Never afraid to express his feelings, coach Jon Sumrall said he was not happy with the referees after Tulane’s 34-27 loss to 17th-ranked Kansas State on Saturday at Yulman Stadium.
A potential tying touchdown pass was nullified by an offensive pass interference penalty on wideout Dontae Fleming with 17 seconds left. He drew the flag for blocking in the end zone as teammate Yulkeith Brown caught the ball in the corner of the end zone. Quarterback Darian Mensah threw an interception two plays later.
“I didn’t get very many good explanations in the second half with the officiating,” Sumrall said. “It left a lot to be desired. That’s probably about all I want to say. Big 12 crew, in case you were wondering.”
As is customary with nonconference games, the officials were from the road team’s league. Tulane was penalized nine times for 80 yards to Kansas State’s seven for 55.
Mensah was more circumspect about the final flag.
“There’s not much I can do,” he said. “If they call it, they call it.”
Bauman big
The second two-touchdown game of junior tight end Alex Bauman’s career did not propel Tulane to a win, but the Green Wave’s 2023 Cotton Bowl savior has emerged as a playmaker for new offensive coordinator Joe Craddock.
His 36-yard touchdown reception in the second quarter — with the help of a long seal block by Fleming — was the second-longest gain of his career. His 13-yard score in the fourth gave the Wave a 27-20 lead.
“It feels great whenever you can help the team in any possible way,” he said. “It doesn’t really matter at the end of the day since my touchdown didn’t help us win the game, but it put us in a position to win. The outcome’s obviously not what we want, so it doesn’t matter anymore.”
Bauman’s three scores through two games are a team high.
Kind words
K-State coaach Chris Klieman had praise for Tulane after the Wildcats’ win. The Wave outgained the Wildcats 491-396, limiting them to 2 of 10 on third-down conversions.
“We beat a good Tulane team — dang-good Tulane team on the road,” Klieman said. “In the first half they had us on our heels. We couldn't get off the field on defense. So, happy to escape with the win.”
Klieman said Avery Johnson’s tying 45-yard touchdown pass to running back DJ Giddens on fourth down in the fourth quarter came on a broken play. After scrambling to his right, Johnson hit Giddens streaking down the sideline behind the Wave secondary.
“It was supposed to be a bubble to (Giddens),” Klieman said. “And that's the experience of DJ and the patience of Avery, of letting them say, OK, it's not there. (Giddens) just continued on and extended the play, and Avery did a great job extending the play, too. That's fun to see for me because the play broke down and both of those two kids responded.”
Lagniappe
Tulane receiver Mario Williams’ six catches for 128 yards tied his career high for receptions and were the second-highest yardage total of his career. He had 145 yards against Utah in 2022 while playing for USC. … Five of Ethan Head’s six kickoffs went for touchbacks, including one that went out of the end zone on the fly. …. Tulane fell to 0-5 at Yulman Stadium against teams from power conferences.