In the Battle for the Bell, Tulane is tied with Southern Miss, 14 - 14, in a game in which neither team could find a rhythm. This is what we think of how the Green Wave has performed.
During the game, Tulane honored the 2026 inductees into the Tulane Athletic Hall of Fame. Six were feted on Friday night at the Audubon Tea Room. We'll have more on that later.
Junior punter William Hudlowwas booming his punts all half. Three of his six kicks were over 50-yards. The Jesuit graduate averaged 54-yards per punt, his longest going 65-yards.
The coverage was spot on for the Wave: no room to run for the Golden Eagles, either having to fair catch Hudlow's punts or going backwards each time.
The first quarter was a wasteland for the Tulane running game. Jaylin Lucas had the longest run of the period: nine yards. The whole Wave rushing game had 16-yards in the first 15-minutes.
Then, Mo Turnerhappened. On a counter to the right, the senior ran into his pulling guard, pinballed his way toward the middle of the field, then sprinted 43-yards for a Tulane touchdown.
USM tied the score with just under five minutes to go in the half, Turner hit the 43-jackpot again, streaking through a hole on the left side of the line, getting another 43-yards.
Power runner Johnnie Danielsfound room to run, accumulating 35-yards on 8-carries.
Southern Miss didn't pick up a first down three minutes to go in the 1st quarter. Tulane limited the Golden Eagles to 34-yards total offense in the first period They picked up seven in the 2nd quarter alone, and three sacks in the first two quarters.
Once USM figured things out, though, things turned South. The Golden Eagles more than quadrupled their 1st quarter output with 144-yards, mostly via the air. In the second start of his career for Southern Miss' Landry Lyddy, he lit up the Wave defense, going 10-for-16, 114-yards, and two touchdowns.
There is none. There were three big plays, two of them belonging to the aforementioned Turner, along with a 47-yard touchdown pass from Kadin Semonzato Anthony Brown Stephens.Otherwise the Tulane offense just can't seem to find consistency in either the running or passing game. Semonza is 8-for 16 for 72-yards and that touchdown to AB. Take away that TD toss, and Semonza is 7-for 15 for 25-yards.
This article was originally published on www.si.com/college/tulane as Halftime Studs and Duds: Tulane 14 Southern Miss 14, Wave Offensive Rhythm Lacking .
