STWF Sports| NEW ORLEANS| September 26, 2026 — Tulane needed a late spark Saturday night, and Maurice Turner delivered it in a big way.
Tulane’s Thrilling Performance
The Green Wave rallied with 10 fourth-quarter points and then survived a dramatic final push from Southern Miss, earning a 24-21 victory at Yulman Stadium to reclaim the Battle for the Bell trophy and improve to 2-2 on the season.
Turner was the centerpiece of the comeback, rushing for 202 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries, including the game-winning 74-yard touchdown run with 5:26 remaining. His explosive night gave Tulane control when the game was hanging in the balance.
Tulane struck first for the second consecutive week. Quarterback Kadin Semonza connected with Anthony Brown-Stephens on a 47-yard touchdown pass midway through the first quarter, capping a six-play, 70-yard drive and giving the Green Wave a 7-0 advantage.
Southern Miss answered in the second quarter behind quarterback Landry Lyddy, tying the game on a 32-yard touchdown pass to Davis Dalton. Turner restored Tulane’s lead shortly afterward with a 43-yard touchdown run, but the Golden Eagles responded again when Mario Sanders hauled in a 14-yard scoring pass to make it 14-14.
Southern Miss then took its first lead of the night in the third quarter on another touchdown reception by Sanders, moving ahead 21-14.
That set the stage for Tulane’s fourth-quarter response.
Cooper Helmke connected on a 26-yard field goal with 8:35 remaining to cut the deficit to 21-17. Less than four minutes later, Turner broke through the Southern Miss defense and raced 74 yards for the go-ahead score.
The Green Wave still had one more critical moment to survive.
Southern Miss drove into field-goal range late, but Josh Lewis blocked the potential game-tying attempt with 1:45 remaining, preserving the three-point lead and sealing the victory.
Tulane finished with 445 total yards, including 281 on the ground, while Southern Miss totaled 401. The Green Wave defense recorded seven tackles for loss and four sacks, helping limit the Golden Eagles in key situations.
Semonza completed 12 of 24 passes for 129 yards and a touchdown, while Brown-Stephens led the receiving corps with five catches for 85 yards and a score. True freshman Trace Johnson saw his first game action, completing two of five passes for 35 yards.
Defensively, Kevin Adams III led Tulane with nine tackles. Jack Tchienchou added seven, while Geordan Guidry, Makai Williams, and Ed Smith IV all contributed sacks.
The win carried several notable milestones for Turner. He became just the second player to rush for 200 or more yards in a game at Yulman Stadium and the first Tulane player in more than 20 years to record three runs of at least 40 yards in the same game.
Tulane also improved to 11-24 all-time against Southern Miss and has now won four of the last five meetings in the rivalry.
The victory extended the Green Wave’s home winning streak to nine games and marked Tulane’s ninth consecutive win in a one-score game, the longest active streak in the nation.
For a team looking to steady itself after an uneven start, Saturday’s finish was exactly the kind of response Tulane needed.
A rivalry trophy. A 200-yard rushing performance. A blocked field goal.
And one dramatic win at Yulman Stadium.
