Green Wave wrap week four with 60 play scrimmage, including redzone drills to close out the day

Rising junior quarterback Ryan Griffin completed 14-of-23 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns in Friday's scrimmage.   Rising junior quarterback Ryan Griffin completed 14-of-23 passes for 183 yards and three touchdowns in Friday's scrimmage.

NEW ORLEANS – One week after seeing the defense dominate a week-ending scrimmage, it was the offense’s turn to turn some heads as the Tulane University football team wrapped up week four of spring practice with a 60-play scrimmage on Friday at the Westfeldt Practice Facility.

The defense was not without its share of highlights, but the day belonged to rising junior Ryan Griffin who completed 14-of-23 passes for 183 yards. His longest pass of the day came on a 51-yard strike to junior wideout Ryan Grant and Griffin threw scoring tosses to Grant, sophomore receiver Wilson Van Hooser and redshirt-freshman tight end Matt Marfisi.

“I say it all the time and I’ve coached both sides of the ball, but the defense is usually ahead of the offense early on because offense is about timing and execution,” Tulane head football coach Bob Toledo said. “Defensively, a guy can make a mistake away from the ball and no one suffers. If that happens on offense, you don’t have a play. They’re getting better.

“As a head coach, you’re never happy because either the offense or the defense is doing good. As a coordinator, if your group did good you’re happy and if they didn’t you’re sad. We just want to get better individually. We’re not here to win spring practices. We’re here to win football games in the fall so we’ve got to get better individually and then as a team.”

Grant was the favorite target on Friday, hauling in five passes for 117 yards, while junior Devin Figaro and sophomore Wilson Van Hooser each had three receptions for 36 and 35 yards, respectively. On the ground, sophomore Jamar Thomas led the way with 32 yards on seven carries.

Friday scrimmage wrapped up with a physical goal-line drill where the Green Wave ran eight total plays and saw the offense hit paydirt three times. Griffin’s four-yard pass to Marfisi opened the goal-line scoring while sophomore Olreans Darkwa and junior Stephen Barnett added rushing touchdowns.

Defensively, Tulane posted six sacks among nine tackles for losses on the day, including a 2.5 tackle-for-loss, two-sack performance by rising sophomore Wendell Beckwith. Sophomores defensive backs Derrick Strozier and Kyle Davis tied for the team lead with five tackles each while Beckwith and sophomore defensive lineman Julius Warmsley had four apiece.

Warmsley added one and a half tackles for loss while linebacker Trent Mackey along with defensive linemen Austen Jacks, Josh Smith and Cedric Wilson each had a sack. Junior Jordan Sullen, who is in his second season as a cornerback after playing wide receiver as a true freshman in 2009, had a game-high three pass break-ups.

The play of the day defensively, however, came from the No. 2 unit as Beckwith hit back-up quarterback Taylor Bullock and forced a fumble which redshirt-freshman Steven Funderburk scooped up and rambled 26 yards for a touchdown.

“I see us making progress. The defense is really playing well. They’ve got a lot of continuity and a lot of speed. We’ve only got one player on our starting defense running slower than a five-flat, and that’s a defensive tackle. I’m really excited about what they’re doing. Offensively, I thought we threw the ball a lot better today. We threw a couple of touchdowns and the timing seems to be a little better. We wanted to emphasize the passing game today, too, so that was good.

The Green Wave will take the weekend off before returning to the practice field on Monday, April 11, at 9 a.m. Tulane has three practice dates slated for the remainder of the offseason and will conclude team drills with a Spring Game on Saturday, April 16.

Tickets for the 2011 Tulane football season are currently for sale through the Tulane Athletics Ticket Office. The upcoming schedule features six home games, including the home opener against Southeastern Louisiana and a marquee matchup against Big East opponent Syracuse. Tulane will also host Conference USA foes Houston, Tulsa, Memphis and UTEP. Season ticket prices are only $180 for sideline seats, $90 for adult endzone, $60 for youth endzone and $240 for the Family 4 Pack (2 adult, 2 youth).

For additional information or to order season tickets, please call the Tulane Ticket Office at (504) 861-WAVE (9283), log onto the internet at TulaneGreenWave.com, or show up in person at the ticket office located inside the James W. Wilson Jr. Center on Ben Weiner Drive.