The weather was downright pleasant Tuesday morning before light rain began falling in the last 10 minutes, with cloud cover and low humidity making it feel like May rather than early August at Yulman Stadium.
"It was perfect weather again until the rain right there at the end," Willie Fritz said. "I told our guys it's not going to be like this every day. The first two days were like we were from up north some place with the lack of humidity. I thought we did pretty good. Like I always tell the guys, you run all summer but game condition and practicing is different than running sprints and gassers or whatever you want to call it. We'll get there. We just need to keep pushing ourselves, and I'm glad we got this on on the front end instead of, my first year it was 100-percent humidity for the first two practices, and that's a bugger when it's like that."
A standout player once again was Notre Dame transfer wideout Freddy Canteen, who turned in the highlight of the day with a diving catch in the back corner of the end zone on a fade route early in the 11-on-11 work.Jonathan Banks' throw in the red zone appeared to be out of reach, but Canteen caught up to it and made the tough catch. He celebrated by jumping into the arms of a fellow receiver, and he continued making plays as the practice went on.
"He made a few good plays," Fritz said. "He's got some good instincts and savvy for the game. I saw one time he was kind of running down the field and the DB relaxed and didn't think that they were throwing the ball over to his side. I call it rope-a-dope, like Ali did when he fought George Foreman. Canteen put his hands out at the last second, and the DB had no clue what was going on. He's got some experience and knows the tricks of the trade a little bit."
Terren Encalade and Darnell Mooney were sharp again. On the first play of 11-on-11 situational work, with the ball placed at the offense's 3-yard line, Encalade caught a pass on a slant in traffic, juggling the ball when cornerback Willie Langham arrived at the same time but grabbing it for an 8-yard gain. Fritz went over to give him a pat on the back for that effort. Encalade then beat Jaylon Monroe on a short sideline route to pick up a first down on the next snap. Mooney caught a pop pass on the third play, which was designated third-and-7. and he just has that burst you want to see out of a good receiver.
Kevin LeDee, who flashed at times in the spring, had a good day. He caught a sideline pass from Banks and almost had another catch seconds later, but walk-on freshman safety Grant Hamel broke it up, drawing a huge cheer from the rest of the defense. There were several walk-ons playing by that point, but Hamel was the only one who made a play.
The rest of the 11-on-11 work was a little ragged, but this is just day 2 of preseason camp. Neither Christian Daniels nor Dane Ledford was as effective as they were on day 1 in their competition to be Banks' top backup. Daniels still is prone to a howler or two when he throws, including one sideline pass that came out wobbly and sailed well over the head of his intended target out of bounds. Ledford threw behind Mooney on a simple route and bailed out on some plays by running. Maybe that's called for, but it is hard to judge in non-contact drills.
Regardless, one of them will be an injury away from playing after Tulane's second-, third- and fourth-string quarterbacks left before spring drills.
"Both those two guys are doing a good job," Fritz said. "It's a good competition. When we start getting into the season, we're not going to be able to rep three guys like we're doing right now, so we have to do a good job of evaluating and they have to do a good job of showing us what they can do every day. We'll see what's happening."
A guy who needs to step up in the preseason is Jabril Clewis. He was OK last fall, but more was expected of the big former San Diego State player who transferred to Tulane from junior college. He finished with 16 catches for 174 yards and zero touchdowns despite starting seven times. He likely has lost his starting spot to Canteen, but with his size, he still can play a role for the Green Wave. The issue is getting separation. Banks tried to hit with a deep ball Thursday, but Langham was step-for-step with him and the pass was incomplete. On the next snap, which was designated third-and-8 from the offense's 16, Banks scrambled to his right and threw low to Clewis, who caught it for a first down. That's what the Wave needs from him--catches to keep drives going.
Nothing much changed on the depth chart today, although the safety spot was a little thin. Taris Shenall sat out with an injury after practicing Wednesday, and Chase Kuerschen, who also is dinged up, has not made an appearance yet. Fritz said he expected Kuerschen back later this week but did not specify what was ailing him.
In their absence, true freshman Larry Brooks practiced with the second unit at safety along with Sean Harper. The first team continued to have Larry Bryant at nickel, with Tirise Barge playing on the second unit. I will ask about that if it continues tomorrow.
The first-team defensive line is Cameron Sample, De'Andre Williams, Robert Kennedy and Patrick Johnson. Marvin Moody practiced with the first-team linebackers instead of Lawrence Graham, who worked with the second team. The first-team cornerbacks were Monroe and Langham, with Donnie Lewis sitting out, and the safeties were P.J. Hall and Rod Teamer.
The second-team D had Alfred Thomas and Davon Wright and Jeffery Johnson and probably Peter Woullard, although the number for the fourth guy is not on the roster. The linebackers were Graham and KJ Vault, and the corners were Thakarius Keyes, who now is wearing No. 26, and Chris Joyce.
There were no changes on the offensive line depth chart. I was impressed by Noah Fisher's initial movement again today. Too often in the past, Tulane's tackles were beaten on the first step, but he engages quickly. It is interesting that Ben Bratcher continues to get reps with the second unit at guard. The Wave is a little thin there, with Cameron Jackel the other backup guard.
The pecking order was the same at running back. Cameron Carroll, though, is a physical specimen, as Fritz indicated yesterday. You just don't see freshmen often who are built like him. He rushed 185 times for 1,370 yards as a senior at Northwest Rankin in Flowood, Miss., and I'm frankly surprised he did not get more touches after carrying it 249 times as a junior.
Fritz keeps yelling "get tired" from his microphone this week. He wants everyone to go full out, and he says if they aren't tired, they need to be giving more effort.
"It was perfect weather again until the rain right there at the end," Willie Fritz said. "I told our guys it's not going to be like this every day. The first two days were like we were from up north some place with the lack of humidity. I thought we did pretty good. Like I always tell the guys, you run all summer but game condition and practicing is different than running sprints and gassers or whatever you want to call it. We'll get there. We just need to keep pushing ourselves, and I'm glad we got this on on the front end instead of, my first year it was 100-percent humidity for the first two practices, and that's a bugger when it's like that."
A standout player once again was Notre Dame transfer wideout Freddy Canteen, who turned in the highlight of the day with a diving catch in the back corner of the end zone on a fade route early in the 11-on-11 work.Jonathan Banks' throw in the red zone appeared to be out of reach, but Canteen caught up to it and made the tough catch. He celebrated by jumping into the arms of a fellow receiver, and he continued making plays as the practice went on.
"He made a few good plays," Fritz said. "He's got some good instincts and savvy for the game. I saw one time he was kind of running down the field and the DB relaxed and didn't think that they were throwing the ball over to his side. I call it rope-a-dope, like Ali did when he fought George Foreman. Canteen put his hands out at the last second, and the DB had no clue what was going on. He's got some experience and knows the tricks of the trade a little bit."
Terren Encalade and Darnell Mooney were sharp again. On the first play of 11-on-11 situational work, with the ball placed at the offense's 3-yard line, Encalade caught a pass on a slant in traffic, juggling the ball when cornerback Willie Langham arrived at the same time but grabbing it for an 8-yard gain. Fritz went over to give him a pat on the back for that effort. Encalade then beat Jaylon Monroe on a short sideline route to pick up a first down on the next snap. Mooney caught a pop pass on the third play, which was designated third-and-7. and he just has that burst you want to see out of a good receiver.
Kevin LeDee, who flashed at times in the spring, had a good day. He caught a sideline pass from Banks and almost had another catch seconds later, but walk-on freshman safety Grant Hamel broke it up, drawing a huge cheer from the rest of the defense. There were several walk-ons playing by that point, but Hamel was the only one who made a play.
The rest of the 11-on-11 work was a little ragged, but this is just day 2 of preseason camp. Neither Christian Daniels nor Dane Ledford was as effective as they were on day 1 in their competition to be Banks' top backup. Daniels still is prone to a howler or two when he throws, including one sideline pass that came out wobbly and sailed well over the head of his intended target out of bounds. Ledford threw behind Mooney on a simple route and bailed out on some plays by running. Maybe that's called for, but it is hard to judge in non-contact drills.
Regardless, one of them will be an injury away from playing after Tulane's second-, third- and fourth-string quarterbacks left before spring drills.
"Both those two guys are doing a good job," Fritz said. "It's a good competition. When we start getting into the season, we're not going to be able to rep three guys like we're doing right now, so we have to do a good job of evaluating and they have to do a good job of showing us what they can do every day. We'll see what's happening."
A guy who needs to step up in the preseason is Jabril Clewis. He was OK last fall, but more was expected of the big former San Diego State player who transferred to Tulane from junior college. He finished with 16 catches for 174 yards and zero touchdowns despite starting seven times. He likely has lost his starting spot to Canteen, but with his size, he still can play a role for the Green Wave. The issue is getting separation. Banks tried to hit with a deep ball Thursday, but Langham was step-for-step with him and the pass was incomplete. On the next snap, which was designated third-and-8 from the offense's 16, Banks scrambled to his right and threw low to Clewis, who caught it for a first down. That's what the Wave needs from him--catches to keep drives going.
Nothing much changed on the depth chart today, although the safety spot was a little thin. Taris Shenall sat out with an injury after practicing Wednesday, and Chase Kuerschen, who also is dinged up, has not made an appearance yet. Fritz said he expected Kuerschen back later this week but did not specify what was ailing him.
In their absence, true freshman Larry Brooks practiced with the second unit at safety along with Sean Harper. The first team continued to have Larry Bryant at nickel, with Tirise Barge playing on the second unit. I will ask about that if it continues tomorrow.
The first-team defensive line is Cameron Sample, De'Andre Williams, Robert Kennedy and Patrick Johnson. Marvin Moody practiced with the first-team linebackers instead of Lawrence Graham, who worked with the second team. The first-team cornerbacks were Monroe and Langham, with Donnie Lewis sitting out, and the safeties were P.J. Hall and Rod Teamer.
The second-team D had Alfred Thomas and Davon Wright and Jeffery Johnson and probably Peter Woullard, although the number for the fourth guy is not on the roster. The linebackers were Graham and KJ Vault, and the corners were Thakarius Keyes, who now is wearing No. 26, and Chris Joyce.
There were no changes on the offensive line depth chart. I was impressed by Noah Fisher's initial movement again today. Too often in the past, Tulane's tackles were beaten on the first step, but he engages quickly. It is interesting that Ben Bratcher continues to get reps with the second unit at guard. The Wave is a little thin there, with Cameron Jackel the other backup guard.
The pecking order was the same at running back. Cameron Carroll, though, is a physical specimen, as Fritz indicated yesterday. You just don't see freshmen often who are built like him. He rushed 185 times for 1,370 yards as a senior at Northwest Rankin in Flowood, Miss., and I'm frankly surprised he did not get more touches after carrying it 249 times as a junior.
Fritz keeps yelling "get tired" from his microphone this week. He wants everyone to go full out, and he says if they aren't tired, they need to be giving more effort.
