Tulane brought in American Athletic Conference officials for its practice at the Saints' indoor facility on Thursday (they will be there again Friday), and the scrimmage at the end of the workout was live for everyone but quarterbacks Jonathan Banks and Johnathan Brantley. Freshman QB Dane Ledford got crushed on one play when three people hit him in the backfield as he tried to run an option, and he got hit hard again as he ran down the sideline on another option. It's been a long time since QBs were live in a Tulane practice until Willie Fritz instituted this change last week.
The defense definitely got the better of the offense today in the portion I watched, which came after Banks and Brantley had received all of their work in the regular part of the scrimmage. Freshman safety Chase Kuerschen continues to impress with his play-making versatility, breaking up a pass downfield and then making a great tackle in the open field on Darius Bradwell after he caught a swing pass from Khalil McClain.
In addition to getting hit hard, Ledford did not have much success, getting plenty of heat as the backup defensive line beat the offensive line consistently. He threw wide of running back Stephon Huderson on an out pattern on one of the rare plays when he did not get pressured.
McClain came in and moved the ball downfield quickly. He hit Rocky Ferony for a short gain on nickelback Tirise Barge, threw incomplete deep to D.J. Owens with Stephon Lofton covering him tightly, gained good yardage on an option before being brought down by safety Will Harper and had a big run on a scramble before being tackled by Harper again. The series ended when Corey Dauphine was stuffed by linebacker Marvin Moody.
They ended the scrimmage with a two-minute drill. Banks got nowhere on a run, scrambled for decent yardage (hard to tell how much since he wasn't live, was pressured into a throwaway, scrambled again under pressure and then finally connected with a receiver after keeping a play alive, finding tight end Charles Jones on the sideline. His next pass, on an out pattern by Devin Glenn, was ruled incomplete because the ref said Glenn's left foot was out of bounds before his right foot landed inbounds. The scrimmage ended with an incomplete pass to a well-covered Terren Encalade, an incomplete pass lofted for Kendall Ardoin in the back of the end zone and an incomplete pass for Jones when Banks had to try to create a touchdown from 20 yards out on his final play.
Brrantley went in and hit Jacob Robertson for a short gain on the sideline with Tre Jackson right on him, threw incomplete deep for a covered Travis Tucker and hit Huderson for a short gain on the sideline with Jackson right there to shove him out of bounds again. The day ended with a sack when the pocket collapsed.
Parry Nickerson was given a rest today, and Jaylon Monroe got some reps with the first unit in place of him. The rest of the first-teamers were the same, with Luke Jackson continuing to play WLB for the injured Zach Harris.
The second-team defense had Willie Langham and Tre Jackson at cornerback, P.J. Hall and Kuerschen at safety (with Will Harper getting some reps), Barge at nickelback, Marvin Moody and Lawrence Graham at linebacker and the usual suspects on the line.
Tyler Johnson got hurt in traffic on one play, limped off the field under his own power and did not return.
The defense definitely got the better of the offense today in the portion I watched, which came after Banks and Brantley had received all of their work in the regular part of the scrimmage. Freshman safety Chase Kuerschen continues to impress with his play-making versatility, breaking up a pass downfield and then making a great tackle in the open field on Darius Bradwell after he caught a swing pass from Khalil McClain.
In addition to getting hit hard, Ledford did not have much success, getting plenty of heat as the backup defensive line beat the offensive line consistently. He threw wide of running back Stephon Huderson on an out pattern on one of the rare plays when he did not get pressured.
McClain came in and moved the ball downfield quickly. He hit Rocky Ferony for a short gain on nickelback Tirise Barge, threw incomplete deep to D.J. Owens with Stephon Lofton covering him tightly, gained good yardage on an option before being brought down by safety Will Harper and had a big run on a scramble before being tackled by Harper again. The series ended when Corey Dauphine was stuffed by linebacker Marvin Moody.
They ended the scrimmage with a two-minute drill. Banks got nowhere on a run, scrambled for decent yardage (hard to tell how much since he wasn't live, was pressured into a throwaway, scrambled again under pressure and then finally connected with a receiver after keeping a play alive, finding tight end Charles Jones on the sideline. His next pass, on an out pattern by Devin Glenn, was ruled incomplete because the ref said Glenn's left foot was out of bounds before his right foot landed inbounds. The scrimmage ended with an incomplete pass to a well-covered Terren Encalade, an incomplete pass lofted for Kendall Ardoin in the back of the end zone and an incomplete pass for Jones when Banks had to try to create a touchdown from 20 yards out on his final play.
Brrantley went in and hit Jacob Robertson for a short gain on the sideline with Tre Jackson right on him, threw incomplete deep for a covered Travis Tucker and hit Huderson for a short gain on the sideline with Jackson right there to shove him out of bounds again. The day ended with a sack when the pocket collapsed.
Parry Nickerson was given a rest today, and Jaylon Monroe got some reps with the first unit in place of him. The rest of the first-teamers were the same, with Luke Jackson continuing to play WLB for the injured Zach Harris.
The second-team defense had Willie Langham and Tre Jackson at cornerback, P.J. Hall and Kuerschen at safety (with Will Harper getting some reps), Barge at nickelback, Marvin Moody and Lawrence Graham at linebacker and the usual suspects on the line.
Tyler Johnson got hurt in traffic on one play, limped off the field under his own power and did not return.
