BATON ROUGE - The nation's top-ranked I-A defense got a scare from one of I-AA's top offensive units.

But in the end, it was special teams that provided the winning margin.

Tulane scored 14 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to spoil Southeastern Louisiana's upset bid with a 28-21 victory Saturday afternoon at Tiger Stadium.

Southeastern (1-2) lost its second straight decision despite a valiant effort against the heavily-favored Green Wave. Tulane (2-1) improved to 2-0 in "home" games this season, as Hurricane Katrina forced the Green Wave leave its New Orleans' campus and host games in Shreveport and Baton Rouge.

"I couldn't have asked for anything better from my players," head coach Dennis Roland said. "We had two great weeks of practice. I just told them that a loss is a loss and that we don't ever accept a loss as a victory.

"I think our plan going in was to try and confuse Ricard, mix up our coverages, mix up stunts and put pressure on him. I thought that the first (Tulane) drive was almost perfect and then after that our plan started working."

In a battle of former Tangipahoa Parish high school stars, Tulane quarterback Lester Ricard out-dueled Southeastern signal caller Trey Willie. Ricard, a native of Amite, finished the day 24-for-50 324 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Willie, a Loranger High product, completed 38 of 54 pass attempts for 268 yards, throwing for three scores. Willie was picked off once and lost a fumble.

Josh Taylor and Blake Alfortish had eight receptions to lead Southeastern while Felton Huggins finished with seven catches and a pair of touchdowns. Already the Lions' career leader in touchdown receptions, Huggins broke the school's record for career yardage previously held by Duane Floyd. The senior from Zachary now has 1,995 receiving yards on 132 receptions in his two-plus seasons with Southeastern.

Both defenses were successful, as Southeastern held the Green Wave to 28 yards rushing for the game. Tulane sacked Willie four times and forced two Lion turnovers. Tulane's Billy Harrison finished the contest with a game-high three sacks.

Trailing 14-7 in the fourth, Southeastern tied the game on a 1-yard pass from Willie to Alfortish and after a Tulane penalty on the extra point, kicked off from midfield. Tulane's Isreal Route took Jim Hall's kickoff at the 3 and shook off a pair of tacklers and raced 97-yards for a touchdown to put the Green Wave up, 20-14 with 12:59 remaining.

After a sack by Derrick Mincey forced Tulane to punt from its own two, Jamaal Jackson returned the punt to the Tulane 34. The Green Wave defense held strong, however, as Jeffrey Howard was stopped a yard short of the first down on a fourth-and-6 reception.

Three plays later, Ricard hit Bubba Terranova with a 74-yard touchdown strike to put the Green Wave ahead to stay. A converted two-point attempt put Tulane ahead, 28-14. Terranova finished the game with four catches for 120 yards to lead the Green Wave receivers. A lost Willie fumble at the Southeastern 16 sealed the contest. Willie found Huggins on the game's final play to pull the Lions within one score.

Tulane took a 14-7 lead with 3:57 left in the third period. Southeastern had Tulane in a third-and-16 situation at the Tulane 16, but Ricard hit Brian King with a 48-yard pass to keep the drive alive. Ricard finished the drive with a 19-yard scoring strike to Cary Koch to put the Green Wave back on top.

Southeastern looked to pull closer on the following drive. Willie hit Howard on a crossing route for a 46 yard gain, giving Southeastern a first-and-goal at the Tulane 6. The Green Wave defense stiffened, however, and Jim Hall's 22-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Frank Morton.

The Lions would get the ball back three plays later, as Kevin Jackson intercepted Ricard and gave Southeastern the ball at the Tulane 22. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Willie hit Hutch Gonzales with a 16-yard strike on a third and eight to give the Lions a first and goal at the Tulane four-yard line.

The Lions got on the scoreboard on the opening possession of the third quarter, as Willie was a perfect 8-for-8 on a 13-play, 71-yard drive hitting Felton Huggins on a 10-yard scoring pass to tie the score at 7-7 with 9:07 remaining in the third quarter.

Southeastern's initial first down came with 12:33 left in the second quarter, as Willie scampered for 10 yards on third-and-9. Southeastern squandered its first scoring opportunity late in the second quarter. After David Daniels intercepted a Ricard pass near midfield, the Lions drove down to the Tulane 17 before Willie threw a pass out of the reach of Felton Huggins and into the hands of Tulane cornerback Tra Boger.

Southeastern got the ball back, however, as Romaliz Mayo blocked Chris Beckman's punt to set up a 42-yard field goal attempt by Jim Hall with five seconds left in the half. Hall's attempt sailed wide right to allow Tulane to remain ahead, 7-0, heading into halftime. The punt block was the second of the game by Southeastern and the team's fifth in two games.

Ricard was a perfect 8-for-8 on the game's opening drive, as Jovon Jackson capped a 12-play, 66-yard march with a eight yard run to give the Green Wave a 7-0 lead with 9:41 remaining in the opening quarter.

Southeastern stopped Tulane on the ensuing drive and Derrick Mincey blocked Chris Beckman's punt to give the Lions the ball at the Tulane 43.

Southeastern will return to action on Saturday, Oct. 8, when they host nationally-ranked Texas State at 6 p.m. in the first Southland Conference contest in school history.

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Southeastern La..... 0 0 7 14 - 21 Record: (1-2)
Tulane.............. 7 0 7 14 - 28 Record: (2-1)

Scoring Summary:
1st
TUL - Jackson 6 run (Hartgroves kick) 9:43

3rd Quarter
9:07
SLU - Huggins 10 pass from Willie (J. Hall kick) 9:07
TUL - Koch 19 pass from Ricard (Hartgroves kick) 3:57

4th Quarter
SLU - Alfortish 1 pass from Willie (J. Hall kick)13:17
TUL - Route 97 kickoff return (kick blocked) 12:59
TUL - Terranova 74 pass from Ricard (Hoover pass from Beckman) 3:47
SLU - Huggins 2 pass from Willie (J. Hall kick) 0:00

SLU TULANE
FIRST DOWNS................... 16 15
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 27-41 21-28
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 268 324
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 54-38-1 50-24-2
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 81-309 71-352
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 5-53 4-34
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-61 3-121
Interception Returns-Yards.... 2-9 1-4
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 9-45.0 8-31.5
Fumbles-Lost.................. 3-1 1-0
Penalties-Yards............... 5-24 7-54
Possession Time............... 35:50 24:10

A - 16,826

RUSHING
Southeastern La. - Willie 15-36; Alfortish 7-6; Watson 3-4; Davis 1-minus 2; Team 1-minus 3. Tulane - Forte 13-26; Jackson 6-12; Koch 1-minus 2; Ricard 1-minus 8.

PASSING
Southeastern La. - Willie 38-54-1-268. Tulane - Ricard 24-50-2-324.

RECEIVING
Southeastern La. - Taylor 8-63; Alfortish 8-32; Huggins 7-27; Howard 5-54; Gonzales 4-66; Scates 3-15; Jackson 2-8; Davis 1-3. Tulane - Davis 6-52; Brown 5-58; Terranova 4-120; Forte 3-10; Jackson 2-3; King 1-48; Koch 1-19; Ellis 1-10; Hoover 1-4.