Scrimmage No. 1 Report, August 15

BY TIM SCANDURRO

AUGUST 15 PRACTICE REPORT

MOVE-IN DAY.  Ben Weiner Drive and the rest of campus were full of incoming freshmen, their parents, and suitcases this morning.  If you’ve ever moved a freshman into a dorm, you know the look these parents have.  It’s always a mixture of excitement and anxiety about what the future holds for their children.  The excitement about the coming year and all the great adventures that await tend to get voiced, but the nagging doubts don’t. Will they fit in?  Will they be happy?  Will it work out here? There are few things in life that pack the emotional rollercoaster of a wallop that this day is for a parent.  I suspect that for those reading this site though, the annual mid-August anticipation of Tulane’s football season bears a strong resemblance.  We can all relate.  I didn’t bring a suitcase to practice this morning, but that doesn’t mean I don’t have a lot to unpack.  So let’s go.

JUST FOR KICKS.  During the scrimmage portion of today’s work, I saw three field goals attempted against a live rush.  The first was by Cooper Helmke, who hooked his 45 yard attempt wide left.  The other two were both attempted by Jackson Courville, from 34 and 37 yards out, and both split the uprights.

GOOD ON GOOD.  One of the best parts of practice was watching the pre-scrimmage, one-on-one work of our top wide receivers against our top defensive backs.  Sometimes the defenders press, and sometimes they’re off, but it’s always great competition.  One thing that stood out here was the foot quickness of Anthony Brown-Stephens and Zycarl “CJ” Lewis off the line of scrimmage and at the top of their routes.  These guys are very tough covers.

TWO PREDICTIONS.  The other player who stood out in this drill was Nicholls State transfer corner Anthony Rogers.  He’s undersized but intensely competitive on every rep, and he’s as good at mirroring the receiver’s route and competing for the ball as anyone we have.  It’s a natural fan reaction to feel deflated when we take a guy from an FCS school rather than an SEC school from the transfer portal, but football players are football players, and this guy is one.  My two predictions are that he will be in the starting lineup in Durham on September 6, and that Tulane fans are going to fall in love with his feistiness and his competitive heart.  Write the starting prediction in pencil, because the coaches love E'zaiah Shine and Macho Stevenson has a world of ability, and both these guys can run and are bigger than Rogers.  But right now I don’t see how you can’t play him.

ROOKIE REPORT.  Freshman defensive end Jordyn Crites, who was one of our highest rated signees, had a very good practice.  He’s listed on the roster at 6’7, 274 pounds, and he looks all of it.  I can’t remember the last time we had a defensive end who had the NFL body look that this young man has.  He has long arms, he’s hard to throw over, and he can press the pocket.  Today he made a couple of very nice stops in run support, had a ‘sack’ and looked like a guy who can help right now.  For those who may not know, Jordyn is the son of our own Kelly Comarda.  We’re lucky to have both.

COUGAR SIGHTING.  Bryce Brown, the head coach of the Edna Karr Cougars, attended practice today.  For those who may not know, Karr has been probably the most talented team in the state the past several years and has sent a number of players to the college ranks.  Coach Brown was there to see several of his former players who are now wearing the olive and blue.

NOW YOU SEE HIM…NOW YOU DON’T.  One of those former Karr Cougars, Jaylin Lucas, took a handoff today and came face to face with a defensive end who had him dead to rights.  In the flash of an eye, Lucas made a 360 degree spin move that left the defender grasping at nothing.  I did not get the latter’s jersey number, and he’s probably grateful I didn’t.  But again, what do you do?  “J-Lu,” as his former coach calls him, has left a lot of defenders staring at the bottom of his cleats for years.

“DOG DAYS OF CAMP”.  This was Coach Brown’s comment as we left the stadium in 97 degree heat.  Another of his former players, Destyn “Fat” Hill, lived that experience today.  Hill has been outstanding since camp started, but today he dropped a short hitch that hit him right in the hands, and in skeleton drills he had a high pass over the middle from Kadin Semonza glance off his hands.  Maybe not an easy catch for most receivers, but for a player of his ability you count it as a drop.  The good thing is he bounced back and made some plays.  One nice one in particular came when he ran a square out to the left sideline.  Semonza got flushed to his left, and Hill turned up the sideline on an improvised out-and-up and beat TJ Smith for about a 30 yard gain. 

MAKING PLAYS.  I wish I could tell you one of the quarterbacks separated today, but I can’t.  That said they all made some plays.  Zeon Chriss-Gremillion scored from about ten yards out to end the scrimmage, and the red jersey had nothing to do with it.  If you get him on the edge of the defense, look out.  He also made a nice red zone throw to ABS over the middle which he threw low, out of harm’s way and where only his guy could get it.  Semonza had the nice read on the pass to Hill I mentioned, and also had a nice 19 yard completion to Dawson Johnson to keep a drive moving.  At one point he took off against a man coverage look that left the middle of the field open, and ran for about 20 yards; he’s not a stiff athletically.  Trace Johnson found Cam Roberts open up the sideline for about 30 yards on his first drive, and continues to showcase a command of the offense that belies the fact that he was in high school not many months ago.  But he’s still learning.  He made a “hospital ball”  throw over the middle to Kellen Tasby that ran him right into freshman linebacker Dylan Brasher, and Tasby took the worst of it. 

THE “D” WORD.  We’ve talked a lot about the depth of this football team, and typically the running back group and the safeties get mentioned.  But I’m going to put in a word here for the linebackers.  You know about the two starters, but our reserve backers Makai Williams, Dalton Hughes and Jean Claude Joseph, III all played well today.  Williams is a tackling machine, a hard nosed, instinctive player who is always around the ball and rarely misses a tackle.  Hughes was active today and can run.  It’s a quality group.

TRENCH WARFARE.  I thought our d-line made the going on the ground really rough today, and also generated some pressures.  The O-line today featured Dom Steward at left tackle and Gresham Perry at guard in place of Elijah Baker.  Reese Baker and Ryan Mickow lined up on the right side, with veteran John Bock (who looks strong) in the middle. 

CLOSING THOUGHTS.  Despite the tough sledding on the ground today, I’m pretty confident based on personnel and past history that we’re going to be able to run the football.  Our schemes there are creative and we have talented runners.  And our defense has the makings of another solid unit that should be near the top of the conference.  The passing game remains a question mark for me; I’m convinced we are better and deeper than last year at receiver, but the quarterback play will determine everything as it usually does.  You know gang, we’ve been spoiled at the position.  The last four years’ success featured a veteran leader and playmaker in Michael Pratt, a freshman phenom in Darian Mensah who is one of the highest paid quarterbacks in college football now, and Jake Retzlaff, he of the elite arm talent and swashbuckling playmaking skills.   We’re going to be pretty good, even very good, as a football team from an overall talent and depth standpoint.  We can win this conference again because we have more than enough good players to do that.  But quarterback is the most important position in all of sports when it comes to winning games, and as of right now the jury is out.  Remember this though:  the jury was also out last year at this time, and it was out two years ago at this time.  So this is nothing new for Green Wave fans.  I am especially comforted by our experience in 2024, when at this same stage of camp there was widespread despair about the quarterback position.  You know the rest, and we hope history repeats—that someone emerges and with the confidence borne of being tabbed “the guy” and of getting more reps, gives us high level play. 

But until we see it, we’re a lot like those parents dropping their kids off at Tulane this morning.  Full of hope, full of excitement, yes.  But once they’re dropped off and you’re where they can’t see you anymore, it’s OK to close your eyes and pray it works out for the best….and for our football team, these past few years, it usually has.  So I’m lighting a candle Sunday, with hope in my heart.

Semper fi.