Tulane is now one more home game against a reeling opponent from advancing to a fourth straight American Athletic Conference title game.
The No. 24 Green Wave (9-2, 6-1) rolled past Temple (5-6, 3-4) with a stingy and balanced performance on the road Saturday, 37-13, to win their third straight contest and bolster their positioning atop the league standings.
Tulane allowed the Owls just 167 yards, including just 20 on the ground, and a 13-point output that matched their lowest thus far in conference play.
Junior linebacker Chris Rodgers and sophomore defensive back Javion White (Franklin Parish) led the defense with eight and five tackles, respectively, white White also recovering a fumble.
Sophomore edge rusher Jordan Norman recorded two sacks, and senior linebacker Sam Howard and senior defensive lineman Kameron Hamilton (Zachary) added one each. Defensive backs Bailey Despanie (Carencro), Jahiem “Joker” Johnson (Hammond), L.J. Green and Joshua Moore each had pass breakups.
Quarterback Jake Retzlaff finished 17-for-28 for 231 yards and touchdowns to juniors Shazz Preston (St. James) and Justyn Reid and rushed for another score.
Sophomore running back Jamauri McClure rushed 17 times for 122 yards to lead a 175-yard team rushing performance, and Preston’s 96 yards and a touchdown on five catches led the receiving corps’ combined 231 yards.
Tulane jumped out to a 10-0 lead with a pair of quick defensive stops, a 69-yard play-action strike from Retzlaff to Preston and a 50-yard field goal by freshman Patrick Durkin.
Temple answered the following possession with a short pass from senior quarterback Evan Simon to junior tight end Peter Clarke.
But the Green Wave scored the next 16 points on a short Retzlaff run and Durkin 36-yarder in the second quarter and 38- and 42-yard Durkin kicks in the third.
Simon found senior receiver Colin Chase early in the fourth quarter to trim the Owls’ deficit to 26-13, but that was the closest they would come.
Retzlaff added the 4-yard touchdown to Reid and a subsequent two-pointer to Anthony Brown-Stephens with 9:55 remaining, and Durkin booted a 52-yarder three minutes later as Tulane continued to hold the Owls’ offense at bay.
The Green Wave return home to close the regular season against Charlotte (1-10, 0-7) next Saturday.
Tulane and Navy (8-2, 6-1) are tied atop the conference standing with North Texas (9-1, 5-1) still to play later Saturday at Rice (5-5, 2-4).
The top two teams will meet Dec. 5 in the American title game with a potential tie-breaker — with no head-to-head meetings between them — to be determined by the College Football Playoff rankings, which the Green Wave entered this past Tuesday.
