The Tulane football team (7-2, 5-0 AAC) made it a Happy Halloween for all the Green Wave fans with a resounding 34-3 road victory over Charlotte (3-6, 2-3, AAC) on Thursday at Jerry Richardson Stadium.
Makhi Hughes led the offense with 117 yards rushing and a pair of touchdowns on the ground. Darian Mensah was efficient is going 21-for-29 for 214 yards. Yulkeith Brown hauled in seven passes for 53 yards. Mario Williams totaled six catches for 96 yards. Dontae Fleming picked up 35 yards on his three catches.
Jacob Barnes led the special teams' as he hit two of three field goals.
Jack Tchienchou led the team with four tackles. Tyler Grubbs tied of the team lead with four tackles. He also had a tackle for loss and pass breakup. Micah Robinson totaled three tackles and interception return for a touchdown. Adin Huntington, Dickson Agu and Kameron Hamilton all had sacks for Tulane.
The Green Wave rolled to 431 yards in the game including 217 on the ground. The program also had 29 first downs compared to just 12 for Charlotte. The 49ers were held to a total of 189 yards in the game. The Green Wave dominated time of possession with 42:09 compared to 17:51 for the 49ers.
Tulane scored first as Barnes knocked in a 34-yard field goal to cap off a 20 play, 80-yard drive and give the Green Wave a 3-0 lead with 2:00 left in the first quarter.
The Green Wave went up two scores just before the half as Hughes rushed it in from the one to cap off a 14 play, 76-yard drive with 1:45 remaining in the first half.
The 49ers would draw to within one score as Stephen Rusnak hit a 29-yard field goal as time expired in the opening half to put the score at 10-3 at the break.
Tulane opened the second half with a 10 play, 59-yard drive that was finished on a 34-yard field goal from Barnes to again put the Wave up by two scores, 13-3, with 9:36 left in the third quarter.
The Tulane defense put some points up for the squad next as Robinson picked off an errant pass and returned it for a 21-yard touchdown to increase the lead to 20-3 with 8:27 left in the third quarter. The touchdown interception return was Tulane's sixth of the season.
Tulane started the fourth quarter with a Hughes one-yard rush for a touchdown. It was his second rushing touchdown of the game and put the Green Wave up 27-3 with 14:08 remaining.
The Green Wave added a late touchdown to the advantage as Shaadie Clayton-Johnson rushed it in from the five to finish off a seven play, 47-yard drive to make the final score 34-3.
Next, the football team returns home to host Temple on Saturday, Nov. 9, at Yulman Stadium at 3 p.m. on ESPNU.
NOTES:
- Makhi Hughes went over 1,000 yards rushing for the second time in as many season for Tulane…He is just the third running back in school history to accomplish the feat twice in a career following Mewelde Moore in 2001 (1421) and 2022 (1138) and Eddie Price in 1948 (1178) and 1949 (1137)...In the game he ran for 117 yards and two touchdowns…He is the first Tulane player to accomplish the 100+ on the ground and at least one touchdown in four consecutive games since Tyjae Spears during the 2022 campaign from 11/17/23 – 1/2/24…It was his sixth 100+ game of the season…His 13 career 100+ plus rushing games ties him for Eddie Price (1946-49) for fourth all-time at the school.
