Tulane got an early jump on Southern Miss. Here’s how the Wave fell apart after halftime.

For the first 1½ quarters Saturday night, Tulane appeared well on its way to avoiding the pratfalls that have followed big victories in the past, seemingly in control against longtime rival Southern Miss.

The rest of the game, not so much.

After taking an early 14-point lead on the Golden Eagles at Yulman Stadium, the Green Wave made too many mistakes to hold on, losing 27-24 in the Battle for The Bell. As a result, Tulane’s first 3-0 start in 24 years failed to become a 4-0 start.

“That’s just part of football,” Tulane coach Willie Fritz said. “You’ve got to be on top of it and it can humble you in a second.” 

Southern Miss improved to 2-2.

It was a landmark victory for second-year USM coach Will Hall, who was Tulane’s offensive coordinator when the Wave beat Southern Miss 30-13 in January 2020 in the Armed Forces Bowl, and then again 66-24 the following September in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. The Golden Eagles went 3-9 in Hall’s first season.

After taking an early 14-point lead on the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles at Yulman Stadium Saturday, the Green Wave made too many mistake…

The Wave began with the same confidence it exhibited in a breakthrough 17-10 win at Kansas State last Saturday, forcing a three-and-out on Southern Miss’ first possession and driving 62 yards in seven plays for a quick touchdown.

Michael Pratt gained 12 on a keeper to kickstart it. Tyjae Spears broke a tackle and picked up 20 yards on his first touch. Shaadie Clayton gained 16 yards on a nifty play with a fake pitch to the right and a pass back to the left. Spears capped it off with an easy 8-yard score.

Tulane added to its advantage early in the second quarter, courtesy of two big plays from Spears, who took a short reception for 29 yards and raced up the middle 34 yards for a touchdown to make the score 14-0.

When the Wave forced a quick punt on the Golden Eagles’ next possession, a blowout appeared possible.

Instead, the game turned after USM’s Mason Hunt angled a 54-yard put out of bounds at the Tulane 2. The Wave went nowhere, and the Golden Eagles moved 44 yards in five plays to cut their deficit in half, finishing the drive with a 23-yard touchdown pass from freshman Zach Wilcke to Jacob Brownlee.

After the teams traded field goals, Tulane still led 17-10 at halftime. At the break, the Wave had outgained Southern Miss 253-109 and had a 12-5 edge in first downs.

But the Wave collapsed under a cavalcade of errors in the second half, getting fortunate right away when returner Jha’Quan Jackson tried to short hop a punt and had the ball bounce off him, only to have teammate Kiland Harrison recover it.

Kicker Kriston Esnard missed a pair of field goals — a 47-yarder that would have made the score 20-10 and a 37-yarder that was blocked with the score tied at 17. That block came after Southern Miss blocked a punt from Casey Glover and fell on the ball at the Tulane 25 in the second quarter, setting up a field goal.

Southern Miss tied the score on a 37-yard touchdown pass from Jakarius Kaston with 1:53 left in the third quarter. The Golden Eagles went ahead on a 26-yard field goal with 8:26 left after the block of Esnard’s attempt.

On the next possession, a Pratt pass was deflected and intercepted, with cornerback Eric Scott returning it 35 yards for a touchdown.

With time left for a comeback, wide receiver Shae Wyatt dropped a fourth-down pass from Pratt down the sideline, ending Tulane’s last realistic hope.

The Wave wasted a huge effort from Spears, who rushed for 114 yards on 22 carries and caught five passes for 74 yards. But other than some nice runs by Pratt, the offense was nonexistent outside of Spears following those early scores.

Pratt, who held onto the ball a long time repeatedly while looking for open receivers, finished 16 of 25 for 190 yards, almost all of which came on underneath routes. He took an 8-yard sack that made Esnard’s third-quarter field goal attempt more difficult.

“On the field goal, we had our No. 2 wing in there and he just didn’t touch the outside guy,” Fritz said. “He got the inside guy, but he’s got to get a hand on the outside guy and just didn’t touch him. The kid (who blocked it) did a very nice job skimming the edge, laying out and blocking the kick.”

The Golden Eagles turned in all the important plays down the stretch. Scott broke up a pass for Deuce Watts in the end zone before the blocked field goal. Wilcke hit Brownlee for 31 yards down the sideline, despite an interference call, to set up the go-ahead field goal — his sixth straight completion to that point.

“They used more passing plays than we thought they would,” Tulane linebacker Dorian Williams said. “They used a lot of play action to open up some guys.” 

Tulane scored its only points of the second half on a 25-yard touchdown catch by Jackson with 37 seconds left. After an onside kick bounced off a Southern Miss player, creating a moment of drama, the Golden Eagles recovered it to seal their upset victory. 

The Wave opens American Athletic Conference play at Houston next Friday. 

“We got to learn from this and we’ve got to move on, plain and simple,” Fritz said. “Last week, you couldn’t sit around and pat yourself on the back because you weren’t going to play as good as you needed to this week and same thing— if we sit around and mope all week we’re going to get our butts kicked by Houston.”