Pads on in Uptown, Tulane QB Competition Heating Up

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The third day of Fall practice for the Tulane football team saw the Green Wave strapping on the pads for the first time. There was a spirit of excitement in the air, as players and coaches were jumping around in the elation of the day.

"Lot of fun, real football," Tulane head coach Will Hall related to the media afterwards. "Can't wait to watch the tape for the good and the bad. Saw a lot of flying around."

Quarterback Competition Continues

Though we'll give our perspective in a bit, Hall volunteered he thought his QBs were progressing.

"I thought our quarterbacks were really sharp," Hall bragged. "I thought they took a big step forward in third down situations. Our defense presents a lot of problems, which is always good. I thought their (the quarterbacks) accuracy was good. The top four all had some really good moments."

"I wanted to see the quarterbacks' eyes to be correct," Hall explained. "When you put pads on, sometimes, a real quarterback will keep his eyes up and do what he's supposed to do. A guy who thinks he's a quarterback but ain't will look down at the rush. Our quarterback's eyes were right today. Before looking at the tape, I can tell you that I'm pleased with that."

No practice, or game for that matter, will be perfect, and the Wave first year coach knows that.

"There are going to be a lot of things we're going to have to fix," Hall said ticking off his concerns. "We got out of our gap a few times. We let a few runs pop, defensively. Offensively, we had a few protection busts (because) of some of the great looks our defense is giving us, but we'll (look at that) on tape, and we'll continue to progress."

Observations From First Day of Pads

Friday's practice opened warm, very humid, and not a breeze to be had. No clouds meant no protection from the blazing New Orleans Summer sun, but since the sessions start at 7:45 a.m., old Sol doesn't really take over the field until around 8:30.

Things opened with special teams work. Kickers Jackson Courville and Zach Marini handled all the work. Cooper Helmke was not at practice today as he continues to work on his back issues.

Tight end Ty Thompson came to the trainer's table with a slight limp. Hall said it's nothing.

"No, we're just monitoring him," Hall told the media afterwards. "He's an old guy that's been through a lot of injuries. We want to get him to game one (versus Duke on September 5th). We know he can play, We held him out yesterday, practiced on day one. We want to make sure has his juiciness ready for week one."

During Drills...

- Quarterback Zeon Chriss-Gremillion hit a beautiful deep out Brendell Richardson. Zeon had some zip on the ball today.
- Receiver Garrett Mmahat looked smooth running routes, showing no residuals from his Spring injury.
- We were impressed by route running and hands by a trio of freshmen receivers: Antwaun Parham, Seth Gale, and Cash Semonza (yes, the younger brother of quarterback Kadin).
- Here was the offensive line when Semonza and Zeon were in: Dominic Steward, Elijah Baker, John Bock II, Reese Baker, and Ryan Mickow.
- This was the O-line when Dagan Bruno was the signal caller: Aiden Martin, Andre Amos Jr., Colin O'Carroll, Tylan George, Darion Reed

11-on-11 Gets Lively Early

It didn't take long for some impressive hits.

- Just a few plays into the 11-on-11 drills, linebacker Chris Rodgers waylaid a tight end (sorry, didn't get the number) coming off the line after he made a catch. The pop could be heard throughout empty Yulman Stadium, followed by "oohs" and "ahhs" from both sidelines.
- Not much from transfer running back Johnnie Daniels in Spring drills. Not true anymore. Both Thursday, with no pads, and today with full pads, the redshirt senior from Mississippi broke off long runs of about 25-yards for touchdowns.
- The team is concentrating heavily on the run early on in practices. Though there are some throws by the offense to keep the defense honest, it's a steady diet of running the ball.
- Toward the end of the 11-on-11s, freshman quarterback Trace Johnson and defensive lineman Derrick Shepard Jr had a few words when the senior from the defensive side held onto Johnson's jersey just a little longer than one of Johnson's offensive lineman thought he should. Johnson jumped in and went fact to chest pads with the taller Shepard. Things settled quickly.

The Quarterback Situation

It's waaaaaaay to early to tell who has the lead, especially since today was the first with pads. Hall has said he will not name a starter until two weeks before the opening game. If he holds to that, it would be August 22nd. However, this is what we noticed.

- Kaden Semonza is getting into a flow. He is looking through his progressions better and better everyday. His passes are sharp and his touch on the short slants toward the sidelines is absolutely on target.
- Zeon Chriss-Gremillion is sometimes brilliant with his throws, such as a deep out we mentioned earlier to Brendell Richardson. Other times, he just misses his targets. He is an incredible athlete, but has yet to put things all together.
- Trace Johnson had his best day of the Fall. We remember once when the true freshman went through four progressions before going back to his first to complete a pass. He is super football smart.
- Dagon Bruno was our poster child of the Spring, really coming into his own and progressing leaps and bounds. This Fall, the redshirt sophomore from John Curtis just hasn't hit his stride yet. We feel it's just a matter of time.

Emptying the Notebook

- Unlike the Spring, the main scoreboard has not been on for any of the Fall practice sessions. Only the auxiliary board has been used. No word as to whether there is a problem with the main board or not.
- Hall said he will have what is called a "soft scrimmage" on Saturday, August 15. Don't expect a lot of heavy game-type action, but there will be live hitting, tackling, and more. No practices are open to the public for the Fall.
- The first punt in live practice in pads off the leg of freshman punter Brooks Moore was an absolute rocket, covering well over 60-yards. His next one was more, uh, human.

Another day of pads on Saturday morning in Yulman before taking a day of rest on Sunday.

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