Yikes. That was close.

What should’ve been an easy win against the University of South Alabama Jaguars turned into a dogfight. The Tulane University Green Wave held on — barely — by a score of 33-31 at Hancock Whitney Stadium in Mobile, Alabama. 

Despite a rough start in the first quarter that included a Jake Retzlaff fumble leading to a 65-yard touchdown pass from South Alabama quarterback Bishop Davenport to wide receiver Devin Voisin, Tulane led 24-14 at halftime. However, that doesn’t explain half the tale. 

The third quarter’s only points consisted of Green Wave kicker Patrick Durkin’s 34-yard field goal to put Tulane up by 13, half a point shy of the game’s spread of 13.5 points. 

After a South Alabama field goal to begin the fourth quarter scoring, Tulane running back Zuberi Mobley bulldozed his way into the endzone for a 28-yard touchdown run. However, Durkin ended up missing the extra point. 

From then on, it was all South Alabama: They ended up scoring 14 straight points to close the game. Luckily for the Wave, that wasn’t enough for the resilient Jaguars to win. 

Tulane’s defense in the last five minutes of the game looked tired, confused and undisciplined, which was very unlike what we saw in the convincing win last weekend vs. Northwestern University. There was no pass rush, as the Jaguars’ offensive line dominated the line of scrimmage. 

Tulane also earned not one, but two mindless roughing the passer penalties during South Alabama’s final drive, which gave them the opportunity to score a 26-yard passing touchdown that brought them within two points of the Green Wave. Luckily, they stood strong on the Jaguars’ 2-point conversion attempt, which led to the narrow win.

The team showed no sense of urgency; they were playing like they deserved to lose. It appears like the Wave’s blowout victory against a Big Ten opponent caused them to play complacently, as they seemingly waltzed into Mobile assuming they would walk all over South Alabama. But, that was far from the case. 

Jake Retzlaff transferred to Tulane in July, and his lack of time in Uptown showed. There were miscommunications with receivers, overthrown footballs and the aforementioned fumble. He finished the game with only 125 yards passing and one passing touchdown. He did do damage on the ground with 64 rushing yards and a rushing touchdown, but if they want a chance to win their next two non-conference games, he has to be much sharper. 

Backup quarterback Brendan Sullivan, who has donned a Tulane jersey since the spring, stepped in for a bit at the end of the first half and looked a lot more comfortable than Retzlaff. 

“[I’m] not very pleased with the performance, really sloppy at times … It’s nice to be able to not be our best and find a way to win on the road against a quality opponent, but [I’m] very bothered maybe with some of the things we did tonight. We didn’t play our best,” head coach Jon Sumrall said to 4WWL. 

“Didn’t play our best” is an understatement. They were terrible. If they consider themselves to be in contention for a College Football Playoff spot, this past performance was unacceptable. They have to be better.

The Green Wave will face Duke University and former Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah on Sept. 13 at Yulman Stadium. Hopefully, this past game will be the wake-up call that they need; Duke will be the test that proves whether or not they heard it.