At his weekly press conference, Tulane head football coach Jon Sumrall took a look ahead at the American Conference opener, as the Green Wave travel to Tulsa to take on the Golden Hurricane. It’s a 3:00 p.m. kickoff Saturday, September 27th from Skelly Field at H.A. Chapman Stadium. The game will be telecast on ESPNU and broadcast on the Tulane Radio Network.
Sumrall pointed directly to redshirt freshman quarterback Baylor Hayes as the key that turns on the Hurricane offensive attack.
“He’s got real ability. You see him run and throw the ball and you can tell he’s talented,” Sumrall said. “He very instinctive. He’s natural. I just I like the player. When you watch guys on tape, there are some guys you watch like, man, I really like this guy.”
“He’s aggravating a little bit. He’ crafty. He’s creative. He’s got a little poise about him. He doesn’t look like a young player. He looks more confident than that. I got a lot of respect for him. I think he’s playing at a high level without a whole lot of time on task.”
The Brentwood, TN native came into the New Mexico State game mid-way through and helped lead Tulsa, going 14 of 17 for 134 yards, a touchdown, and an interception. In the Golden Hurricane’s win over Oklahoma State last weekend, Hayes was a super efficient 23 of 36 for 219 yards and a TD.
“I think he’s playing really good football and he’s been a big time catalyst once they inserted him in the New Mexico State game,” Sumrall continued. “I thought he played really good and then last week (in Stillwater at Oklahoma State), golly, to be in that environment and go play the way he did, I really respect it a ton.”
On the ground, quarterback Hayes can tote the pigskin, but Tulsa’s bread and butter is 6-1, 210 pound running back Dominic Richardson.
“He’s got 442 yards on the year,” Sumrall summarized. “He’s a big guy, you know, a 210 pound dude. Physical, downhill runner, breaks tackles. I really thought he kind of dictated the flow of the game last week (vs. Okla St.) for them. I thought the way he played really took the game over for them and allowed them to establish the ground game. They fed him the rock and just kept doing it over and over and over again and broke a lot of tackles. Good physical runner.”
The Golden Hurricane defense is led by ETSU transfer, junior linebacker Ray Coney. He leads Tulsa in just about every defensive category.
“He’s got 49 tackles on the year in four games,” Sumrall stated. “That’s a pretty impressive statline. He’s everywhere. He’s very active. He’s good with his hands. He’s athletic, physical, makes plays in space. He’s just one of those guys that seems to always be around the football. Even when he’s not the primary, you feel like every time at the end of the play, he’s next to the ball.”
