The Tulane football team celebrated the end of the home portion of head coach Bob Toledo's
first season with a 34-19 victory over Conference USA foe UTEP, 34-19, Saturday evening
at the Louisiana Superdome. Tulane also said goodbye to fourteen seniors.
With the win Tulane, now 3-7 overall, and 2-4 in C-USA, snapped a two-game home losing streak.
Tulane was led by one of those seniors, running back Matt Forte, who ran for 171 yards and
two touchdowns.
Anthony Scelfo and Kevin Moore split time at quarterback. Moore hit 9-of-10 for 110 yards
and a touchdowns, while Scelfo was 7-of-11 for 167 yards and a touchdown.
Jeremy Williams had eight catches for 188 yards and two touchdowns and Michael Batiste added 2 receptions for 45 yards.
The Miners, now 4-6 overall, and 2-4 in C-USA, were led by quarterback Trevor Vittatoe,
who completed 28-of-43 pass attempts for 308 yards and one touchdown but UTEP lost their
fourth straight game.
Running back Marcus Thomas led the Miners in both rushing and receiving with 124 yards and
a touchdown on 11 carries, and seven catches for 68 yards.
Tulane took the opening kickoff and moved 80 yards in 9 plays. Scelfo's second down pass
deep downfield was tipped into Williams hands by a UTEP defender and Williams raced the ball into the end zone for a 43-yard touchdown with 11:12 remaining in the first quarter.
After the kickoff, Vittatoe moved the Miners to the Tulane 18 where the drive stalled. Kicker Jose Martinez, one of the nation's best, then missed on a 35-yard field goal attempt.
After an exchange of punts, Tulane's Ross Thevenot boomed a 36-yard field goal with
1:08 remaining in the first period to stake the Green Wave to a 10-0 lead.
After another exchange of punts, the Green Wave struck again when Kevin Moore hit Williams with a 23-yard pass for another touchdown and a 17-0 lead.
UTEP took the kickoff and moved 74-yards for a touchdown on only 3 plays. The drive was capped by a 59-yard touchdown run by Marcus Thomas.
Martinez added a 42-yard field goal with 6:20 left in the second quarter to cut the lead to 17-10 and that's the way the teams went into the locker room for half time.
The Miners took the second half kickoff and ran more than six minutes off the clockon a thirteen-play possession that ended when holder Kyle Wright was sacked for a 14-yard loss by the Wave's Carlis Jackson while attempting to throw a pass from field goal formation on fourth down from the Tulane 16.
The Greenie's took over at their own 30 but the drive stalled near midfield and on fourth-
and-five Toledo pulled another rabbit from his hat and up back Andre Anderson took a direct snap and rambled 43 yards for a first down at the UTEP 11. Forte then scored on a one-yard run to extend Tulane's lead to 24-10 and 3:06 remaining in the third quarter.
UTEP riposted at the end of the quarter when Martinez hit a 21-yard field goal to cut the
Green Wave lead to 24-13, but Tulane scored again early in the fourth quarter when Forte
swept left end from four yards out to extend the Green Wave lead to 31-13 with 12:13 remaining in the ball game.
Forte's run capped a 5-play, 74-yard drive that was fuelled by Scelfo's 56-yard pass to
Jeremy Williams that set the Wave up at the Miner 12-yard line.
The Miners took the kickoff and moved 65-yards in 11 plays to the Tulane 12 where Vittatoe hit Jeff Moturi with a pass for a touchdown. Vittatoe's pass attempt on the two-point conversion try was no good and Tulane led 31-19 with 3:37 remaining.
Tulane took the kickoff and used four-and-a-half minutes to move 77-yards in 11 plays
to the UTEP 3 where the drive stalled and Ross Thevenot booted his second field goal -
a 20-yarder - to make the score 34-19 and end the scoring.
Tulane's defense was led by Antonio Harris with seven tackles, and Joseph Goosby and Jordan Ellis with six apiece.
The Miners were led by Adam Vincent, Braxton Amy, and Da'Mon Cromartie-Smith with 13 tackles apiece.
The Green Wave totalled 208 rushing yards, averaging 4.6 yards per carry, while the Miners netted 104 rushing yards and averaged 4.3 yards per carry.
Tulane will return to action on Saturday, Nov. 17, with a 2 p.m. kickoff at C-USA foe Rice.