Tulane, Cajuns, Lions wins highlight Week 2 college action

8 Tulane managed to escape its trip to South Alabama with a win Saturday as sophomore defensive back Javion White intercepted a potential game-tying two-point attempt in the final minute. The Green Wave (2-0) dominated about three quarters of the contest just enough to overcome allowing the Jaguars (1-1) the night’s first 14 and last 14 points and secure the 33-31 win in Mobile, Ala. “Never gonna apologize for a win,” Jon Sumrall told reporters postgame. “Not necessarily pleased with the performance. Really sloppy at times. You know, the beginning of the game getting down 14-0, not playing very clean football and just looked a little off. Didn’t look like ourselves early. And then fought back, really loved the way we responded.” The coach pointed to a missed extra-point on Tulane’s final touchdown with 10 minutes to play as one example of a missed opportunity to keep the game from getting “a lot more interesting than they needed to be” late. Quarterback Jake Retzlaff finished 13-for-24 (54%) for 125 yards and a touchdown and rushed 13 times for 64 yards and another score. Senior Zuberi Mobley and freshman Javin Gordon finished with 82 and 80 yards rushing, respectively, including a pair of scores by Mobley. And Bryce Bohanon led the receivers with five catches for 62 yards. Linebacker Dickson Agu (Dutchtown) led the defense with a game-high 11 tackles, and defensive back E’zaiah Shine and defensive lineman Santana Hopper each recovered fumbles. RAGIN’ CAJUNS 34, MCNEESE STATE 10 Redshirt freshman quarterback Daniel Beale (Catholic-B.R.) won his first collegiate state Saturday as Louisiana (Lafayette) found its recipe for success with a dominant run game and defense against McNeese State. The Ragin’ Cajuns’ (1-1) offensive line paved the way for not only star running back duo of Elijah “Bill” Davis (Riverside Academy) and Zylan Perry (Franklin) to rack up 132 and 94 yards respectively, including a pair of Davis scores, but also for redshirt freshman Steven Blanco (St. Martinville) to add another 69 yards and a score. “Offensively, we shot ourselves in the foot a bunch,” Beale said. “I wish we would’ve executed a little bit better in certain situations, in the red zone. Me personally, in the first quarter, I just had to settle down a little bit. I was quick to escape the pocket or try to do too much or not do enough. But once I just leaned on the guys, leaned on the O-line and the running backs, tight ends and receivers, leaned on those guys that can make plays for us and just settled in — I mean, the running stats, I don’t know what they were, but they were probably ridiculous.” Louisiana finished with a combined 315 rushing yards on 45 attempts, an average of 7.0 yards per carry. Beale completed 14 of his 22 passes (64%) to 11 different receivers for 86 yards and a 10-yard touchdown pass to former Southside quarterback Landon Baptiste. Junior defensive back Maurion Eleam (Neville) led the defense with six tackles, including one for a loss, and senior linebacker Terrence Williams (Many) wrapped up five stops. Senior safety Jalen Clark intercepted a pass, and redshirt freshman defensive lineman Ashton Wright recovered a fumble. McNeese State quarterback Jake Strong finished 19-for-30 for 191 yards, including eight catches for 83 yards for redshirt freshman transfer Josh Jackson (St. Augustine). ALABAMA 73, ULM 0 Any dreams of a 2007-style shocker vanished quickly as Alabama’s offense overwhelmed the Warhawks from the opening series, erasing suspense before the first quarter ended The Warhawks offense, on the other hand, couldn’t get going against the Tide, accumulating only 1 yard of total offense in the first quarter. ULM looks to shake back next week on the road at UTEP. FCS STRUGGLES IN WEEK 2 Southeastern Louisiana (1-1) was the lone bright spot on a 1-5 weekend for Louisiana’s Southland and SWAC programs. The Lions bounced back to take a 45-24 win at Murray State (0-2) behind a balanced 480 yards with 262 on the ground and 218 through the air. Carson Camp finished 18-for-25 for 173 yards, a touchdown and an interception, and another 21 yards on seven rushes, and Kyle Lowe went 6-for-8 for 45 yards and rushed 13 times for 97 yards and three scores. Northwestern State (1-1) fell, 66-0, at Minnesota, and Nicholls State (1-2) lost at home to West Georgia, 34-10, to round out the Southland slate. And Grambling State (1-1) fell, 70-0, at No. 1 Ohio State, while Southern (1-2) lost at home to Alabama State, 30-7.   (Jerit Roser and Jacob Coltson contributed to this report.)