Louisiana RB Anthony Reagan Jr. Out for Season with Knee Injury

Abdul Abusada • November 10, 2026

Louisiana will be without running back Anthony Reagan Jr. for the remainder of the season with a knee injury. The injury took place following his lone carry early in the second quarter last Saturday against South Alabama, which went for 26 yards. The running back was forced to the sideline by a Jaguars defender and appears the hit was to the knee.

Following the hit, Reagan Jr. was not able to get up on his own and needed assistance. Not much later in the game, he was carted off the field and was ruled out for the game. Then on Monday, head coach Michael Desormeaux told the media that the running back would be out for the year.

Reagan Jr. is now the second running back for the Cajuns to suffer a season-ending injury this season, following Darrell Smith who also suffered a knee injury against Arkansas State in early October. It’s a big blow to a Cajuns roster that is now down to just three healthy running backs in JJ Garner, Steven Blanco, and Ke’Rynn Smith.

JJ Garner and Steven Blanco have both played huge roles in the ground game for the Cajuns. While quarterback Lunch Winfield currently leads the team in rushing yards with 567, JJ Garner has 441 and averages a whopping 7.2 yards per carry. Steven Blanco has 298 yards on the season, averaging 3.7 yards per carry. Both backs have combined for 10 rushing touchdowns.

Ke’Rynn Smith, a true freshman out of Holy Cross in Metairie, will rise to the third spot on the roster to replace the injured Reagan Jr. He has not had much on-field opportunities this season, but the expectation is that he will have a role in the Cajuns backfield starting on Thursday against UL Monroe.

“We got to prepare him to play every snap,” Coach Desormeaux said about Ke’Rynn Smith and getting him involved. “The kid’s really talented though.” Desormeaux also mentioned that ever since Darrell Smith’s injury in early October, the team began involving Ke’Rynn Smith mentally in meetings and in getting “good on good” reps. Now, the team looks to expand his rotation in practice.

Ke’Rynn Smith came out of Holy Cross as a three-star prospect and rushed for nearly 1,400 yards and 21 touchdowns as a senior for the Tigers. He decided to stay in-state and play for UL over offers from schools like Houston, Arkansas, Indiana, and Missouri.

Louisiana is set to face their rivals in the UL Monroe Warhawks on Thursday night in the national spotlight on ESPN2. The game is set for an 8pm kickoff. A preview of that game will be up on Wednesday.

Abdul Abusada of Cajun Sports Talk

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By Patrick Harkness • November 10, 2026
The Tulane $5 Million Dollar Question FOX 8's Garland Gillen reported today that if Tulane wants to move on from Will Hall after this season, "it's going to cost between five and six million dollars." He said he did "a lot of searching and digging" and called it "the number." I'm not buying it, nothing against Garland I’m just calling BS and here’s why. What's actually public: Tulane is a private school. Hall's contract has never been released. No document has been shown. Contract trackers that won't guess, including CFB Apex and TWO·DEEP, still list the buyout as unpublished or as having no supportable figure. Gillen did not cite a contract, a named source, or a breakdown of what that $5 to $6 million even covers. Until somebody does, it's a report, not a fact we can check. How we got here The Wave is 4-5 (2-3) after a 60-10 homecoming loss to Tulsa on Nov. 7, the kind of night that ends coaches. Athletic director David Harris called the performance "unacceptable," said he was "embarrassed," and said the season "has not met the expectations of our department." There was no vote of confidence in Hall by name. Next up is at Rice on Saturday, Nov. 14, at 1 PM CT on ESPN+. The hire, and the leverage Hall was named head coach on Dec. 8, 2025, an in-house promotion from passing game coordinator and wide receivers coach. That came after he was fired at Southern Miss in October 2024 with a 14-30 record. Tulane had been locked in on LSU defensive coordinator Blake Baker, who stayed in Baton Rouge under Lane Kiffin. At his introduction, Hall said it himself, per the Associated Press: "I know I wasn't the first choice for some people in here." A coach hired without much of a market behind him rarely walks into a $5 million buyout. That's my read. This was not a bidding. There never was a bidding war! What I think is going on The timing is convenient. A 50-point homecoming loss. An AD statement that puts heat on the program without saying Hall is out. Then, three days later, a $5 to $6 million price tag hits the street, with no contract to look at. I think this number is doing a job. If Tulane can't land the right replacement, or doesn't want to spend what a real search costs, a giant buyout is the perfect excuse to stay put and sell it as fiscal responsibility. Gillen even said he's not advocating Hall get fired after year one, and that somebody has to be willing to put up that kind of money. That's the door this figure opens. Bottom Line Maybe the buyout really is that high. I can't prove it isn't, because Tulane doesn't have to show the contract. But I'm not buying a $5 million golden parachute for a coach who didn't have the leverage to demand one, not without seeing the paperwork. If this becomes the official story, brace yourselves, Wave fans. It could mean another year of Hall Ball, or more. #RollWave #RMFW
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