Football Opens Final Week Of Spring Drills With Monday Practice
Apr 19, 2010 | Football
April 19, 2010
Video Interview With Coach Toledo
Coach Toledo's Comments Following Monday's Practice
NEW ORLEANS - The Tulane University football team opened the final week of Spring Practice with a spirited 22-period practice Monday morning at the Westfeld Practice Facility. In a day that featured the usual array of drills, it was three plays that drew the hoots and hollers from players, coaches and spectators alike.
In the full-team sessions, sophomore cornerback Alex Lauricella made the first big play with an interception and 22-yard return for a touchdown. Sophomore wide receiver Devin Figaro answered the challenge with an 80-yard scoring strike from senior quarterback Kevin Moore.
Somehow, it only seemed right that Lauricella and Figaro would converge on what proved to be the play of the day. With sophomore signal caller Ryan Griffin under center, Figaro ran a deep post pattern with Lauricella in hot pursuit. As Griffin lofted the ball skyward, the pair leaped at the same time and both got their hands on the ball. It would be Figaro, however, who won the wrestling match for the ball to cap a 40-yard touchdown strike.
"There have been some big plays made out here," Tulane head football coach Bob Toledo said. "Alex Lauricella did a great job of jumping the slant, intercepting it and running for the touchdown. Then Devin Figaro made some really nice plays. He beat one of the corners trying to jump that slant. He beat them on what we call a slug-go where you run a slant and then go. [Figaro also] made a great catch in the endzone. Both of them went up for the ball and he came down with it. Devin did a really nice job on that one."
Those three plays, however, were just a small part of Monday's practice. Following team stretching, the Wave went through position drills, convened for a running-game oriented middle drill and line up for the alley drill where offensive and defensive linemen square off one-on-one while a running back attempts to advance through a small alley of turf.
From there, Toledo had his team go through kickoff scenarios, went through 7-on-7 drills and sandwiched a pair of full-team sessions around a brief breakdown session and PAT/field goal practices. Redshirt-freshman kicker Ryan Rome was good from distances of 20, 32 and 37 yards out, but his 47-yard attempt was blocked when sophomore linebacker Trent Mackey broke free to bat the ball down.
Following the second team session, Toledo spotted the ball at the one-yard line and challenged his offense to advance the ball while asking his defense to post a stop. The Green Wave's No. 1 offense got a pair of 10-yard runs by junior halfback J.T. McDonald, but on the third play, sophomore Dezman Moses got into the backfield and got a pair of hands on Griffin for what was ruled a safety. The second-team offense, meanwhile, was stuffed on its first try from the one, but sophomore running back Stephen Barnett broke free for a 52-yard scamper on the second attempt for the longest run of the day.
"We just went though our 11th day of spring practice," Toledo said. "We did some situational things again and one of the things we tried to do was our `coming out' offense and defense. Offensively, we have to try and make a first down and get into a position where we can punt the ball and not be too backed up. Defensively, you've got to try and keep them down in there so we make them punt out of the endzone. We threw a lot of vertical balls today, ran a lot of bootlegs and reverses, things to not only help the offense but the defense as well, and did our kickoff teams today as well."
The Green Wave return to practice on Tuesday, April 20, when they take the field from 7-11 a.m. and will go again on Wednesday from 8 a.m. until noon. Following a day off on Thursday, the Tulane team will practice from 8 a.m. until 12 p.m. on Friday before wrapping up Spring Practice on Saturday with a Spring Game controlled scrimmage.
"I think it's pretty demanding," Toledo said of the week's practice schedule. "We won't scrimmage every day, which helps a little bit, and on Friday we'll just be in helmets prior to the last day of Spring Practice. It'll be a pretty good, physical day on Saturday. We've kind of geared it to be fast, slow, fast, slow, hit, not hit - that type of thing just to keep everyone enthused and keep everyone healthy."
Season tickets for the 2010 Tulane football season remain on sale through the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office. Season ticket prices are only $199 for sideline seats, $99 for adult endzone, $65 for youth endzone and $250 for the Family 4 Pack (2 adult, 2 youth). For additional information or to order season tickets, please call the Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE, log onto the internet at TulaneGreenWave.com, or show up in person at the ticket office located inside the James W. Wilson Jr. Center on Ben Weiner Drive.
