Jack Tchienchou, who played well off the bench againt Oklahoma, made a really nice interception against the scout team today. I thought he outplayed Jalen Geiger in spring drills and was a little surprised Geiger won the starting job in preseason camp, but I believe Tchienchou has a good shot to start this Saturday.
Shaadie Clayton-Johnson has a concussion, but keep that here because Sumrall did not say what his injury was when I asked him today. He is extremely doubtful for Saturday.
They have not ruled out Jacob Barnes for Saturday, but he did not kick today and is bothered by a groin injury. Look for Ethan Head to kick vs. ULL.
It was really hot and humid this morning. One of the freshman offensive linemen was struggling to get off the ground with what looked like full-body cramps at the end of the workout.
Sumrall, UL transfer Dontae Fleming and Carencro native Bailey Despanie talked after practice.
SUMRALL
"Disapointed with the loss last week. We started way too slow to give ourselves an opportunity against an opponent like Oklahoma to win that game. You can't spot at team like that 21 points and expect to win. I was really proud of our guys' mental toughness and resiliency in regards to just fighting back at the end of the game to be down 24-19 in the fourth quarter and have two possessions to give ourselves an opportunity to maybe go ahead there late. It was really hard to even believe to be quite honest. We've got to be a lot better. That's coaches, it's players, it's all of us. I told the team after the game we've got to look in the mirror. A man we define in our program is somebody that's accountable for their actions. Well, that includes me, so it starts with me. I looked in the mirror and figured out what I could do better to serve our team and help our players develop and make our team get better. We've got a real test this week, in-state game. Always good to play in-state opponents, and a lot of familiarity. A lot of our staff's coached against Louisiana-Lafayette the last two years. They've been really good. They're really big. They're really physical, and they're really athletic. They've got three great running backs. Going on the road will not be easy over there. They've had a really good run of going to bowl games for a bunch of years in a row now, so the success they've had is impressive and it will be a great challenge for us."
On game being as much about mindset as anything else coming off two games against ranked opponents:
"They kind of all are. Kansas State, to let that get away the way we did, I was probably worried about the mindset getting ready for the next one, picking yourself up off of a crushing loss just the way it went down. I think they're always about mindset. In college football, every game's about your mindset. We're dealing with young men who are learning to become grown men, and your mental approach to everything matters, so the mindset of this game is critical. They are coming off of a bye week. We're battle tested pretty rugged the last few weeks, and that's good. We've got some bumps and bruises, but we've played really good competition, so we just have to be prepared to play. I've talked to our team about there's three things it takes to win a game--you have to be focused on what you're doing, you have to have the right amount of passion and emotion to play the game the right way and you have to be mentally tough, so all three of those components matter. So are you focused on doing your job, are you passionate about doing your job, are you mentally tough about the ebbs and flows of the game. We've got to be prepared because this is a really good team. This team's got talent. You look across the board. In '22 when we (Troy) played against them, I walked out on the field pregame and was like, all right, who are we playing today? These guys don't look like a Sun Belt team. They just didn't. They had big dudes, especially on the front, and they still do, so we've go to be really ready for a physical battle because they are really good physically."
On balancing emotion of being close against two top-25 teams with losing:
"Look, I told our team Monday, losing's not OK. Anybody that tells you it is, they're a loser and get away from them. It's not OK. I'm not a big believer in a moral victory. That doesn't fly with me, but also I did remind them, one of the opponents was 13th now or maybe the other was 15th and you were right there in position to win both games in the fourth quarter, but I can pull up 20 plays where Tulane beat Tulane. We didn't have to have the other opponent beat us, and so if we'll just eliminate the procedure penalties where we don't line up with a receiver on the line of scrimmage or just the silly little things that have come up, then we'll probably start to get the outcomes we want over time, but the margins are not that big. You can't continue to make simple errors that cost yourself as a team, so there's some encouragement there, like, hey, we're close. Close isn't what we're hunting, but there are some signs of we have a shot here. We just have to fix some things and re-calibrate some things and make sure guys understand how to do things maybe a little more efficiently and cleaner."
On Ben Wooldridge (ULL starting quarterback) being very effective against Troy in 2022 (Troy won 23-17) and how he has grown over the past few years:
"Yeah, he has a really big arm. He can make all the throws. He makes 15-yard outs, sail throws and puts it on the money. He's a big-time thrower. He's a good runner. He's probably a better runner than he gets credit for, so he can make plays with his feet, extend plays with his feet. He's got good athletic ability. He's a smart player. You can tell he's well versed in the system. He's been running the same offense now since really when Billy (Napier) was there and now with Des (Michael Desormeaux), so the offensive structure is still very similar and he's been there the last three years in that system and really understands where they want to go with the ball.He's efficient. He distributes the ball really well. They run the ball well. They take great shots off of it. They are similar to us. I watch their offense and I feel like I'm watching our offense a little bit. He's a good player. In 22, he made us pay earlier in the game. He had our number for quite a bit in that game."
On Mensah:
"The positives have been really obvious and the negatives have, too. I can think of a bunch of big-time throws and plays he's made through three games. There's been three or four really costly errors. A couple of them were good plays by the opponent and a couple of them were just knowing when the play's over and not forcing something in there. he's flashed some high-level stuff, and he's also shown his youth at times. Last week was an interesting week for him. We weren't just going on the road in an SEC environment, We were doing it against what I think is a really quality defensive team, and so your first road start is with 83,000 fans against a high-caliber defense. That defense has got some really good players on it. They are extremely well coached, so it presents some issues structurally with their players and with the environment, so he was thrown into the fire a little bit. I was more nervous for him going into that game than I was for his first start against Southeastern because this was a different beast. He's done some things. He's got to grow quickly. The maturation process is not friendly or kind in this game. You have to grow fast, and I think he will. He's got a short memory on negative things. He's able to bounce back positively. He's got a great demeanor in practice. Other guys gravitate towards how he carries himself. I think he'll respond well to where he's going and where he needs to go next."
