Week 3: NMSU @ Tulane
Week 3: NMSU @ Tulane
Tulane wins OT thriller on the road
Tulane 2nd string running back Darwka. 4 carries 127 yards and 2 scores.
It only took 1 minute for the New Mexico State Aggies to be staring at a 14-0 hole. Tulane scored quickly thanks to 2 defensive touchdowns, a 57 yard fumble recovery and a 48 yard interception return. The only question on Coach Harris' mind was, "How is my team going to respond?" His players didn't disappoint.
The NMSU offense rebounded and scored on a 79 run from Seth Smith to make it 14-7 but Tulane ended the 1st quarter up 21-7 after their "money play" (in this case the wildcat) netted them a 79 yard run.
After the 1st quarter, NMSU slowly began taking momentum back. They shut out the Tulane offense and put up 10 points to end the half down 21-17.
The 2nd half was not nearly as high scoring. NMSU kicked a field goal to make it a 1 point game at 21-20. That was when Tulane went to their money play once again and scored a touchdown from 29 yards out. 28-20 heading into the 4th.
Hope was all but lost as the NMSU offense could muster up long drives but could never punch it in. With 1:11 to go in the game, backup runningback Robert Clay punched it in from 3 yards out to make it 28-26. On the ensuing 2 point conversion, star runningback Seth Smith ran it in to tie the game with just over a minute to go.
Tulane tried to get some late game heroics going but didn't come up with anything. In fact, Tulane got lucky as they threw a hail mary with 25 seconds to go and the NMSU defender dropped an easy interception. To overtime they go.
In OT, NMSU was on the offensive first but they were held to a FG. When Tulane got the ball, they ran their money play one more time and with such splendid blocking the Tulane back scampered down to the 2 yard line. From there it was just a halfback dive and that was all she wrote.
After the game Coach Harris had this to say. "They really only had one play that killed us. It didn't matter that we KNEW it was coming, we couldn't get into their backfield. In overtime, we sent the house and shifted the defensive line to the side the back was running to and all 11 of our guys were blocked. It was ridiculous. Honestly, we outplayed them and if it wasn't for 2 unlucky turnovers, we would have won. The only thing I am truly mad about is the fact that my team let a fantastic game by Seth to go to waste."
Team Stats
Category
|
Tulane
|
New Mexico State
Score|34|31
Total Offense|237|358
Rush Yards|135|254
Pass Yards|102|104
Turnovers|0|3
Fumbles Lost|0|1
Intercepted|0|2
3rd down %|4/8(50%)|1/12(12%)
Penalties|1-15|0-0
TOP|10:12|18:12
Player Stats
Passing Stats:
Team|Name|Comp|Att|Yards|TD|INT
NMSU
|J. Fleming|9|17|104|0|2
Tulane
|R. Griffin|9|18|102|0|0
Rushing Stats:
Team|Name|Att|Yards|Avg|Fumbles
NMSU
|S. Smith|25|243|9.7|1
Tulane
|A. Williams|9|20|2.2|1
Tulane
|O. Darkwa|4|127|31.7|2
Receiving Stats:
Team|Name|Rec|Yards|Avg|TD
NMSU
|B. Huntley|2|19|9.5|0
NMSU
|M. Allen|2|30|15|0
NMSU
|K. Nelson|2|23|11.5|0
Tulane
|A. Williams|2|32|16|0
Tulane
|D. Banks|1|20|20|0
Tulane
|A. Mitchell|1|19|19|0
Tulane
|C. Robottom|1|16|16|0
Defensive Stats:
Team|Name|Tot Tkls|Solo|TFL|Sack|INT|FF|FR|TD
NMSU
|T. Epenesa|2|2|1|||
NMSU
|D. Coleman|5|4||||
NMSU
|K. Shook|2|2|||1|||
NMSU
|A. Powell|4|4||||||
NMSU
|S. Hatchett|2|||||||
Tulane
|J. Adams|9|8|2|||||
Tulane
|T. Echols|1|1|||1|||1
Tulane
|T. Mackey||||||1|1|1