Losman And Williams Lead Offense In Scrimmage

Senior quarterback J.P. Losman completed 10-of-15 passes for 129 yards and a pair of touchdowns while junior receiver Roydell Williams caught four passes for 47 yards to lead Tulane in a 50-plus play scrimmage Saturday morning at the Westfeldt Facility. The Green Wave defense, meanwhile, limited the offense, which was playing minus 2002 leading rushers Mewelde Moore and Jovon Jackson, to just 16 yards on 21 carries on the ground while collecting five sacks.

Tulane went through its usual drills for the first 1:15 of practice before beginning the situational scrimmage, which lasted approximately an hour and took place in some of the hottest conditions of the preseason so far. The scrimmage began with Tulane working out of its own end zone, then saw the offense move to the red zone, and then between the 30s.

“I’m pleased with the way some of our players fought through the tiredness,” said Head Coach Chris Scelfo. “I’ll be interested to see the tape and see how many mistakes we made. The key is to fight adversity, and this will help show us who can do that. The mistakes that happened today are correctable.”

Losman hit Chris Bush and Nick Narcisse with touchdown passes of 15 and 21 yards, respectively, while the other offensive score came on a 53-yard pass from Wofford College transfer Chris Dawson to freshman Kenneth Guidroz. After Williams, Guidroz and Bush were Tulane’s leading receivers on the day as the freshman caught a pair of balls for 58 yards and Bush totalled two catches for 24 yards. Also of note was a 34-yard grab by Carl Davis.

Senior Chino Fontenette led the running backs with six carries for 23 yards and a long run of nine yards. Freshman wide receiver Fred Smith had a 16-yard reception in addition to a pair of rushes for five yards.

“Offensively, J.P. threw the ball well,” Scelfo said. “He anticipated the openings and that’s what we’ve talked to him about. The offensive line was sluggish today and we didn’t give our quarterbacks enough protection. We need guys to develop there.”

The defense made several big plays on the day, including five pass break ups, seven tackles for loss and the five sacks. Laine Sambrooks was credited with a pair of sacks while Wallas Mateen had a safety.

Scelfo singled out several defensive players for their work in the scrimmage.

“Billy Harrison (true freshman defensive end) caught my eye,” Scelfo said. “Sean Lucas (sophomore cornerback) really played well and Taurean Brown (redshirt freshman defensive tackle) did some good things. Brandon Spincer really stood out at linebacker. We have to develop the attitude and the leadership over on that side of the ball.”

Several players did not take part in Saturday's workout, including Moore, Jackson, LB Anthony Cannon, QB Nick Cannon, WR Damarcus Davis, RB Adam Wood, FS Joey Dawson, DB Beau Stubbs and TE Bobby Hoover.

Following the scrimmage, Tulane signed autographs and posed for pictures with hundreds of Green Wave fans who turned out for the school’s annual Fall Fan Day. Tulane opens the 2003 season Monday, Sept. 1 versus defending Conference USA co-champion TCU in the Louisiana Supercome. The 7 p.m. game will be broadcast nationally on ESPN. Tickets for the 2003 season, and for each of Tulane’s six home games, are on sale at the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office in the James W. Wilson Center, on-line at www.TulaneGreenWave.com or by calling 504-861-WAVE.

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