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Three Offensive Players to Watch as Tulane Welcomes South Alabama to Uptown
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- Three Offensive Players to Watch as Tulane Welcomes South Alabama to Uptown
(IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect)
After a rough start to the season, the Tulane Green Wave is looking to right the ship and notch its first win under head coach Will Hall .
The Green Wave took a 17-3 loss to the Duke Blue Devils to open up the season, and the team looked slow and undisciplined in the matchup. Since then, there's been quite a few shakeups in Uptown, including the naming of a new starting quarterback.
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Tulane will have to find some sort of spark on offense as a shifty South Alabama Jaguars team heads to town this weekend. Here's a look at three players who could stand out and be the biggest difference makers in the game.
QB Kadin Semonza
Semonza was named the team's starting quarterback earlier this week after coming off the bench and providing a little bit of a spark against Duke.
The redshirt junior went 11-for-21 passing for 140 yards against the Blue Devils. Though his accuracy left much to be desired, it was refreshing to see someone in the pocket who wasn't afraid to air the ball out a little bit. His style of play will be completely different than the style that first-game starter Zeon Chriss-Gremillion brought to the field, and that could be exactly what the program needs.
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Will Semonza rise to the occasion as a starter? Only time will tell.
RB Johnnie Daniels
Tulane's attack on the ground wasn't strong in Week One, as the team only put up 54 total rushing yards. While a handful of running backs split reps somewhat evenly in the absence of Jamauri McClure , Johnnie Daniels got the majority of touches.
Daniels totaled 31 yards on eight carries, averaging 3.9 yards per rush. All of these were team-highs. He's shown that he can be powerful, even if his first game didn't quite live up to everyone's expectations, and he's certainly capable of being the workhorse of the unit.
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South Alabama gave up just 45 rushing yards to the Southeastern Louisiana Lions last weekend, so it's not going to be easy for Daniels to make explosive plays. However, at this point, it looks like he's the most likely candidate to make a difference on the ground, at least until McClure returns.
WR Anthony Brown-Stephens
Brown-Stephens is the veteran of the wideouts, but he didn't have too much of an impact to open up the season.
The redshirt senior was second on the team with four receptions, but he only totaled 16 receiving yards. He was reliable in short-yardage situations, but he struggled to make a difference downfield. Part of this might be because of the quarterback situation, but regardless, he's going to have to step up more if he wants to help lead his program to some wins this year.
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A tough opening game could wake Brown-Stephens up a bit heading into the rest of the year. It wouldn't be surprising to see him give some extra effort this weekend, and that could truly pay off in the long run.
