Mini Scrimmage Coverage, Day 11 Tulane Spring Football
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Day 12 of Tulane Spring football practice in Yulman Stadium. A comfortable morning greeted Green Wave football players with temperatures around the 66° mark and plenty of sunshine.
Who We Saw
Among those in attendance, over three dozen possible high School recruits and their families. Most of the parents were sitting in the shady East side of Yulman stadium.
We saw some of the walking wounded who are recovering this spring in preparation for the opening of fall practice: last year's breakout freshman running back Jamauri McClure in attendance today, along with The American Conference championship game MVP, safety Jack Tchienchou, both of whom were in practice shirts to observe today's mini scrimmages. Both are expected to be fully ready by Fall.
Practice started with the offense running schemes in the North end zone and the defense doing the same in the South.
Three mini scrimmages were held throughout the morning as the team worked on various schemes and plays. While the Wave worked on their various plays, officials were on hand to work on their positioning and calls. A full complement of zebras were spotting the ball, calling for downs and distance penalties, and kicks.
Still not dressed out in pads, senior wide out Garrett Mmahat who's nursing a tweaked hamstring.
Three of the six quarterbacks wore the red “don't hit me” jerseys: Kaden Semonza, Zeon Chris-Gremillion, and Cade Scott. Scott is nursing a little bit of a sore shoulder.
No filming was allowed again today except during the stretching, which is boring. So, no action for you to see in the background.
Mini Scrimmage #1
The Wave offense rotated through five of the six quarterbacks. Each offensive possession started between the 25 and 30 yard line. The first six possessions were three and out for Tulane offense. With Semonza starting the 7th possession, running back. Mo Turner broke a draw play for 14 yds picking up the first first down for the day for the offense
In the 8th possession with Trace Johnson under center, running back. DJ Dugar found the first crease in the defensive front, picking up 43 yd on a draw play, bouncing to the outside and being caught from behind at the defense's 25-yard line. After running out of downs, the kicking team came onto the field for its first attempt of the day from 43 yds. Ohio State transfer, Jackson Courville was the first to get a shot and he was true, giving the offense its first points of mini scrimmage number one.
Observations
After a very slow start, the offense seemed to find its rhythm toward the end of the first 35-minute period.
The offense is placing running backs in positions all over the field, including slot, in the backfield, and wide receiver.
Mini Scrimmage #2
Coaches put 1:40 on the clock with the offense starting at its own 30 with Jay Beamon at QB. The D-line showed up again, getting a sack and a loss on a running play. After a timeout by the offense, it faced a 4th and 10 of the 25. Pressure up the middle again by the defense forced a sack.
Zeon gets his turn at the same scenario. Two short completions to LSU transfer Destyn Hill pick up a first down. Then a slant to tight end. Ty Thompson gets the ball to the defense's 34. Clock running this entire time, stopping only for first downs or plays out of bounds. Draw play and a short out pass, stops the clock for 36 seconds to go at the defense's 24 yd line. Another draw to DJ Dugar gets the ball to the 16. An incomplete pass stops the clock for 13 seconds to go. Then, a dart from Zeon to Hill gets the ball to the 4 with 7-seconds to go, 1st and goal. Mo Turner gets the hand off and runs it in over the right side for the touchdown.
Observations
- Jalin Lucas is a dynamic player. He can make large moves in a small area and explode out of nowhere.
- Wide receiver Destyn Hill is not afraid to catch the ball in traffic and showed excellent hands.
- Mo Turner looks like he's back to his old self, making quick slide moves to either side.
- DJ Dugar would just as soon run over you as run around you.
- Johnnie Daniels has excellent hands and superb ball security.
Mini Scrimmage #3
Trace Johnson takes over at QB. He drives the offense down to the 15-yard line where a vicious hit on a tackle sends him to the sideline temporarily. Johnson comes back in though, but comes up short of a 1st down. The offense settles for a 34-yard field goal from Zach Marini.
The next possession belongs to Semonza. This time the ball is placed at the offense's 47-yard line. A crossing route to Zycarl Lewis puts the ball at the defense’s 39. A wide receiver screen to Hill picks up a first down to the defense’s 21. The offense stalled inside the 15 with less than one minute to go in the final period and had to settle for a 35-yard field goal by Courville.
John Curtis grad Dagan Bruno is at QB with no clock on an extended period, starting at the defense's 40. Some short runs and passes get the ball inside the 10. A pass attempt over the middle comes up short, as does an end zone fade, and a wide receiver screen. Marini comes on for a 30-yard field goal which is good.
A second extended scrimmage has Beamon at QB starting at midfield with 4 minutes on the clock. After some runs up the middle by Dugar, the horn blew ending today's scrimmages.
Observations
There is no doubt that the Tulane secondary has taken a step up from last year. The defensive backs play very physical and, except for a few coverage mistakes, they don't allow a lot of space between themselves and receivers.
Interviews
At the end of the scrimmage, we caught up with head coach Will Hall, linebacker Makai Williams, and running back Mo Turner. You can find the interviews by clicking here. We have loads of other materials on our YouTube channel. We'd love you to like and subscribe so we know what is working and what isn't.
On Monday at Noon, the third part of our wide-ranging interview with Tulane Athletics Director David Harris. We'll be talking facilities and their future in Uptown.
Our regular edition of the Green Wave Report returns on Monday at 4:00 p.m.
Doug has covered a gamut of sporting events in his fifty-plus years in the field. He started doing sideline reporting for Louisiana Tech football games for the student radio station. Doug was Sports Director for KNOE-AM/FM in Monroe in the mid-80s, winning numerous awards from the Louisiana Sports Writers Association for Best Sportscast and Best Play-by-Play. High school play-by-play for teams in Monroe, Natchitoches, New Orleans, and Thibodaux, LA dot his resume. He did college play-by-play for Northwestern State University in Natchitoches for nine years. Then, moving to the Crescent City, Doug did television PBP of Tulane games and even filled in for legendary Tulane broadcaster, Ken Berthelot in the only game Kenny ever missed while doing the Green Wave games. His father was an alumnus of Tulane in the 1940s, so Doug has attended Tulane football games in old Tulane Stadium, the Superdome, and Yulman. He was one of the 86,000 plus on December 1, 1973, sitting in the North End Zone to seeTulane shutout the LSU Tigers, 14-0. He was there when the Posse ruled Fogelman and in Turchin when the Wave made it to the World Series. He currently is the public address voice of the Tulane baseball team.