Cotton Bowl: Tulane 46, Southern Cal 45
(AP Photo/Sam Hodde)
By STEPHEN HAWKINS
AP Sports Writer
ARLINGTON, Texas - Tulane tight end Alex Bauman caught a 6-yard touchdown from Michael Pratt with 9 seconds left to cap a frantic finish by the 14th-ranked Green Wave in a 46-45 win over Heisman Trophy winner Caleb Williams and No. 8 Southern California in the Cotton Bowl.
Bauman's contested catch, with linebacker Eric Gentry draped over him, was initially ruled an incompletion, but a replay review showed the ball never touched the ground as the players rolled over in the end zone. The Green Wave scored 16 points in the final 4:07, the game-winning touchdown coming after they got the ball back following a safety.
"I might have had a heart attack," Tulane coach Willie Fritz said moments after the game ended.
Williams was 37-for-52 passing for 462 yards and a Cotton Bowl-record five touchdowns, exactly one month after the quarterback suffered a hamstring injury in USC's loss to Utah in the Pac-12 championship game that kept the Trojans from making the four-team College Football Playoff.
Tyjae Spears ran for 205 yards and his career-best fourth touchdown started the final scoring surge for the American Athletic Conference champion Green Wave (12-2), who completed an FBS-record 10-win turnaround around after going 2-10 last season. They were in the New Year's Six game as the highest-ranked Group of Five team.
After Spears' 4-yard TD with 4:07 left, the Green Wave opted to kick deep instead of trying an onside kick. Mario Williams signaled for a fair catch, but fumbled the ball out of bounds at the 1. Two plays later, defensive tackle Patrick Jenkins met Austin Jones in the end zone and smothered him for a safety.
Pratt completed only 8 of 17 passes for 234 yards, but had two 24-yard completions on that final drive after the safety. The first one to Bauman converted a fourth-and-10, and Deuce Watts held on despite a crushing hit from a defender that left both of them on the ground after a 24-yard gain to the 6 with 18 seconds left.
After Williams followed coach Lincoln Riley from Oklahoma, the Trojans (11-3) matched the biggest turnaround in school history despite the coach's first loss in six games at AT&T Stadium. It was a seven-win improvement over last season's 4-8 record before Riley and Williams arrived on the West Coast.
January 2, 2023
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
Tulane | USC |
| USC |
TD |
5:58 |
Michael Jackson III 9 yard TD pass from Caleb Williams (Denis Lynch Extra Point) |
0 |
7 |
| Second Quarter |
Tulane | USC |
| USC |
TD |
12:33 |
Terrell Bynum 3 yard TD pass from Caleb Williams (Denis Lynch Extra Point) |
0 |
14 |
| Tulane |
TD |
9:30 |
Tyjae Spears 3 yard TD run (Valentino Ambrosio Extra Point) |
7 |
14 |
| Tulane |
TD |
5:42 |
Jha'Quan Jackson 87 yard TD pass from Michael Pratt (Valentino Ambrosio Extra Point) |
14 |
14 |
| USC |
TD |
2:21 |
Raleek Brown 39 yard TD run (Denis Lynch Extra Point) |
14 |
21 |
| USC |
TD |
0:12 |
Brenden Rice 4 yard TD pass from Caleb Williams (Denis Lynch Extra Point) |
14 |
28 |
| Third Quarter |
Tulane | USC |
| Tulane |
TD |
11:55 |
Tyjae Spears 7 yard TD run (Valentino Ambrosio Extra Point) |
21 |
28 |
| Tulane |
FG |
4:02 |
Valentino Ambrosio 42 yard field goal |
24 |
28 |
| USC |
TD |
1:24 |
Brenden Rice 19 yard TD pass from Caleb Williams (Denis Lynch Extra Point) |
24 |
35 |
| Tulane |
TD |
0:40 |
Tyjae Spears 3 yard TD run (Shae Wyatt 2pt conversion attempt is NO GOOD) |
30 |
35 |
| Fourth Quarter |
Tulane | USC |
| USC |
TD |
12:09 |
Kyron Hudson 4 yard TD pass from Caleb Williams (Denis Lynch Extra Point) |
30 |
42 |
| USC |
FG |
4:30 |
Denis Lynch 43 yard field goal |
30 |
45 |
| Tulane |
TD |
4:07 |
Tyjae Spears 4 yard TD run (Valentino Ambrosio Extra Point) |
37 |
45 |
| Tulane |
SF |
3:20 |
Team safety |
39 |
45 |
| Tulane |
TD |
0:09 |
Alex Bauman 6 yard TD pass from Michael Pratt (Valentino Ambrosio Extra Point) |
46 |
45 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Tulane |
USC |
| First downs |
16 |
30 |
| Rushing |
9 |
6 |
| Passing |
6 |
22 |
| Penalty |
1 |
2 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
3-8, 38% |
11-15, 73% |
| 4th down efficiency |
2-2, 100% |
2-2, 100% |
| Rushes-Yards |
34-305 |
32-132 |
| Passing Yards |
234 |
459 |
| Return Yards |
146 |
65 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
8-18-0 |
37-52-1 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
4-20 |
0-0 |
| Punts |
2 |
0 |
| Fumbles Lost |
1-1 |
2-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
4-30 |
5-36 |
| Tulane Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| M. Pratt |
8 |
17 |
234 |
2 |
0 |
| USC Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| C. Williams |
37 |
52 |
459 |
5 |
1 |
| Tulane Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| T. Spears |
18 |
210 |
11.7 |
4 |
| M. Pratt |
14 |
78 |
5.6 |
0 |
| S. Clayton-Johnson |
1 |
19 |
19.0 |
0 |
| USC Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| R. Brown |
6 |
61 |
10.2 |
1 |
| A. Jones |
22 |
61 |
2.8 |
0 |
| C. Williams |
4 |
10 |
2.5 |
0 |
| Tulane Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Jackson |
1 |
87 |
87.0 |
1 |
| D. Watts |
2 |
83 |
41.5 |
0 |
| A. Bauman |
3 |
46 |
15.3 |
1 |
| T. Spears |
1 |
14 |
14.0 |
0 |
| R. Brown |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
0 |
| USC Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| B. Rice |
6 |
174 |
29.0 |
2 |
| T. Washington |
5 |
109 |
21.8 |
0 |
| M. Williams |
6 |
35 |
5.8 |
0 |
| M. Jackson III |
4 |
31 |
7.8 |
1 |
| T. Bynum |
3 |
24 |
8.0 |
1 |
| R. Brown |
2 |
24 |
12.0 |
0 |
| K. Hudson |
4 |
23 |
5.8 |
1 |
| A. Jones |
4 |
20 |
5.0 |
0 |
| K. Ford |
2 |
19 |
9.5 |
0 |
| J. Jackson III |
1 |
2 |
2.0 |
0 |
| Tulane Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| J. Monroe |
1 |
0 |
| USC Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Tulane Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| C. Glover |
2 |
86 |
43.0 |
| USC Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| Tulane Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| USC Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| M. Jackson III |
1 |
1 |
1.0 |
| Tulane Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| L. Keys III |
5 |
123 |
24.6 |
| D. Hodges |
1 |
23 |
23.0 |
| USC Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| R. Brown |
4 |
65 |
16.3 |
| R. Davis |
1 |
-1 |
-1.0 |
| M. Blackmon |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| M. Williams |
1 |
0 |
0 |
| Tulane Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| USC Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| D. Lynch |
52 |
