Football Continues Working In Day 18 Of Preseason Practice
August 26, 2008
The start of the school year is just two days away and the season-opening contest at Alabama looms just two weeks down the road, but the atmosphere around the Tulane University football team was simply to …
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane-football/…
Green Wave Football’s Attention to Detail Unaffected by Day 12 Rain
August 25, 2008
A steady downpour of rain failed to make day 12 of the Tulane football team’s preseason camp sloppy.
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Barnhouse’s Bottom 25: Tulane
August 25, 2008
Legendary sportswriter Wendell Barnhouse recently left the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and is now a correspondent for Big 12 Sports.com . With 30 years experience of observing the college scene, his expertise is …
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane/2008/08/b…
Albert Williams bounced back from surgery, now Tulane’s RB
August 25, 2008
Albert Williams bounced back from surgery, now Tulane’s RB - Tulane Beat - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com
Posted by Ted Lewis, The Times-Picayune August 25, 2008 5:55AM
Categories: FootballDamaged goods.
Is there a worse label to hang on a football player, especially a running back, considered the most fragile of positions?
But that’s what Albert Williams was considered after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament and meniscus four games into his senior season at West Brook High School in Beaumont, Texas.
Kansas State and Mississippi State, both of which had made scholarship offers to Williams in the spring, backed off.
So did Tulane, which had been the first school to offer Williams a scholarship.
“They quit calling me, so I called them,” he said. “But they never answered. I didn’t blame them. I figured they were looking at other guys who were just as good as me who hadn’t torn a ligament.”
Still, for Williams, the emotional toll was just as bad, almost as bad as the physical.
“I won’t lie,” he said. “What was going through my head was that I love the game of football, and I was wondering if I was ever going to get to play again.”
But after surgery, Williams’ rehab went better than expected, and on the advice of West Brook Coach Craig Stump, Williams joined the track team so he could prove his straight line speed hadn’t been diminished.
But signing day in early February came and went with Williams’ only offers coming from Division II Texas A&M-Kingsville and Kilgore (Texas) Junior College.
However, at Tulane, the late loss of a couple of recruits and the suspension of Andre Agers left the Green Wave needing running back depth. Running backs coach Greg Davis Jr. remembered Williams. After some cross-checking between doctors and calls to Stump, whom Davis has known since he was an assistant on Greg Davis Sr.’s staff at Tulane, and Williams and his mother, a new offer was made.
“We knew that if Albert was able to show he was healthy again by running track, everybody else was going to come back on him,” Davis Jr. said. “We found out all we could about him, and we made sure we offered him because we might have lost him if we hadn’t.”
Williams signed at the end of February, even though he had never seen the Tulane campus. There was little hesitation on his part to say “yes.”
“My friend (offensive tackle) Nick Landry was already there,” Williams said. “It’s a nice school and nice academically, too. I knew I wouldn’t be going wrong going to Tulane.”
Now, Williams is healthy and is turning heads in training camp with his speed and agility. When the Green Wave opens Sept. 6 at Alabama, Williams is likely to be the top backup behind Andre Anderson, and a kick returner.
“I’ve seen a lot of speed and quickness out of Albert,” Tulane Coach Bob Toledo said. “I’ve seen a guy with pretty good hands, and I’ve seen a guy who is pretty smart. Albert’s a tough little guy who’s not backing down from anybody. If we can get the ball in his hands in space, he’ll give us a big-play guy we haven’t had.”
Williams is probably the quickest of the Green Wave running backs. And he figures he’s more fit now than before his injury, thanks to work he did in rehab and spending the summer at Tulane.
“I feel quicker,” he said. “I’m making cuts I couldn’t make in high school.”
At 5 feet 10, 175 pounds, Williams will need his speed. He’s not in the category of starter Andre Anderson (6-0, 211) or fellow signee Nathan Austin (6-2, 226) who also figures to see playing time this fall.
Davis calls Williams “Little Bit.”
“Albert’s a thrill a second,” Toledo said. “On returns, he’ll either run for a touchdown or fumble.”
Williams, who rushed for 1,336 yards and 16 touchdowns from a spread offense as a junior, is finding college football to be an adjustment.
“I’m learning to hit the holes right,” he said. “Sometimes I have the tendency to go outside when I’m not supposed to. And these guys are a lot stronger and faster than the ones in high school. They know the angles, and I can’t just outrun everybody.”
Regardless, Williams will be used extensively, although with Toledo planning to use Anderson much the way he did Matt Forte’ — as many as 25 carries a game — special teams might be where Williams sees most of his playing time.
And he’s fine with that.
“I just want to contribute to the team,” Williams said. “Return kicks, special teams, put me on defense — anything they want me to do, I’ll do.
“Everything is good.”
Tulane’s Aluko cleared to play
August 24, 2008
Tulane freshman defensive tackle Emmanuel Aluko gained final eligibility approval from the NCAA Clearinghouse.
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane-football/…
Barnhouse’s Bottom 25: Tulane
August 23, 2008
Legendary sportswriter Wendell Barnhouse recently left the Fort Worth Star-Telegram and is now a correspondent for Big 12 Sports.com . With 30 years experience of observing the college scene, his expertise is …
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane-football/…
One-Time - Bachelor’ Joins ESPN’s College Football Crew
August 22, 2008
One week before the 2008-09 college football regular season kicks off, ESPN announced that Jesse Palmer, a former New York Giant quarterback and one-time star of ABC’s The Bachelor , will serve as an analyst …
http://www.topix.com/ncaa/tulane-football/…
Aerial Game On Display in Day 14 of Tulane Football Camp
August 22, 2008
After the first 13 days of Tulane football preseason camp left the Green Wave bruised and battered, head coach Bob Toledo , backed off his troops Thursday.
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Volleyball Receives Votes In 2008 Preseason AVCA Top 25
August 22, 2008
Green Wave enter the season receiving 38 votes to rank 38th among NCAA Division I programsAug. 21, 2008
Coach Kritza’s Comment’s Following Thursday’s Practice
NEW ORLEANS - The 2008 Tulane University volleyball team added to its already lengthy list of first on Thursday as the Green Wave received 38 votes in the Preseason American Volleyball Coaches Association Top 25.
The 38 votes place the Green Wave 38th among NCAA Division I programs, and is the only C-USA team to receive preseason votes in 2008. The preseason votes in 2008 marks the first time in Tulane volleyball history that the Green Wave received votes in the national poll prior to the start of the season. Other firsts for the team came on Aug. 4 when Conference USA tabbed the Green Wave the preseason favorite to win the league’s regular-season title and senior outside hitter Sara Radosevic garnered Preseason C-USA Player of the Year honors.
“I think it is a good place for us to be because I think it is a very attainable goal for us,” fourth-year Tulane head volleyball coach Liz Kritza said. “I think we are going to surpass it, though, with the way these kids are working. The schedule that we have over the next three weeks is going to be a test. Are we 38th are we much higher than that? I believe in aiming high, much higher than 38th. But we haven’t proven anything yet.
“We have to prove it to the entire volleyball world. That’s what the season is about. That’s what the pre-conference portion of our season is for. Before we go into conference play, we have to prove to ourselves and to everybody else that we belong in the Top 25 and then stay there.”
The preseason distinction comes following a 2007 season that saw Tulane go 28-6 and finish second in the regular-season C-USA standings with a 14-2 league record. In addition, the Wave return all 13 letterwinners from a year ago
While Kritza and her team are excited about receiving the preseason votes, they realize the opportunity to rise in the standings is within their grasps based on the early portion of their 2008 schedule.
In the first weekend of the season, the Green Wave will face No. 20 BYU in day two of the BYU Molten Classic in Provo, Utah, on Aug 30. From there, Tulane will take on No. 10 Cal Poly and No. 7 Nebraska at the Paso Robles Marriott Invitational on Sept. 5 and Sept. 6, respectively, in San Luis Obispo, Calif. The final member of the AVCA Preseason Top 25 on the Tulane schedule is No. 15 Middle Tennessee, which the Wave will play on Sept. 21 in Cincinnati, Ohio.
“To be a top team, you have to play top teams,” Kritza said. “That’s what the entire pre-conference schedule is about. It gives us an opportunity to knock off teams that are ranked ahead of us. When we made the schedule, we knew that a number of them would be ranked in the preseason Top 25. That’s exactly why we wanted to play them - not just for the RPI points, but because that is the level this team has to play consistently when we go into conference play.
“If we want to hit our marks of winning the conference championship, winning the conference tournament, making history and being the first Tulane team to make the NCAAs, we have to play at that level more than just one or two matches a season. We have to play at that level match after match and weekend after weekend.”
It was not all good news for the Green Wave on Thursday, however, as Kritza announced that the team would be without the playing services of senior middle blocker Lauren Boatwright due to injury. A three-year starter who has posted 279 kills and 243 digs during her career, Boatwright will miss her senior season due to bone marrow edema. She will, however, remain a part of the team as a student assistant.
“It’s been a tough road for Lauren, but we have kind of seen it coming,” Kritza said. “She has been trying to come back through her best efforts and our medical staff’s best efforts to get her back on the court. But it really is in her best interest and this team’s best interest that she assumes a different role.
“It is a really important role for us. Her character, her leadership and her volleyball know-how comes into play not so much on the court blocking and hitting for us, but coaching. Seeing things as an older, experienced player in a leadership role is something that she can share with the team. She will be another set of eyes and she has a good head on her shoulders to help this group face its most challenging season ever.”
The Tulane team will practice again on Friday with a double session starting at 10:15 a.m. and 4 p.m. at the Reily Student Recreation Center. The team will practice again at Reily on Saturday morning before holding a scrimmage at approximately 5 p.m. at Fogelman Arena. The scrimmage is open to the public and admission is free.
The Green Wave open the season on Aug. 29 against Missouri, and will play their first home match on Monday, Sept. 1, against Florida A&M. For season tickets information or tickets to any future Green Wave home athletic event, contact the Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE.
Tulane sets open football scrimmage for Saturday
August 22, 2008
Tulane sets open football scrimmage for Saturday - Tulane Beat - Times-Picayune - NOLA.com
Posted by Ted Lewis, Times-Picayune August 21, 2008 6:28PM
Categories: FootballWhile most college football programs operate behind closed doors these days, Tulane’s practices are open to the public, including Saturday’s scrimmage which will be the final major one of preseason camp.
“We don’t worry about that stuff,” Tulane Coach Bob Toledo said. “We’ll confuse anybody that comes to see us, I guarantee you.”
And. Toledo added, the players would appreciate the support of the fans.
“We’re trying to attract people to the ‘Dome, and be fan friendly,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do here.”
Saturday’s practice will begin at 3:30 p.m. with the scrimmage set to start about a half hour later.
MOVING DAY OFF
The team was to aid freshman moving into their dorms on Friday morning, but the coaches received word on Thursday that they weren’t needed.
So instead of a morning off, the players will lift weights and have meetings before the afternoon practice.
TAKING IT EASY
Coming off Wednesday’s 100-play scrimmage, Thursday’s two practice sessions were on the lighter side, especially in the morning when what contact there was was mostly accidental.
Game situations dominated team work in the afternoon.
“We slowed things down a little bit,” Toledo said. “But they were still dragging pretty good. We’re trying to break them and bring them back.”
Toledo said he was particularly impressed with the work of running backs Andre Anderson and Albert Williams in the scrimmage along with linebackers Travis Burks, safety Devin Holland and defensive tackle Tony Bryant.
TAYLOR GONE
Less than a week after finally getting approval from the NCAA Clearinghouse, freshman defensive end Kadeem Taylor has left the team for what Toledo called “personal reasons.”
Taylor, who prepped at Monroe Carroll was absent for the first week of practice while his status was cleared up and Wednesday was his first day in full pads.