UTSA Forces Six Turnovers, Runs Past Tulane 42-19 for Fifth Straight Win

Tulane got the dream start. Then it spent the next three-plus hours handing the football to UTSA like it was passing out programs at the gate.

The Green Wave scored on the very first snap Saturday night at Yulman Stadium, and that was about the last thing that went right for the home side. UTSA took the ball away six times, ran for six touchdowns and walked out of New Orleans with a 42-19 win, its fifth straight. The Roadrunners are 7-1 overall and 4-0 in the American, still sitting on top of the league. Tulane fell to 3-4 and 1-2, and its 10-game home winning streak is over.

A pick-six, then a giveaway parade

The opening sequence looked like a Tulane highlight package. On the first play from scrimmage, Anthony Rogers jumped a pass in the flat and took it 22 yards for a touchdown. Five seconds into the game, in front of 19,015 fans, the Wave led 7-0.

It flipped fast. UTSA answered with an eight-play, 56-yard drive that A'Marion Peterson finished from a yard out. Then the turnovers started. Camron Cooper recovered an option pitch that sailed behind the back, and Peterson cashed it in with a 16-yard run to give UTSA a 14-7 lead with 13 seconds left in the first quarter.

Early in the second, Tulane had driven to the UTSA 2-yard line with a chance to tie. Jameian Buxton, playing in his hometown, punched the ball loose and RJ Lester Jr. fell on it in the end zone. A few series later, Eddy Smith forced another fumble, Zach Morris recovered at the Tulane 46, and Owen McCown kept it around the left end for a 4-yard score. That was three straight Tulane possessions ending in lost fumbles. UTSA led 21-7 with 4:23 left in the half.

Tulane hangs around, barely

Give the Wave some credit for not folding before the break. Cooper Helmke hit field goals from 38 and 33 yards, the second as the first-half clock hit zero, and Tulane went into the locker room down only 21-13 despite three giveaways.

That is about as good as a team can feel after losing the turnover battle that badly. It did not last.

The third quarter ends it

UTSA came out of halftime and played the kind of football that wins conference titles: patient, physical and boring in the best way.

The first drive went 72 yards in seven plays. McCown hit David Amador for 30 yards on third down and beat a blitz with a 22-yard throw to DJ Allen on another third down, according to NOLA.com, and Will Henderson III took it in from 9 yards out. After the Roadrunners' first sack of Trace Johnson forced a Tulane three-and-out, UTSA went on a 13-play, 63-yard march. Brandon High Jr. capped it with a 5-yard touchdown run, and it was 35-13 with 2:41 left in the third.

The Roadrunners finished 12-of-16 on third down. That number tells you more than anything else about how the second half went. Tulane's defense got UTSA into third down over and over and could not get off the field.

Henderson, Peterson and a defense that would not stop taking the ball

Henderson ran 15 times for 102 yards and a score, his second 100-yard game this season and the fifth of his career. Peterson only had 51 yards but scored twice. High added 50 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. UTSA ran for 223 yards as a team and scored all six of its touchdowns on the ground, tying a school record.

McCown was efficient instead of spectacular, going 16-of-23 for 173 yards. Last season he went 31-of-33 against Tulane in San Antonio. This year he did not need to be that guy, and he was smart enough not to try.

The defense was the real story, though. The six takeaways also tied a school record: four fumble recoveries, from Cooper, Lester, Morris and Elijah Newell, and two interceptions, from Morris and Willie Nelson III. Morris was everywhere, with a fumble recovery, an interception, four tackles and a pass breakup. Owen Pewee was a nightmare for Johnson, with five tackles, three sacks and three quarterback hurries. Ahamad Chapman led the team with six tackles.

UTSA held Tulane to 332 yards of offense and just 67 on the ground. Johnson threw for 265 yards, and Garrett Mmahat led Tulane with 62 receiving yards, but a lot of that yardage came after the game was already slipping away.

Daniels' big run and a too-late push

Tulane's best moment of the second half came from Johnnie Daniels. On fourth down deep in their own territory, the Wave handed it to Daniels and he went 81 yards. He finished the drive himself with a 7-yard touchdown run. The two-point try failed, and it was 35-19 with 7:37 to go. Daniels finished with 104 rushing yards.

That was as close as it got. Johnson's fourth-down pass for Mmahat was tipped and picked off at the UTSA 17, and Jaylin Lucas muffed a bouncing punt early in the fourth for Tulane's fifth turnover, per NOLA.com. After a 34-yard run by Henderson, Mark Wiepert punched in a 1-yard score with two minutes left to make it 42-19.

What it means

For UTSA, this was the kind of road win that separates contenders from teams that just have nice records. The Roadrunners stayed unbeaten in league play and remain one of two teams without a conference loss, along with North Texas, NOLA.com noted. They won without McCown needing to carry them, and they won in a building where Tulane had not lost in 10 straight games.

For Tulane, the turnover story is almost too on the nose. A week earlier, the Wave forced six turnovers in a 31-17 win over Memphis. On Saturday, they gave away six, which matched the program's total from a 2012 game against Houston. With two conference losses, the American Conference title hopes are in serious trouble.

Football can be complicated. This one was not. You cannot give a good team six extra possessions and expect to win. UTSA took every gift, said thank you, and ran the ball down Tulane's throat.

Sources: Tulane Athletics official box score, UTSA Athletics game recap, The Associated Press and NOLA.com.

Photos: Jordan Gibreal/Undrafted. Credentialed photographer at Yulman Stadium, New Orleans.