Football Goes Full Pads In Day Six Of Preseason Practice
Aug 13, 2008 | Football
Aug. 13, 2008
Coach Toledo's Comments Following Wednesday's Practice
NEW ORLEANS - It took a little longer than originally expected, but the Tulane University football team donned full pads for the first time during preseason drills on Wednesday afternoon at the Westfeldt Practice Facility.
Practice was originally slated to begin at 9:35 a.m., but inclement weather in the New Orleans area forced the coaching staff to shift its focus to taking the field at 3:20 p.m. Despite the lag in the action, Green Wave head coach Bob Toledo was pleased with the overall effort of his team.
"It was pretty good," Toledo said. "Our tempo needs to pick up in team (drills). We're dragging behind in signaling and there's going to be a 40-second clock (this year). We've got to move a little faster in team. The tempo (overall) is pretty good. They're not tackling, obviously. We tell them to stay off the ground so that they don't get hurt, but go fast and be physical."
With the squad fully equipped, Toledo had his team go through the usual array of drills that had been introduced over the first five days of camp. But in period 10, the squad assembled on the 60-yard side practice field for the much-anticipated "alley drill" where offensive and defensive players are matched up in one-on-one situations and the goal is to beat the opponent across the line of scrimmage.
That, however, was the only full-contact session of the day as the team went "thud" - wrapping up without bringing ball carriers to the ground - the rest of the way. In addition to the alley drill, Toledo also introduced punt return, third-and-possession and third-and-long scenarios on Wednesday. In the possession drills, the offense converted first downs on seven-of-14 plays, including a pair of converting catches by wide receivers Brian King and Casey Robottom. Defensively, senior corner Josh Lumar and junior defensive back Chinonso Echebelem posted interceptions in the drill.
Following a brief offense/defense session, Toledo brought his team back together for long-yardage situationals and had them go through some red-zone drills before closing out the day with 12 50-yard conditioning sprints.
"Every day, we expose them to situations," Toledo said. "Obviously we did the alley drill which was a physical drill to see how physical we are. But then, once we got into team, we did third down and what I call possession downs - third and three-to-six. And then it was long yardage - third and seven-plus. We just try to get them acclimated to situations so they just don't go out there and play every snap like it's the same thing or like it's always first-and-10. We're trying to show them that the game is based on situations."
During the long-yardage drills, redshirt-freshman Joe Kemp stood out by completing 45-yard touchdown strikes to senior receiver Michael Batiste and redshirt-freshman Taylor Echols. He followed that up with a 16-yard scoring connection to junior wideout Jeremy Williams in red-zone drills. Kemp was intercepted by rookie Ian Harson on the second-to-last play of the drill, but bounced back to deliver a 10-yard TD pass to sophomore Alan Mitchell to close out the veterans' portion of practice.
"Joe does some good things," Toledo said. "Joe's got a lot of physical ability. Joe's only problem is experience and time. He just needs more time and he makes some mistakes that you just can't make to win right now. He's got to continue to improve on his mental part of the game."
Off the field, Toledo and his staff got both some good news and bad news on Wednesday as it was announced that freshman Kadeem Taylor would be joining the team later in the day. A native of Monroe, La., and a 2008 graduate of Carroll High School, Taylor's arrival on campus was delayed due to complications with the NCAA Clearinghouse.
"We wanted to create some depth in our defensive line, and he's one of the guys we recruited to give us some depth," Toledo said of Taylor. "He's a little behind, but he'll catch up and hopefully be able to contribute."
On the negative side, Toledo learned that he would be without the services of redshirt-freshman cornerback Dominique Dade, who was ruled academically ineligible on Wednesday.
"That was a big blow," Toledo said. "He knew he had to do some things in summer school and he didn't quite get it done. He fell a little short, and that's a blow. He had a chance to possibly start at a corner, definitely help in the nickel situation and possibly return punts. That's a big blow to us."
The Green Wave return to action on Thursday, Aug. 14, when they hold their first two-a-day practice at 9:30 a.m. and 3:35 p.m. at the Westfeldt Pracitice Faclity. Both sessions will feature the team donning full pads. The team will practice again on Friday before holding another double session on Saturday. The second half of Saturday's two-a-day will feature a one-hour scrimmage.
Tulane opens the 2008 season on Saturday, Sept. 6, when they travel to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on the University of Alabama at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Season tickets for the 2008 Tulane football season are now on sale through the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office. For more information on 2008 Tulane football tickets or tickets to any future Green Wave home athletic event, contact the Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.
