The suggestion, joke or not, was that maybe he just wasn’t a college quarterback.

Running back, perhaps.

QB?

Not so much.

After hearing that, during his most-down days, Blaine Gautier — now the Ragin’ Cajuns’ senior starter, one who threw for 2,958 yards and 23 touchdowns in 2011 — thought briefly about bolting UL.

But he reconsidered, and became more resolute.

"In my heart," Gautier said, "I was always a quarterback. I never wanted to shy away from that position."

Not just any quarterback, though.

A starting one.

A record-setting one.

One who would help lead his team to as many victories as it had had in 35 years, to its first bowl game in 41 years, to its first postseason win since the 1944 Oil Bowl.

The tale of how he did is a case study in perseverance. In how to prove naysayers oh-so-wrong. In how to pass a bar — set in this instance by longtime NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme — some thought no one ever would.

When he was so low in those early years, wondering whether a change of scenery might make more sense, Gautier listened to advice from his tight-knit family, including his father, David.

"I never make a decision without asking those people I love so much — My Dad, my Mom (Deidre), my grandmothers," he said.

"They’ve been a huge factor in my life. I definitely think it’s wonderful that we’ve come this far and have done so many good things. I’m grateful, and humble at the same time, that we’re here."

Initially, though, David Gautier did think that perhaps it would be in Blaine’s best interest to seek an opportunity elsewhere.

And it was Blaine who ultimately made a call to the contrary.

"I kind of talked to him about transferring, and he entertained it mainly because of me," David Gautier said. "But then one day he talked to me, and he actually put those thoughts to rest.

"He said, ‘Dad, I don’t want to leave. "» I think I am good enough, and I want to prove I can play, and I can play here.’ "

Deep down, as much as he wanted to play quarterback sooner than fate would have it, Gautier never did really want to leave.

"I was UL from 2008 until now," he said.

"I kind of thought, ‘If it’s in God’s plans, it will work out.’ And it surely did. I prayed for different things, just continued to work hard, and now we’re here."

David Gautier, his initial reservations notwithstanding, might have known deep down that it would out that way anyway.

"Blaine, he just always had the knock that he wasn’t that great of a passer, he was more of runner," David Gautier said, "and my message to Blaine has always been that God has a plan for you, and you just have to play your part in that plan.

"I told him, ‘Keep playing on, keeping fighting, and things will work out. "» Don’t let the negatives outweigh the positives.’ "

 

The year was 2008, Gautier’s first at UL out of Lutcher High.

He had been a first-team All-State pick — at quarterback, of course — after throwing for 2,743 yards and 30 touchdowns as a senior.

He also had thrown for 2,785 yards and 31 TDs as a junior in 2006, when Lutcher won the Louisiana Class 3A state championship.

He had even started at QB as a high school sophomore.

Gautier was redshirting that first fall on UL’s campus, and clowning around in practice one day, acting like a tailback.

He caught the eye of assistant coach Brian Jenkins, now the head coach at Bethune-Cookman University in Florida.

Jenkins was in his last year coaching Cajun runners at the time.

"He (Jenkins) was like, ‘Man, you can probably do a little running back,’" Gautier recalls as if he were still that freshman. "I was like, ‘Yeah, Coach, uh, I’m gonna stick to this quarterback thing. But if you really need me "» "

Jenkins, of course, did not.

Tyrell Fenroy, UL’s career rushing leader, was in his senior season, and it was the year he would run for single-season school records of 1,375 yards and 19 rushing touchdowns.

The Cajuns were set at running back, thanks very much. But the comment stuck in Gautier’s craw.

The next year, 2009, Chris Masson was in his first season as UL’s starting quarterback.

Gautier was relegated mostly to special teams, starting, he remembers with photographic detail, on the punt-return team in a 31-3 September loss at then-No. 9 LSU and as a kick returner in a 38-34 October win over North Texas.

"Being a quarterback," he said, "that’s kind of unheard of."

On one hand the Cajuns were looking for creative ways to get him on the field, perhaps a compliment to some.

But Gautier took it as a bit of a slap in the face, a suggestion that maybe he wasn’t really a QB after all.

"I went through points where I was like, ‘Man, I don’t know if this will work out,’ " he said. "I thought about (other) options. But when it all boiled down, every day in and day out I’d think about it and I was like, ‘Man, you know what? I’m gonna stick this out. No matter what, I’m gonna dedicate my time to this program and just continue to fight.’

"Because I never want to shy away from anything. "» So when it was time to excel my game, I did that. I gained respect from my teammates. And my teammates definitely helped me through all of that. They knew that something would happen. And they called it out.

"So, when it (did), when I was named the starting quarterback," Gautier added, "then it was time to win games. And that’s what I wanted to do."

Before it came to that, however, there would be more challenges ahead.

Gautier would go on to run for a 1-yard touchdown in an early November win at Arkansas State during that 2009 redshirt-freshman season.

But he didn’t attempt a pass until UL’s season finale against Troy, a late-November loss in which he went 9-of-17 for 119 yards and a TD, all in the fourth quarter.

And heading into 2010, his sophomore year eligibility-wise, Gautier still found himself buried on the depth chart.

He did play in 10 games, including six at quarterback, with starts in losses to Florida Atlantic and in overtime at Florida International. But that usually came only when one or both of the two ahead of him were hurt.

"I definitely would go home and think about, ‘What is it that I’m not doing right that I can’t become the starter on this team?’ " Gautier said. "You know, I had some good guys in front of me. I had Chris Masson and Brad McGuire at the time.

"But I felt I had the competitive spirit every day. I mean, I just wanted to play quarterback. That’s where I started off at, and that’s where I wanted to finish.

"So I would home, and gather my thoughts," he added, "and be like, ‘What is it that I need to do?’ "

Gautier started working more with Cajun receivers outside of practice, and — at his father’s urging — spending more time studying film.

"Just to let them know, ‘Yes, I am dedicated to this position. That’s what I want to do,’ " he said.

By the end of 2010, a year in which Gautier wound up 45-of-89 for 550 yards and three touchdowns, head coach Rickey Bustle was out.

Mark Hudspeth — former passing game coordinator at Mississippi State, head coach at North Alabama, and offensive coordinator at Navy and Delta State — was in.

Hudspeth declared the starting quarterback job, which Masson had held for two straight years, up for grabs.

It boiled down to Gautier vs. Masson, with No. 3 McGuire playing mostly as an H-back.

"I wish things could have turned out a little better," said Gautier, who hastens to offer thanks to Bustle for getting him to UL in the first place.

"But when Coach Hud came, man, it was like a blessing, because the competition was open. When he said it he meant it that competition would be open to everybody, and he gave me another chance to rejuvenate myself getting ready for the season.

"It was like, ‘It’s time to show people what you’re all about.’ You know, I knew in my heart I was a quarterback. There was no doubt. "» So when Coach Hud said that, that just gave me an extra spirit, an extra high, that when I went to spring (of 2011), I wanted to be neck-and-neck with the starter, and, going to fall camp, try to pull away from that."

It actually took a smidge longer.

But, in good time, Gautier did finally assume the job he sensed he could handle all along.

Hudspeth, for one, didn’t doubt for a second what Gautier was.

"I never (saw) him at any other position," he said.

"I think that’s his natural position," the Cajuns coach added. "He’s not a running back, he’s not a receiver. He is a true quarterback."

When Hudspeth and his staff named him to start UL’s 2011 season opener vs. then-No. 9 Oklahoma State, Gautier was overwhelmed.

"He called that Friday and said, ‘Dad, you’re not going to believe this.’ I was worried something was wrong," father David Gautier said. "He said, ‘I’m starting Saturday.’ I was like, ‘Wow, are you nervous?’ He said, ‘Yeah, Dad, I am.’

"I said, ‘Just remember — this is the same game you’ve always played. It’s a little faster … but just go out and do the things you know how to do.’ "

Still, Gautier had to get over the initial shock.

"I almost kind of broke down," he said. "When they told me that, first thing I did was I smiled huge. I was just thankful that the time had finally come. I had been patient the whole time."

He would, however, have to practice that patience a little longer.

Gautier was 13-of-26 for 106 yards against Oklahoma State, but he was intercepted once and UL lost 61-34.

Masson started the next two weeks, at Kent State and in his senior-season home opener vs. Nicholls State.

But Gautier came off the bench to salvage a rain-soaked win at Kent State, and he went 3-of-4 for 78 yards against Nicholls State, including a 60-yard connection with favorite target Javone Lawson for a touchdown that sealed it with just under six minutes to go.

By week No. 4, an upset win at Florida International in which Gautier threw for three TDs and produced 307 yards in total offense, including 221 through the air, he was UL’s clear-cut starter.

"We just kept using him at times during the game, maybe to just spark the offense, and every time it would spark," Hudspeth said. "So we said, ‘Why not just spark it all the time and leave him in?’ "

Gautier went from sharing time in practice with Masson to working almost exclusively with the first team.

"They were half-prepared," Hudspeth said. "So once we gave one guy most of the reps, he (Gautier) took off with it and became more prepared each week and just showed that he’s got that moxie you look for in a quarterback.

"He can make plays with his feet, his head and his arm.

"(Teammates) responded to him well. They had confidence in him," Hudspeth added. "He sort of takes control, take charge. He’s a really solid leader, and that helps."

Gautier, like so many in his position, aspires to the next level.

"Definitely," he said. "Since I was young I always wanted to play in the NFL."

Hudspeth has little doubt he’ll get a shot to play pro ball.

"If he has another productive year like he did last year," the Cajun coach said, "he’ll get some opportunities past here."

And 2011 indeed was productive for Gautier and the 9-4 Cajuns.

His 2,958 yards and 23 touchdowns topped records previously held by undrafted Delhomme, the Breaux Bridge native who played at UL from 1993-96 and forged a pro career that included NFL stops with New Orleans, Carolina, Cleveland and Houston.

Gautier’s completion percentage (62.8 percent), passing efficiency rating (153.6) and total offense (3,444 yards) also were single-season school records.

"As the season went by," Gautier said, "it just kept better and better and better."

Maturity as a quarterback had a lot to do with that, especially for someone who was such a mad scrambler at Lutcher.

"I definitely became more of a pocket passer last year," he said. "I had to mature in the offense, and read defenses, and just put the ball in the air.

"It was all about giving my receivers and the running backs a chance to go up there and get the balls, and they definitely did that."

An offense designed to help UL’s playmakers make plays, overseen by coordinator Jay Johnson, went a long way in that regard.

So, too, did Gautier’s ability to find targets even amid a sea of defenders.

"Blaine Gautier throws the ball in the right position," said Lawson, who had 63 catches for 1,092 and eight touchdowns in 2011 to go along with Harry Peoples’ 58 receptions, NFL-drafted Ladarius Green’s 51 and Darryl Surgent’s 28.

"Last year we had so many guys that were all-stars on our team. Staying in the pocket "» definitely helped me to give those guys the ball," Gautier added. "I didn’t have to use my legs as much last year, and it actually helped a lot. It saved my body from taking so much punishment."

It also helped UL put on a pounding on several opponents during a season that featured a six-game win streak and was capped by a New Orleans Bowl win over San Diego State — the Cajuns’ first postseason appearance since the 1970 Grantland Rice Bowl.

"I look back now, and it definitely was a dream season," Gautier said. "I thought about it when I was young — to play for a Division I football team, which I am; to go to a bowl game; to have people know where we’re from and what we’re about. It was just great to have that experience.

"It’s a wonderful feeling to know that people do know where the University of Louisiana is — in Lafayette. People know about our school, (that) we’re good. The football team has come back and definitely resurrected. I mean, it’s great to just be a part of that."

Never was it more evident than last Dec. 17 in New Orleans, where 42,841 — not to mention an ESPN national audience — watched Gautier throw for 470 yards and three touchdowns to help rally UL to a last-minute 32-30 victory over the Aztecs.

That was just three yards short of UL’s single-game passing yards record, and his 492 yards in total offense were a school record.

"After that New Orleans Bowl, I kind of got a little emotional," said Gautier, who grinned wide while holding up his bowl MVP trophy later that night.

"I think it went back to everything that happened before. I thought about everything — ‘Man, look at where I came from to, you know, the starting quarterback.’

"It was a wonderful feeling "» and now I’m just happy that I stand as the starter going into the season."