Sept. 17, 2011. That was the date of the last Tulane road victory outside of the state of Louisiana. In this millennium, the word that has defined Tulane has been: struggle.
That has never been more true over the past decade than on the road, where wins were few and far between.
The narrative this week was that this team was done.
With a road trip to the Houston Cougars, favored by a full 18 points by the folks in Vegas, many believed this team was headed for another disappointment.
Instead, the Green Wave produced what was hands down the most impressive win of the Curtis Johnson era. Houston was no joke. With a victory, they were set to clinch bowl eligibility for another year and regain control of the American Conference atop the AAC standings.
Tulane jumped out to an early lead with a Tanner Lee touchdown following an interception of the first quarter. In the end, the Green Wave went wire-to-wire, controlling the momentum for nearly the entire game.
The only exception: two minutes of disaster at the end of the first half, when a Tulane fumble bobbled into the end zone, and the Cougars snagged it for a TD. 14-14. On the next drive, with Tanner Lee taking his offense down the field, an interception on third down set up a field goal, allowing the Cougars to head to the end zone with a 17-14 lead.
Tulane has struggled to put together complete games this year. There's no question about it. Until today, the Green Wave had never reclaimed a lead in a game where they were trailing.
They did today. Tanner Lee immediately responded by throwing his third touchdown of the day against the #4 pass defense in the country.
Just a great throw and a solid catch on that fade route.
Now the game looked all but over in the fourth quarter. With less than 9 minutes remained, CB Parry Nickerson grabbed an interception, bringing his total for the year to five.
We just had to wait for the clock to strike zero. However, Houston managed to put together one good drive in the half, and scored with less than 2:00 remaining. Now here is where it gets sticky.
Down by one touchdown, Houston goes for the onside kick. A Cougar blatantly crosses the line before the kick, a seemingly obvious offsides call. Tulane bumbles the ball, and Houston recovers, but a flag is on the field for the offsides.
The AAC official chose to pick up the laundry, and the fumble recovery was good. Curtis Johnson was incensed. Houston proceeded to move down the field to the red zone, within yards of the house on 4th down and the game on the line.
Parry Nickerson, who was nearly ejected in the first quarter, made a game saving interception for his team. Tulane won on the road outside its state for the first time since 2011. They did it against a defense ranked higher than LSU. And they did it, most importantly, with no excuses.
Great game. Beat Memphis. It's Homecoming.
