A tense week under the microscope for Tulane was rapidly getting bleaker Friday at Charlotte.
The Green Wave (4-4, 2-2), in a badly needed rebound from last week’s frustrating loss to UTSA, stumbled their way down 10 points with less than seven minutes remaining to the one-win 49ers (1-7, 1-3) they had beaten handily in both previous meetings.
But 17 unanswered points with three straight scoring drives and back-to-back defensive stands helped avert disaster and steal a 38-31 road victory and even both Tulane’s overall and conference records heading into November.
“As everybody knows, this has been a hard season on a lot of people, particularly our players,” coach Will Hall said. “We’ve played a lot of really good teams. We’ve had a lot of injuries. And these kids never quit. And we’re 4-4 right now going down the stretch with everything in front of us. We’re back at home this week. We’ve got to continue to work and get better. We’ve gotta quit turning the dang football over. We’ve got to make our field goals. But there’s a lot of things we can build off of with this win on the road.”
Freshman quarterback Trace Johnson finished 28-for-36 (77.8%) for 284 yards, the game-tying 11-yard touchdown pass to freshman tight end Cameron Roberts with 10 seconds remaining and an early interception the set up Charlotte’s first score in a huge second-quarter swing.
The completions total and percentage and total yardage all marked his best thus far early in his career, as did his 22 rushing yards and 3.1-yard average on seven attempts.
“I’m gonna say he’s got ice-water in his veins,” Hall said. “I’ve got some other metaphors I can give you when it’s just me and you, but he’s got ice-water in his veins. I love him. I love coaching him. I was not proud of the pick. He wasn’t either. That wasn’t smart. I’m proud of how he responded. That’s part of our core values with how we respond. And I thought he ran the ball better late. He’s still gotta get better with running. Me and him are gonna fight about that. He’s a good runner. But, man, the dude is special, and he’s got a chance to be really, really special. I thought our guys rallied around him. When he’s in the game, our kids just feel like we’re gonna win.”
Tulane marched its opening drive 15 plays and 92 yards to a 2-yard Johnnie Daniels touchdown run and 7-0 lead in the first quarter.
But after a couple early punts, the 49ers found a spark with a pair of back-to-back scores off turnovers.
Charlotte turned a Jameel Croft Jr. interception in the red zone into a 44-yard Khamani Alexander touchdown scamper and a fumbled Green Wave kick return ripped away by Jonathan Patterson into a 48-yard Aiden Bui field goal and 10-7 lead.
Tulane senior defensive back T.J. Smith immediately struck back with a 95-yard kick return touchdown, the program’s first in more than two years.
But the Green Wave’s special-teams response wasn’t enough to slow down Charlotte’s surging momentum as Conner Harrell found Jaden Barnes and Derrick Eley for 22- and 16-yard touchdowns in the final minutes of the half to take a 24-14 advantage into the break.
Daniels added another 2-yard run with five minutes remaining in the third quarter to pull back within one possession, but the 49ers answered with a 1-yard Eley run early in the fourth.
The final quarter belonged to the visiting Wave, though, with a pair of 60-yard drives to a 27-yard Cooper Helmke (St. Martin’s Episcopal) and the Johnson-Roberts touchdown in the final seconds.
Tulane needed six plays in overtime to climb back ahead, 38-31, with a 1-yard keeper by sophomore quarterback Dagan Bruno (John Curtis) and then shut the 49ers down inside the 5-yard line with tackles by junior Kevin Adams III (Destrehan) and freshman bandit Cayden Dees and breakups by Smith and sophomore corner E’zaiah Shine.
“There’s plenty of mistakes that we made across the board as a team, but nevertheless we looked each other in the eyes and we said, ‘We’re gonna get this done one way or the other,’ so that’s what happened,” junior linebacker Makai Williams said. “When we got into overtime, you saw coach Hall sit down with all of us, and he told us what it was gonna be. And we had each other’s back. Defense plays for offense, and offense plays for defense, and vice versa. We’re gonna give the ball back to the offense to score, and we’re gonna do our job.”
Junior linebacker Dickson Agu (Dutchtown) led all players with 14 tackles, including 0.5 for loss, and Adams had 10 stops, including 0.5 for loss.
Junior safety Jack Tchienchou, freshman defensive lineman Reshad Sterling (Lutcher) and Williams each added six tackles each, including two for loss and a sack by Williams.
“I thought Dickson Agu played his tail off, 14 tackles,” Hall said. “Makai Williams six tackles, two for loss and a sack, I thought he was everywhere, man, playing tough. I thought we got pressure on ’em late when we had to. I thought to get to overtime, to get the stop to get it to overtime — we’re down 10 in the fourth quarter with 10 minutes left, and all anybody was talking about was, ‘man, we’re just two scores away from taking the lead’ … I thought it was no panic in our players. Our culture, it was a great culture win.”
Freshman bandit Warren Roberts Jr. (St. Augustine) and sophomore linebacker Dalton Hughes had four and three tackles, respectively, and a sack each, and Williams and junior defensive back Joshua Moore joined Smith and Shine with pass breakups.
Daniels’ 99 yards and two touchdowns on 13 carries led the Green Wave’s offensive weapons. Sophomore receiver Zycarl Lewis caught three passes for 55 yards, and junior Destyn “Fatt” Hill (Edna Karr) had 51 yards on six receptions.
Tulane returns home to face Tulsa (4-4, 1-3) next Saturday at 11 a.m.
“It’s big-time,” Johnson said. “Just keep this momentum and let’s just keep this thing going as we can.”
