Trace Johnson Enters UTSA Matchup With Newly Gained Traits

The Tulane Green Wave will head into their matchup against the UTSA Roadrunners this weekend without any sort of quarterback controversy or uncertainty for the first time this season.

The keys have been handed over to true freshman Trace Johnson, and it’ll be intriguing to see him build off of his debut performance with some crucial snaps, mistakes made, and chemistry built with guys on the field under his belt.

Practice can simulate as close to the real setting as it gets, but nothing is a substitute for real reps in a game setting with an opposing pass rush who isn’t looking to particularly protect you, unlike going against your own team in 11-on-11 drills.

Johnson has certainly gotten the benefit of a two-game home slate at Yulman Stadium, where he can get used to calling out cadence and getting the snap down with center Gavin Marks without a roaring opposing crowd trying to drown that all out in the noise.

He also made his first mistake, which was an underrated thing that happened in the game. Well, it was basically immediately erased by a pick-six by TJ Smith for one.

There wasn’t an opportunity to go out there and correct it right off the bat with the team heading into halftime following that touchdown by Smith.

And with the wind being what it was, notably picking up to gusts of up to 40 mph after half and causing the drone show to be cut short, there wasn’t too much opportunity to get things right in the air in the second half.

Johnson did connect on both of his next pass attempts to Fat Hill and Garrett Mmahat, both of which were on third down, though the first one to Hill fell short.

So, we saw that Johnson didn’t panic right after making a mistake. He has that instilled confidence now should anything go awry against the Roadrunners – and so does his team in that trait.

The last was critical chemistry built with his receivers in a real-game situation and more on the line than up-downs following a bad rep at practice.

With the quarterback competition splitting up first-team reps into four for the start of camp, really paring down to Zeon Chriss-Gremillion and Kadin Semonza thereafter, and eventually going to Chriss-Gremillion, Johnson simply hasn’t had a ton of time with the ones as a true freshman starter.

He wasn’t primarily throwing to Hill and Anthony Brown-Stephens throughout the offseason.

Nothing helps that chemistry more than reps on the field when it matters. Those should all be traits that Johnson can build off of with a display of command, poise, and moxie in his debut.