Scelfo Pleased with First Scrimmage
Aug 10, 2001 | Football
Aug. 10, 2001
HAMMOND -- Practicing in full pads for the first time this preseason, the Tulane Green Wave went through an hour and 45 minute scrimmage as part of a three-hour morning workout Wednesday. Head Coach Chris Scelfo was pleased with the scrimmage, which featured situational matchups between first teams, second teams and third teams on offense and defense.
"The defense came out and played well early on," Scelfo said. "The offense was rusty early, but seemed to come around later. I'm pleased with the first scrimmage. It will be good to have this film to evaluate the players and see if we can get them in the right positions."
The defense forced several turnovers in the workout, with CB Trey Godfrey, LB Daniel Nevil and DL Chris Washington picking off passes, although Scelfo cautioned that that was good and bad for the Wave.
"I'm pleased with the defense getting the turnovers they got," Scelfo said. "They created some, and some were given to them. We made a lot of mistakes and even though it was the first scrimmage, we can't have those."
Scelfo also noted that running back Mewelde Moore, the 2000 Conference USA Freshman of the Year who spent the summer as an outfielder for the Idaho Falls farm team of the San Diego Padres, had an excellent day.
"Mewelde Moore picked up where he left off," Scelfo said. "Jimmy Kosienski, Roydell Williams, Trey Godfrey, Brandon Spincer and Jeff Sanchez also looked good."
Freshman running back Jeff Sanders sprained his neck during goal line drills and was taken to North Oaks Health System as a precaution. He did not participate in the afternoon workouts and will be evaluated daily. CB Jamal Jones sat out the scrimmage with a twisted left knee while Emmanuel Sewell suffered a left ankle sprain and is day-to-day.
The Green Wave will scrimmage again Saturday morning at Strawberry Stadium on the campus of Southeastern Louisiana where they are holding preseason camp. Tulane opens the season August 25 in the BCA Classic in Provo, Utah versus BYU. The game will begin at 3:30 p.m. CDT and will be nationally televised on espn2.
