Football: Cajuns’ offensive line gains confidence after 620-yard effort

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, September 17, 2013

UL starting offensive tackle Mykhael Quave knew when enough was enough last Saturday night.

In his estimation it would have been right after the Ragin’ Cajuns scored their final point early in the fourth quarter of a 70-7 win over Nicholls State at Cajun Field.

“Especially being my number, I felt honored,” joked Quave, who wears No. 70. “After we reached 70, I told the team we can call off the horses a little bit.”

All kidding aside, the 620 yards in total offense that UL rolled up against the Colonels – including 456 on the ground – should go a long way toward boosting the psyche of the Cajun line as it prepares to visit Akron on Saturday night.

And after two early season losses – 34-14 at Arkansas and 48-27 at Kansas State – it sure could use a lift.

“At the point of attack, we were dominating our opponent,” Quave said after true freshman Elijah McGuire ran for 137 yards and three touchdowns, Alonzo Harris ran for 75 yards including a 65-yard TD, Torrey Pierce ran for 74 yards and two TDs and Montrel Carter ran for 64 yards and a TD of his own. “We were getting push off the ball, and setting a new line of scrimmage of about 2-to-3 yards further.

“That makes it easier for the running backs picking a hole. And whichever hole he choose, we would make our block and stay on it and provide him the lane to squeeze to and make a play.

“With us struggling in the (previous) two games, and for us to come out and show the determination and effort that we showed … was just a testament to (our) hard work,” Quave added. “Hopefully this gets things rolling, gets the snowball down the hill.”

Cajuns head coach Mark Hudpseth hopes an avalanche is ahead, especially with 1-2 Akron having very nearly beaten Michigan last Saturday.

But even with so much run-game success against Nicholls State, Hudspeth knows there also is ample room to get better – especially when it comes to pass protection.

“To me, what I’m excited about probably more than anything is all five are still healthy,” he said. “Progress? I would think, obviously, we’re making progress. I think our tackles, the more they play the better they’re gonna be.

“You know, we didn’t ask them to pass block very much the other night,” Hudspeth added. “So that’s something they’ll continue to improve upon.”

Quave started all of last season at guard, but is in his first season starting at tackle. UL’s other tackle, Octravian Anderson, is a first-year starter.

The two have been beat a few times early in 2013, especially in the Cajuns’ season-opener against the Razorbacks.

But Quave, whose brother Daniel also starts as a guard on the UL line along with center Andre Huval and guard Terry Johnson, senses growth across the board.

“We’re a lot more comfortable,” he said of and Anderson and himself. “We’re starting to get a swag about ourselves, that we feel our o-line needs as a whole.

“When we go out on the field, we’re not nervous, like, ‘Man, what if they call this play?’ You know, ‘I might mess up.’ We’re not thinking that. We’re, ‘I hope they call this play, so I can dominate my opponent. I hope they call this play, so I can give (quarterback Terrance) Broadway enough time to make read to one of our many receivers, and give them a chance to make a play.’

“We’re just more confident in our skills and (what) (line) Coach (Mitch) Rodrigue has been teaching us, and we’ve all bought in to what he’s teaching us,” Quave added. “I feel, as a group, this is the most confident we’ve been in a while. So I feel like we all have our heads on right.”

Dialing things down a bit against Nicholls State might helped to keep aforementioned heads from spinning.

Hudspeth said some complexities from the Nicholls State defense prompted UL’s offensive to slim-line things against the Colonels, and that evidently went a long way toward building confidence.

“We kept the gameplan simple,” he said, “and that probably helped them the other night.

“I think the more they play the more they’re gonna develop,” the Cajun coach added. “But I think any time you rush for (456) yards – that’s hard to do vs. the scout team. So I’ve got to give them guys credit.”