Tulane Rides Legs of Turner, Frosh Trace Johnson Makes 1st Appearance in 24-21 Win over Southern Miss
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In a game that had neither Tulane or Southern Miss able to find a consistent tempo on offense, Green Wave head coach Will Hall used three quarterbacks and the running of Mo Turner to overcome that lack of cadence and survive the Golden Eagles, 24-21 in the Battle for the Bell.
"I tip my hat to coach (Blake) Anderson and his team," Tulane coach Will Hall said after the game. "I thought they played incredible. I thought they probably deserved to win this game. I am so grateful to our players, and our culture, and our character, because that's what won this game, not playing well."
First Half Ends in a Tie
Neither team found much of a rhythm in the first half.
The Green Wave defense more than held its own for the first quarter, forcing Southern Miss to four straight three-and-outs before USM could manage a first down late in the first quarter. The second quarter was a different story, though.
USM quarterback Landry Lyddy had difficulty putting together anything solid in the first quarter. In only his second start of his five year college career, lit up Tulane D through the air in the 2nd period, completing 10-of-17 for 114-yards and two touchdowns.
The Tulane offense was struggling to find a pace throughout the first two periods. The Green Wave had the legs of Mo Turner, who had two 43-yard rushes in the first half, one of them for a touchdown. However, the rest of the running attack was listless, accounting for 13-carries for 50-total yards.
Wave quarterback Kadin Semonza had a humdrum first half, completing 8-of-16 passing for 72-yards, 47 of which was on a deep post touchdown to Anthony Brown Stephens. Receiver Fat Hill was a non-factor with 2-catches for six-yards.
First Half Stats
Total Yards - Tulane, 191 Southern Miss, 178
Passing - Tulane, 72-yards Southern Miss, 141
First Downs - Tulane, 6 Southern Miss 9
Penalties - Tulane, 4-45 Southern Miss 4-40
Third Down Conversions - Tulane, 3-of-9 Southern Miss 3-of-10
Red Zone Chances - Tulane, 0-for-0 Southern Miss, 1-for-1
Second Half, Still No Rhythm for TU Offense, Enter Trace Johnson
The third quarter opened for the Wave with Tulane again not being able to find an offensive rhythm. Semonza going 4-for-7, 57-yards.
In the meantime, the Golden Eagles would drive down the field on a 69-yard drive that took all of four plays, all on the arm of Lyddy:
- a 41-yard completion down the right sideline to the Tulane 28
- a 16-yard completion to the Wave 12.
- after an offensive pass interference penalty, Lyddy tossed a corner route into the end zone from 22-yards out for a USM touchdown.
At the 12:25 mark of the 4th quarter, down by a touchdown, Will Hall reaches into his quarterback pocket and takes out his third of the year: true freshman Trace Johnson.
The frosh drove the Wave down the field from his own 26, showing good pocket presence, rolling out under pressure and completing a 29-yard pass to tight end Dawson Johnson. The drive stalled before Cooper Helmke came on to nail a 26-yard field goal.
Southern Miss got the ball back and pushed it up field before stalling themselves. A 44-yard field goal by the Golden Eagles sailed left, no good.
Now, with 5:44 in the 4th quarter and Tulane down 21-17, a true freshman was faced with driving his team to victory. Instead, he turned to Mo Turner to do it for him.
After an incompletion, Johnson twisted and handed it off to the senior, who sprinted 74-yards to his second touchdown of the game. With the carry, Turner became the second running back in Yulman Stadium history to make it to 200-yards, hitting that mark exactly on his 12th carry of the night and giving Tulane the lead, 24-21.
Southern Miss got the ball back with 5:26 to go in the game at their own 25. With a mix of pass and run, and the help of an illegal substitution penalty, the Golden Eagles found a Tulane defense that could not stop them, as USM drove the football from their own 25 to the Tulane 3-yard line before being running out of downs and forced to attempt a 21-yard field goal. At the snap, defensive lineman Josh Lewis pushed through the middle of the offensive front and blocked the attempt, fully stretched in front of the oncoming kick, keeping Tulane up by three.
Tulane took over the ball at their own 20 with 1:45 to go and up by that three points. After picking up one first down, but needing another to run down the clock, Hall sends in his third quarterback of the day, on a third and five, in comes the third QB of the night. Dagan Bruno runs the option to the right, picks up nine yards and the 1st down Tulane needed.
Final Stats
Total Yards - Tulane, 445, Southern Miss, 178401
Passing - Tulane, 164 Southern Miss, 270
First Downs - Tulane, 20 Southern Miss 19
Penalties - Tulane, 6-60 Southern Miss 8-90
Third Down Conversions - Tulane, 5-of-16 Southern Miss 3-of-14
Red Zone Chances - Tulane, 1-for-2 Southern Miss, 2-for-3
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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.