Football: Cajun offense clicks – Big-play bonanza vs. South Al

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, Sept. 19, 2016

The second half of UL’s 28-23 win over South Alabama on Saturday night was a big-play bonanza for the Ragin’ Cajuns, and a glimpse – some suggest – of just what their redesigned offense is capable of on a regular basis.

The 2-1 Cajuns produced a season-high 512 yards of total offense against the Jaguars in their Sun Belt Conference opener, including a whopping 378 after the break.

With just three plays, its final three touchdowns of the night – Anthony Jennings passes of 38 yards to Keenan Barnes and 71 yards to Al Riles, and a 68-yard Elijah McGuire run – UL accounted for a combined 177 yards.

On Barnes’ third-quarter scoring drive, UL had successive gains of 17 yards and 14 (both passes to Riles), 13 yards (a McGuire run) and Barnes’ 38-yard grab.

Was it a simple matter of wearing South Alabama down, or was there more to it than that?

More may be known after UL pays a non-conference visit to Tulane this Saturday night.

But with the Jaguars keeping it close through the final minute last Saturday, it could be as much – if not more – of the latter than the former.

Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth, whose club had just 267 yards of total offense in a season-opening loss to Boise State and 390 in a win over McNeese State, sure seems to think so.

“We took way more shots there in the second half than we did in the first half,” Hudspeth said, “and when we did open it up we hit some big plays.

“To make big plays you’ve got to dial up big plays, and I thought (first-year offensive coordinator) Jorge Munoz did a nice job in the second half with some of the calls at the right time.

“The preparation was solid all week by our offensive coaching staff,” Hudspeth added, “as well as defensive coaching staff.”

Anthony Jennings, a graduate transfer from LSU who now has three games on his resume as UL’s starting quarterback, genuinely sees an offense oozing with the potential to regularly produce high-yardage gains.

“We have tremendous playmakers on the outside,” he said. “Ja’Marcus (Bradley). Keenan (Barnes). Al (Riles). Gary Haynes.

“All those guys have big-play potential,” Jennings added Saturday night, “and I’ve just got to get the ball to (them).”

McGuire’s play-making ability has to help too.

McGuire ran 23 times for 223 yards Saturday, including a 42-yard gain on UL’s opening play of the second half, a final-drive 23-yard run and a TD he felt was only a matter of time.

“Having 4 yards a pop, 5 yards a pop – all that stuff adds up,” he added. “Me being patient, and o-line’s still getting the push, something’s got to go long.

“I’m just like the center and the quarterback. I watch what goes on on the defensive side of the ball as well,” McGuire added. “So when I see everybody playing man, and the safeties off the hash, and the linebackers mug, something’s got to happen.”

But McGuire’s mere presence seemed to be a difference-maker too, be it the protection block he offered on Jennings’ first-quarter touchdown throw to Michael Jacquet, the pump-fake Jennings flashed in his direction on Riles’ TD or the way he was used to constantly distract the Jaguar defense.

“If you’re game-planning on me,” McGuire said, “and we have a lot of motion … me motioning out … (it) opens other things up for other players.”

McGuire and the Cajuns discovered  South Alabama was susceptible to that while watching film of their season-opening upset win over Mississippi State.

“Mississippi State had a lot of motion,” McGuire said, “and everybody time somebody would go in motion a guy would trigger.”

A USA safety did when Jennings faked a throw to McGuire, and that help spring Riles free for the final 40 yards or so of his 71-yard scoring catch.

“I think they (the Jaguars) were a little bit set up for a few of the plays that we ran there in the second half, because of what we’d done in the first,” Hudspeth said. “And (the plays) worked.

“We opened it up a little bit, and Anthony (Jennings, who finished 18-for-26 for 256 yards) made some nice throws.

“And, boy, give our receivers credit. … They all caught and made yards after the catch,” the Cajun coach added. “You know, those long touchdowns – they weren’t long passes. They were midrange passes that were turned into big plays, so that was great to see.”

Little things really did make a difference Saturday.

And they did so in a big way, as UL averaged 8.3 yards per play while running only 62 plays.

“That’s how it’s all supposed to work,” Hudspeth said.

“It was good to see it come to fruition, and to come out of there with 512 yards on just 62 snaps. We still are not getting (the number of) snaps we’d like … (but) that was pretty impressive by our offense.”

Riles thought so too.

And after seeing what he and the Cajuns did Saturday, he senses opportunity for much more.

“I think we surprise each other every day,” he said.

“We’ve got so many playmakers – and it’s young guys. The chemistry is getting there with a quarterback that came in, like, a month ago.”

It really was less than two months ago that Jennings arrived at UL.

“So I think we’re only going up from here,” Riles said. “If we stay focused and just keep going the direction we’re going, we can only get better from here.”

McGuire wholeheartedly concurs.

In fact, he thinks the Cajuns are built to be a big-play offense.

“I mean, why not?” he said when asked Saturday if UL could be just that.

“We have all the players we need to run this offense, and Anthony Jennings is doing a great job making all the right checks, getting me to the right holes. We’ve just got to keep moving forward.”