CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Tulane was down 10 points with under 11 minutes to play on Friday night in Charlotte and still found a way to leave with a 38-31 overtime win over the 49ers.
Charlotte went up 31-21 when Derrick Eley ran in from a yard out with 10:52 left, and the 49ers never scored again. Cooper Helmke hit a 27-yard field goal to make it a one-score game. The Green Wave defense then stuffed a Charlotte fake punt late in the quarter, and the offense took over at its own 39. Trace Johnson capped that drive by finding Cameron Roberts for an 11-yard scoring pass with 10 seconds on the clock.
Overtime was a goal-line fight. Charlotte held on Tulane’s first three tries, and the Wave finally got in on fourth down when Dagan Bruno pushed in on a 1-yard sneak. The 49ers then had first-and-goal at the 4, but two runs gained a single yard and two passes fell incomplete.
Tulane had opened with a 15-play, 92-yard drive that ended in a 2-yard Johnnie Daniels run, its first opening-drive score of the year. TJ Smith later went 95 yards on a kickoff return. Charlotte owned the second quarter, though, outscoring Tulane 24-7 behind two Conner Harrell scoring throws, and led 24-14 at the half.
The game was even on paper, with Tulane gaining 467 yards to 455 for Charlotte, but Tulane lost two turnovers. It was the Wave’s first overtime game since 2022, and it followed a 42-19 defeat at home against UTSA six days earlier.
Tulane is back at Yulman Stadium for Homecoming against Tulsa on Saturday, Nov. 7, at 11 a.m. Central.
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