The offense had its best day of spring practice on Thursday at Yulman Stadium, picking up where it left off at the end of Tuesday's workout. I'll get to that in a bit, but the biggest news today was the absence of punter Will Karoll, who has become the third significant player to leave the team either right before the start of drills (Rayshawn Pleasant) or during them (Jesus Machado and now Karoll). This pretty much came out of nowhere--Karoll was at last Saturday's scrimmage--and Jon Sumrall suspects tampering from another school, although there is nothing he can do about it. I noticed Karoll was not out there today after watching Patrick Durkin struggle on field goals for the first time and realizing his holder was Jesuit alum William Hudlow instead of Karoll. I asked Sumrall about Karoll after practice, and this is what he said:

"He's leaving. He's decided to move on. It's the world we live in. We talked and I'm not going to say everything that was said. You never know who's been talking to him. I think he probably already knows his destination. I'll just say that."

I pointed out Australians like Karoll were placed at schools by the agency representing them--Karoll told me as much when I wrote a feature on him.

"He's sort of changed the group he's with," Sumrall said. "He's not with the group he came over with. It's one of those things. I'm for Will. I like Will. I hate that he's gone. We have to go get a punter now, probably. It was very out of the blue. It was fine until it wasn't. I'm not real smart, but I've been doing this long enough to know there's some foul play. There's some backdoor things that are outside of our control. I wish him well and hope it goes well wherever he ends up."

Hudlow was the No. 2 punter, but Tulane definitely will need to find its punter from the portal.

Back to the practice. I did not write down a ton of the play-by-play because I was focused on depth chart info on the defensive line, but in 7 on 7, Kadin Semonza, whose last name pronunciation is Semahnza when I had been thinking Semoanza all spring, hit well-covered tight end Anthony Miller in the hands deep downfield, but Miller dropped it. It was not an easy catch, but it was one he should have made. Semonza then threw over the head of Bryce Bohanon deep when Bohanon had a step. He then went underneath to Sidney Mbanasor for back-to-back completions, nearly threw an interception on a deflected pass and hit Jamauri McClure for a 40-yard touchdown on a wheel route when the defense forgot about McClure. Kevin Adams was the closest defender, but I don't think it was his responsibility.

Donovan Leary took over and finished his drive with a 40-yard touchdown pass to wide open tight end Guiseann Mirtil, who made his second big play in as many days after being invisible since returning from a serious knee he sustained in the middle of 2024 spring drills as an early-enrolling freshman. Leary's next drive ended in a 39-yard field goal attempt that Durkin sent wide left for his second miss in a row, prompting me to notice Hudlow as holder.

After a break for individual work, they finished practice with an 11-on-11 2-minute drill in shoulder pads but with no tackling to the ground. Leary got first crack and threw deep for Shaun Nicholas, who stopped his route when he realized he was not open and got chewed out for not finishing the play. The drive ended with a nice touchdown run by Maurice Turner, who would be the starting running back if the season started Saturday. Sumrall has offered nothing but praise for Turner, a big-play threat who also can be tough as a runner when needed.

When Semonza got his chance, he hit Kellen Tasby on the play of the day-- a jump ball on a deep pass down the sideline in which Tasby leaped to make the grab over Adams, drawing loud cheers from the offense. The drive ended with no points when Semonza threw the ball into the stands because no one was open on third down before Jayden Lewis broke up a pass for Tasby in the corner of the end zone, sticking his hand in there just as the ball arrived.

Leary went back in and hit Zycarl Lewis on a deep out, threw a short pass to Garrett Mmahat, hit Lewis before Lewis slipped to the turf making a cut and fumbled a snap, recovering it himself. He then hit Anthony Brown-Stephens over the middle of the field to move the offense within field goal range, waited for the clock to run down before spiking the ball and watching as Durkin made a 37-yard field goal. The whistle blew ending practice at 10:02.

DEFENSIVE LINE DEPTH

I continually wrote down the front four while they rotated guys in and out. The first group I saw was Mo Westmoreland at bandit, Santana Hopper and Elijah Champaigne inside and Kam Hamilton, who is back to wearing No. 70, at end. Jah'Rie Garner roated in for Hopper quickly, and Deshaun Batiste replaced Hamilton. A little later, the D-line was Garner, Geordan Guidry, Derrick Sheppard and Jordan Norman. Then it was Gerrod Henderson, Drammeh, Nik Alston and Ty Cooper. A little later, it was walk-on Michael Guruli, Guidry, Sheppard and Norman. Then it was Batiste, Tre'Von McAlpine, Eliyt Nairne and Garner. The last grouping I wrote down was Garner, Guidry, Sheppard and McAlpine. My best guess for a starting unit y would be Henderson, Hopper, Adonis Friloux (who is out for the rest of spring) and Hamilton, but guys will rotate in and out on the deep unit.

INJURY

During the 11-on-11 work, Elijah Baker went down screaming with a knee injury that did not appear as severe a couple minutes later as he made it look at first. Although they moved the scrimmage away from him while a trainer examined him and stretched his leg, he walked off mostly on his own power while favoring his left leg. We will see how that pans out.

PHYSICAL DRILL

They did another version of Oklahoma kickoff drill they ran before the first scrimmage today, but with only two players competing at a time and no returner. One player lined up at the 15 and another lined up at the 20. They started toward the goal line, and the player in front had to turn around and try to prevent the other one from getting to a tackling dummy at the 3. Chris Rodgers beat Dallas Winner-Johnson comfortably, getting around him and slamming into the dummy. The others were more of a wash.

So I was entering Yulman Stadium yesterday when I got a text from my boss at The Advocate saying the owner of the business (I assume he was referring to John George) wanted a story up within a day about Carlin Hartman winning a national championship and Florida and asking me if I could write it. You can't say no to a text like that, but I spent the next 24 hours working on what I thought would be mission impossible trying to reach Hartman for an interview and trying to get Perry Clark and Kim Lewis as extra voices.

It turned out to be easier than I thought--my connections at Florida came through for me and my connection at Tulane put me in touch with Clark and Lewis--but I was fully occupied until I finished the story this afternoon

I now have time to write the practice report I intended to write yesterday. It should be up within the hour.

Sorry Guerry, have to ask bc the reports are few and far between.

After conducting a regular practice, Tulane scrimmaged from 9:45 to 10:17 on Saturday morning at Yulman Stadium. Instead of having an Oklahoma-like kickoff coverage drill right before the start, they had three one-on-one races between offensive and defensive players. They lined up at the 45-yard line, ran around a cushion at the other 45 and race back to dive across the 45. The first two were so close that the offense and defense claimed victory, with Jamauri McClure going against Kevin Adams and a pair of numbers I didn't catch in the second one. The last one had Zycarl Lewis against Armani Cargo, and Cargo won.

Several players were held out of the scrimmage. On defense, Sam Howard, Dickson Agu, Kam Hamilton, Javion White and Adonis Friloux were notable absences. On offense, Arnold Barnes and LaRon Husbands (knee, crutches) sat out while Derrick Graham and Shadre Hurst got eight reps before heading to the sideline to let other gets needed work. TJ Finley of course was not there. Darion Reed continued to be unavailable with a minor injury, wearing his jersey but not having his helmet. Antwaun Parham is out with an injury, too, joining Omari Hayes.

The scrimmage started with the offense backed up to its 1-yard line. On the first play, there was a botched exchange between Jack Hollifield and Kadin Semonza. The ball went forward, and Jack Tchienchou picked it up for an easy scoop and score. Donovan Leary went in and nearly threw a pick-six, with Chris Rodgers reading the out pass, stepping in front of it but failing to hold on to the ball.

Next, they did a third-and-one drill from the offense's 20. Leary threw incomplete under heavy pressure, then the offense was called for holding on a nice run by Zuberi Mobley, Mobley picked up a first down by inches and Semonza sneaked for 2 yards.

The regular portion of the scrimmage started with the ball at the offense's 20. After Leary threw incomplete, a penalty backed the offense up to the 19 and McClure busted a 21-yard power run where he ran through tackles. A quick out to Shazz Preston picked up 4 yards--he was unable to break free as he did twice in the first scrimmage--and Maurice Turner powered his way for 8 yards. Leary hit Preston for 25 yards on an inside route before Turner gained 2 yards and McClure gained 9 yards on a powerful run to make it first down at the defense's 12. Leary kept for a 3-yard loss (the whistle of course blew before any contact with the quarterbacks), and McClure was met in the backfield by a host of tacklers, breaking two of them but still ending up with a 2-yard loss. Leary then threw late to the outside for Justyn Reed on a pass that was not close. Patrick Durkin kicked a 35-yard field goal to finish the drive.

Semonza was next and started with three straight incomplete passes--including an overshot and another that was broken up by Jah'Rie Garner. They started over and Turner was stuffed for a 5-yard loss before breaking loose on second down for 22-yard gain down the sideline. He fumbled at the end, but the ball went ouf of bounds. Rodgers, who is having a good spring, tackled Anthony Miller for a 2-yard reception on the next play, and Shaun Nicholas beat KC Eziomume for 10 yards to move the ball to the defense's 44. Joshua Moore blitzed for a 6-yard "sack," Turner picked up 6 yards and Semonza scrambled on third down before the whistle blew for a sack.

Leary got the next turn and found Anthony Brown-Stephens wide open on a crosser for 24 yards to the 49. McClure was cut down for 1-yard gain, failing to break a tackle for the first time in four runs and looking a little dinged up as teammates pulled him up, and Leary overshot McClure on a simple pass in the flat where McClure did not appear totally ready. On third-and-9, Leary held the ball a little too long and when he threw, it went right to bandit Ty Cooper for an easy interception.

Leary got another possession and threw a quick out to Garrett Mmahat for 3 yards. Javin Gordon bounced outside for 5 yards but got popped hard near the sideline. McClure, still not looking right, tried to run wide to his left on third-and-1 and lost 3 yards. Leary tried to throw a quick pass on fourth-and-4 and Adams jumped it for an interception.

Leary got a third consecutive series, this time from the offense's 40, and started with a beautiful pass to Nicholas down the sideline for 20 yards. Moore sacked him for 5 yards on the next play before Mobley gained 4 yards. Turner tried to bounce outside on a surprise third-and-11 run call but gained only 5 yards. On fourth and 6, Leary overthrew an open Lewis on a deep ball to the end zone. They still allowed Durkin to attempt a 52-yard field goal, and he nailed it with a couple of yards to spare. The last time a Tulane kicker made one of 50 yards or longer in a game was Cairo Santos in 2013, which is insane.

Semonza went back in and handed off to McClure, who looked recovered from his early ding, gained 8 yards but fumbled at the end. The offense recovered it. An incomplete pass followed before Oliver Mitchell caught a 4-yard pass and slipped. A quick throw to Gordon netted 9 yards, and he then broke a tackle on a 17-yard power run to the 22. After a throwaway, Turner gained 14 yards up the middle on a play that ended in a fight between two players whose numbers I did not catch (an offensive lineman and a defensive lineman). On first-and-goal from the 8, Semonza overshot Reed in the corner of the end zone. He then hit Lewis on a quick out, but he was pushed out of bounds for no gain. Deshaun Batiste had a sack on third down, leading to a 32-yard field goal by Durkin.

They went to red zone work next, and Semonza was not clsoe on a pass for Bryce Bohanon. Mobley ran through a big hole for 11 yards to move the ball to the 9, and I thought McClure scored on the next play. The offense celebrated as if it were a touchdown, but the ball was marked just inside the 1. A Semonzs sneak was ugly as he went too low, and McClure was hit for a 2-yard loss on third-and-goal from the 1. A TD pass to Reid, who ran into the end zone and simply turned around, was wiped out by a penalty before Semonza connected with Bohanon on an out route in the back of the end zone, floating it in nicely. over Chase Green. Durkin converted the extra point.

The scrimmage ended with one red zone possession for walk-on Dagan Bruno. He found Brown-Stephens for 18 yars on the first play. A 1-yard run on first-and-goal set up Turner for a 1-yard TD plunge, and Zach Marini made the extra point.

DEPTH CHARTS

The starting O-line from left to right was Derrick Graham, Shadre Hurst, Hollifield, John Bock and Reese Baker. The No. 2 line was Tristen Fortenberry, Landry Cannon, Elijah Baker, Robbie Pizzolato and Dominic Steward. Anthony Miller was the first-team tight end, backed up by Reid. McClure was the first running back, with Turner next, then Gordon, then Mobley. The starting wideouts were Bohanon, Mbanasor and Preston. The No. 2 wideouts were Nicholas, Brown-Stephens and Lewis. Kellen Tasby and Mmahat got in the rotation, too.

The starting D-line was Gerrod Henderson, Tre'Von McAlpine, Santana Hopper and Jah'Rie Garner, with Deshaun Batiste, Elijah Champaigne, Eliyt Nairne and Mo Westmoreland getting plenty of work inthe rotation along with Cooper, PaLanding Drammeh, Geordan Guidry. They rotate in and out so much it is hard to get a read on the order. I did not see Nik Alston but might have missed him.

The linebacker were Rodgers and Dallas Winner-Johnson, with Jean Claude Joseph and Makai Williams getting work.

The nickelbacks were Eziomume and Jayden Lewis. The cornerbacks were Jahiem Johnson and E'Zaiah Shine together at the sart, with Armani Cargo rotating in and Isaiah Wadsworht getting backup reps.

The starting safeties were Tchienchou and Despanie, with Adams and Moore behind them and Green rotating in at times.

Tulane reached the midpoint of spring drills in the middle of Thursday morning's practice. The eighth session of the spring lasted two hours on a windy, humid day, and soon after I realized TJ Finley was not there, the news popped about his arrest. I missed a few minutes of the practice while I downloaded the police report and tried to reach his lawyer (unsuccessfully on the latter part), but it appears Tulane's quarterback race is down to two in the spring with the possibility of another one added in the summer portal period if neither Kadin Semonza nor Donovan Leary convinces the coaches he can lead this team to a championship. Forget about Kellen Tasby. He practiced at wide receiver today as the staff looks for more height at the position.

My concern with Semonza is he has missed more throws than I expected considering accuracy is his calling card. My spies tell me he picked up the offensive system in about a week after arriving and has the mind to be a successful QB. The question is whether he has the skill set. Leary's skill set is not in question. He has a cannon for an arm, but so did Kai Horton, who lacked the leadership qualities and the consistency to be a solid performer. Both quarterbacks are ahead of the pace any of the three set last spring, but Darian Mensah made a heck of a jump from there, and it remains to be seen if either one of these guys will do that.

I looked at depth charts at the line of scrimmage today while they spent plenty of time in two different segments of 11-on-11 action. The first-team offensive line was Jack Hollifield at center, John Bock at right guard and Reese Baker at right tackle to go along with the two returning starters. The second-team line had Tristen Fortenberry, Landry Cannon, Elijah Baker, Robbie Pizzolato and Dominic Steward from left to right, with Jordan Hall (LT), Jayce Mitchell (LG) and Elijah Baker (C) rotating in. Bock later got some work at center and snapped one high and hard that went through Semonza's hands and forced him to retrieve it 20 yards behind the line.

The defensive line had Harvey Dyson, Ty Cooper and Jah'rie Carner rotating at bandit, Deshaun Batiste and Gerrod Henderson getting the work at end and Eliyt Nairne, Derrick Shepard and Elijah Champaigne getting most of the work inside. Kam Hamilton remains out with an injury. Freshman Nik Alston caught my eye when he deflected a pass from Semonza as he tried to throw on the run.

I have seen a few too many fumbles during the spring. Today, the culprits were Anthony Brown-Stephens on an end around and Zuberi Mobley on an run near the goal line. Mobley got chewed out by a coach for putting the ball on the ground. Neither he nor fellow FAU transfer Omari Hayes, who has been out with an leg injury since day 2, have made much of an impact.

Wide receiver Antwaun Parham suffered a knee injury during practice and was walking off the field toward the locker room with a trainer.

Leary had a good stretch in a 7-on-7 red zone session, hitting Seth Gale in the back corner of the end zone, finding Bryce Bohanon in the back of the end zone and connecting with Oliver Mitchell on back-to-back-to-back touchdown passes.

Maurice Turner makes a highlight play every day, and he looked good again on a quick screen to the outside, taking it a long way. Sumrall absolutely loves him.

A cornerback who has flashed is Isaiah Wadsworth, the senior transfer from Wofford. He blanketed Turner on a pass from Leary in the end zone from the 5.

Jamauri McClure, who has not done much outside of Saturday's scrimmage, got stuffed for a loss by Henderson after catching a quick throw behind the line.

Linebacker Dallas Winner-Johnson continued to make plays, breaking up a throw by Semonza. Kevin Adams made a nice tackle of Mitchell after a short reception.