34 seconds on the clock. Tied game. In field goal range. Tulane’s hopes for a college football playoff birth potentially on the line. Jake Retzlaff throws the ball up into the endzone. The CB gets his hand on it and tips it up. it bounces and falls into the hands of St James High School graduate Shazz Preston. After a second bounce off of his hands, Preston finally stands alone in the endzone with the ball in his hands, for one of the most thrilling finishes to a Tulane game in recent memory.
Coach said go make a play, and I said “I got you. Give it to me, I got you.” The ball came my way, and i just had to come down with it.
Tulane Wide Receiver Shazz Preston
And come down with it he did, in spectacular fashion. We usually cover the game chronologically, but there is no other place you can start when the game winner will be played on Sportscenter all week long. You truly have to see it to believe it, and then you might need to see it a few more times anyway.
Want to see it again? Here’s a slowed down view of it.
Army might not have been the most threatening opponent in the world, but in a week where favorites were dropping like flies (even in Tulane’s own conference), a win is a win. But man, it was a journey to get there.
There’s really no other way to put it when the first drive of the game was one of the longest odysseys I have ever seen in football. It was nearly 12 minutes and 18 plays despite going 0/5 on 3rd down and having no completed passes. It was the most prototypical Army football drive of all time – 3 yards and a cloud of dust on nearly every single play. They got a 1st down via penalty, went 3/3 on 4th down on the drive, and then finally ended the drive with a field goal attempt that went wide. Yes, you read that right – Army took nearly the entire 1st quarter and ended up with no points.
When the opening drive of the game goes that way, the entire tone of the game changes. The game gets condensed, you end up with shots with the football than normal. The pacing difference between the two offenses was evident – Tulane got dominated in time of possession 39 minutes to 21, but managed to run a healthy 58 plays despite that.
This stark difference in styles led to a wonky difference between the actual halftime score and the feel of the game. The Green Wave largely felt in control in the first half, but only had two real drives on offense. They went 66 and 51 yards, but they only ended up with 3 points because of what has become a recurring nightmare for this team: redzone struggles. They got stopped on 4th and 2 by mere inches down near the goal line, then got stopped late in the half and had to settle for 3.
It seemed like they would settle for a disappointing 3 point led going into the half, but Army busted out a surprisingly efficient 2 minute drill through the air. It was like a cattle prod – after just one or two chunk passes, Army was in field goal range and able to manage a game tying field goal just before the half. Suddenly Tulane felt like the better team in the first half and was tied, caught in a dogfight with a scrappy team structured to do exactly this to their opponents.
Then, just as if reciting the script from last week, Tulane looked sluggish coming out of the second half. Army forced a punt and then marched right down the field in true Army fashion to take the lead. They did it on the ground, sucking the life out of the 3rd quarter with a 13 play, 7 minute long touchdown drive capped off by Cale Hellums punching it into the endzone from a yard out. Hellums was the entire Army offense, finishing with 125 passing yards and 155 rushing yards on the day. With him at the helm, Tulane was facing yet another grueling finish.
And right as momentum seemed to be all on Army’s side, the Green Wave came rolling right back. Like a strike of lightning, Retzlaff just took over on the next drive, answering the score with a much flashier 37 yard touchdown run of his own, which tied the game up at 10.
Tulane finally forced a short Army drive and got the ball back early in the 4th quarter looking to retake the lead. The drive goes deep into Army territory, but an errant Jake Retzlaff pass is just overthrown and picked off by Casey Larkin in the endzone. Army seemed to take back control with yet another soul-sucking touchdown drive (this time 14 plays and 8 minutes long), and suddenly Tulane had the ball down a touchdown with just 6 minutes left feeling like this would be their last chance with the ball.
Just like last week, you might not be able to count on the consistency of this team, but you know what they are made of in the final minutes of a close game. Retzlaff marches right down the field like a hot knife through butter, down into the redzone yet again. However, it looks like the redzone nightmares would continue when the 2 minute timeout came before a 4th and 8 play at the 12 yard line.
With the entire game on the line, Retzlaff extended the play, moved to his left, and found Bryce Bohanon in the endzone for a huge game tying touchdown.
With just under 2 minutes left and both teams having all their timeouts, the focused seemed to shift to stopping Army from completing a quick drive like at the end of the first half in order to force overtime. On the first play, Hellums was stopped for a short gain, and a timeout was taken. It was taken…by Tulane. What? Apparently, despite not having the ball, Jon Sumrall liked his team’s chances to stop the rushing attack, get the ball back, and go score themselves, seemingly not worried about giving Army extra time should they get a drive moving. And somehow, in those final minutes, the team stepped up to the occasion. They got their first 3 and out of the day, Retzlaff got the ball back with a minute left and no timeouts, and the rest is history.
With that thrilling win, Tulane clinches a bowl game at 6-1 and stays undefeated in the American. With Memphis’ upset loss to UAB, the path is even more open for the Green Wave to take the conference and stay alive a playoff spot. They have a bye next week before traveling to UTSA to continue conference play. Army has to go back home to West Point after the tough loss, falling to 3-4 on the year. They also have a bye next week before going to Air Force in a service academy showdown.
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