Tulane’s second trip to Ole Miss this season didn’t prove much more successful than a long, disappointing afternoon in September.
The Green Wave (11-3) struggled out the gate Saturday and couldn’t keep up as the Rebels (12-1) blew open a 41-10 victory in the College Football Playoff first-round game that ended Jon Sumrall’s tenure in New Orleans and opened Pete Golding’s in Oxford, Miss.
“I told them it’s never OK to lose, so anybody that tells you it’s OK to lose, get away from them for the rest of your life,” Sumrall said of his postgame message to his players. “I don’t care if we’re talking about in football or in 40 years from now. Anybody that tell you, ‘hey, it’s OK you lost,’ no it’s not. It’s not OK we lost. I’m not OK with the loss. Never will be.
“I also told ’em that doesn’t change how I feel about ’em. I love this group. I love each guy on that team. This team will walk together forever as champions because we won a conference championship, aight? So while the outcome tonight sucks and I’m not happy with it and there’s nothing about it that I feel good about, I still feel good about this football team because we hoisted a conference championship trophy two weeks ago. And I told ’em that in 30 or 40 years they’ll bring them back for a celebration and I’ll probably need a cane to walk around with ’em, but I’m gonna celebrate. And I also told ’em that for the rest of my life if I can ever do anything for ’em, I’m a phone call away.”
Sumrall wraps up two seasons leading Tulane with a 20-8 record, including this year’s American Athletic Conference championship and Playoff appearance, as he heads to Florida.
Golding, a Hammond native, earned his first head-coaching victory in a debut on an unusually large stage as he succeeded Lane Kiffin, who left Nov. 30 to take over LSU.
“I was just excited for ’em to put everything behind ’em and get back on the grass and do what they love to do,” Golding told the TNT broadcast immediately following the game. “They created a great opportunity for themselves and came out and responded how I thought they would… They’re the same guys that we recruited. They’re tough, they’re competitive, they love football, they’re resilient, they’ve got grit. This is a group that enjoys playing together. So we knew we were playing for another opportunity. We don’t want it to end.”
Ole Miss built a 14-0 lead in a blink as quarterback Trinidad Chambliss, running back Kewan Lacy and company — with play-calling by new LSU offensive coordinator Charlie Weis Jr. — moved down the field at will on the first two possessions.
Tulane meanwhile moved the ball early in its own right, but had drives stall in Rebels territory with an interception and dropped-pass turnover on downs before it could finally put a 39-yard Patrick Durkin field goal on the scoreboard early in the second quarter.
Ole Miss added a field goal later in the half to begin a run of 27 straight points that stretched the lead to 41-3 early in the fourth quarter.
The Green Wave compiled 421 yards to the Rebels’ 497 and were more efficient on third downs — 5-for-13 (38.5%) to 3-for-10 (30%) — but lost the turnover margin, 3-to-1, and struggled on third downs on both sides of the ball, going 0-for-4 and allowing Ole Miss 2-for-2.
Quarterback Jake Retzlaff finished 20-for-35 (57.1%) for 306 yards, an early interception and a late touchdown with former St. James star Shazz Preston leading the targets with five catches for 125 yards.
Sophomore running back Jamauri McClure rushed 15 times for 84 yards, and Retzlaff added 24 yards on 11 carries.
Tulane finally found the end zone with four minutes left in the game as Retzlaff found tight end Justyn Reid for a 29-yard gain up the left sideline.
But, by that time, the Rebels were well on their way to icing away the program’s first-ever Playoff win and a berth in national quarterfinals Jan. 1 against Georgia (12-1) in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans.
“It’s good when you’ve got good players,” Golding said of his first game as a head coach coming in those circumstances, adding with a smile: “So we”ll see what they’re chanting next time.”
Chambliss finished 23-for-29 (79.3%) for 282 yards and a passing touchdown and rushed six times for 36 yards and two scores.
Lacy led all players with 87 rushing yards and a score on 15 carries, and former Archbishop Rummel and LSU back Logan Diggs added 11 yards and a touchdown on four touches.
Safeties Kevin Adams III (Destrehan) and Bailey Despanie (Carencro) led the Tulane defense with either tackles each.
Five different Green Wave players combined for four sacks, and defensive lineman Kameron Hamilton (Zachary) and defensive back Jahiem “Joker” Johnson (Hammond) each broke up a pass.
Former General Trass star Wydett Williams Jr., a senior safety, was among the Rebels’ leaders with five tackles.
