The new entries to the American Conference started off their seasons with a bang, in a double-overtime thriller. The Tulane Green Wave came into this game coming off of their first appearance in a bowl in a long time, behind the great coaching of Curtis Johnson. They are expected to contend to go to another bowl this year, even with the upgrade of a conference they are now in. Although they have a newbie youngster, Tanner Lee, at QB, a magnificent secondary with Lorenzo Doss leading the charge and some good, youthful components on defense to work with, Tulane has the potential to do decently well this year. The Tulsa Golden Hurricane are coming off of a down season where they went 3-9, it's worst since 2002. They also have lost their one bright spot of last year, RB Trey Watts. The offense looks very poor coming into the season, with their O-Line their only silver lining. The defense is a different story. The secondary rivals Tulane's, with the great safety Michael Mudoh in tow. The D-Line is also a force to reckon with.

From the looks of things, we should have seen a defensive showdown tonight. However, that is not even close to what the matchup turned out to be.

An interception by Tulane's Taurean Nixon set up great field position, which was taken advantage of when Tanner Lee threw a 15-yard touchdown pass to Charles Jones. Tulsa's Carl Salazar missed two field goals in the first quarter, which undoubtedly hurt them.

Tulane got another touchdown after going 14 plays and 80 yards in 6 minutes and 4 seconds. Tanner Lee found Dante Butler for a 1 yard touchdown and Tulane led 14-0. Tulsa responded with a 43 yard touchdown pass from Dane Evans to Keevan Lucas to cut the lead in half at 14-7.

That score did not last long as Sherman Badie went 90 yards to the house on Tulane's next offensive play. Once again the lead was back to 14 points at 21-7.

Tulsa got a big play of their own late in the second quarter when Evans found Lucas again. They connected on an 84 yard strike this time and the score at the break was 21-14.

The gap was closed further when Carl Salazar hit his first field goal of the night from 42 yards out. That field goal was the only scoring in the third quarter. Another Salazar field goal made the score 21-20 with 8:31 left. That is when the wackiness started.

Tanner Lee threw a 60 yard touchdown to Xavier Rush to make it 28-20. Tulsa responded with yet another Evans to Lucas connection from 3 yards out. Evans found Joshua Atkinson to make it all even at 28.

Tulane had a chance to take the lead, and possible win, but Andrew DiRocco missed wide left from 21 yards out. Regulation would end at 28 apiece.

Both teams traded field goals in the first overtime. Tulsa scored on their possession in the second overtime when Evans found Connor Floyd for a touchdown from 8 yards out. Tanner Lee was intercepted in the end zone by Demarco Nelson, thus giving Tulsa the 38-31 win in double-overtime.

Tulane's Tanner Lee went 22 of 44 for 262 yards, 3 touchdowns, and an interception. Running back Sherman Badie had a monster game with 15 carries for 215 yards and 1 touchdown. Justyn Shackleford was the leading receiver with 8 catches for 113 yards.

Tulsa's Dane Evans and Keevan Lucas each had ENORMOUS performances. Evans went 31 of 53 for 438 yards, 4 touchdowns, and 2 interceptions. Lucas caught 13 passes for 233 yards and 3 touchdowns.

Tulane's losing start in the American will see them face Georgia Tech next week at home. Tulsa has a tough game next week as they host Oklahoma.

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About the author
Matthew Dixon
I follow College Football at all levels; FBS, FCS, Division II, and Division III. In addition, I am a horse racing enthusiast.