Video: Tulane opens preseason football practice

NEW ORLEANS – Just like when its highly anticipated season-opener against Oklahoma will kick off, Tulane’s football team will get its preseason work done before lunch.

Practices at 7:30 a.m. throughout camp. Scrimmages at 11 a.m. on Saturdays, to replicate the day and time the Sooners will invade Yulman Stadium on Sept. 4.

The first of those preseason drills took place under cloudy and less humid than normal conditions Friday.

One of the most intriguing stories to follow during camp is the return of running back Tyjae Spears of Ponchatoula, who tore his ACL in a win over Southern Miss last September.

Spears is still in a red jersey as practice begins, but said he is very close to 100 percent. He did admit, however, that the grind of rehabilitation from the injury almost drove him to walk away.

Spears, who prepped at Ponchatoula, will have a former high school rival in the backfield in former Covington standout and Utah transfer Devin Brumfield. Cam Carroll, who picked up the bulk of the load after Spears’ injury, also returns for the Green Wave, but as is usually the case under Willie Fritz, there will be plenty of touches to go around.

Tulane will go through the NCAA-mandated schedule for the first five days – four practices without full pads, followed by a day off on Tuesday.

The Green Wave opens the 2021 at home Sept. 4 against national power Oklahoma in an 11 a.m. kickoff on ABC.