MOBILE, Ala. – Down 16 points in the fourth quarter, South Alabama Football fought back and created a chance to tie the game on a two-point conversion with less than a minute to play, but the attempt came up short as Tulane held on to win, 33-31, Saturday night at Hancock Whitney Stadium.
 
The loss dropped the Jaguars to 1-1 for the season.
 
KEY MOMENTS

• South Alabama received the ball to open the game and went 75 yards on its first drive to start the game off with a touchdown. Quarterback Bishop Davenport scored on a nine-yard scamper to put the Jaguars up 7-0 early in the contest
• After the Jaguar offense turned the ball over on its second possession, Mike Harris forced a fumble which Jayvon Henderson recovered deep in USA's own territory.
• Following the takeaway, Davenport hit Devin Voisin on a 65-yard touchdown strike to put South up 14-0.
• Tulane answered South Alabama's 14-0 start with 27-straight points to claim a 27-14 lead in the third quarter.
• Facing a 13-point deficit in the third quarter, South appeared to be driving for a score, but fumbled the ball in the red zone to give the ball back to the Green Wave.
• On USA's next possession, the Jags got down to the one-yard line, but a penalty backed them up to the five. The Jags would have to settle for a field goal to make the score 27-17.
• Tulane responded to South's field goal with a 78-yard touchdown drive, and scored on a 28-yard touchdown run to go up 16 points with 10 minutes remaining in the game.
• South Alabama responded to Tulane's final touchdown with a 12-play, 75-yard touchdown drive on its first possession of the fourth quarter. Kentrel Buck punched in the touchdown from one yard out and Davenport successfully ran in the two-point conversion.
• The Jaguar defense forced a stop when Tulane got the ball back to give the offense a chance to tie the game late. Davenport hit Voisin for the duo's second touchdown connection of the night to set up a game-tying two-point conversion attempt. Davenport's pass on the two-point try fell incomplete, though, and Tulane held on to win the game 33-31.

 KEY STATS

• After the Jags got off to a red-hot start in the first quarter, Tulane out-gained South 125-36 in the second quarter.
• South Alabama went 3-of-4 in the red zone while Tulane was perfect in the red zone. The Jaguars scored just 18 red zone points while the Green Wave scored 24 points inside USA's 20-yard line.
• The Jaguars lost the turnover battle 2-1. One of South's two fumbles led to an empty red zone possession
• Tulane out-rushed South 241-190, but the Jaguar passing attack outdid Tulane's 231-165.
• Voisin finished the game with eight catches for 152 yards and two touchdowns to lead the USA offensive attack
• Caleb Dozier and Darius McKenzie both tallied 10 tackles to lead the defensive effort. Wesley Miller also pitched in nine of his own.

 NOTABLE

• Harris' forced fumble and Henderson's fumble recovery in the first quarter were both the first of their respective South Alabama careers
• Voisin's 65-yard touchdown reception was the longest catch of his career. His previous long was 47 yards against Western Kentucky in 2022.
• The touchdown strike to Voisin was the longest completion of Davenport's career. His previous long was 52 yards in the 2024 IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl against Western Michigan.
• Running back Kentrel Bullock recorded the sixth 100-yard rushing game of his career, and his second in as many games this season

 QUOTABLE
 
"Obviously, we're never pleased when we lose. There are some things we've got to correct on offense, like our ball security, and on defense in terms of tackling, but I was really pleased with the way they fought. I was proud of the way, down 17 points, that these guys found a way to get back in the ball game and have a chance to tie it. I want to continue building those intangibles with our team and show that, no matter what, we'll continue to play. It was just frustrating to get in that hole to begin with, but I was proud of the way they fought. We just made too many mistakes early on, and against a good team, it's hard to come back in the fourth quarter like that with that many down. I'm just proud of the way they fought."
 
-Major Applewhite on his team's performance Saturday night
 
"It just shows the chemistry and the trust that we have in each other. Like Coach Applewhite mentioned, we had some defensive guys that went down, and we just had to have the next man up mentality. We trusted all of the guys that came in, and our mindset was 'it doesn't matter how long it's going to be, it could be a 15-round fight, but we're going to battle the entire time. In the end, it came down to execution, and we didn't do that."
 
-Devin Voisin on a hard-fought game
 
"Our competitiveness that we have on the team, of course we got to get rid of the turnovers and things like that, but we have a very competitive team and I love that about us."
 
-Bishop Davenport on his takeaways from the game
 
"I feel like we did a great job playing complementary football. Whenever we faced adversity and the offensive had a sudden change, we did a great job adjusting to it."
 
-Mike Harris on his evaluation of the team's performance
 
UP NEXT
 
South Alabama will make the short trip north to face Auburn for the first time in program history. Kickoff between the Jaguars and Tigers is slated for 11:45 a.m. CT. The game will be nationally televised on SEC Network.
 
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