MOBILE, Ala. — Tulane scored the final 21 points, taking the lead on Amare Jones’ 16-yard touchdown run and a two-point conversion with 3:18 remaining, to beat South Alabama 27-24 in the first game at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
The Jaguars led 24-6 midway through the third quarter.
Slow Start, Historic First Score
South Alabama recovered a Tulane fumble early, but quarterback Desmond Trotter fumbled at the 1-yard line on the Jaguars’ second play from scrimmage. The Jaguars turned the ball over on downs on their second possession and punted on their third.
On their first possession of the second quarter, Chance Lovertich threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to Kawaan Baker, the first touchdown in Hancock Whitney Stadium history. Tulane answered four plays later on Cameron Carroll’s 6-yard touchdown run, but a missed extra point left South Alabama ahead 7-6.
Lovertich completed passes of 15 and 41 yards to Jalen Tolbert on the next drive, then hit Jalen Wayne for a 13-yard touchdown and a 14-6 halftime lead.
Jaguars Build Lead
South Alabama took the second-half kickoff and scored on a 2-yard run by Carlos Davis to go up 21-6 with 12:15 left in the third quarter. Trotter returned to the game in the third quarter but took himself out after a hard hit, holding his right shoulder, the same shoulder he injured in the Jaguars’ win over Southern Miss.
Tulane turned the ball over on downs when Tyjae Spears was stopped on fourth-and-1. South Alabama reached the Tulane 22 before losing ground on a Lovertich run for minus-3, a dropped pass and a 6-yard sack, and Diego Guajardo made a 49-yard field goal for a 24-6 lead.
Green Wave Comeback
Tulane responded with a six-play, 60-yard drive, opening with completions of 21 and 16 yards, and Carroll scored on a 12-yard run with 5:07 left in the third quarter. The Green Wave scored again to open the fourth quarter, cutting the deficit to 24-19.
Tulane’s defensive front put consistent pressure on Lovertich over the rest of the game. Jones’ touchdown run gave Tulane the lead with 3:18 left. Keon Howard’s first two-point pass fell incomplete, but AJ DeShazor was called for roughing the passer, and Howard then found a wide-open Tyrick James for a 27-24 lead.
South Alabama’s next possession ended after two incompletions and an 11-yard sack. The Jaguars’ defense forced a punt with 1:38 left, but a personal foul for leaping over the line on the kick gave Tulane a first down, and the Green Wave knelt three times to run out the clock.
By the Numbers
South Alabama outgained Tulane 419 to 394 and threw for 336 yards to Tulane’s 227, but Tulane rushed for 203 yards to the Jaguars’ 83. South Alabama converted 4 of 14 third downs; Tulane converted 1 of 11.
- Lovertich completed 18 of 27 passes for 262 yards and two touchdowns in relief of Trotter, who was 4 of 8 for 74 yards. Lovertich was credited with minus-43 rushing yards.
- Baker caught seven passes for 129 yards and a touchdown.
- Tolbert caught six passes for 114 yards, his third straight 100-yard game dating to the 2019 season.
- Davis ran 16 times for 82 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 46 yards.
- Wayne caught three passes for 33 yards and a touchdown.
- Caullin Lacy ran four times for 36 yards, and AJ Phillips had an 11-yard carry.
Howard, making his Tulane debut, completed 14 of 30 passes for 191 yards and ran for 31 yards and a touchdown. Jha’Quan Jackson caught three passes for 44 yards. Spears ran 11 times for 105 yards, Jones had 29 yards and a touchdown on four carries, and Carroll scored twice on 10 carries for 26 yards.
What They Said
“It’s a very disappointing loss,” South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell said. “I thought the guys played extremely hard, but disappointed that we weren’t able to come away with the win. We came out ready to play, but there were some things we didn’t handle well, and that’s coaching. We’ve got to do a better job of putting our guys in position to win a close game.”
On the late personal foul, Campbell said, “You can’t jump the shield. We’ve gone over that. We don’t need to do that. Again, that’s coaching.”
“They started doing a couple of stunts. They changed their defense a little bit,” Lovertich said. “They started playing us soft, so we couldn’t beat them deep. We didn’t finish when we needed to.”
“It’s a bad loss,” Baker said. “We came in thinking we were going to win, but we didn’t finish like we were supposed to. We’ve got to learn from it and move on. We were hurting ourselves with the penalties and mistakes. That’s what we’ve got to correct.”
Up Next: UAB
South Alabama has an open date before facing UAB on Thursday, Sept. 24. Kickoff is set for 6:30 p.m. on ESPN.
