Football: Contributions from Spikes keep coming

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • November 1, 2010

ATHENS, Ohio — With each passing week, Aaron Spikes shows more of his potential as a playmaker for UL.

The freshman tailback from Dallas scored a career-high three touchdowns in a 38-31 loss Saturday at Ohio.

In the second quarter Spikes scored on a 20-yard catch and 7-yard run — his first of the season — and had a 1-yard TD dive in the fourth period. He rushed for a team-high 37 yards on 12 carries and caught four passes for 46 yards.

"That’s what you want your backs to do," UL coach Rickey Bustle said. "He’s a good football player. He was scrambling around a bit with the quarterback and found some open spots. I thought he ran hard again, and that’s what you want him to do."

Spikes had his career game after starting quarterback Chris Masson hurt his knee on the team’s opening possession and was replaced by junior Brad McGuire, who passed for 384 yards with two TDs and one interception.

"That’s just me being me," said Spikes, who was committed to Texas Tech before signing with the Cajuns. "I was just adjusting to what Brad did."

After opening the year as the third-string tailback, Spikes has made his biggest impact as a receiver. He is tied for the team lead with four TD catches, is second with 258 receiving yards and is tied for fifth with 16 receptions. He is UL’s leading rusher this season with 211 yards on 71 carries with two scores.

Passing fancy

McGuire’s 384 passing yards ranks fifth in school history, edging out Jake Delhomme’s 371 yards against Louisiana Tech on Nov. 4, 1995.

UL’s top four single-game passers: Eric Rekieta (473 yards vs. ULM in 2003), Jerry Babb (435 yards at Middle Tennessee in 2003) and Jon Van Cleave (407 yards at Idaho in 2001 and 396 yards at MTSU in 2002).

Extra points

McGuire’s previous career-high passing effort was 109 yards last season against Troy "» Darryl Surgent and Ladarius Green both had 100 receiving yards vs. Ohio, marking the ninth time that the Cajuns had two players reach that mark in the same game. It last happened a year ago in the season finale against Troy "» Senior receiver Vernon Wolfe has made nine catches for 152 yards in the past two weeks since becoming a starter and has 12 receptions for 193 yards this season. Wolfe caught eight balls for 71 yards as a junior.