Unfortunately, you can’t write game recaps exclusively about winners. This was a particularly tough pill to swallow, and I feel heartbroken as I’m sure many of you do. We didn’t play well enough to win in the second half AND the refs hosed Tulane. Both can be true. Buckle up for my longest article ever because I have a lot to say about this one. Let’s get to it.
So much happened in this game that by the end of it, people forgot the refs cost Tulane a touchdown on the last drive of the game AND the first defensive drive of the game.
An absolutely bogus no call on a backwards pass that was picked up and returned for a touchdown. I knew right away that this big 12 crew wasn’t going to do Tulane any favors. Drive still ended quickly in a 3 and out but looking at the final margin, you remember that one.
Craddock clearly planned to establish the run and settle his qb into his first true big game at the collegiate level. First two drives were split 9 rushes and 4 passes. Save Makhi’s 39 yard carry that was sprung by an awesome play by Shadre Hurst, the offense was a bit stagnant the first two drives.
We were forced to pooch punt after stalling in no mans land on the K state 40 or so. Tough to cross the 50 and not even have a chance at points, but this was the right decision in the early going.
The defense exhibited its bend don’t break style that was popular week 1 on the ensuing drive. K state went 12 plays 58 yards but also found themselves marooned in no man’s land thanks to some stout run defense. K state nailed a long field goal to take an early 3-0 lead.
The third offensive drive is when the fun began. Craddock dialed up his first shot play of the day on 2nd and 8 from around midfield.
Take a pause here, watch that throw a couple of times. It’s one of the prettiest balls you’ll see all weekend. Mensah sees Fleming coming open on the deep post despite having 3 defenders in close proximity. This was an excellent throw and proved the young signal caller had not lost faith in #1.
Nobody more deserving of being the early hero than Dontae Fleming. He dropped his shot at the home run ball week 1, but this time he made no mistake. The throw ignited the fan base and Darian Mensah’s confidence. Hughes scored on the next play and the Wave had its first lead of the game.
Tulane’s defense quickly forced another 3 and out as Avery Johnson continued to look anything but comfortable. This 3 and out was big because it the ball right back into Darian Mensah’s red hot hands. A terrible punt gave Tulane a chance to keep its suddenly massive momentum rolling.
K state brought a heavy blitz on second & 8 trying to shake up the young QB who was brimming with confidence
The zero blitz left the middle of the field wide open as the ever poised Mensah floated the ball to a wide open Alex Bauman who jogged into the endzone untouched for 6. As he twirled in the air with a modified madden touchdown celebration, the student section roared. Mensah mania was in full swing.
14-3 Wave.
K state answered fast and furious with a touchdown of their own. Dj Giddens ripped off a 50 yarder and before you could send another text to your group chat, the game was 14-10.
Mensah crafted two more great drives of 57 and 45 yards that ended in field goals. I said it then and it is all the more obvious now, need to get 6 when you are in goal to go. Tulane had k state on the ropes in the first half but only had a 10 point lead to show for it.
If you nearly double up your opponent in offense in the first half, you should be up by more than 10. I knew k state would make strong half time adjustments. Darian Mensah had carved them up like a thanksgiving turkey with a gaudy 19.8 yards per completion in the first half.
K state came out with a better defensive game plan in the second half causing Tulane’s offensive line fits. Back to back 3 and outs to start the half included holding penalties and sacks on top of constant pressure. In addition to a better defensive game plan, Kansas states offense started to find its feet. A 4th down in no man’s land proved to be the defining play of the third quarter.
I have no idea why Matthew Fobbz White would be the closest man to DJ Giddens on a wheel route on such a pivotal play. Sumrall took blame for this one in his post game presser, but this was a back breaker. Instead of getting off the field with a turnover on downs, an epic collapse defensively and a tie call game heading to the 4th.
It seemed as though the game was very much slipping away. After 300 yards of offense in the first half, they had roughly 5 yards of offense in the third with a minute to go. The offense was staring down yet another third and long after two bad penalties in blocking. Surely another punt coming as the rest of the quarter had gone. In the words of the great Lee Corso, NOT SO FAST.
Mensah, the best player in green, delivers again. The redshirt freshman rolled to his left and made an awe inspiring 40 yard strike to Mario Williams to convert 3rd & 21. Answering the bell when your team is facing adversity like this is the mark of a relentless and fearless leader. There is a reason Jon Sumrall named him QB1.
After converting this 3rd and long the Mensah magic was back. He made a picture perfect strike to Alex Bauman on third down and the big man from Jersey went up and got it. The touchdown put the Wavs back up 27-20 in the fourth quarter.
K state answered with an emphatic touchdown to make it 27-27. Two heavyweight fighters trading haymakers in the big easy. If you don’t think Kansas state Tulane would make for an awesome 5-12 matchup, you do not enjoy the game of football.
At 27-27, Darian took over again connecting on two massive chunk plays to put the wave in the red zone with 8 minutes to play. You all know what happened next. I’m not going to give it much more text, a brutal time for darians first big mistake of the game. The kid played with so much poise and confidence, but in this moment he was trying to do just a little bit too much. No one should hold that against him.
34-27 K State
Tulane got the ball back with 8 to play and sure enough Darian Mensah connected on another third and long. It looked like the kid would pull another rabbit out of his hat. Unfortunately, the drive quickly stalled and we were light on time. The wave punted at the 5 minute mark. We would need a defensive stop (we had barely had one all second half) and then a touchdown drive and had very little time to do it.
Kansas state went very conservative choosing to try and take away our time outs rather than actually driving a nail in Tulane’s coffin. A move that I thought was incredibly dumb given the clock stops on a first down in college anyways.
The wave made the stop and got the ball back to Darian Mensah who was working on a 300 yard 2 touchdown performance. Makhi Hughes hoisted the team on his incredibly broad shoulders on the last drive and before you knew it Tulane was on the 2 yard line with 20 seconds left.
The next play is one wave fans will never forget for the rest of their lives. My subjective opinion was that was a touchdown. All k state fans will tell you the opposite in their subjective opinion. Any truly objective fan with no dog in the fight will tell you that it was an incorrect call and the refs working this game should never work another game in their lives. I’m not going to give any credence to any of those opinions though. Im going to present the video at field level and my play by play of what happened.
Dontae lines up in the slot and is immediately engaged by #10 on Kansas state. He sprints over to him as the ball is snapped and immediately begins his jam within 5 yards. Dontae continues to run while engaged. The ball comes out and is caught by yulkeith brown. The referee nearest to the ball ruled it a touchdown.
Those are the facts of what happened. The rest is subjective. Don’t forget what happened here and when speaking it on the future, defer to facts over opinions. The game ended on the refs whistle which is a crying shame for what was one of the most entertaining Tulane football games of the last decade.
34-27 K State final.
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