Justin McMillan Leads Tulane Past Southern Miss 30-13 in Armed Forces Bowl

For the first time in school history, the Tulane Green Wave have won postseason games in consecutive years thanks to their 30-13 victory over the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles in the 2020 Armed Forces Bowl. 

Willie Fritz has steadily built Tulane's football team into a solid unit. He led the program to its first bowl appearance since 2013 and first bowl win since 2002 last year in the Cure Bowl. 

Tulane headed into this matchup seemingly without momentum, coming off three straight losses to end the regular season.

It looked like that was going to continue early when Southern Mississippi jumped out to a 13-0 lead. Quarterback Justin McMillan, in the final game of his college career, led the Green Wave back with 30 unanswered points, including 24 in the second half.

Notable Performances

• Justin McMillan, QB (Tulane): 13-of-18, 215 yards, 3 TD; 17 carries, 41 yards
• Jalen McCleskey, WR (Tulane): 2 receptions, 87 yards, 1 TD
• Amare Jones, WR (Tulane): 5 receptions, 57 yards, 1 TD
• Jack Abraham, QB (Southern Mississippi): 17-of-23, 167 yards, 1 TD
• Tate Whatley, QB (Southern Mississippi): 9-of-22, 134 yards, 2 INT
• Trivenskey Mosley, RB (Southern Mississippi): 7 carries, 43 yards; 3 receptions, 17 yards
• Quez Watkins, WR (Southern Mississippi): 9 receptions, 154 yards, 1 TD

Tulane Dominates Southern Miss After Slow Start

Things looked bleak for Tulane out of the gate, as the defense allowed 158 yards and two touchdowns on Southern Mississippi's first two possessions. 

The pass defense, in particular, was getting torched by Golden Eagles quarterback Jack Abraham. The junior went 11-of-14 for 142 yards and one touchdown to help his team jump out to a 13-0 lead.

Fritz and defensive coordinator Jack Curtis adjusted to what they were seeing, and the players tightened things up to give their offense a chance to settle in. 

After those two scoring drives, Southern Mississippi was held scoreless with just 201 yards, three turnover on downs and threw two interceptions on 12 possessions. 

It took the Green Wave offense three drives to sustain any momentum. Their first two possessions were three-and-outs in which they had minus-five net yards between a holding penalty and McMillan taking a sack.

Tulane only had two field goals in the first half and was facing a 13-6 deficit going into the third quarter. It scored on each of its first four possessions in the third quarter, including three touchdowns, to blow the game wide-open.

McMillan and Jalen McCleskey hooked up for the first score on a 52-yard touchdown to tie the game. After the defense forced a three-and-out, the Green Wave took their first lead on Merek Glover's field goal. 

The last shift in momentum came on Southern Mississippi's next possession. Sophomore Tate Whatley took over for Abraham, who suffered a shoulder injury in the first half, and his third pass was picked off by Larry Brooks, who returned it to the Golden Eagles' 5-yard line.

McMillan tossed his second score of the game to Jacob Robertson Jr. to put Tulane up 23-13. 

Southern Mississippi's attempt to respond did produce its best drive since the first quarter. Whatley took the offense 41 yards in seven plays, but things stalled when he threw three straight incompletions for a turnover on downs at Tulane's 34. 

On the ensuing possession for Tulane, McMillan hit McCleskey for 35 yards on the first play. Cameron Carroll picked up 11 yards on two runs to set up Amare Jones' 20-yard touchdown catch. 

In addition to Tulane's pass defense figuring things out, the run defense was stout all day. Southern Mississippi entered the bowl game averaging 122.4 yards per game on the ground, but it managed 58 yards with 2.5 yards per attempt Saturday.