NEW ORLEANS – The Tulane football team clinched bowl eligibility for the second straight season with a 38-26 American Athletic Conference home win over Tulsa on homecoming at Yulman Stadium.
The Green Wave (6-3, 3-2 AAC) were led by redshirt senior quarterback Justin McMillan's four touchdowns (three rushing) and junior running back Stephon Huderson's 168 all-purpose yards. McMillan completed 12 of his 16 passes for 184 yards.
Huderson compiled a career-high 100 rushing yards on seven carries, while adding a 32-yard touchdown reception. Redshirt senior running back Corey Dauphine added 78 more on the ground, as McMillan had 72 rushing yards.
The Green Wave scored the game's first points on their first possession of the afternoon by way of a 31-yard field goal by Merek Glover. That tally was followed by a six-play, 87-yard scoring drive set up by a career-long 55-yard rush up the middle by Huderson on the first snap. McMillan finished it off with a five-yard scamper to the left side giving Tulane its first touchdown of the day.
Tulsa responded with 13 unanswered points however, beginning with a 10-play drive that ended on a one-yard touchdown just two minutes into the second quarter. The Golden Hurricane tied the score, 10-10, with 8:33 left in the first half courtesy of a 40-yard field goal by Jacob Rainey on its subsequent possession.
Rainey connected on a 32-yard kick just four minutes later to give Tulsa its first lead of the day.
McMillan punched right back his next time on the field, using a 37-yard catch and run by redshirt senior wide receiver Jalen McCleskey to set up a red zone opportunity. McMillan would score his second rushing touchdown of the game on the fifth play of the drive from one yard out to put the Wave back in front, 17-13, with two minutes left in the half.
Just 13 seconds elapsed from the time Tulsa got the ball back to Tulane making a return trip to the endzone, as senior safety P.J. Hall stripped the ball from Golden Hurricane receiver Josh Johnson. Redshirt sophomore cornerback Willie Langham was there to scoop up the loose ball and run it back from 13 yards out.
The score was Tulane's first fumble recovery returned for a touchdown in 2019.
Tulsa was able to make a quick counter, going 55 yards in just 1:05 before Rainey made his third field goal of the second quarter from 37 yards away, as Tulane took a 24-16 lead into halftime.
The Green Wave got right back to business at the start of the second half, compiling a nine-play scoring drive capped by a 32-yard passing strike from McMillan to Huderson on fourth down, extending the advantage to 15 points.
The Golden Hurricane waited until early in the fourth quarter to get back on the scoreboard on a 16-yard touchdown pass. Rainey later connected on his fourth field goal of the day from 38 yards out to pull Tulsa within five, 31-26, with just under 10 minutes left in the game.
Tulane would chew up more than half of the remaining time with a 10-play, 70-yard touchdown drive capped by McMillan's one-yard rush up the middle – his third of the day.
What turned out to be Tulsa's final possession resulted in a three-and-out covering just 41 seconds, as the Green Wave used up the final 4:12 of game clock to preserve the win.