming himself for not getting the "W" for his team.
"People can sit here and say what they want about the drops," Semonza summarized. "The receivers started making plays, and...when it was my time to go win the football game (in Tulane's final drive), I didn't do that, so this one falls on my shoulders."
Army quarterback Cale Hellums had career best rushing performance for the second year in a row against the Green Wave. Last season, the Black Knight QB had 163-yards running the ball. He topped last year's numbers this Saturday toting the ball 38-times for 223-yards and two touchdowns.
Final Statistics
Tulane | Army | |
|---|---|---|
FIRST DOWNS | 16 | 19 |
First Half
Tulane won the toss and elected to defer to the second half. The Wave defense did its job, holding Army to a three-and-out.
Tulane receivers were their own worst enemy in its first two drives. A bobbled attempted reception by Fat Hill leading to an interception and what should have been a reception at midfield in possession #2 by Bredell Richardson, led to zero points.
The Green Wave started Kadin Semonza as quarterback. A combination of passes and slashing runs by the Wave pushed the ball deep into Army territory, but the Hill bobble on a catchable pass ends up being intercepted by the Black Knights, halting a drive that had a rhythm to it. It was the Army defense's first turnover of the year.
Army turned the INT into points, driving down the field with one pass on the way, but relying on their triple option for a 12-play, 74-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead. A Tulane defensive face mask penalty helped the Black Knight drive, putting the ball near midfield.
Army 7 - Tulane 0
The Green Wave's second possession was short and sweet, going three and out because of another drop by the Greenie receiver, as Richardson had the ball slip through his arms near midfield for what would have been a first down.
The first quarter came to an end with Army leading 7-zip and with the ball after another outstanding William Hudlow punt to the Black Knight 22.
End of the 1st Quarter: Army 7 - Tulane 0
The Tulane defense did its job again to begin the 2nd period, forcing Army into a punting situation. On 4th and 14, the Black Knights attempted a fake punt that the Wave sniffed out, giving the Greenies their best field position of the day, the Army 45.
Sophomore running back Jamauri McClure made his season debut on this 2nd quarter drive and popped a nice run of 22-yards off left tackle. However, the Tulane offense was plagued again by a pass that might have been caught, as Dawson Johnson had a possible touchdown pass just miss his hands.
The Green Wave settle for a Cooper Helmke 21-yard field goal.
Army 7 - Tulane 3
With just under five minutes to go in the 1st half, Army starts at their own 25, but the Tulane defense bowed up to force a punt. Jaylin Lucas returned a deep Black Knight punt for 25-yards to the Wave 37. Despite decent field position, the TU offense couldn't do much except for a pass to near midfield, forcing the Green Wave to punt.
Army couldn't do anything, as the Wave D forced a punt and got the offense the ball with 38-second remaining at their TU 38, but Tulane could do little with it as well, as the offensive line collapsed, giving quarterback Semonza little time to find receivers down field. The half ended with him getting sacked.
End of First Half: Army 7 - Tulane 3
On SI Tulane First Half Analysis
The Tulane defense came to West Point to play. Army's triple option offense could only put together 119-yards of total offense in the first half. The Black Knights were uncharacteristically undisciplined, committing 3-penalties at inopportune times.
The Tulane offense had a little bit of a rhythm going on each of its drives, only to see receivers drop passes or the offensive line fail to protect their quarterback. The Green Wave offense outgained the Black Knights offensively by 3-yards, and were not penalized the entire first thirty-minutes. But pressure on Semonza has forced him into early throws and a half-ending sack. Plus bobbles and drops by his receivers have made the Tulane offense more like a sputtering engine instead of a lean machine.
Second Half
The Tulane offense got the ball to start the third period but couldn't get any rhythm at all with Semonza missing his targets, forcing the Green Wave to punt. The ensuing Army drive stalls at the TU 31, and for the second week in a row, an attempted field goal is blocked, this time by Tulane's Kellen Tasby, giving the ball back to the Wave.
The Wave answered with an impressive 12-play, 68-yard drive, Semonza throwing the ball on six consecutive plays, but using the legs of DJ Dugar, who had 18-yards and two first downs on four carries. The final yard belonged to Semonza on a quarterback sneak to give Tulane its first lead of the game,
Tulane 10 - Army 7.
End of the 3rd Quarter: Tulane 10 - Army 7
Then, as the 4rd quarter begins, Army puts together a methodical drive from their own 25, using their option offense to go 14-plays and 61-yards before the Green Wave defense buckled down and stopped them on a 3rd and long, forcing a 31-yard Army field goal that barely snuck over the crossbar with 9:21 to go in the game.
Tulane 10 - Army 10
The Tulane special teams came through with an outstanding return of the kickoff, as TJ Smith ran it back from the goal line to the Army 42, a return of 58-yards. Just three plays later, a Semonza pass into the flat to Lucas sees the Green Wave scatback scamper 39-yards for a Tulane touchdown in a possession that took under a minute and a half to cover the 42-yards with 7:44 remaining on the 4th quarter clock.
Tulane 17 - Army 10
Army answered with a burst by quarterback Hellums for a 58-yard touchdown run on a two-play drive to tie the game with 6:54 to go in the game.
Tulane 17 - Army 17
The Tulane rushing game claimed big yardage via Johnnie Daniels' legs who carried it 41-yards on one carry, but its drive stalled at the Army 33. The Wave went for it on 4th down but came up short.
Army takes over with 3:55 to go in the game and the ball on their own 33 as we reach the 2-minute timeout. The Black Knights did what they do best, drive the ball right down the field in the last two-minutes of the game to deep into Wave territory, running the clock to three seconds remaining and leading to the game-winning 25-yard field goal as the clock ran out.
Final: Army 20 - Tulane 17
On SI Tulane Second Half Analysis
An out of synch offense (sound familiar?) and a defense that spent way too much time of the field in the final quarter of play spelled defeat for the Wave.
The Tulane defense did its job three-fourths of the game until the fourth quarter. Army spent almost 10-and-a-half minutes of the final 15-minutes of play on the field, as the Wave offense sputtered and stalled.
Slivers of bright spots on offense were not enough to gain a victory. Spurts of big plays were there for the Green Wave O, but a stop-and-start running game and a passing game that, at times, saw quarterback Semonza get little chance to find his receivers and receivers that could not hold on to the ball, led to this defeat.
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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.