I was expecting today to be a much lighter practice than it was, so I am going to do a report rather than the depth chart analysis, which I will post tomorrow instead.
The offense, which has been coming on since a dismal performance in the scrimmage two weeks ago after TJ Finley's suspension, had its best day of the spring this morning. At one point, Will Hall approached the receivers on the sideline and praised them for making a series of tough catches. Neither Donovan Leary nor Kadi Semonza has proven he can be a quality starting QB at this level, but I'm definitely not closing the book on either of them. They both are ahead of where any of the three quarterbacks were last year at this time, although expecting the dramatic improvement Darian Mensah made in the summer from either one of these guys is no certainty. Jon Sumrall has to get another quarterback ini the spring portal for depth purposes alone, but I'm not convinced a guy coming in after missing all of the spring will be the frontrunner for the job.
Jha'Quan Jackson attended practice today, and as per the usual, inspected my socks and told me to push them down further. Don't ask. It was a routine that started early last year and never stopped. I asked him why Tyjae Spears did not get the ball more last year with the Titans, and he pulled up the head coach's phone number and asked if I wanted to call and ask him directly. Jackson was giving encouragement and some coaching to the receivers on the sideline.
I did not notice any extra absences other than Jude McCoskey and Deshaun Batiste, who announced yesterday they were entering the portal. The Tulane staff is pretty confident there will not be any more big-time defections (neither of those guys qualify in that category, although Batiste would have gotten playing time in the d-line rotation), so we shall see.
Kadin Semonza directed a long touchdown drive in the first 11-on-11 segment, completing a bunch of passes in a row with quick decisions. He gets in trouble sometimes when he gets pressured, throwing the ball up for grabs or scrambling into more trouble, but he is at his best when the ball comes out of his hands fast. He hit Shaun Nicholas over the middle to start the drive and then threw a deep out to Anthony Brown-Stephens, who made a terrific leaping catch along the sideline. Semonza even made a completion with a hand in his face on a pass rush right up the middle, hitting Garrett Mmahat. A pair of connections with Shazz Preston moved the ball to the 11, where Semonza threw a perfect fade to Nicholas in the back of the end zone, beating KC Eziomume for a touchdown as the offense celebrated en masse.
Leary did not produce a touchdown on his drive, but he made a nice pass to Guiseann Mirtil on third down to move the chains, hit Oliver Mitchell outside and over the middle and threw a quick out to Brown-Stephens. He scrambled for another first down, showing what I thought was good foot speed before getting shot down by Sumrall after practice, but then took a sack that killed the chance to score. Mitchell, by the way, has really come on this week after not being very noticeable in the first few weeks of spring drills. If the Karr product becomes a big factor in his career, it could open up a pipeline to the premier New Orleans area program that has long been closed.
At the end of practice, they had a tough 2-minute drill with the offense starting at its own 45 with a minute left and two timeouts and needing a touchdown to win. Leary almost produced one right away, throwing deep to a streaking Shazz Preston, who laid out for the ball at the goal line but could not bring it in. A scrambling completion to Zycarl Lewis (who they call CJ) gained a first down, but a long pass to Preston in the corner of the end zone again was slightly too far, going off one outstretched hand in what would have been a miraculous catch. Leary then could not connect with Mmahat on a crossing pattern under heavy pressure, with the ball going off his fingertips. With time running out, Leary threw underneath to Maurice Turner inbounds, forcing the offense to burn its final timeout. He then threw short of the end zone to Anthony Miller in a bad decision since time ran out on the play.
Semonza was next, and he took a "sack" on the first play that put the offense behind the 8-ball and forced a quick timeout. After a short pass to Duda Barnes, who reversed field to try to make something out of it but was touched down, and an absolute duck to Lewis he threw deep under intense pressure up the middle that easily could have been intercepted but wasn't, he made a gorgeous dart over the middle to Lewis, splitting two defenders fora first down on fourth-and-11. A short completion to Lewis forced the offense to burn its final timeout with little time left, and the defense broke up a sideline pass that would have picked up a few yards. Semonza threw for the end zone on the next play but did not get enough air under the ball. Brown-Stephens still nearly made a circus catch, trapping the ball as he came back for it just in the end zone. With time for one play left, Semonza threw a long fade for Sidney Mbanasor, who did not make a play on the ball while Eziomume, in perfect position, nearly intercepted it.
William Hudlow got a lot of work today, and while I do not think he will be the punter next fall, he has improved significantly since Will Karoll's departure. When the drill was not live, he was consistently booming them high and nearly 50 yards, something I never, ever saw from him in the past. When they put a rush on him in a live drill, though, he became more erratic. One punt went 31 yards off the side of his foot to the left. Another was low and 41 yards to the right. He hit a 57-yarder that was high enough for the coverage to surround Lewis after he caught it, but then he dropped a low snap and hit a 36-yarder back to back. He finished with efforst of 47 and 41 yards before attempting two coffin corner kicks from the defense's 40 and placing the first one inside the 5 where it bounced out of bounds and kicking the next one very high, where it was caught around the 15. The two punt returners were Bryce Bohanon and Lewis.
Tulane has been a little shorthanded at wideout for most of the spring. Omari Hayes was on his scooter again today with his injured leg propped on it with a cast. Antwaun Parham was on crutches, and Jimmy Calloway did not practice. Hayes is expected to be the primary punt returner in the fall.
Patrick Durkin made field goals of 30 and 38 yards in live situations. I should have checked to see who the holder was after Hudlow struggled in that roll last week, but I didn't.
Sumrall and Joe Craddock spoke after practice. I will have their quotes soon.
The offense, which has been coming on since a dismal performance in the scrimmage two weeks ago after TJ Finley's suspension, had its best day of the spring this morning. At one point, Will Hall approached the receivers on the sideline and praised them for making a series of tough catches. Neither Donovan Leary nor Kadi Semonza has proven he can be a quality starting QB at this level, but I'm definitely not closing the book on either of them. They both are ahead of where any of the three quarterbacks were last year at this time, although expecting the dramatic improvement Darian Mensah made in the summer from either one of these guys is no certainty. Jon Sumrall has to get another quarterback ini the spring portal for depth purposes alone, but I'm not convinced a guy coming in after missing all of the spring will be the frontrunner for the job.
Jha'Quan Jackson attended practice today, and as per the usual, inspected my socks and told me to push them down further. Don't ask. It was a routine that started early last year and never stopped. I asked him why Tyjae Spears did not get the ball more last year with the Titans, and he pulled up the head coach's phone number and asked if I wanted to call and ask him directly. Jackson was giving encouragement and some coaching to the receivers on the sideline.
I did not notice any extra absences other than Jude McCoskey and Deshaun Batiste, who announced yesterday they were entering the portal. The Tulane staff is pretty confident there will not be any more big-time defections (neither of those guys qualify in that category, although Batiste would have gotten playing time in the d-line rotation), so we shall see.
Kadin Semonza directed a long touchdown drive in the first 11-on-11 segment, completing a bunch of passes in a row with quick decisions. He gets in trouble sometimes when he gets pressured, throwing the ball up for grabs or scrambling into more trouble, but he is at his best when the ball comes out of his hands fast. He hit Shaun Nicholas over the middle to start the drive and then threw a deep out to Anthony Brown-Stephens, who made a terrific leaping catch along the sideline. Semonza even made a completion with a hand in his face on a pass rush right up the middle, hitting Garrett Mmahat. A pair of connections with Shazz Preston moved the ball to the 11, where Semonza threw a perfect fade to Nicholas in the back of the end zone, beating KC Eziomume for a touchdown as the offense celebrated en masse.
Leary did not produce a touchdown on his drive, but he made a nice pass to Guiseann Mirtil on third down to move the chains, hit Oliver Mitchell outside and over the middle and threw a quick out to Brown-Stephens. He scrambled for another first down, showing what I thought was good foot speed before getting shot down by Sumrall after practice, but then took a sack that killed the chance to score. Mitchell, by the way, has really come on this week after not being very noticeable in the first few weeks of spring drills. If the Karr product becomes a big factor in his career, it could open up a pipeline to the premier New Orleans area program that has long been closed.
At the end of practice, they had a tough 2-minute drill with the offense starting at its own 45 with a minute left and two timeouts and needing a touchdown to win. Leary almost produced one right away, throwing deep to a streaking Shazz Preston, who laid out for the ball at the goal line but could not bring it in. A scrambling completion to Zycarl Lewis (who they call CJ) gained a first down, but a long pass to Preston in the corner of the end zone again was slightly too far, going off one outstretched hand in what would have been a miraculous catch. Leary then could not connect with Mmahat on a crossing pattern under heavy pressure, with the ball going off his fingertips. With time running out, Leary threw underneath to Maurice Turner inbounds, forcing the offense to burn its final timeout. He then threw short of the end zone to Anthony Miller in a bad decision since time ran out on the play.
Semonza was next, and he took a "sack" on the first play that put the offense behind the 8-ball and forced a quick timeout. After a short pass to Duda Barnes, who reversed field to try to make something out of it but was touched down, and an absolute duck to Lewis he threw deep under intense pressure up the middle that easily could have been intercepted but wasn't, he made a gorgeous dart over the middle to Lewis, splitting two defenders fora first down on fourth-and-11. A short completion to Lewis forced the offense to burn its final timeout with little time left, and the defense broke up a sideline pass that would have picked up a few yards. Semonza threw for the end zone on the next play but did not get enough air under the ball. Brown-Stephens still nearly made a circus catch, trapping the ball as he came back for it just in the end zone. With time for one play left, Semonza threw a long fade for Sidney Mbanasor, who did not make a play on the ball while Eziomume, in perfect position, nearly intercepted it.
William Hudlow got a lot of work today, and while I do not think he will be the punter next fall, he has improved significantly since Will Karoll's departure. When the drill was not live, he was consistently booming them high and nearly 50 yards, something I never, ever saw from him in the past. When they put a rush on him in a live drill, though, he became more erratic. One punt went 31 yards off the side of his foot to the left. Another was low and 41 yards to the right. He hit a 57-yarder that was high enough for the coverage to surround Lewis after he caught it, but then he dropped a low snap and hit a 36-yarder back to back. He finished with efforst of 47 and 41 yards before attempting two coffin corner kicks from the defense's 40 and placing the first one inside the 5 where it bounced out of bounds and kicking the next one very high, where it was caught around the 15. The two punt returners were Bryce Bohanon and Lewis.
Tulane has been a little shorthanded at wideout for most of the spring. Omari Hayes was on his scooter again today with his injured leg propped on it with a cast. Antwaun Parham was on crutches, and Jimmy Calloway did not practice. Hayes is expected to be the primary punt returner in the fall.
Patrick Durkin made field goals of 30 and 38 yards in live situations. I should have checked to see who the holder was after Hudlow struggled in that roll last week, but I didn't.
Sumrall and Joe Craddock spoke after practice. I will have their quotes soon.
Last edited:
