Tulane Quarterbacks Showed Moxie for First Time

The Tulane Green Wave rounded up Week 1 of training camp, and the quarterback competition saw signs of promise.

Credit: Tulane Athletics / Football

The Tulane Green Wave have a spotlight on their quarterback competition, and while they see the process out carefully, both quarterbacks had a day to build off of on Saturday. 

Tulane put on pads and hit with force for the first contact practice of August in Yulman Stadium. While that lit a physical fire under the team, especially on defense, it seemed to relax both quarterbacks competing for the role. 

Ty Thompson and Kai Horton both looked confident, and they had throws to show for it.

Jon Sumrall started training camp by calling it a two-man race. That changed a bit this week with his comments about Darian Mensah; likely a motivating tactic for the two presumed starters. It also shows that he's evaluating the competition in full, without blinders. Exactly how the team uncovered Makhi Hughes in last year's season opener. 

I've covered a quarterback competition at the NFL level, and learned a lot about the process of evaluation, and importance of patience while they build a body of work.

I've covered a quarterback competition at the NFL level and learned a lot about the process of evaluation and the importance of patience in letting them build a body of work.

There's a heightened level of responsibility of care when it's in college. These are student-athletes still chasing their dreams. They aren't professionals. Ultimately, neither am I. For an amalgamation of those reasons, I put down the notebook today and decided to just let the quarterbacks be, and be themselves. 

In camp today, I saw one of Ty Thompson's best throws on a connection with promising red shirt freshman Sidney Mbanasor. It was decisive and thrown with confidence. Both Thompson and Horton had moments where they displayed leadership with receivers off to the side. It was the first day you almost didn't notice the competition. 

That's the best position to be in after one week of camp. If coach Sumrall was prepared to name a starter after five days of camp, then the competition was ultimately a smokescreen. We're seeing position battles all over the field. Why should it be different at the most important position?

 If either Thompson or Horton was "perfect," there wouldn't be a need to have this competition. Tulane isn't chasing perfect. But to reach the championship, the quarterbacks need to show promise and stack days. That started for both players on Saturday to wrap up the first week of training camp.