LSU QB battle: It looks like Harris wins the job
September 2, 2015Veteran Lafourche councilman seeking re-election
September 2, 2015
In 2012, Elijah McGuire was an All-State senior performer at Vandebilt Catholic High School – an All-Everything student-athlete that led the Terriers to the Quarterfinals of the Class 4A State Playoffs.
In 2013, he was talk of the Sun Belt Conference – the league’s Freshman of the Year and a First-Team All-Conference performer for the UL-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns.
In 2014, McGuire continued to ascend and was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. His 1,264 rushing yards and 14 touchdowns made him one of the best halfbacks in all of college football.
So in a career that keeps on ascending, the obvious question folks locally are asking is: “What’s next for Elijah McGuire?”
The answer? He doesn’t even know, himself. He’s not even really thinking about it much, either.
McGuire’s dominance is the talk of Lafayette as the Ragin Cajuns get ready for the 2015 football season. But for all of the speculation about awards and acclaim, the Houma native said his mind is just on getting better and being the best player that he can be.
McGuire is a the 2015 Preseason Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and has been named to watch lists for the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award, the Doak Walker Award and the Maxwell Award.
But McGuire said the hype doesn’t matter if he doesn’t walk the walk this fall. Doing that, he said, is his one and only focus as the season nears.
“I really can’t think or tell anyone what I have in store for this season, because I really don’t even know yet,” McGuire said after practice this past week. “All I have to do is just play my game and just see how this season goes. I’m going to try my best to do whatever I can do. I’m going to definitely work hard at it.”
Working hard and being ready are big for McGuire this season, because the Terriers graduate has a huge load on his shoulders.
In McGuire’s first two collegiate seasons, he shared time in the backfield with bruising, powerful halfback Alonzo Harris — a player who accumulated 3,330 rushing yards and 44 touchdowns in his four-year career.
But Harris is gone now and is a member of the Green Bay Packers. His departure leaves McGuire as the lead dog in a Ragin’ Cajuns offense that loves to run the football. That means that McGuire will be relied upon to carry the football 20-25 times per game this fall.
UL-Lafayette Running Backs coach Marquase Lovings said he’s been working with McGuire throughout the offseason to prepare him for the avalanche that’s about to occur.
He said that McGuire is stronger than he’s ever been. He’s currently billed as 5-feet, 11-inches and 208-pounds – a jump from the 165-170-pounds her weighed throughout his career at Vandebilt.
The coach said that his pupil is also more mentally tough than he’s ever been, and is looking forward to the leadership role that’s about to come.
“The biggest challenge for Elijah is going to be durability,” Lovings said. “He’s gained some weight in the offseason, and hopefully that will help him with durability issues. Hopefully he can stay healthy and maintain a 20-carry plus a game consistency throughout the year. If he can do that for 12 or 13 games, that would be a big improvement for him. … The sky is the limit for Elijah in his new role.”
But for all of the talk about trophies, touchdowns and individual accomplishments for McGuire, UL-Lafayette’s football team has a bigger goal in mind for 2015: to win the Sun Belt Championship.
Preseason polls rank UL-Lafayette as one of the preseason favorites to take home the title, thanks to McGuire and also a slew of returnees throughout the depth chart.
The Cajuns were picked to win the league last season, too, but struggled to a 1-3 start – a lesson that head coach Mark Hudspeth thinks will help the team this fall.
“Last year, we did not handle expectations very well,” Hudspeth said. “We were unanimous picks to win the conference, and looking back, that was a little bit too much for us to handle. We did not approach it the right way. But this year, the expectations are different, and that has added a completely different element to our offseason training and preparation. We have a chip on our shoulder.”
Offensively, the Ragin’ Cajuns will look different. Sure, Mcguire is back, but Harris is gone, as well as multi-year starting quarterback Terrance Broadway.
Hudspeth said Brooks Haack, Jalen Nixon and Jordan Davis will compete with the job – a battle that will likely wage on throughout camp and maybe even past the season opener against Kentucky on Sept. 5.
“Starting quarterbacks eventually move on, so now we’ve got the challenge of finding a new (one),” Hudspeth said. “We have three candidates. … We like those guys. They’re different. One can throw, one can run, and one can do both.”
Defensively, the Ragin Cajuns will need to be tweaked after allowing 30 or more points in six games last season.
But with starters back like defensive lineman Darzil Washington, linebacker Dominique Tovell and defensive back Tracy Walker, Hudspeth thinks it will be better.
Those players, combined with a title-winning foundation laid throughout the entire program have UL-Lafayette hopeful this season.
That, and the expectation that McGuire might again rush for more than 1,000 yards and a dozen touchdowns, of course.
“We think we’ve laid a great foundation,” Hudspeth said. “Where do we go from there? How do we get better? How do we improve? I think the things we’re fixing to do are going to help us in the future as we continue the process of becoming a championship program.”
