“At the end of the day, I thought they played better up front than we did,” Grambling State head coach Broderick Fobbs said. “We could never get anything going and we were always starting behind the chains. We didn’t execute like we needed to. They were the better team tonight. I thought they did an extremely great job running the football, but also mixing in man and zone screens. My hats off to them, they’re a good team.”
Tulane (1-0) scored on its first two drives to begin the game and quickly jumped out to a 14-0 lead.
After the Tigers were forced to punt on their first possession, the Green Wave marched 56 yards in five plays and took 2:45 off the clock as Jonathan Banks scored on a seven-yard touchdown scamper down the right side to give Tulane a 7-0 lead.
Grambling State (0-1) went three-and-out on its second possession and Tulane capitalized on good field position as the Green Wave went 51 yards in five plays, capped by Banks’ 30-yard touchdown pass to Terren Encalade, giving Tulane a 14-0 advantage with 7:06 remaining in the opening quarter.
The Green Wave added to the lead in the second quarter as the Tigers defense held Tulane to a field goal. A Coby Neenan 21-yard field goal with 5:15 left in the first half, capped 12-play, 61-yard drive, giving the Green Wave a 17-0 lead.
Tulane put the game away with 3:16 remaining in the second quarter as Banks connected with Dontrell Hillard for a 62-yard touchdown as the Green Wave extended the advantage to 24-0.
The Green Wave began the third quarter with excellent starting position as Sherman Badie returned the opening kickoff 52 yards to the GSU 46. Tulane punched in its fourth touchdown of the night six plays later as Darnell Mooney caught a 19-yard touchdown pass from Banks, giving the Green Wave a 31-0 lead with 12:06 left in the quarter.
Grambling State answered on the ensuing drive to get its first points of the season.
The Tigers took advantage of a penalty and converted on fourth-and-10 as Martez Carter, who had 11 rushing touchdowns last season, scored on a five-yard run, capping a 15-play, 82-yard drive, as Grambling State cut the deficit to 31-7 with 5:25 left in the third quarter.
The Green Wave answered on its next drive as Encalade rushed 58 yards down the right sideline to extend the lead to 37-7 with 14:49 remaining. But those points were quickly erased as Carter found the end zone for the second time as he rushed 51 yards past the Tulane defense to trim the margin to 37-14 with 14:27 left.
Tulane capped the scoring with 8:13 remaining as Darius Bradwell scored on a 27-yard run, which capped a 10-play, 77-yard drive to give the Green Wave a 43-14 lead.
