Tulane comes back to win; Army comes up wide right, 17-16

Collegefootballfan.com enjoys Big Tailgate Party

West Point, NY  -  With 2:20 left in the game, Tulane's Ross Thevenot converted a field goal  to give Tulane a 17-16 victory over Army before Army's Alex Carlton's 37-yard attempt went wide right with 12 seconds remaining to give the Green Wave its second win of the season in front of 26,076 fans at Michie Stadium. The crowd included 46 fans attending CollegeFootballFan.com's annual Big Tailgate Party.  The game was a snoozer between Army's option game ( 3 of 5 passes completed for 26 yards) and numerous TV times-out on CBS College Sports Network TV which deemed to last longer than those normally encountered at games shown on other networks.    Never-the-less, it was an exciting game in the final seconds. The tailgating and bus trip was enjoyed by the 46 guests  who attended.  Among them were members of the Lenape Valley (NJ) High School football team and their families.  The rain held off, but for the second time this season, the traditional delivery of the game ball by West Point skydivers was cancelled due to overcast skies.    Megan Ward's special treat this year was Buffalo Chicken soup - a tasty way to end a full day of tailgating!

     Army got off to a quick start capitalizing on a blocked punt by DT Chris Swain that put the Army on Tulane's 10-yard Line.  QB Trent Steelman (20 rushes for 95 yards, 1 TD) took it in from the one-yard line and Army was off to a quick 7-0 lead.  The Cadets extended the lead before the period expired when Alex Carlton converted the first of his three FGs for 37 yards.  The Green Wave started its first TD drive as the first quarter expired.

    QB Joe Kemp connected with WR Jeremy Williams who gained control of the ball while tip-toeing down the right sideline for a 15-yard Tulane TD to close the gap, 10-7.  Neither team scored again before the intermission.  The US Army Band played a medley of military marches during the half as they remained stationary.  John Massimilla, our Penn State connection, joined us at halftime during his first visit to West Point.  John was visiting with a friend whose son is a 22-year old plebe at West Point.  He gave us a disappointing overview of the previous week's PSU loss to Iowa that he attended, and we discussed upcoming plans to meet at the Penn State Homecoming against Minnesota in two weeks.

     The score remained the same entering the fourth period until Carlton converted his second FG, this time from 32 yards away into the first minute of the final period.  On Tulane's next possession, Army forced a fumble recovered by Josh McNary at the Tulane 15-yard line - a perfect spot to now look for what we waited for all day.  Many among our group wondered like we did at the Duke game why Army never looked to pass to 6'10"  WR Ali Villanueva, especially once in the red zone.  Army seems to have a unique offensive weapon they never consider to use.  It makes no sense now to have moved the guy to that position from tackle if they're not going to take advantage.  We thought Coach Ellerson learned a lesson late in the Duke game when they finally threw to him three times on the final drive and finished with a TD catch in the end zone.  Army did not look his way once all day.  We fans don't get it.  Steelman recovered his own fumble, and Army moved backwards ten yards before repositioning itself at the 19.  Carlton was called in to extend the lead, but just barely, as his kick went off the right upright before bouncing through for three -  a sign of things to come.  The Cadets had a 16-7 lead with 11:44 left in the game.  Seven plays and 61 yards later, Tulane's Andre Anderson took it over from the one 2:34 later to put the Green Wave within two, 16-14.  Army showed once again on its next series that they either lack imagination or have no confidence in any type of passing game as they crossed into Tulane territory. On a third and twelve and on a subsequent fourth and nine, they stuck with the option game and turned the ball over on downs to Tulane at their 37.  Andre Anderson ( 17 carries for 70 yards, 1 TD ) made the big play for the Wave on its next series running 42 yards to the Cadet four before he was run out of bounds.  I'm not sure if it was intentional or not, but it almost seemed as if Anderson got out of bounds to intentionally not score to give Tulane the opportunity to take time off the clock as about three and a half minutes remained.  Army was forced to use two of its remaining three remaining time-outs before Ross Thevenot booted through his FG from 23 with 2:20 left for a 17-16 Tulane lead, its first of the day.  Army seemed to have a quick answer for how it would use its remaining timeout when  Damion Hunter returned the ensuing kickoff 46 yards to the Tulane 41.  The Cadets and their fans roared as they sensed that Army was going to find a way to win this one against a team they've had its best success against over its past 12 losing seasons having taken six of twelve during that time.  Army felt even better when Steelman hit Hunter along the sideline and stopped the clock out of bounds for a seven-yard gain.  They connected again for eight and a first down.  Kingsley Ehie rushed for six more to the 20. The Cadets lost two, but Steelman regained them as he tried to center the ball between the hash marks, but finished a little more off to the right than we think he wanted to.  The Cadets called their final time-out.  Tulane HC Bob Toledo called for another to "ice" Carlton.  That and the slight spot  to the right must have worked to Tulane's advantage as Carlton's 37-yard attempt went wide right - much to the chagrin of the Army homecoming crowd. Tulane took a knee on the game's final play.  Army players, Cadets, Alum and fans sang the alma mater, but it was a bitter defeat in  a game they could have won.  They may not have many more opportunities before this season is over.

Extra points - This was the second time we saw Bob Toledo coach a team.  Last time we saw him coach, Rod Foster had a big day for him as the UCLA Bruins defeated the Washington Huskies back in 2001, 35-13, at the Rose Bowl. 

Jeremy Williams had six catches for 108 yards and a TD for Tulane.  He's supposedly a good pro prospect.

Navy is in the driver's seat for their seventh straight Commander-in-Chief's Trophy as they defeated Air Force in OT Saturday, 16-13, in Annapolis.  They are two of Army's remaining seven opponents along with Vanderbilt and Rutgers among others.  This loss puts the odds against Army to win six games this year which is what they need for the Eagle Bank Bowl bid they've been offered.  It looks like we'll be seeing the ACC play an opponent from Conference-USA instead.

This is our second Army-Tulane game.  The first was in 1996, Army's last winning season.  They thumped Tulane 34-10 that day during a nor'easter.  They beat Navy, lost only to Syracuse in the regular season, and fell to Auburn in the Independence Bowl, 32-29,to finish their season 10-2 and ranked No. 25.  This was only our second time ever attending a Tulane game.  With another loss, Army ties Navy for the most losses in our record book with 27 for each.  Navy has 14 wins to Army's 13.

Friends reminded me of the words of Navy's version of "On Brave Old Army Team";

"We don't play Notre Dame.

We don't play Tul-ane.

We just play Holy Cross

'Cause that's the fearless Army way!"

Some of Lenape Valley HS freshman players joined us for this year's Big Tailgate.