RECAP
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BOX SCORE
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Southern Mississippi's defense nearly made up
for all the points it gave up.
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| Dawayne Woods rushed for 143 yards and three TDs to lead Southern Miss past Tulane. |
Southern Miss forced four turnovers and turned three into
touchdowns as the Golden Eagles beat Tulane 56-24 on Saturday for
their fifth straight victory.
"They did a good job of moving the ball on us, but we made some
big plays defensively," said Southern Miss coach Jeff Bower, whose
team hadn't surrendered more than 19 points in a game this season.
The Golden Eagles (5-1, 2-0 in Conference USA) took advantage of
two interceptions and a fumble by Tulane quarterback Patrick
Ramsey.
Leo Barnes made both interceptions, setting up the first of
Dawayne Woods' three touchdowns and scoring on a 27-yard return.
Roy Magee recovered Ramsey's fumble and ran 38 yards for a
first-quarter touchdown.
"We're just trying to show everyone that we're one of the top
defenses in the country," Barnes said. The Golden Eagles were the
top-ranked scoring defense in the nation (seven points per game)
and No. 1 in Conference USA in total defense (235 yards per game).
On the first possession of the game, Barnes intercepted Ramsey's
pass, and two plays later Woods ran 33 yards for a touchdown.
Magee's return after recovering Ramsey's fumble gave the Golden
Eagles a 14-0 lead with 8:24 left in the first quarter.
Ramsey came back on the ensuing possession to throw a 30-yard
touchdown pass to Zander Robinson to cut the lead to 14-7.
Southern Miss came right back with a 6-yard touchdown pass from
Jeff Kelly to Shawn Mills to make it 21-7 with 3:19 left in the
first quarter.
After Seth Marler kicked a 30-yard field goal for the Green Wave
(3-3, 1-2), Barnes intercepted another pass and ran 27 yards for a
touchdown and a 28-10 lead with 8:22 left in the second quarter.
"When you come out and have the amount of unforced errors that
we had in the first quarter and second quarter it kind of
snowballed on us," Tulane coach Chris Scelfo said. "We knew they
were a good football team, but we gave them every gift early on and
that really put us behind the eight ball."
Woods, from nearby Slidell, La., rushed for 143 yards and three
touchdowns on 20 carries. He also returned a kickoff 53 yards to
set up a touchdown.
"It was real exciting playing here because a lot of my family
and people I went to school with came to watch me," Woods said.
""We practiced all week on hitting the holes and our cutbacks and
we came out and did it."
Kelly completed 15 of 24 for 224 yards with one touchdown and
one interception for Southern Miss. Mills caught seven passes for
151 yards and two touchdowns.
Ramsey was replaced by J.P Losman for the final three series of
the first half after being shaken up. Ramsey started the second
half before giving way to Losman late in the third quarter.
Ramsey finished 12 of 28 for 158 yards with one touchdown and
two interceptions. Losman was 10 of 22 for 102 yards.
Southern Miss, which led 28-10 at halftime, quickly extended
that lead by taking the second-half kickoff and driving 91 yards in
six plays to Woods' 13-yard touchdown run.
Kelly's 62-yard touchdown pass to Mills pushed the lead to 42-10
with 6:34 left in the third quarter.
Tulane's Kris Coleman scored on a 1-yard run with 11:00 left in
the game, the first rushing touchdown allowed by the Golden Eagles
in 36 quarters dating to last season.
