Football: Broadway showtime – One-time backup grows and thrives

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, December 16, 2012

He played in four games for the University of Houston in 2010, and spent last season running UL’s scout team while sitting out a requisite year to meet NCAA transfer requirements.

But until senior Blaine Gautier broke two bones in his throwing hand in the first quarter of a Sept. 29 win over Florida International, Terrance Broadway hadn’t been a starting quarterback since his 2009 senior season at Capitol High in Baton Rouge.

The earlier-than-anticipated jump from backup to starter for the Ragin’ Cajuns wasn’t without a bump or two for Broadway, who helped the 8-4 Cajuns earn an invite to play East Carolina in Saturday New Orleans Bowl by going 5-3 in his eight starts.

"This year, the first three games (were) kind of rough," he said. "We beat Tulane, but we struggled. I struggled with North Texas and Arkansas State.

"I had a lot of learning to do, and the things I was doing wrong, I decided not to do those things again — as far as film, watching more film, studying opponents more.

"I had a lot of learning to do, and I had to fix those things in a hurry if we wanted to be successful this year."

After opening 1-2 as a starter with losses at North Texas and to Arkansas State, Broadway won four of his most-recent five starts, beating UL Monroe, Western Kentucky, South Alabama and Florida Atlantic with the lone loss in the stretch being a close one Nov. 10 at then-No. 7 Florida.

"To me, the (Sept. 3) Monroe game might have been the game where he sort of had that coming-out party — not necessarily just for his play, but for his leadership," Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth said. "I thought in that game he sort of loaded up the wagon and said, ‘Hey, giddyup. I’m fixin’ to take this football team and lead it.’

"Then he took the team to Florida; performed well against one of the top defenses in the nation. Then (he) just continued to improve — not just his play, but his leadership. And right now this football team has a lot of confidence in Terrance Broadway, and so (do) his coaches."

Even before Gautier went down with the broken hand, however, Hudspeth had a hunch Broadway would be okay whenever the gig became permanent.

He played throughout the second half of a Sept. 1 season-opening blowout victory over FCS Lamar, helped UL win its Sun Belt Conference opener one week later at Troy with an efficient effort after Gautier bruised ribs midway through he first quarter, and had some relief duty in a blowout loss at Oklahoma State.

"He showed flashes all year," Hudspeth said of Broadway, who has produced 2,526 yards through the air (185-of-283) with eight interceptions and 16 touchdown tosses and picking up another 661 yards and eight TDs on the ground.

It was only after personally committing five turnovers, however, in the loss to Arkansas State — three interceptions, two lost fumbles — that Broadway really ignited.

It was then that the redshirt sophomore stopped trying to do things he could not, stopped feeling as if he had to do it all by himself and started relying much more on the playmakers around him.

He stopped trying to make passes that weren’t there, figured out was okay to check down rather than go for the home run when need be, drastically reduced unnecessary chances.

"He may have been trying to do a little too much early, trying to force things — and felt like everything was on his shoulders," Hudspeth said. "I think he felt like the fans, the team — that everything was just on him to make every play.

"And I think once he (thought), ‘Hey, let me just throw the ball out here to (slot receivers) Harry Peoples,’ and ‘Let me flip it out there to (wideout) Javone Lawson,’ and, ‘Let them make plays,’ he realized he didn’t have to do it all, and made good decisions, and has managed the game well."

As a result, Broadway has had just three interceptions and no fumbles in UL’s last five games combined — the five after Arkansas State.

"It’s just made all the difference in our offensive football team," Hudspeth said, "by us not turning the ball over."

It’s made for quite a change to Broadway’s psyche, too — all for the best.

Yet he’s still focused on getting better.

"I feel like I still have a long way to go, even though I finished the season strong and as an offense we finished the season strong," Broadway said. "I still think we still haven’t reached our stride yet."