Tulane Beats Memphis 31-17 as Memphis Loses the Ball Six Times
Six turnovers. Memphis threw three interceptions, lost three fumbles, outgained Tulane 488 yards to 326, and lost by 14. Memphis kept moving the ball (306 passing yards, 182 rushing on 44 carries) and kept handing it back.
The one that hurt most came at the very end of the first half. Tulane had already pulled ahead 16-10 on field goals of 56, 40 and 29 yards from Cooper Helmke and a 38-yard touchdown pass from Trace Johnson to Destyn Hill, and TJ Smith then returned an interception 76 yards for a touchdown as the clock hit zero. That made it 23-10 at the half. Take away the pick-six and it is 16-10 instead.
Memphis had started the better of the two. Philippe Laforge kicked a 44-yard field goal, and then Marcus Stokes threw a 76-yard touchdown pass to make it 10-3 early in the second quarter. That turned out to be Memphis's last lead, since Tulane scored the next 20 points. Nothing at all was scored in the third quarter.
Stokes threw a six-yard touchdown to Jemyri Davis with 3:34 left to cut it to 23-17. Tulane answered at 1:34 when Johnnie Daniels ran 48 yards for a touchdown and Johnson threw to Hill for the two-point conversion, and the game ended 31-17.
Tulane, which scored 23 points before halftime and 8 after, moves to 3-3, and Memphis falls to 5-2. For fantasy, the oddity is that the three best scores came from the losing side: Braylon Burnside with 28.1, Stokes with 26, and Davis with 18.9.