Tulane's last big practice before the opener at South Alabama has come and gone, with the Wave working out at Yulman Stadium this morning, and it was an intense one. Will Hall coaches his guys really hard because he is driven to succeed, and he was not happy after a few two many mistakes in a seven-on-seven drill. He got on Amare Jones pretty good for a busted pattern, but by the end of the practice, he celebrated a Jones touchdown catch by running across the field and doing a jumping chest bump with him. He explained his tough love simply: "I want you to be great." I'll never forget the interview I did with Hall on the Thursday after the Auburn loss last year. I was expecting him to talk about things the offense could do better while acknowledging how tough it was to make headway against Auburn considering the trouble blocking those guys. and instead he said it was his most embarrassing moment as a coach and apologized for the wretched performance of the offense, saying it would never happen again. He is a competitor and was not about to use Auburn's talent level as an excuse. Just about every time a receiver catches a pass in the end zone during individual drills, Hall hollers out "touchdown." He exudes confidence.
Honestly, he had plenty to be upset about today. There were too many drops, which has been a periodic issue but not an every-day issue this preseason. In one short stretch of 7 on 7, Cameron Carroll dropped a sure touchdown pass from Michael Pratt, Mykel Jones dropped a deep ball from Keon Howard, Tyjae Spears dropped a short pass and Christian Daniels dropped one over the middle. That's too many drops, although there was only one more for the rest of practice, when Mykel Jones dropped a tough one while running across the back of the end zone.
Michael Pratt has been an inconsistent thrower all preseason, but he made a couple of beautiful passes today, indicating his natural gifts. First, in a drill where the planned situation was fourth-and-goal from the 14, he lofted a floater to Jha'Quan Jackson in the back corner of the end zone, hitting him in stride with little separation from lwalk-on safety Jonathan Mestayer and cornerback Kevaris Hall. This was a play Tulane's previous quarterbacks under Willie Fritz would have connected on seldom. A little later, Pratt hit Jha'Quan Jackson on a deep out when he was matched with linebacker Kevin Henry. Henry had good coverage, but Pratt put the ball in a spot where only Jackson could get it tight to the sideline. If anything happens to Howard Saturday, Pratt will have to play. and he has the potential to do a good job. He just needs to cut out the plays like the one in individual drills today when he bounced a pass about five yards in font of Jacob Robertson. The learning curve for freshmen is steep enough mentally that they cannot afford to make physical errors as well.
Howard's best throw was a deep out to Mykel Jones, who beat Larry Brooks to the sideline. Jones may or may not start Saturday and has been up and down in the preseason, but he definitely gets open. Two plays after that completion, after they had moved the ball back inside the offense's 20-yard line, Jones threw a pick six that Ajani Kerr juggled as the receiver fell down before taking to the house.
Justin Ibieta, who missed three straight practices last week while waiting for a coronavirus test result, was not sharp today, underthrowing a deep ball to Tyrick James that Ton'Quez Ball intercepted easily on the last play of 7 on 7. Ibieta did not get as many reps as the other two quarterbacks.
Barring any unforeseen event, I am almost certain about the 11 defensive starters if Tulane opens up in its base defense against South Alabama: Patrick Johnson, Jeffery Johnson, De'Andre Williams and Cameron Sample up front, Kevin Henry and Marvin Moody at inside linebacker, Willie Langham at nickel, Kyle Meyers and Jaylon Monroe at cornerback, Larry Brooks at strong safety and Chase Kuerschen at free safety. Ajani Kerr will play a lot, too, particularly when the Wave needs an extra defensive back. The coaches don't trust backup corners Kevaris Hall and Levi Williams yet, so their time will be limited with Langham the clear No. 3 corner and Kiland Harrison out injured.
The battle for starting right offensive tackle is ongoing and will be settled by performance in the early games. Cameron Jackel was on the first team today, with Trey Tuggle on the second unit at left tackle and Jaylen Miller on the second unit at right tackle. One of those three will get the job. Fritz mentioned Tuggle first (not saying he was first team, but bringing his name up first) when I asked him about the competition, Miller next and Jackel third.
NOTES
--Ygenio Booker and Sorrell Brown returned to practice today. Booker missed only one day, while Brown was out for a few weeks with an unspecified injury. Their return means every potential receiver is available but wideouts Dane Ledford and Tyrek Presley and tight ends Will Wallace and Reggie Brown, including all of the running backs. I've been to practice virtually every day, but your guess is as good as mine as to the eventual pecking order at wide receiver. Every single player has to prove himself.
--Fritz confirmed Ethan Hudak was on scholarship and was the No. 1 long snapper, although he added Matt Smith gave the team two good ones. Listed as No. 57 on the roster, Hudak is wearing No. 45.
--When one drive stalled in 11-on-11, Fritz had Merek Glover attempt a 36-yard field goal. He made it.
--Fritz had crowd noise pumped in today just like yesterday because schools are allowed to pump in crowd noise in the absence of fans this year.
--Tulane still does not have a backup center practicing, so Sincere Haynesworth gets all the reps. He snapped one too high today and it bounced off Pratt's hands, but the rest of his snaps were fine.
--Look for Cameron Carroll to be Tulane's goal-line back. He almost always gets the first reps when the offense practicing goal-line stuff.
--Jacob Robertson has only 23 career catches, but he is a good athlete. Today, he jumped and spiked the ball over the crossbar in one end zone.
--Drew Harris is serving as the scout team quarterback for South Alabama
--Brooks was alert on a surprise onside kick during kickoff drills, racing to cover the ball easily.
--It looks like the three freshman offensive linemen who were expected to compete for playing time will play. Rashad Green lined up as the second-team left guard. Joseph Solomon and Matt Lombardi, who is hurt, likely will be redshirted.
--Phat Watts had one really good play, diving to catch a low throw from Pratt, and one bad play, jumping offside and catching Hall's ire.
Honestly, he had plenty to be upset about today. There were too many drops, which has been a periodic issue but not an every-day issue this preseason. In one short stretch of 7 on 7, Cameron Carroll dropped a sure touchdown pass from Michael Pratt, Mykel Jones dropped a deep ball from Keon Howard, Tyjae Spears dropped a short pass and Christian Daniels dropped one over the middle. That's too many drops, although there was only one more for the rest of practice, when Mykel Jones dropped a tough one while running across the back of the end zone.
Michael Pratt has been an inconsistent thrower all preseason, but he made a couple of beautiful passes today, indicating his natural gifts. First, in a drill where the planned situation was fourth-and-goal from the 14, he lofted a floater to Jha'Quan Jackson in the back corner of the end zone, hitting him in stride with little separation from lwalk-on safety Jonathan Mestayer and cornerback Kevaris Hall. This was a play Tulane's previous quarterbacks under Willie Fritz would have connected on seldom. A little later, Pratt hit Jha'Quan Jackson on a deep out when he was matched with linebacker Kevin Henry. Henry had good coverage, but Pratt put the ball in a spot where only Jackson could get it tight to the sideline. If anything happens to Howard Saturday, Pratt will have to play. and he has the potential to do a good job. He just needs to cut out the plays like the one in individual drills today when he bounced a pass about five yards in font of Jacob Robertson. The learning curve for freshmen is steep enough mentally that they cannot afford to make physical errors as well.
Howard's best throw was a deep out to Mykel Jones, who beat Larry Brooks to the sideline. Jones may or may not start Saturday and has been up and down in the preseason, but he definitely gets open. Two plays after that completion, after they had moved the ball back inside the offense's 20-yard line, Jones threw a pick six that Ajani Kerr juggled as the receiver fell down before taking to the house.
Justin Ibieta, who missed three straight practices last week while waiting for a coronavirus test result, was not sharp today, underthrowing a deep ball to Tyrick James that Ton'Quez Ball intercepted easily on the last play of 7 on 7. Ibieta did not get as many reps as the other two quarterbacks.
Barring any unforeseen event, I am almost certain about the 11 defensive starters if Tulane opens up in its base defense against South Alabama: Patrick Johnson, Jeffery Johnson, De'Andre Williams and Cameron Sample up front, Kevin Henry and Marvin Moody at inside linebacker, Willie Langham at nickel, Kyle Meyers and Jaylon Monroe at cornerback, Larry Brooks at strong safety and Chase Kuerschen at free safety. Ajani Kerr will play a lot, too, particularly when the Wave needs an extra defensive back. The coaches don't trust backup corners Kevaris Hall and Levi Williams yet, so their time will be limited with Langham the clear No. 3 corner and Kiland Harrison out injured.
The battle for starting right offensive tackle is ongoing and will be settled by performance in the early games. Cameron Jackel was on the first team today, with Trey Tuggle on the second unit at left tackle and Jaylen Miller on the second unit at right tackle. One of those three will get the job. Fritz mentioned Tuggle first (not saying he was first team, but bringing his name up first) when I asked him about the competition, Miller next and Jackel third.
NOTES
--Ygenio Booker and Sorrell Brown returned to practice today. Booker missed only one day, while Brown was out for a few weeks with an unspecified injury. Their return means every potential receiver is available but wideouts Dane Ledford and Tyrek Presley and tight ends Will Wallace and Reggie Brown, including all of the running backs. I've been to practice virtually every day, but your guess is as good as mine as to the eventual pecking order at wide receiver. Every single player has to prove himself.
--Fritz confirmed Ethan Hudak was on scholarship and was the No. 1 long snapper, although he added Matt Smith gave the team two good ones. Listed as No. 57 on the roster, Hudak is wearing No. 45.
--When one drive stalled in 11-on-11, Fritz had Merek Glover attempt a 36-yard field goal. He made it.
--Fritz had crowd noise pumped in today just like yesterday because schools are allowed to pump in crowd noise in the absence of fans this year.
--Tulane still does not have a backup center practicing, so Sincere Haynesworth gets all the reps. He snapped one too high today and it bounced off Pratt's hands, but the rest of his snaps were fine.
--Look for Cameron Carroll to be Tulane's goal-line back. He almost always gets the first reps when the offense practicing goal-line stuff.
--Jacob Robertson has only 23 career catches, but he is a good athlete. Today, he jumped and spiked the ball over the crossbar in one end zone.
--Drew Harris is serving as the scout team quarterback for South Alabama
--Brooks was alert on a surprise onside kick during kickoff drills, racing to cover the ball easily.
--It looks like the three freshman offensive linemen who were expected to compete for playing time will play. Rashad Green lined up as the second-team left guard. Joseph Solomon and Matt Lombardi, who is hurt, likely will be redshirted.
--Phat Watts had one really good play, diving to catch a low throw from Pratt, and one bad play, jumping offside and catching Hall's ire.
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