The Tulane Green Wave football team had an explosive first scrimmage in their spring camp.
The Tulane Green Wave football team had their first scrimmage of spring camp on Thursday, and it deviated from the last few seasons in ways. For one, it was pass-heavy, with a touchdown scored on the opening play by Anthony Brown-Stephens, who ran over 70 yards into the end zone on a pass by Kadin Semonza. It was one of several touchdowns on the day, with Semonza throwing a second touchdown to wide receiver Destyn Hill on an explosive morning at Yulman Stadium. Freshman Trace Johnson had some impressive throws, frankly, one being a tight window throw to Syracuse transfer Gabe Daniels who caught a touchdown despite incredibly tight coverage. The final touchdown was by an untouched Maurice Turner down the right side for a 20-plus yard score.
The exciting offensive plays, and playmakers, also highlighted some blown coverage, like Kevin Adams getting there a bit too late on the Brown-Stephens touchdown. Something head coach Will Hall pointed to on Tuesday after the practice session was the missed assignments and wanting to see that cleaned up. That wasn’t exactly the case. But, for the first time in a while, there was a well-operating offense that was scoring consistently and taking the lead over the defense in the first scrimmage. The defense has won most if not all scrimmages in the past few years.
Now, there’s context, like general rust, and starting safety Jack Tcienchou being out recovering from an offseason surgery. But it shows that the offense is certainly coming along under Hall and offensive coordinator Russ Callaway. The running back room is quite intriguing to watch between Turner and transfers Jaylin Lucas, DJ Dugar, and Johnnie Daniels. There were multiple 20 personnel plays ran on Thursday, with the backs showing off in the passing game. Turner spoke about enjoying Hall’s offense giving them one-on-one matchups with linebackers and safeties out the backfield or allowing them to create and move in space.
Semonza was the only quarterback who wasn’t live. The younger competitors, Johnson, Cade Scott, Jay Beamon, and Dagan Bruno, all felt the pass rush today, one that’s certainly coming along. Zeon Chriss-Gremillion sat out due to a hamstring injury. Semonza and Johnson stood out on Thursday. But the important thing is stacking days in order to pull away in the quarterback competition.
The Wave will now take spring break and resume on March 31, making for a bit of an awkward stoppage. After that, it’ll be interesting to see how this scrimmage sticks and what the team is able to build on.