Southern Miss 27, Tulane 24
Associated Press
NEW ORLEANS - Zach Wilcke threw a pair of touchdown passes, Eric Scott returned an interception for a score and Southern Mississippi collected its first win of the season, beating previously unbeaten Tulane 27-24.
Wilcke's 37-yard touchdown pass to Jakarius Caston tied it at 17 late in the third quarter. Scott's pick-6 stretched the Southern Miss lead to 27-17 with 7:07 remaining. Wilcke was 17-of-25 passing for 194 yards. Caston had eight receptions for 91 yards.
Michael Pratt's 25-yard touchdown pass to Jha'Quan Jackson for Tulane capped the scoring with 19 seconds left.
Tyjae Spears ran for 114 yards and two touchdowns for Tulane (3-1). Spears also made five catches for 74 yards. Spears' 8-yard TD run and his 34-yard scoring run gave Tulane a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.
Southern Miss (1-3) ended a two-game skid in the series, a 30-13 loss in the 2020 Armed Forces Bowl and a 66-24 defeat at home during the 2020 regular season.
It was the 33rd meeting in the series dating to 1979, but the first in New Orleans since 2010, a 46-10 Southern Miss win at the Louisiana Superdome. It was also the first time the teams met in Yulman Stadium.
| Scoring Summary |
| First Quarter |
SouMis | Tulane |
| Tulane |
TD |
10:14 |
Tyjae Spears 8 yd run (Kriston Esnard kick) |
0 |
7 |
| Second Quarter |
SouMis | Tulane |
| Tulane |
TD |
11:57 |
Tyjae Spears 34 yd run (Kriston Esnard kick) |
0 |
14 |
| SouMis |
TD |
6:01 |
Jason Brownlee 23 yd pass from Zach Wilcke (Briggs Bourgeois kick) |
7 |
14 |
| SouMis |
FG |
2:31 |
Briggs Bourgeois 36 yd FG |
10 |
14 |
| Tulane |
FG |
0:03 |
Kriston Esnard 28 yd FG |
10 |
17 |
| Third Quarter |
SouMis | Tulane |
| SouMis |
TD |
1:53 |
Jakarius Caston 37 yd pass from Zach Wilcke (Briggs Bourgeois kick) |
17 |
17 |
| Fourth Quarter |
SouMis | Tulane |
| SouMis |
FG |
8:26 |
Briggs Bourgeois 26 yd FG |
20 |
17 |
| SouMis |
TD |
7:07 |
Eric Scott, Jr. 35 yd interception return (Briggs Bourgeois kick) |
27 |
17 |
| Tulane |
TD |
0:19 |
Jha'Quan Jackson 25 yd pass from Michael Pratt (Kriston Esnard kick) |
27 |
24 |
| Team Stats |
| |
Southern Miss |
Tulane |
| First downs |
13 |
26 |
| Rushing |
5 |
14 |
| Passing |
8 |
10 |
| Penalty |
0 |
2 |
| 3rd Down Efficiency |
3-12, 25% |
6-16, 38% |
| 4th down efficiency |
1-2, 50% |
1-3, 33% |
| Rushes-Yards |
27-59 |
47-204 |
| Passing Yards |
194 |
247 |
| Return Yards |
57 |
39 |
| Completions-Attempts-Int |
17-25-0 |
19-29-1 |
| Sacks-Yards Lost |
0-0 |
4--23 |
| Punts |
5 |
3 |
| Punts-Average |
46.4 |
25.7 |
| Fumbles Lost |
1-0 |
1-0 |
| Penalties - Yards |
5-45 |
2-20 |
| Time of Possession |
23:59 |
36:01 |
| Southern Miss Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| Z. Wilcke |
17 |
25 |
194 |
2 |
0 |
| Tulane Passing |
| Player |
Cmp |
Att |
Yds |
TDs |
Int |
| M. Pratt |
19 |
29 |
247 |
1 |
1 |
| Southern Miss Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| F. Gore Jr. |
16 |
44 |
2.8 |
0 |
| J. Dean |
4 |
7 |
1.8 |
0 |
| Z. Wilcke |
4 |
6 |
1.5 |
0 |
| T. Keyes |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
0 |
| Tulane Rushing |
| Player |
Carries |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| T. Spears |
22 |
114 |
5.2 |
2 |
| M. Pratt |
16 |
58 |
3.6 |
0 |
| I. Celestine |
5 |
22 |
4.4 |
0 |
| S. Clayton |
3 |
7 |
2.3 |
0 |
| D. McDougle |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| Southern Miss Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| J. Caston |
8 |
91 |
11.4 |
1 |
| J. Brownlee |
3 |
68 |
22.7 |
1 |
| F. Gore Jr. |
3 |
14 |
4.7 |
0 |
| C. Cavallo |
1 |
10 |
10.0 |
0 |
| L. Jones |
1 |
7 |
7.0 |
0 |
| C. Pittman |
1 |
4 |
4.0 |
0 |
| Tulane Receiving |
| Player |
Rec |
Yds |
Avg |
TDs |
| T. Spears |
5 |
74 |
14.8 |
0 |
| A. Bauman |
4 |
57 |
14.3 |
0 |
| J. Jackson |
2 |
55 |
27.5 |
1 |
| S. Clayton |
2 |
22 |
11.0 |
0 |
| D. Watts |
1 |
13 |
13.0 |
0 |
| D. McDougle |
2 |
10 |
5.0 |
0 |
| I. Celestine |
1 |
8 |
8.0 |
0 |
| R. Brown |
1 |
5 |
5.0 |
0 |
| S. Wyatt |
1 |
3 |
3.0 |
0 |
| Southern Miss Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| E. Scott, Jr. |
1 |
35 |
| Tulane Interceptions |
| Player |
Int |
Yards |
| Southern Miss Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| M. Hunt |
5 |
232 |
46.4 |
| Tulane Punting |
| Player |
Punts |
Yards |
Avg |
| C. Glover |
2 |
77 |
38.5 |
| Southern Miss Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. Jones |
1 |
10 |
10.0 |
| Tulane Punt Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. Jackson |
1 |
-1 |
-1.0 |
| Southern Miss Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| C. Harrell |
1 |
12 |
12.0 |
| Tulane Kick Returns |
| Player |
Ret |
Yards |
Average |
| J. Jackson |
1 |
40 |
40.0 |
| Southern Miss Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| Tulane Missed FG |
| Player |
Length |
| K. Esnard |
47 |
| K. Esnard |
37 |
