BY TIM SCANDURRO
“Deflating…not good…their back did a hell of a job or we did a really poor job. He ran through a lot of arm tackles. We had a good plan and we had guys right there, and he just runs right through us. We had a dang second and ten and they hand him the ball in the A gap, and he just keeps pushing for eight yards and now it’s third and two.”—ULL Coach Michael Desormeaux, on Makhi Hughes.
“He would have gone for more if he wasn’t a little under the weather today. He wasn’t feeling his best, but he’s a grown man and plays like it.” –Jon Sumrall on Hughes.
“I want to give special thanks to the trainers for taking care of my body. It was a fever. I just felt weak.” –Makhi Hughes.
August and September football present certain meteorological challenges in South Louisiana. There’s a hurricane that, at this writing, is expected to be steaming through the Gulf this week en route to the northern coast of Florida. A different hurricane already disrupted Tulane’s pregame plans before the Oklahoma game in mid-September. And as we all know, other hurricanes have impacted many football games over the course of our history. Heck, forget about individual games; in this century storms have wrecked two promising seasons in 2005 and 2021. You plan for them as best you can, but you hope always to avoid them.
Then there’s the unavoidable and constant companion, the unwanted houseguest that descends every summer and long overstays its welcome, the one that doesn’t care whether it’s an El Nino or La Nina year. Anyone who grew up down here who has donned full pads and a helmet in summer camp or during the first month of the season knows this companion all too well, and dreads it more than the mightiest opponent across the line of scrimmage.
One late August afternoon before Yulman Stadium was built and the site was a practice field, I remember Tulane football’s early message board pioneer, Wayne Picou, telling me that our equipment manager was dealing with a unique problem: the heat emanating from the artificial surface was melting the players’ cleats. Over time the quality of our practice surfaces has improved greatly, but the quality of our early season climate is, well, as it has ever been.
Hot. Like glasses-fogging, hair-curling, shirt-drenching, energy-sapping, whose-idea-was-it-to-build-a-city-here HOT.
Saturday’s game in Lafayette was a classic early season IV-bag game. The television broadcast documented field surface temperature readings around kickoff at 138 degrees. Dozens of spectators and stadium officials alike were reportedly passing out and needing medical attention.
In this cauldron of an environment, on our first offensive play, Makhi Hughes took a handoff, got to the second level of the defense, and barrelled over a ULL defensive back. “Ran right through him,” as their coach said. That set the tone for a personal record-tying 166 yard day in which Hughes ran around and often through defenders all day.
Michael Jordan once famously led his team to a series clinching win while playing with a fever. But he did that in air-conditioned comfort, inside, while wearing shorts. Hughes did his work on a 138 degree field, in full pads, with people dropping like flies in the stands, when everyone on the other team knew he was getting the ball and were loaded up to stop him. You could tell his offensive line knew exactly what he was laying on the line for the team. They responded by mauling the ULL front all afternoon in the run game, whether Hughes was in there or not.
My wife and I sat next to Makhi Hughes at the second annual preseason Fear the Wave fundraiser hosted generously by Rizzuto’s Restaurant back in July. He’s a quiet, sincere, humble young man who was obviously raised right, a player who puts his head down, works extremely hard, is team-first, and leads by example. All of that was on display Saturday when we needed it most.
His signed jersey was auctioned off that night, along with those of other teammates. When the price got up north of $400, he was genuinely impressed and maybe even shocked that someone would pay that much for one of his jerseys.
I dropped out of the bidding somewhere along the way. It was understandable given the price tag, the same way it would have been understandable if Makhi had rested and recovered Saturday, instead of giving everything he had. But we don’t win that game without him.
I hope whoever bought that jersey is wearing it with pride this week. After watching what he did Saturday, I wish it had been me.
What an effort.
Beautiful essay.