Leave it to Tyjae Spears and the Tulane offense to take down Cayleb Williams’ USC superpower
12:09 left in the 4th quarter at a packed AT&T stadium some 23 minutes outside Dallas. You may have thought No. 16 ranked Tulane would be put away after Cayleb William’s dominant performance in Jerry World. After all, a Group of 5 team matched up against the current Heisman Trophy winner doesn’t make for the best Cotton Bowl in history.
At 12:09, Williams launched a dart to the right side of the field on a slant route to Kyron Hudson to make the tally 30-42. Cayleb Williams may have solidified his draft stock with a stellar act in Jerry World, but the Green Wave was not going to heed to low tide that easy.
Led by quarterback Michael Pratt and runningback Tyjae Spears, the Tulane offense went on a warpath, ravaging USC’s best attempts at defense. The same team that finished 2-10 in 2021, the every piece of the Green Wave chipped in in order to make a colossal comeback possible.
Despite the come-from-behind notion, Spears, who finished the day with 205 yards on the ground, coughed up the ball on a 2nd and 7, putting the Green Wave in what seemed like the dagger that the Trojans have been meaning to stab. The fumble ultimately led to a Denis Lynch field goal putting USC up 15, sinking Tulane into, what the rest of the world saw as a insurmountable hole.
But Tulane stayed true, trusted in their quarterback and their offense, rattling off a 23 second drive with a massive throw to Deuce Watts and a ground-and-pound finish by Tyjae Spears to cut the lead down to a more manageable 8-point deficit.
Momentum is a dangerous thing.
It’s a double agent, it pledges allegiance to no side, and when lost, it’s nearly a death sentence.
A blunder by USC returner Mario Addison fumbling the ball on the 1-yard line on the ensuing kickoff didn’t help the Trojans’ case.
A subsequent safety by the Green Wave defense tacks 2 more points onto the scoreboard and made sure momentum was firmly in Tulane’s hands.
In Tulane’s final drive, it was the most critical one. With only one timeout, Michael Pratt and the Tulane O went straight to work. With hard running by Spears and an elusive scramble effort by Pratt that ended in a fumble out of bounds set the Green Wave up in prime position.
Then, it all came to a climax. A 29 yard strike in desperation mode on a 4th & 10 to the tight end kept Tulane alive and USC on the ropes. Combined with a strike to Watts again to set up Pratt & Co. on the 6-yard line. Albeit, a massive hit to the head of Watts by the USC defender left both on the ground.
The strike hit, a dart to freshman tight end Alex Bauman put Tulane on top. The play was reviewed for a while as Bauman never caught the ball cleanly, and was ruled incomplete at first. After minutes, the call was reversed to a touchdown, ending the USC season and the newly-minted Heisman winner’s run towards a Cotton Bowl trophy.
This makes a statement as Tulane’s ultimate year, coming off an abysmal 2-win year in 2021. With conference realignments coming up, Tulane looks to continue to be a powerhouse in the AAC, solidifying their role for years to come.
