Tulane falls 38-14 to Cincinnati in Halloween football game at Yulman Stadium


Cincinnati quarterback and New Orleans native Munchie Legaux, center, throws against Tulane in the first half of their game at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans on Friday, October 31, 2014. (Photo by Chris Granger, Nola.com | The Times-Picayune) (Chris Granger)

By Tammy Nunez, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune
on October 31, 2014 at 11:00 PM, updated November 01, 2014 at 12:13 AM

Tulane fans at the Cincinnati football game in Yulman Stadium on Halloween night must have felt like they were ding-dong-ditched.

The Green Wave fell into a 24-0 halftime hole and didn't have the plays to climb out. Instead, Tulane watched hometown hero Munchie Legaux, a Karr product, lead the Bearcats to a 38-14 victory.

Legaux completed 16-of-24 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for 16 yards. The Bearcats rushed for 265 yards on a night that Tulane couldn't finish on offense.

By the end, the stands were nearly vacant. The once-raucous student section had long since departed and hopes of a bowl game nearly dimmed.

The Green Wave (2-6, 1-3 in the American Athletic Conference) must win its final four games to become bowl eligible. Cincinnati (5-3, 3-1 in AAC) amassed 479 total yards and excelled on special teams to keep Tulane at bay.

But the night of horror started early for the Olive and Blue. First, the Wave lost key senior receiver Xavier Rush, who tore his ACL in Wednesday's practice. He watched the game from the sideline on crutches.

Then the Wave lost senior defensive end Tyler Gilbert to an ejection in the first quarter. He was flagged for targeting on a hit to Legaux after Legaux had fired off a pass attempt.

"That's very difficult because that's one of our leaders on the defensive line," Tulane defensive back Darion Monroe said. "He's a senior this year and to lose a guy like that, that gives us that second pass rushers other than Royce LaFrance and it's hard to do certain things so we have to switch up our defense a little more because of the younger guys coming into his position."

Gilbert was immediately tossed, leaving the Green Wave to use a three-man front most of the rest of the evening.

"He's on in about every package, a senior, a leader, if we gave a captain, he'd be captain," Tulane coach Curtis Johnson said. "Our team (after he got ejected) just looked like we were in la-la land. So Speedy (co-defensive coordinator Lionel Washington) had to call the game a little bit different. We had to use some different packages."

Legaux, who relieved Gunner Kiel after Kiel threw an interception to Parry Nickerson on the first play of the game, impressed his hometown by ticking off 10 completions for 159 first half yards and two touchdowns.

"Our kids should have adjusted a little bit better," Johnson said. "Munchie played well, but we missed tackles. We made some really critical mistakes, and we just can't have that. We knew how good their offense is, they are a very good football team."

Nickerson's pick was the sole Tulane highlight of the first half. It was his fourth interception of the season, handing the ball over to Lee and the Wave offense.

Quarterback Tanner Lee drove the offense 55 yards on four plays but was sacked for a 10-yard loss on fourth-and-goal.

"We came out fired up and we stalled don the 1-yard line," Lee said. "The Cincinnati defense made a play, they had the right defense called but it's just kind of how the game went."

The Green Wave never got that close to scoring again in the first half.

Lee made his first start since getting injured Sept. 27 against Rutgers. He completed 12-of-20 passes for 112 yards in the first two quarters, but couldn't orchestrate a scoring drive in the first half. The Green Wave punted five times, missed a 51-yard field goal badly and muffed a punt that was recovered for a Cincinnati touchdown.

Lee finished with 24-of-35 passing for 205 yards. He threw no interceptions but was sacked twice including the fateful one on fourth-and-goal.

"It was a tough night for us," Johnson said. "Offensively it took Tanner a little bit to get back into it. I thought he played well for the most part."

The Green Wave resurged slightly in the second half behind freshman running back Dontrell Hilliard. Hilliard, who finished with a career-high 124 rushing yards, keyed the Green Wave in the second half with a 45-yard, tackle-busting run down the right side to put Tulane on the UC 19. Lazedrick Thompson made up the difference on the next play, scoring the Wave's first touchdown of the night.

Hilliard's touches increased when both Sherman Badie and Thompson went out in the second half with ankle injuries. Johnson said that Badie's wasn't severe and Badie could have re-entered.

But Hilliard was having the night of his season at that point.

"There are a lot of positives to take out of this game and I think one of them is sitting right here," Lee said nodding to Hilliard in the post-game press conference. "We had Sherman go down and we had a freshman who stood up and ran for (124) yards. He didn't ask me any questions, he knew exactly what to do. He was on point and I felt comfortable with him next to me. And our offensive line is pretty young and those guys battled the whole game. I'll just take those positives. There are plenty of positives to take out of this loss."

After Thompson's touchdown, Darion Monroe backed the positive offensive move with an interception that keyed another Tulane touchdown drive. His pick put Tulane on its 41 and Lee drove the Wave 59 yards in nine plays and capped the drive with a 10-yard touchdown throw to Charles Jones II. Jones jumped up to snare the play-action scoring pass. With the kick, Tulane shaved the Bearcats lead to 24-14 with 4:48 to go in the third quarter.

Cincinnati got moving, however, on the ensuing drive. Mike Boone burst over the left side of the line on a 3rd-and-1 to put the Bearcats on the Tulane 33. Legaux finished the drive with an 18-yard throw to Shaq Washington in the right corner of the end zone. Washington made a one-handed catch and the kick was good for a 31-14 Cincinnati lead.

The Bearcats' 479 total yards and big plays kept the Green Wave from mounting much of a comeback. That was the most yards Tulane has give up since the season opening 592 it ceded to Tulsa.

"We weren't able to play the defense that we wanted to run a little bit and then we couldn't get off the field -- too many big plays that we gave up," Johnson said. "Those were just plays that we should have made."

Tulane safety Sam Scofield led the Green Wave with seven tackles.

"We came out just how we wanted to: based on film they throw the deep ball first play of the game (Nickerson's interception)," Scofield said. "We were there for it and made a play. From there we gave up too many big plays. We really didn't play that bad of a game; just five or six big plays that just killed us."

The Green Wave had no more answers and left the night with more questions about the young program trying to find footing in its AAC debut season.

Tulane plays Nov. 8 at Houston.

And Johnson isn't even mentioning the word bowl between now and then.

"I would think we are so young, our goals have got to be very very shortsighted," he said. "We've got to play each (game). We have to play Houston. We have to take it quarter by quarter, we've got to take it play by play. It's sounds silly, but that's what we have to do. All these kids were playing in high school last year are going to redshirt team last year. ... We are going to go to Houston and not one of these kids that we've mentioned (who had big nights vs. Cincinnati) have ever gone to Houston probably until it's for a storm."

http://www.nola.com/tulane/index.ssf/201...cart_river

Legaux leads UC in Big Easy win over Tulane
Tom Groeschen, tgroeschen@enquirer.com 2:13 a.m. EDT November 1, 2014


Bearcats quarterback Munchie Legaux makes a throw against Tulane during the second quarter at Yulman Stadium.(Photo: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports)

NEW ORLEANS – Munchie Legaux had hoped for a happy homecoming here Friday night. Things went even better than the New Orleans native could have dreamed.

With about 100 friends and family in the stands, University of Cincinnati senior quarterback Legaux led UC to a 38-14 rout of Tulane.

Legaux, writing another chapter in his comeback from last year's season-ending knee surgery, completed 16-of-24 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception.

With about 100 friends and family in the stands, University of Cincinnati senior quarterback Legaux led UC to a 38-14 rout of Tulane. Announced attendance was 21,414 on a chilly, windy Halloween night at the Green Wave's new Yulman Stadium.

Legaux, writing another chapter in his comeback from last year's season-ending knee surgery, completed 16-of-24 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns, with one interception. Legaux relieved starter Gunner Kiel (bruised ribs), who lasted one play before exiting.

"I just hoped to see my family in the stands, first of all," Legaux said, smiling. "I didn't expect to go out and have three touchdowns or anything like that. I'll take it any day, especially in my home city."

Running backs Rod Moore (124 yards) and Mike Boone (113) became the ninth UC duo to rush for 100 yards in one game. It was the first such feat for the Bearcats since 2003, when Derrick Eddington (138) and Richard Hall (117) teamed up in a 40-3 win over East Carolina.

Legaux relieved Kiel after one series. Kiel threw only one pass, which was intercepted, before Legaux took over. With UC in control, Kiel watched from the sidelines in some discomfort, occasionally stretching and bending to alleviate his ailing ribs.


An official signals a touchdown as Cincinnati Bearcats linebacker Eric Wilson (23) celebrates recovering a muffed punt in the end zone against Tulane.(Photo: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports)

"I don't know what happened (to Kiel), but it was good that Munchie was able to come and play in front of a home crowd," UC coach Tommy Tuberville said. "He'll always remember coming home and playing, and playing as well as he did. We'll go with him as No. 1 for a while."

How long?

"We've got to have a guy working as No. 1," Tuberville said. "Gunner is going to have to get 100 percent healthy before we're going to work with him much with the 1's. We'll let him work with the 2's, but we can't get in a situation like this where we just kind of go back and forth.

"Munchie played well enough to be the starter next game."

UC (5-3, 3-1 American Athletic Conference) has won three consecutive games. The Bearcats are within one victory of bowl eligibility, which would be the program's fourth consecutive bowl appearance.

Tulane (2-6, 1-3 AAC) fell behind 24-0 by halftime.

Kiel, who left last week's win over USF after aggravating his ribs, started the Bearcats from their own 20-yard line to begin the game. Kiel threw a long pass that was intercepted on the first play from scrimmage.

Tulane marched to the UC 2-yard line but, on fourth and goal, cornerback Howard Wilder blitzed and sacked Green Wave quarterback Tanner Lee for a loss of 10 yards.

"That was a good changing point for us," Wilder said. "I saw the play action but he kept the ball in his left hand the whole time, and faked with his right. I just had good eyes and good awareness, and I had to make a play at the end."

Legaux came in and led UC on an eight-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a 30-yard field goal by Andrew Gantz. That gave the Bearcats a 3-0 lead with 7:11 left in the first quarter.

The Bearcats made it 10-0 on a 5-yard TD pass from Legaux to wideout Max Morrison. For Legaux, the TD pass was his first this year and first since he wrecked his left knee in September 2013 against Illinois.

Legaux went through extensive rehab and rejoined UC this season, and lately has played extensive minutes with Kiel ailing.

"I want to say congratulations to my offensive line and my teammates, everybody who supported me throughout the whole process," Legaux said.


Bearcats quarterback Munchie Legaux (4) celebrates with wide receiver Shaq Washington (19) after his touchdown catch against the Tulane Green Wave during the second half at Yulman Stadium. Cincinnati won, 38-14.(Photo: Chuck Cook-USA TODAY Sports)

UC built its lead to 17-0 on a 54-yard TD pass from Legaux to wideout Casey Gladney, for Gladney's first career score.

The Bearcats extended their lead to 24-0 when Eric Wilson recovered a muffed punt in the end zone, with 7:32 left in the second quarter.

Tulane trimmed UC's lead to 24-7 to start the second half. Fullback Lazedrick Thompson scored from 19 yards out, just 1:42 into the third quarter.

The Green Wave made it 24-14 on a 10-yard pass from Tanner Lee to tight end Charles Jones II, with 4:48 left in the third quarter.

Moments later, UC wideout Shaq Washington made a spectacular one-handed catch for an 18-yard TD pass from Legaux. That gave UC a 31-14 lead, which it took to the fourth quarter.

Boone iced things with a 24-yard TD run, which put UC ahead 38-14 with 3:22 left.

The UC defense had another solid game. After dropping to last (No. 125) nationally in total defense a few weeks ago, the Bearcats have allowed only 34 points over the past three weeks.

"We're getting lined up a lot better," Tuberville said. "We made so many alignment mistakes, it's been amazing. That's usually what happens when you give up big plays, but we're getting better. We haven't given up as many big plays as we did in the first couple losses that we had."

UC now is off until Thursday Nov. 13, when it plays host to East Carolina.

http://www.cincinnati.com/story/sports/c.../18294933/

"We'll go with him as number 1 for a while" makes me wonder a bit, sure would like to have Gunner for ECU. Great job though by Munchie and thankful he came back from injury. Hate to hear the Tulane player Rush get hurt in prax but his first name is terrrrible.

(11-01-2014 08:04 AM)FenderCat Wrote:  "We'll go with him as number 1 for a while" makes me wonder a bit, sure would like to have Gunner for ECU. Great job though by Munchie and thankful he came back from injury. Hate to hear the Tulane player Rush get hurt in prax but his first name is terrrrible.

Munchie was number 1 until the plane landed at CVG.

(11-01-2014 08:37 AM)chatcat Wrote:  

(11-01-2014 08:04 AM)FenderCat Wrote:  "We'll go with him as number 1 for a while" makes me wonder a bit, sure would like to have Gunner for ECU. Great job though by Munchie and thankful he came back from injury. Hate to hear the Tulane player Rush get hurt in prax but his first name is terrrrible.

Munchie was number 1 until the plane landed at CVG.

FWIW UC can beat everyone left on the schedule with Munchie at QB. Hope Gunner heals up soon though.

I need to ask everyone - what else can Munchie do before he has proven his worth? I have a ton of confidence in him right now.

Not sure how bad off Kiel will be in two, or even one, week. But, I think starting him was the worst coaching decision of the game by either staff (with TU's decision to go for it on 4th and goal on their first drive being a close second). That first throw was so far off, it's unbelievable to me, that they thought he was healthy enough to go.

(11-01-2014 08:37 AM)chatcat Wrote:  

(11-01-2014 08:04 AM)FenderCat Wrote:  "We'll go with him as number 1 for a while" makes me wonder a bit, sure would like to have Gunner for ECU. Great job though by Munchie and thankful he came back from injury. Hate to hear the Tulane player Rush get hurt in prax but his first name is terrrrible.

Munchie was number 1 until the plane landed at CVG.

Why waste number 1 reps all week on a guy who can't stay on the field come game time?

Munchie is playing well enough to win every game left, but I would feel better if Kiel can play against ECU.

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

(11-01-2014 09:37 AM)BJUnklFkr Wrote:  I need to ask everyone - what else can Munchie do before he has proven his worth? I have a ton of confidence in him right now.

Not sure how bad off Kiel will be in two, or even one, week. But, I think starting him was the worst coaching decision of the game by either staff (with TU's decision to go for it on 4th and goal on their first drive being a close second). That first throw was so far off, it's unbelievable to me, that they thought he was healthy enough to go.

Didn't you see how far left the wind took that first throw? Even CTT laughed at the call in his halftime interview.

I didn't see how far left it was, but I did see how far OVER more it was.

ECu defense is not good so this game will hinge more on the Bearcats defense making stops.

(11-01-2014 09:45 AM)subflea Wrote:  Munchie is playing well enough to win every game left, but I would feel better if Kiel can play against ECU.

Posted from my mobile device using the CSNbbs App

(11-01-2014 10:38 AM)BJUnklFkr Wrote:  I didn't see how far left it was, but I did see how far OVER more it was.

Into double coverage as well

I'd like to give a shout out to the offensive line. I do not believe there were any sacks allowed the last 3 games, (i am probably wrong, but there were none last night) and the holes for the RB's have been great.

(11-01-2014 10:56 AM)eastside cat Wrote:  I'd like to give a shout out to the offensive line. I do not believe there were any sacks allowed the last 3 games, (i am probably wrong, but there were none last night) and the holes for the RB's have been great.

Offensive line has been great. Especially when you consider how the injuries have completely changed the roles for so many of these guys. Ryan Leahy, Tyreek Burwell and Justin Murray were all expected to be back ups who played 20 to 25 snaps a game. Injuries to Kevin Schloemer and Cory Keebler have forced all of them into starting roles at various points this year. Leahy and Murray have been particularly good during this winning streak

The O line is much improved. The D line has made some plays. Miliano's touchbacks are important. The punting is getting better all the time. Lots of improvement, here. Credit to the coaches and players.