Football: Broadway not ruled out for bowl – Stover Still No.1 – McGuire Update – McGuire Honored

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, Dec. 13, 2013

UL coach Mark Hudspeth and quarterback Terrance Broadway, shown here scoring a touchdown, are still holding out hope that the quarterback will be able to play in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 21. / Leslie Westbrook/The Advertiser

Hudspeth gives big boo to Yahoo! Hudspeth commented Thursday on Yahoo! Sports rating the New Orleans Bowl’s UL-vs.-Tulane matchup 35th among 35 bowls this year, saying, “That’s probably why Yahoo! Sports, nobody watches it as much as ESPN.”
He didn’t stop there.
“If you look at the rankings the last two years,” Hudspeth said, “I think our bowl (UL also went to the New Orleans Bowl both years) was one of the top-ranked bowls in the country.
“Also, I don’t know how many bowls out there are rivalry bowls – if any. So, you’ve got two teams that are somewhat of a rivalry – in-state opponents that know each other well, fan bases that like to compete. That adds a little bit to that bowl.”
Hudspeth said he expects a crowd of “60,000-plus, easily.”
“That’s why I think it’s gonna be such a great bowl,” he said. “To me, I think you just a bowl by the number of people in the stands.
“Ask Yahoo! (to) compare our attendance to every other bowl and give us a call back here in about two months.”
More than 48,000 attended the Cajuns’ 2012 New Orleans Bowl win over East Carolina.

Coach Mark Hudspeth reiterated Thursday that he expects redshirt-freshmen quarterbacks Brooks Haack and Jalen Nixon to both play in UL’s Dec. 21 New Orleans Bowl game against Tulane.

Yet he still hasn’t ruled out the possibility of injured junior starter Terrance Broadway being able to go, and offered fresh insight on just how the Ragin’ Cajuns are handling the situation – going so far as to suggest Broadway doesn’t even need to practice next week in order to play.

“We’ll evaluate him next week and see how that goes,” Hudspeth said. “He won’t need much practice. If they come up and say ‘he’s cleared’ an hour before game-time, then he’ll be the quarterback.

“If here’s there in uniform, he’ll be playing,” the Cajun coach added. “He’s our starting quarterback.”

Broadway broke a bone in the forearm of his right, throwing arm in UL’s Nov. 30 loss to UL Monroe.

He underwent surgery two days later, and sat out the Cajuns’ regular season-ending loss last Saturday night at South Alabama.

Asked during a pre-bowl media conference Thursday just how well the bone has healed, Hudspeth said, “Your guess is as good as mine.”

Medical personnel will know when they reexamine early next week, sometime before UL leaves for the bowl Tuesday.

“Then the doctors will be with us in New Orleans,” Hudspeth said.

“And as he begins to utilize it and see how well he can use it, we’ll have to make a decision. I think at some point next week he’ll be able to utilize it, and I think we’ll just have to see if he can be effective with the amount he can utilize it. So that,” he added, “will be the whole key.”

With Broadway out, Haack, who started the loss at South Alabama, and Nixon, who finished it, shared first-team reps Wednesday. The Cajuns didn’t practice Tuesday due to final exams.

STOVER STILL NO. 1

Hudspeth on Thursday said Hunter Stover remains UL’s No. 1 field-goal and PAT kicker, but he didn’t rule out playing ex-starter Stephen Brauchle.

“I’m not saying that Brauchle might not get an opportunity to kick in the game, because he’s deserving too,” he said,

“But, as far as right now, Stover will continue to be the first one of the field.”

Brauchle was 8-4 UL’s top kicker for the season’s first 11 games.

He was benched prior to the loss at South Alabama, but with the Cajuns going for two points after their only touchdown in Mobile kickoff-specialist Stover didn’t get try either a field or a PAT against the Jaguars.

MCGUIRE UPDATE

Hudspeth said true-freshman running back Elijah McGuire, who injured his left shoulder in the second quarter at South Alabama and didn’t return, was “moving around well” during practice Wednesday.

He wore a yellow, no-contact jersey, however.

“Just to limit,” Hudspeth said, “the number of people running into him, just so we don’t injure it again before next week.

“But by next week,” he said, “I think he’ll be absolutely 100 percent.”

MCGUIRE HONORED

McGuire, named Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year on Wednesday, has earned honorable mention on College Football News’ 2013 national All-Freshman Team.

Also earning CFN honorable mention was fellow freshman running back Jordan Chunn of Sun Belt-member Troy.

LAGNIAPPE

Hudspeth said he doesn’t expect starting linebacker Tig Barksdale to play in New Orleans. Barksdale missed UL’s last three games of the regular season with a hand injury. … Cajun players earlier this week received hats and T-shirts recognizing their Sun Belt co-championship. … After taking Thursday off, Hudspeth said the Cajuns will return to work today and continue prepping for their third straight bowl appearance throughout the weekend.