NEW ORLEANS (AP) - Ryan Griffin returned from a shoulder injury to throw for 302 yards and three touchdowns to beat Southern Methodist 27-26 Saturday.
Griffin, who missed the last three games, completed 17 of 32 passes and threw touchdown passes of 31, 79 and 16 yards. His first touchdown gave Tulane a 7-0 lead and his second helped the Green Wave (1-5, 1-1 Conference USA) jump ahead 20-6 at halftime.
SMU's offense picked up after halftime, scoring 20 consecutive points behind two Chase Hover field goals and two Garrett Gilbert touchdowns.
Hover's second field goal, a 19-yarder, gave the Mustangs a 26-20 lead with 1:22 remaining.
Tulane began its next drive on its own 32 but quickly advanced to the SMU (2-4, 1-1) 16 behind two deep passes from Griffin.
Griffin and Kelley then linked up for their second touchdown, a 16-yard strike that put Tulane ahead with 35 seconds left.
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| Scoring Summary |
| TULANE | Rob Kelley 31 yd pass from Ryan Griffin (Cairo Santos kick) |
| SMU | Chase Hover 27 yd FG |
| TULANE | Cairo Santos 44 yd FG |
| SMU | Chase Hover 22 yd FG |
| TULANE | Marc Edwards 79 yd pass from Ryan Griffin (Cairo Santos kick) |
| TULANE | Cairo Santos 35 yd FG |
| SMU | Chase Hover 52 yd FG |
| SMU | Jeremy Johnson 2 yd pass from Garrett Gilbert (Chase Hover kick) |
| SMU | Darius Joseph 7 yd pass from Garrett Gilbert (Chase Hover kick) |
| SMU | Chase Hover 19 yd FG |
| TULANE | Rob Kelley 16 yd pass from Ryan Griffin (Cairo Santos kick) |
| Team Stats | ||
| SMU | TULANE | |
| First Downs | 29 | 13 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 6-16 | 3-11 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 0-2 | 0-0 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 89-471 | 48-342 |
| Rushes-Yds | 38-196 | 16-40 |
| Passing Yds | 275 | 302 |
| Kick Return Yds | 83 | 83 |
| Punt Return Yds | 14 | 30 |
| Passes | 25-51-1 | 17-32-0 |
| Punts | 3-131 | 7-274 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 0-0 | 1-1 |
| Penalties-Yds | 6-34 | 6-67 |
| Time of Poss. | 40:17 | 19:43 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| SMU: Zach Line 28-177, Garrett Gilbert 10-19 |
| TULANE: Orleans Darkwa 5-18, Dante Butler 3-13, Rob Kelley 4-6, Ryan Griffin 3-2, Josh Rounds 1-1 |
| PASSING |
| SMU: Garrett Gilbert 25-51-275-1 |
| TULANE: Ryan Griffin 17-32-302-0 |
| RECEIVING |
| SMU: Jeremy Johnson 11-106, Darius Joseph 5-54, Der'rikk Thompson 3-54, Zach Line 3-27, Gehrig Dieter 2-19, Jeremy Gray 1-15 |
| TULANE: Rob Kelley 4-64, Xavier Rush 3-55, Justyn Shackelford 3-43, Marc Edwards 2-96, Orleans Darkwa 2-1, Ryan Grant 1-28, Sydie London 1-11, Matt Marfisi 1-4 |
| Standings | |||
| Team | Standings | Conference | Overall |
| Southern Methodist | 2nd Conference USA West | 5-3 | 7-6 |
| Tulane | 5th Conference USA West | 2-6 | 2-10 |
