MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Jake Retzlaff threw for 332 yards and three touchdowns and Tulane held off No. 22 Memphis 38-32 on Friday night to stay in contention for the Group of Five’s spot in the College Football Playoff and dash the Tigers’ hopes.
Tulane (7-2, 4-1 American Athletic Conference) survived a furious fourth-quarter comeback attempt as the Tigers fought back from a 21-point third-quarter deficit.
Memphis (8-2, 4-2) was unable to convert on fourth-and-8 from the Tulane 35 with two minutes remaining, ending its chances along with its 11-game home winning streak.
“I’m so proud of our guys for their resiliency,” said Tulane coach Jon Sumrall. “It was so cool to see how our guys responded (after last week’s loss at Texas-San Antonio). Bad things are going to happen sometimes. You just have to keep showing up.“
Brendon Lewis passed for 317 yards and two touchdowns for the Tigers. Cortez Braham Jr. caught 11 passes for 113 yards.
The Green Wave scored on their first play from scrimmage — a 65-yard pass from Retzlaff to Shazz Preston — and found the end zone on four of their next five possessions in the opening half. At the half, Retzlaff had completed 14 of 15 passes for 284 yards and three touchdowns. Preston had three catches for 85 yards and two scores.
“I thought Jake played his tail off (in the first half),” Sumrall said.
The Green Wave had 364 yards at the half, but were held to 93 in the second half. Despite the effort from the Memphis defense, it wasn’t enough.
“Clearly, we didn’t to play to our standard in the first half,” Memphis coach Ryan Silverfield said. “We gave up too many (explosive) plays. And, offensively, we had too many self-inflicted wounds. It’s unlike us. Our guys will learn from this.”
Memphis matched Tulane’s scoring in the opening 16 minutes. The Tigers needed only two minutes to tie at 7 as Lewis, who was a gametime decision because of injury, found Jamari Hawkins in stride for a 55-yard score. After the Green Wave went up 14-7 late in the first quarter, the Tigers scored on their first snap of the second quarter on a 21-yard run by Arrington Maiden.
Retzlaff, who had been benched during the loss at Texas-San Antonio, responded by leading the Green Wave to back-to-back TDs. Retzlaff got the first on a 33-yard run and passed 54 yards to Anthony Brown-Stephens on the following possession for a 28-14 cushion.
Retzlaff's TD pass to Preston – a 5-yard toss – put the Green Wave ahead, 35-17 with 43 seconds left in the half.
Memphis began its comeback try by trimming the Tulane lead to 38-25 to start the fourth quarter, ending a 12-play drive with a 1-yard run by Frank Peasant and a two-point conversion. Maiden replaced Lewis at quarterback during the drive after Lewis hobbled off following a short run. Lewis returned and his 25-yard TD pass to Brady Kluse with 7:49 to go made it 38-32, but Arrington finished the game at QB.
The takeaway
Memphis: The Tigers entered the game as the leader from the Group of Five to make the College Football Playoff. They were the highest ranked among the non-Power 4 programs following the Tuesday release of the CFP rankings, but saw those playoff hopes dashed in an overwhelming offensive display by the Green Wave from the outset.
Tulane: The Green Wave bounced back from a 48-26 loss last week at Texas-San Antonio to jump back into the running for a CFP spot. Tulane has an accommodating schedule — Florida Atlantic, at Temple, Charlotte — to finish the regular season. Those three teams are 9-16 overall.
Up next
Tulane: Host Florida Atlantic on Saturday, Nov. 15.
Memphis: At East Carolina on Saturday, Nov. 15.
___
Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here. AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football