Freshman receiver Early Doucet scored two touchdowns receiving and one rushing as the 10th-ranked LSU Tigers defeated the Tulane Green Wave, 49-7, at Tiger Stadium Saturday night.
Reserve quarterback Anthony Scelfo led Tulane with six carries for 41 yards and a touchdown.
The Green Wave's starting quarterback, Lester Richard, was held to 6-for-15 passing for 44 yards for the Green Wave, who have now lost 15 consecutive games to LSU in a series that dates back to 1893. Ricard was replaced late in the second quarter after possibly reinjuring a shoulder.
Scelfo was 2-of-4 for 27 yards passing the ball. Backup quarterback Scott Elliott replaced Ricard and was 4-for-13 passing for 48 yards. Tulane's quarterbacks were plagued by dropped balls throughout the game.
Preston Brown did catch 3 passes but for only 9 yards. Jeremy Williams led Green Wave receivers
with 2 catches for 35 yards, and little used Michael Batiste added 2 catches.
JaMarcus Russell went 17-for-23 with 198 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers, and
running back Charles Scott had 15 carries for 101 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers,
now 3-1 overall and 0-1 in the SEC, who rebounded from last Saturday's 7-3 loss to
Auburn.
Tulane's record falls to 1-2 overall, 0-1 in Conference USA.
The top five tacklers for the Green Wave defense were all defensive backs as Josh Lumar and Joe Goosby paced the Wave with 7 tackles each. Lumar started the game in place of senior Israel Route who did not see action for disciplinary reasons.
Carlis Jackson who is listed as the starter on the participation chart - and Louis Thomas
are credited with 6 tackles each.
Reserve strong safety David Skehan added 5 tackles for the Wave.
The top tackler among the Tulane front seven was true freshman middle linebacker Troy Wilson
who made 4 stops in his first collegiate action.
After Tulane went three-and-out on the first possession of the game, LSU marched 66 yards in
10 plays, with Russell hitting Doucet in the end zone from 21 yards out for a 7-0 lead with less
than six minutes run off the clock.
On the Green Wave's next possession, Tulane failed to make a first down when running back
Matt Forte was thrown for a two-yard loss on a third-and-one from the Tulane 29.
A mishandled snap on fourth down by Barrett Pepper forced Pepper to attempt to punt the ball on the run. Pepper got the punt away but it only travelled 12-yards, giving the Tigers excellent field position at the Tulane 39.
Three plays later Doucet scored on a reverse from 17 yards out to give the Tigers a 14-0 lead
with 6:20 to play in the first quarter.
Tulane managed a couple first downs on their next possession but the drive faltered at the Green Wave 41 and Tulane was again forced to punt. Pepper's punt carried into the endzone for a touchback and LSU started at their 20 in the last minutes of the first quarter.
After the Green Wave offense went three-and-out
on the following possession, Tulane's defense forced the Tigers to punt, but the Wave offense continued to struggle and the possession ended with a short Pepper punt of 31 yards, which the Tiger's Chevis Jackson returned 7 yards to the Tulane 34. Scott scored again 3 plays later and LSU's lead ballooned to 21-0.
Tulane began to move the ball again on their following possession, and entered Tiger territory for the first time, but the drive faltered at the LSU 41 and the Greenies were again forced to punt the ball away. Pepper's punt carried into the endzone for another touchback.
Jamarcus Russell then drove LSU on a 17-play, 80-yard drive that ended with a four-yard touchdown pass from Russell to Doucet to stretch the Bengal lead to 28-0.
Tulane's best offensive showing of the first half came on the possession following the Russell-to-Doucet touchdown pass. Ricard drove the Green Wave downfield but was injured and replaced by Scooter Elliott, with the Greenies eventually reaching the Tiger 37, where a Ross Thevenot field goal was blocked by Ricky-Jean Francois and LSU took the 28-0 lead into the locker room at haltime.
The Tulane defense stopped the Tigers on their first possession of the second half and forced a punt, which the Green Wave's Freddie Smith returned 31 yards to the LSU 31, the Wave was only able to reach the Tiger 29, and turned the ball over on downs when they failed to convert on a 4th-and-8. In turn the Tigers marched the ball downfield and Scott ran the ball in from seven yards out for a 35-0 advantage a little over six minutes into the third quarter.
On Tulane's next possession, Tiger defensive end Chase Pittman sacked Elliott and stripped him
of the ball, which was recovered by LSU's Ricky Jean-Francois on the Tulane 19. Three plays later, Tiger backup quarterback Matt Flynn scored from five yards out after picking up a fumble on a broken play to give the Tigers a 42-0 lead.
After an exchange of punts, Elliott engineered a Tulane drive down to the LSU 34-yard line, where
Tiger defensive back Craig Steltz who prepped at Archbishop Rummel High School in the New Orleans area, picked off Elliott and returned the ball 76 yards to the Green Wave six on the last play of the third quarter. On the first play of the fourth quarter, then Tiger fullback Jacob Hester ran the ball into the end zone to make the score 49-0.
No. 3 quarterback Anthony Scelfo, the nephew of Tulane head coach Chris Scelfo and the son of
Tulane offensive coordinator Frank Scelfo, replaced Elliott and led the Wave on a seven-minute drive that came up dry when Scelfo was intercepted on a third-and-five at the Tiger 11.
But with numbers of reserves in the game, the Tulane defense rallied to force another Tiger punt, which the Wave's Fred Smith returned thirty yards to the LSU 41-yard line.
Tulane then mounted a final drive behind Anthony Scelfo, that was capped by Scelfo's one-yard
sneak for a touchdown with 3:19 to play helped Tulane avoid a shutout and accounted for the
game's final score.
After Ross Thevenot kicked off for the Wave, the LSU reserves ran out the clock.
The Green Wave headed back to New Orleans after the game, their 14-game road odyssey finally at
an end. The Green Wave will play SMU at 6:30 p.m. Sept. 30, in the Louisiana Superdome, which
was ravaged by Hurricane Katrina last year. It has been 22 months since the Green Wave played their last game on the Superdome floor.