For over fifty minutes Mississippi State contained the Green Wave.
Then, J.P. Losman led a tidal wave of scoring and the Green Wave offense rolled over the youthful Mississippi State defense for 17 points in the last eight minutes to capture their first win over the Bulldogs since 1988.
Losman made key completions on the last three drives to stun the Dawgs’ secondary.
“It just all fell apart,” said an emotionally drained defensive lineman Tommy Kelly. “You can’t just give folks courtesy yards.”
It all began with a momentum-swinging 89-yard drive by Tulane that ended in a one-yard touchdown pass from Losman to Jerome Landry. The touchdown drive lit a fire under the Tulane faithfull and consumed the last amount of energy the Bulldog defense had.
The MSU offense bettered Tulane by 10 yards with a total of 471 to 461 yards, but in the first quarter State could not get into the end zone. The Bulldogs had to suffice with two Brent Smith field goals after long drives deep into the red zone.
Quarterback Kevin Fant threw for 246 yards and two touchdowns and Nick Turner and Jerious Norwood combined for more than 220 rushing yards.
“A loss is a loss, regardless of how you lose. Everybody loses,” Turner said. “In order to have a good season you have to lose.”
After Tulane made the score 28-21, the Bulldogs began a drive with under five minutes remaining.
Fant fumbled the snap on first down but luckily fell on it. Then, Bulldogs offensive coordinator Morris Watts called two long passes on downs two and three. Both fell incomplete, stopped the clock and forced the Dawgs to punt to a surging Green Wave offense.
After Jared Cook’s 37-yard punt and a nine-yard return the Green Wave started the game- tying drive at the MSU 41 yard line.
J.P. Losman went 4 for 4 on the drive for 41 yards, including a 13-yard touchdown strike to Chris Bush.
Losman threw for 349 yards and completed 29 of 41 passes.
On the ensuing kick-off Pepper’s kick sailed out of bounds to give the Bulldogs great field position on their own 35 yard line, about 30 yards from legitimate field goal range and the win.
But, the exact opposite happened. Tulane’s Tra Bolger recovered a Justin Jenkins fumble. Controversy about whether Jenkins had established possession surrounded the call.
Within a minute Losman put Pepper in position for one of the biggest kicks of his life. He nailed it through the goal posts to give Tulane their first win over a Southeastern Conference opponent in 24 tries.
Jenkins had had one of the best games in his career. He racked in 164 yards on nine catches, including a 70-yard touchdown pass from Fant.
After the game Jenkins said he never had possession of the pass that was ruled a fumble, and added that the team is seeking redemption against Houston Saturday.
“Everybody is looking forward to the next game. We need a win,” Jenkins said. “We have the confidence to do it, we are just snake-bitten right now, but we will bounce back next week against Houston.”
The Bulldogs have not won since their Oct. 19, 2002, victory at the Liberty Bowl Stadium versus Memphis.