South Alabama did nearly everything a visiting team is supposed to do at Yulman Stadium on Saturday night. The Jaguars outgained Tulane, dominated time of possession, converted on third down at a rate most offenses never approach, and did not turn the ball over once.
They lost 28-24.
Kadin Semonza’s 14-yard touchdown pass to Destyn Hill with 1:17 to play decided it, capping a Tulane drive that covered 78 yards in a little over three minutes against a defense that had been on the field for most of the night.
The Box Score That Should Have Won
The statistical summary of this game is genuinely difficult to reconcile with the result:
- Total yards — South Alabama 478, Tulane 424
- Time of possession — South Alabama 37:40, Tulane 22:20
- Third down — South Alabama 10 of 16
- Turnovers — South Alabama 0
Holding the ball for better than 37 minutes means the Jaguars controlled roughly 63 percent of the game. Converting 10 of 16 third downs is a 62.5 percent rate. Playing a road game without a single giveaway is exactly what coaching staffs ask for.
The four categories most commonly cited as predictors of winning football all pointed the same direction, and the scoreboard went the other way. That happens when the opposing offense needs fewer plays to score — which is precisely what Tulane’s did.
Jaylin Lucas and the Math of Explosive Plays
Tulane running back Jaylin Lucas finished with 214 yards on 11 carries. Eleven.
That is 19.5 yards per attempt, and it included an 80-yard touchdown run and a 61-yard run. Those two carries alone accounted for 141 of his 214 yards.
This is the explanation for the entire game. South Alabama held Tulane to 22 minutes of possession and still surrendered 28 points because the Green Wave did not need possession time — they needed two runs. An 80-yard touchdown consumes about 11 seconds of clock and produces the same seven points as a 16-play drive.
Semonza added 212 yards through the air on 14-of-22 passing with a touchdown. Ninety-one of those yards came on four completions to Hill, including a 39-yard throw to his brother, Cash Semonza, that set up the winning score.
Johnnie Daniels ran for touchdowns of 2 and 3 yards to give Tulane a 14-10 halftime lead.
How the Lead Changed Hands
South Alabama led 10-0 after the first quarter. Tulane answered with Daniels’ two short touchdown runs for a 14-10 edge at the break.
Early in the third, Bishop Davenport’s 43-yard touchdown pass to Anthony Eager put the Jaguars back ahead 17-14. Lucas’ 80-yard run reclaimed the lead for Tulane before the quarter ended.
Davenport’s 17-yard touchdown pass to Brendan Jenkins with 11:49 remaining made it 24-21 South Alabama — the fourth lead change of the night.
Then it stopped changing.
The Series That Decided It
After Tulane punted with 10:28 left, South Alabama had multiple opportunities to end the game with the ball in its hands. What followed was a sequence that will be replayed in film sessions this week.
On third-and-9, Davenport ran for 10 yards and fumbled. Tulane’s Josh Moore scooped the ball and ran 32 yards for what appeared to be a touchdown — a 14-point swing on one play.
Officials reviewed it and ruled that Davenport had begun his slide before losing the ball, negating the fumble. The Jaguars kept possession and the first down.
Three plays later, a sack forced a punt.
Tulane took over at its own 22 with 4:39 remaining. Semonza found Garrett Mmahat for 13 yards on third-and-1, then hit Cash Semonza for 39 yards to reach the red zone. The go-ahead touchdown to Hill came on third-and-4.
South Alabama turned the ball over on downs on the ensuing possession, and Tulane ran out the clock.
The reversed fumble is the play that will stay with this game. It saved the Jaguars seven points and kept the ball, and three snaps later the drive ended anyway. A reprieve that produced nothing is a difficult thing to file away.
Davenport and Jenkins Delivered
Individually, South Alabama got what it needed from its passing game.
Bishop Davenport finished 22 of 32 for 296 yards and two touchdowns, adding 50 yards rushing. A 69 percent completion rate for nearly 300 yards with no interceptions, on the road, is a quarterback playing well.
Brendan Jenkins had a career night with nine catches for 119 yards and a touchdown — the kind of performance that usually appears in a recap of a win rather than a loss.
Eager caught two passes for 64 yards including the 43-yard score. PJ Martin, a New Orleans native playing in his hometown, ran for 73 yards and a touchdown. Davis Little kicked a 40-yard field goal.
Four Straight Against Tulane
The loss extended a streak that has become a genuine pattern rather than a coincidence. South Alabama has now lost four consecutive meetings with Tulane: in 2020 and 2025 in Mobile, and in 2023 and this year in New Orleans.
The margins tell their own story. A 27-24 loss in Mobile in 2020. A 37-17 defeat in New Orleans in 2023, the only one that was not competitive. A 33-31 loss in Mobile last season. And now 28-24.
Three of the four have been decided by four points or fewer. Whatever the Jaguars are missing against this particular opponent, it is not talent or preparation — it is the handful of plays at the end that have gone Tulane’s way four times running.
That the streak continued in a year when Tulane was working under a first-year head coach, after losing its season opener 17-3 at Duke and changing starting quarterbacks in the first two weeks, makes it sting more rather than less.
What It Means Going Forward
South Alabama falls to 1-1. Tulane climbs to 1-1.
The encouraging reading for the Jaguars is that they went on the road against a program that reached the College Football Playoff a year ago, controlled the line of scrimmage, protected the football and led in the fourth quarter. Nearly everything within their control went well.
The discouraging reading is that a team which does all of that and loses has a specific problem: it surrendered two explosive runs and could not close out a fourth-quarter lead with the clock and the ball in its favor. Neither of those is a scheme overhaul. Both are the difference between 1-1 and 2-0.
South Alabama returns home to face Ohio at 6 p.m. next Saturday.