Tulane Ebbs and Flows in First Camp Scrimmage

The Tulane Green Wave had their first scrimmage of training camp this Saturday and showed potential through some early growing pains.

Credit: Tulane Athletics / Football

The Tulane Green Wave have two and a half weeks until the season opener, and they got their first crack as a new team in Saturday’s scrimmage. As expected, there were some growing pains on both sides of the ball.

The quarterback competition is really hard to evaluate without the starting center and right tackle, and right guard Josh Remetich playing about 20 snaps. But there’s only so much room for context that doesn’t turn to excuses, and that included a slow start on offense.

Throughout the slower start, it quickly became apparent that Makhi Hughes was indeed as good as advertised and was quickly pulled. It's hard to ignore the drop-off on offense without Hughes in play for the remainder of the scrimmage; Tulane's offense can rest largely on his shoulders, as it did last season. The wide receivers also could’ve done more to help out the quarterbacks today.

“We had one that for sure should’ve have been a touchdown that I think was a good throw by Ty,” Sumrall told reporters. “Quarterback’s hard enough. Our receivers need to help him, pass catchers need to help him.”

There were some turnovers that coach Jon Sumrall acknowledged he’d like to have back from the quarterbacks; Ty Thompson recognized this in his remarks after the scrimmage. Kai Horton got the start with the ones, but Sumrall made it clear that there’s nothing to read into and that they’ll alternate in next Thursday’s scrimmage.

When asked what he wants to see more of from his quarterbacks, Sumrall wants more moxie and poise under center.

“Confidence is the most important thing in a quarterback, and if you've got it, you can be successful,” he said. “If you don't believe in it, then it's hard. We had a slow offensive start, but it was encouraging to see our response and see them gain confidence. We got to protect the football; we can't turn it over. I think the biggest thing is those guys continuing to lead, being vocal, really connecting, and being the guy that's leading the charge. Executing the offense at a high level is the biggest thing. Like I've said a hundred times, neither one of those guys has to be Superman. Just run the offense, execute, take what the defense gives you, make the easy throw, and protect the football.”

It reminds me a lot of the advice Drew Brees gave to Jameis Winston when both were still with the New Orleans Saints. Brees essentially offered that notion verbatim to Winston: Be Bruce Wayne until you have to be Batman. You don't have to be Batman all the time.

When Winston eventually won the competition the following season, Sean Payton operated a conservative offense that didn’t rely on his quarterback to single-handedly win football games. When limited in that setting, Winston was more protective with the football than he’d been in his career.

But when in competition, you’re trying to make that throw. Unfortunately, that throw can be the difference between winning and losing the football game. Winston saw 30 of those throws contribute to his 30 touchdowns. Tulane's starting quarterback should aim to emulate Winston's performance from that season prior to his year-ending injury.

They both have shown that potential but need to settle into being the guy—and the backup guy—in these next two weeks of training camp.