Football: Broadway’s arm bails out Cajuns

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, September 23, 2013

When starting quarterback Terrance Broadway limped to the sideline with a sprained ankle in the third quarter of last Saturday night’s 35-30 win at Akron, UL head coach Mark Hudspeth had a choice to make.

Hudspeth – whose 2-2 Ragin’ Cajuns are idle this Saturday, then open Sun Belt Conference play Oct. 5 at home vs. SBC-newcomer Texas State – went with one that worked.

“(Akron’s) plan was to stop the run,” Hudspeth said. “They had everybody in the box, and the run game was out-numbered.

“Then Terrance got hobbled there in the second half and couldn’t run. He told us, ‘Listen, I cannot run.’ So they (Cajun offensive assistants, including offensive coordinator Jay Johnson) said, ‘Do you want to go with (backup Brooks) Haack or are we gonna go with Broadway?’ ”

Haack, a redshirt freshman, has attemped just five passes, completing four, in two appearances this season.

Broadway, a junior who transferred to UL from the University of Houston, threw for a school-record 2,842 in his first season as a Cajun last year.

“I said, ‘We’re just gonna go with Broadway. Leave him in. We can hand off with some handoff plays, not ask him to run it. But throw it,’ ” Hudspeth said, “Boy, did he come through.”

Yes he did.

Broadway was in on all five Cajun touchdowns Saturday, throwing for three – two to Jamal Robinson, who caught eight passes for 124 yards, and one to Darryl Surgent, who had another seven receptions for 83 yards – and running for the other two.

He finished 25-of-37 overall for a season-high 305 yards, ran 15 times for another 68 yards and was picked just once.

Broadway threw for one TD and ran for one in the fourth quarter alone, when despite the ankle injury he was 7-of-12 passing for 95 yards.

UL, down 24-21 when Broadway ran for a TD from 13 yards out with just more than eight minutes to go, outscored Akron 14-13 in the decisive final quarter.

“He was on point,” said Robinson, whose eight grabs were a personal single-game career-high. “I’m proud of him for sucking the pain up and pulling through for the team, because we needed him very bad.

“It makes me want to make more plays, make sure I make the play for him,” Robinson added. “Because he’s dealing with injury, and giving us all he’s got.”

The fact UL has a break in the schedule helped Broadway decide he could finish against the 1-3 Zips.

“I just kept thinking about (the fact) we’ve got an off week (this) week,” he said. “It’s an ankle sprain, but it’s not that bad.

“I’ll just put some work in, extra, in the treatment room. I just was thinking that every time,” Broadway added. “When it happened, I was like, ‘I’ve got 20 minutes left in the game; I’ve got to gut it out for my team.’ ”

Broadway actually finished stronger than he started Saturday, when he missed the first two and three of the first five passes he made.

But by night’s end he had completed throws to seven different targets, including another four for 53 yards to backup wideout Devin Figaro.

Hudspeth took notice of all the obstacles Broadway overcome, including – but hardly limited to – the ankle.

“He’s getting a lot of heat, a lot of pressure,” the Cajun coach said. “The offensive line and the running backs did a great job in protection. Because they were bringing a lot of people, a lot of pressure.

“And he was able to find Jamal (Robinson), Darryl Surgent. Figaro had a big night. Boy, that quarterback put the team on his shoulders when he had to there in the fourth quarter.”