Last year, Tulane felt robbed by a goal-line call in a loss to SMU on the Hilltop. One year later, they have to feel like this loss falls squarely on them because the Mustangs overcame everything – including themselves – to emerge victorious and get halfway to bowl eligibility with five games remaining.

Resilience

With 3:47 left in the first quarter, a snap flew over Ben Hicks' head and went out the back of the endzone amidst a scramble for it. The Mustangs trailed 2-0. A lightning delay shortly followed. A little over four hours later, Hicks hit James Proche deep across the middle of the field for a 67-yard go-ahead touchdown. It was SMU's first lead of the game, and it came with just 1:15 remaining in the fourth quarter. Both teams went nearly punch for punch through the game, but Tulane managed to stay one step ahead behind the play of quarterback Jonathan Banks. Early in the third quarter, Tulane returned a Hicks interception for a touchdown. Well into the third quarter, SMU still had negative rushing yards in the game. It just never felt or looked like a game SMU would win. Credit to the Mustangs for hanging in there and finding a way.