Tulane moved its Saturday morning workout from the Superdome to Yulman Stadium because players wanted to practice in the heat, so I was able to attend. The time was moved back an hour, so it was even hotter than normal before a cloud cover mercifully arrived during the last half-hour or so. It was just like Willie Fritz said it would be-fast paced with plenty of special teams work, 7-on-7 work, 11-on-11 and scout-team preparation.
"It was good to get them out there and push through," Fritz said. "If they feel like that's what we need to do, that's what we'll do. I love going down there to the dome because we always get a great practice, but we had those three full days off, and I think the guys were smart about let's get acclimated back to the weather."
Although Tulane can't name players who are in coronavirus quarantine either fora positive test or contact tracing due to HIPPA regulations, I am going to assume the guys who missed their third consecutive practice today are in one of those two categories. Players who test positive are quarantined for 10 days unless a subsequent test reveals it was a false positive. Players who are identified by contact tracing are quarantined for 14 days, making anyone who was not at practice Thursday through Saturday unlikely to be cleared for the opener. Justin Ibieta, Cornelius Dyson, Will Wallace, Adonis Friloux and offensive linemen Stephen Lewerenz, Caleb Thomas, Nik Hogan and Michael Remondet are in that group. I am sure there are some others, but those are the ones I've noticed for sure. Tim Shafter has been practicing at center some each day since every center is out except for starter Sincere Haynesworth, but it won't affect the game unless Haynesworth gets hurt because he will play every snap.
Here is Fritz on the policy:
"If a guy tests positive, he's got 10 days, and if he's involved in contact tracing with a guy who tested positive, he's got 14 days, so they have to stay away. There's a really low possibility of false negative. That's about 99.9 percent certain when you test negative, you're negative, but there are some false positives. We're going above and beyond, especially right now when we've got time. We're making those guys test back in three times when that occurs, get three negatives in a row. We're waiting on. They call it an inconclusive test. We're adhering to the policies that our university, Doc Stewart has. So if a guy is positive, he's basically out 10 days. If he has contact trace to him, 14 days. That's just how we're doing it."
The other news on the offensive line continues to be Josh Remetich's surge. Nothing is set in stone, but it sure looks like he will start at right guard against South Alabama. Ben Knutson was not at practice today, but Remetich had been getting a majority of the reps with the first unit anyway. Corey Dublin is the only other true freshman lineman to start an opener at Tulane under Fritz, so it's a pair of local Catholic League products (Jesuit, Holy Cross) with the honor.
"He (Remetich) has done an excellent job," Fritz said. "He's very competitive. He's got excellent feet. He's got very good physicality. That's probably the part that he has acclimated to the quickest out of all the freshman linemen is being able to practice hard and physical. Sometimes that takes a year or two, and most of the time those guys are bigger and stronger than everybody else they played against in high school, but he certainly does a good job of playing physical and he has an opportunity to start a week from day. There's a lot of competition for that right guard, right tackle spot right now."
It's no secret Tulane's offensive line has struggled for years. Even though it has done some good things in the run game under Fritz, the reality is it has been a weakness despite gradual improvement. This line might be a different story.
"It's much closer," Fritz said. "We'll find out this year, but number one, they look the part. In the past we've had difficulties sizing up physically, strength, movement, height, length, all those different things, so I'm excited to see what these guys can do. We have some depth and are able to roll a bunch of guys in there. One of the things we talked about early in camp was rotating guys at all different positions because of the what-ifs with injuries and with the COVID policies we have to follow. We don't want it to be the first time a day before a game the guy's ever played left tackle, all he's been doing is right tackle. so we've been moving guys around. The coaches probably get sick of me saying it, but they are doing it, so it's good."
The first-team OL was the usual suspects again today. The second team was Matthew Lombardi, Jackson Fort, Tim Shafter, Cameron Jackel and Trey Tuggle from left to right, with Joseph Solomon getting some reps at second-team right guard, too. Rashad Green is the only other offensive lineman practicing because Colby Orgeron has been moved to defensive tackle, where the Wave is a little thin at the moment. Orgeron, a redshirt freshman who has gotten little traction as an offensive lineman, played defense for John Curtis but was not considered fast enough to play there in college. He worked with the second team today because Brandon Brown and Friloux are out and I believe Alfred Thomas is injured. De'Andre Williams, Jeffery Johnson, Eric Hicks, Orgeron and Davon Wright were it today.
The report continues below.
"It was good to get them out there and push through," Fritz said. "If they feel like that's what we need to do, that's what we'll do. I love going down there to the dome because we always get a great practice, but we had those three full days off, and I think the guys were smart about let's get acclimated back to the weather."
Although Tulane can't name players who are in coronavirus quarantine either fora positive test or contact tracing due to HIPPA regulations, I am going to assume the guys who missed their third consecutive practice today are in one of those two categories. Players who test positive are quarantined for 10 days unless a subsequent test reveals it was a false positive. Players who are identified by contact tracing are quarantined for 14 days, making anyone who was not at practice Thursday through Saturday unlikely to be cleared for the opener. Justin Ibieta, Cornelius Dyson, Will Wallace, Adonis Friloux and offensive linemen Stephen Lewerenz, Caleb Thomas, Nik Hogan and Michael Remondet are in that group. I am sure there are some others, but those are the ones I've noticed for sure. Tim Shafter has been practicing at center some each day since every center is out except for starter Sincere Haynesworth, but it won't affect the game unless Haynesworth gets hurt because he will play every snap.
Here is Fritz on the policy:
"If a guy tests positive, he's got 10 days, and if he's involved in contact tracing with a guy who tested positive, he's got 14 days, so they have to stay away. There's a really low possibility of false negative. That's about 99.9 percent certain when you test negative, you're negative, but there are some false positives. We're going above and beyond, especially right now when we've got time. We're making those guys test back in three times when that occurs, get three negatives in a row. We're waiting on. They call it an inconclusive test. We're adhering to the policies that our university, Doc Stewart has. So if a guy is positive, he's basically out 10 days. If he has contact trace to him, 14 days. That's just how we're doing it."
The other news on the offensive line continues to be Josh Remetich's surge. Nothing is set in stone, but it sure looks like he will start at right guard against South Alabama. Ben Knutson was not at practice today, but Remetich had been getting a majority of the reps with the first unit anyway. Corey Dublin is the only other true freshman lineman to start an opener at Tulane under Fritz, so it's a pair of local Catholic League products (Jesuit, Holy Cross) with the honor.
"He (Remetich) has done an excellent job," Fritz said. "He's very competitive. He's got excellent feet. He's got very good physicality. That's probably the part that he has acclimated to the quickest out of all the freshman linemen is being able to practice hard and physical. Sometimes that takes a year or two, and most of the time those guys are bigger and stronger than everybody else they played against in high school, but he certainly does a good job of playing physical and he has an opportunity to start a week from day. There's a lot of competition for that right guard, right tackle spot right now."
It's no secret Tulane's offensive line has struggled for years. Even though it has done some good things in the run game under Fritz, the reality is it has been a weakness despite gradual improvement. This line might be a different story.
"It's much closer," Fritz said. "We'll find out this year, but number one, they look the part. In the past we've had difficulties sizing up physically, strength, movement, height, length, all those different things, so I'm excited to see what these guys can do. We have some depth and are able to roll a bunch of guys in there. One of the things we talked about early in camp was rotating guys at all different positions because of the what-ifs with injuries and with the COVID policies we have to follow. We don't want it to be the first time a day before a game the guy's ever played left tackle, all he's been doing is right tackle. so we've been moving guys around. The coaches probably get sick of me saying it, but they are doing it, so it's good."
The first-team OL was the usual suspects again today. The second team was Matthew Lombardi, Jackson Fort, Tim Shafter, Cameron Jackel and Trey Tuggle from left to right, with Joseph Solomon getting some reps at second-team right guard, too. Rashad Green is the only other offensive lineman practicing because Colby Orgeron has been moved to defensive tackle, where the Wave is a little thin at the moment. Orgeron, a redshirt freshman who has gotten little traction as an offensive lineman, played defense for John Curtis but was not considered fast enough to play there in college. He worked with the second team today because Brandon Brown and Friloux are out and I believe Alfred Thomas is injured. De'Andre Williams, Jeffery Johnson, Eric Hicks, Orgeron and Davon Wright were it today.
The report continues below.
