LAFAYETTE – Tulane used an interception return late in the first half and a kickoff return to open the second half to take an advantage and hold off the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns the rest of the way in a 41-33 win on Saturday at Cajun Field.
The Green Wave (2-2), snapping a two-game losing streak, scored on every possession after a first-quarter punt, and ended up converting on 9-of-14 third downs in taking their third straight win in the series. The teams had not played since the 2018 AutoNation Cure Bowl in Orlando.
“It’s the kind if game we thought it was going to be, we knew we were going to have to make some plays and capture some momentum in that game to be able to pull it out in the end and we didn’t do enough of that,” Louisiana head coach Michael Desormeaux said. “A couple of uncharacteristic mistakes on our part that we need to get cleaned up, a couple penalties that were costly, we didn’t get a whole lot of knock-back tackles, which we’ve got to do better.”
Tulane took advantage of a Louisiana turnover before the final minute of the first half to take a 17-13 halftime lead, that edge provided when freshman safety Jack Tchienchou – a transfer from Troy with Green Wave and former Trojan coach Jon Sumrall – stepped in front of a Ben Wooldridge pass on the left side and returned it 38 yards for a touchdown with only 1:40 left in the half.
The Cajuns came back in that final 100 seconds of the half, driving 61 yards in 12 plays to set up Kenneth Almendares’ 31-yard field goal with 0:03 left for the halftime score. But the Wave came up with the big special-teams play on the opening kickoff of the second half, when Rayshawn Pleasant returned that kick 94 yards for a touchdown that gave Tulane a double-digit lead at 24-13.
Still, Louisiana (2-1) had a chance to force overtime on its final drive after Tulane kicker Ethan Head missed a game-clinching 39-yard field goal with 3:05 left. The Cajuns drove to the Tulane 41 with less than a minute left, but an international grounding penalty hampered that drive and Wooldridge’s desperation fourth-down pass was intercepted by Tulane’s Jalen Geiger to preserve the win.
The Cajuns outgained the Green Wave 421-355 and had 253 offensive yards in the second half alone, but only converted on 2-of-9 third-down and 1-of-3 fourth-down attempts. Each team only punted one time in the game, that coming on their first possessions.
Tulane’s Makhi Hughes rushed for a career-high-tying 166 yards and one score, his ninth career 100-yard game and part of Tulane’s 272 rush yards, while Bill Davis had his second career 100-yard effort with 103 yards. Wooldridge finished 19-of-34 for 238 yards and two scores while also rushing for two touchdowns.
Most of Davis’ yards came on the first play after Pleasant’s kickoff return score, when the freshman broke loose up the middle on a career-long 73-yard burst to the Green Wave 2. Two plays later, Wooldridge found freshman tight end Caden Jensen on a 1-yard fade route to cut it to 31-26.
Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah led a quick 73-yard drive to rebuild the double-digit lead, finding a wide-open tight end Reggie Brown for a 33-yard touchdown only four minutes later, but the Cajuns responded with their own quick answer midway through the third period with a four-play scoring drive. Wooldridge hit tight end Terrance Carter for 25 yards into Green Wave territory, and two plays later found Carter on a 36-yard wheel-route touchdown to cut the margin to 31-26.
However, Tulane came back on its own quick drive, a six-play, 73-yard march all on the ground, with Hughes’ 36-yard burst setting up his own one-yard score with 3:11 left in the third period. But again, the Cajuns kept it close, going on a 75-yard march that ended when Wooldridge bulled in over right tackle from two yards out to make it 38-33.
Tulane drove to the Cajun 19 midway through the final period but Hughes was stacked up on a third-down run – one of only two negative yardage plays for the Green Wave – before Head hit a 38-yard field goal with 7:35 left for what became the final score.
Prior to Tchienchou’s interception TD late in the first half, both teams had assembled a pair of lengthy scoring drives after those lone punts on the first two possessions. UL took an early lead when Wooldridge used a 32-yard strike to Jaydon Johnson to the Tulane 7 to set up his own one-yard scoring burst off right tackle for a 7-0 lead.
The Wave came right back with a 16-play, 65-yard march that included three third-down and one fourth-down conversion. Tulane backup quarterback Ty Thompson scored on a keeper from two yards out on the first play of the second quarter.
The teams then traded field goals on the next two possessions, Almendares hitting from 20 yards out after the Cajuns were stopped inside the Tulane 5 midway through the period, and Head converting from 37 yards with 2:02 left in the half.
Louisiana plays its final non-conference game of the season when they travel for a first-ever meeting with Wake Forest at 2:30 p.m. (CDT) Saturday. The Cajuns open Sun Belt Conference play the following Saturday, Oct. 5, at Southern Miss.
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