Sept. 4, 2009

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NEW ORLEANS - Sophomore quarterback Joe Kemp threw for a career-high 278 yards and a touchdown in his first collegiate start and junior wideout Casey Robottom snared a personal-best six passes, but it was not enough as the Tulane University football team dropped the season opener to Conference USA foe Tulsa, 37-13, Friday evening at the Louisiana Superdome.

The Golden Hurricane stormed out to a 17-0 lead over the first nine minutes of play and withstood the Green Wave offense's best efforts to cruise to the 24-point victory. With the loss, Tulane (0-1, 0-1 C-USA) dropped its fifth straight game to Tulsa (1-0, 1-0 C-USA) dating back to 2005 when the Hurricane joined C-USA.

"I said earlier in the week I had thought we improved and gotten better," Tulane head coach Bob Toledo said. "I didn't know how much better and I wouldn't know until we've played the game. I believe we've gotten better. I think we did some really good things tonight. Unfortunately, we did some things poorly and there are things that we have to improve on.

Playing in his first game since suffering a season-ending injury against Houston in the ninth game of 2008, Kemp completed 16-of-26 passes, but was sacked five times and finished with minus -37 yards rushing on six carries. Robottom posted 82 yards receiving, including a 20-yard touchdown grab with 5:19 left in the third quarter, while senior wide receiver Jeremy Williams had five catches for 139 yards. Senior running back André Anderson finished the day with 86 yards of total offense after posting 49 yards on 19 carries on the ground and hauling in two passes for another 37 yards through the air.

Senior defensive back Chinonso Echebelem led the Green Wave defense with 12 tackles (six solo, six assists), while senior linebackers David Kirksey and Travis Burks followed with 10 and seven, respectively. Tulane posted four sacks on the day: one each by Kirksey, senior defensive end Logan Kelley, junior defensive tackle Justin Adams and freshman defensive back Shakiel Smith.

The Green Wave got off to a rough start in the first quarter. Offensively, Tulane suffered three sacks and had a pass intercepted. The defense was forced to play against a short field and Tulsa took advantage with a 22-yard field goal by Kevin Fitzpatrick with 4:31 into the game, a 15-yard touchdown run by quarterback G.J. Kinne just over four minutes later, and a five-yard scoring gallop by Charles Clay with six minutes left to play in the opening stanza to stake the Golden Hurricane to a 17-0 advantage.

"It was a little disheartening, but on the other hand it could've been good too," Toledo said of the early deficit. "You get behind and then you could come back and win and that's real good for our program. We need to learn how to win. We're working on that as well."

Tulane's offense began to click from there, but saw a 10-play, 63-yard drive produce a goose-egg as Ross Thevenot's 31-yard field goal was blocked by Tulsa Odrick Ray. The Wave drove 46-yards on its next possession but was forced to punt. TU finally got on the board with 55-seconds remaining in the half when Thevenot split the uprights from 27 yards out to make a two-score game.

Tulsa, however, stretched its lead back to 17 just before halftime as Damaris Johnson returned the ensuing kickoff 39 yards and Fitzpatrick was true from 33 yards away as time expired to cap a five-play, 38-yard drive to make it 20-3 at the break.

The Golden Hurricane padded the advantage in the opening drive of the second half when Fitzpatrick capped a 63-yard drive with a 24-yard field goal. Tulane got a big play from Williams on its first possession of the third quarter as he hauled in an intermediate pass from Kemp and broke a pair of tackles for a 68-yard gain to give the Wave first-and goal from the four. Tulsa defense, however, stiffened and stopped four straight running plays to turn Tulane away once again.

Tulane's defense forced a three-and-out, and following a 16-yard punt return by Robottom, Anderson scampered for 21 yards before Kemp found Robottom from 20 yards out to make it a 23-10 ballgame.

The Golden Hurricane appeared to answer Tulane's score with a touchdown of its own, but Echebelem forced a Clay fumble at the one-yard line and senior corner Charles Harris recovered it in the end zone for a touchback. Following a punt by each team, Tulsa got back on the board early in the fourth quarter when Johnson returned a punt 66 yards for a touchdown.

Tulane had a chance to make things interesting midway through the final stanza, but an apparent 14-yard touchdown pass from Kemp to Williams was wiped out due to a penalty and the Green Wave had to settle for a 29-yard Thevenot field goal with 10:20 left to play. Tulsa put the game away when Kinne found Trae Johnson along the sideline for a 12-yard scoring strike with 1:46 showing on the clock to cap a five play, 54-yard drive and account for the final score.

"Defensively, I thought we played hard," Toledo said. "We made some opportunistic plays. Unfortunately, I thought we tackled poorly. We had the quarterback running at times, but we lost containment. He either ran or he ended up throwing the ball running out of the pocket, making some big plays on us. That and then the kicking game - we faltered and again, they got a great return.

"We just have to continue to get better. We are better than we were a year ago. Now are we there yet? No. We are a work in progress. But the season is not over. We've learned a lot from this game. Our players will improve. Their attitude is good and we will continue to grow and get better as the season goes along."

Kinne led Tulsa with 77 yards and a touchdown on 13 carries and completed 15-of-20 passes for 211 yards and a score. Slick Shelley was his favorite target as the senior snared five passes for 68 yards. Linebackers DeAundre Brown and Mike Bryan led the Golden Hurricane defense with 14 and 11 tackles, respectively, and Tanner Antle had two of Tulsa's five sacks.

The Green Wave return to action on Saturday, Sept. 12, when they play host to No. 20 BYU at 2:30 p.m. in the Louisiana Superdome. That game will be televised lived nationally on ESPN2. For ticket information, contact the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office at 504-861-WAVE. Tickets can be purchased in person, over the phone or via the internet at www.TulaneGreenWave.com.