Football: Freshman McGuire delivers like a veteran – Trusting Baer – Lagniappe

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, Dec. 23, 2013

UL running back Elijah McGuire (22) catches the ball for a first down during the first half of Saturday’s R�L Carriers New Orleans Bowl game at Mercedes-Benz Superdome in New Orleans on Saturday. / Paul Kieu/The Advertiser

NEW ORLEANS — The true freshman doesn’t run like a veteran. He also has the wisdom to speak like one, giving credit where credit is due.

After rushing 11 times for 45 yards and one touchdown in UL’s 24-21 New Orleans Bowl victory on Saturday night, running back Elijah McGuire finished the season with 863 yards on 103 rushes.

That’s good for an average of 8.4 yards per run for the Sun Belt Conference Freshman of the Year from Vandebilt Catholic in Houma, and it breaks F.G. Mixon’s 1951 school record of 7.7.

“I think all the stuff I accomplished this year – I’ve got to give it to the o-line,” McGuire, who also had seven catches for 94 yards Saturday, said of center Andre Huval, guards Daniel Quave and Terry Johnson, and tackles Octravian Anderson and Mkyhael Anderson. “They did a great job blocking for me this season.”

Huval, Johnson, Anderson and the Quave brothers did not miss a start all season.

Daniel Quave did exit with cramps on UL’s final long drive, however, and senior Daniel Lemelle filled in without missing a beat.

TRUSTING BAER

As Tulane kicker Cairo Santos lined up for a 48-yard field-goal attempt that wound up missing wide left in the waning seconds, UL starting quarterback Terrance Broadway was on the sideline.

Standing next to him was Brett Baer, the ex-Cajun kicker whose 50-yard walk-off field goal beat San Diego State in the 2011 New Orleans Bowl.

Santos’ failed attempt came after UL had just iced him with a late timeout. He kicked anyway around the time of the timeout, and missed that one too.

“I trusted Brett Baer,” Broadway said.

“I asked Brett, ‘Since he missed the first one, what you think his mindset is.’ And he was like, ‘Well, since he hooked the first one I think he’s gonna try to push it … and he’s gonna miss it.’

“ ‘I’m like, ‘Man, I’m trusting your instinct. It better be true,’ ” Broadway added. “It was true.”

HE SAID IT

Tulane coach Curtis Johnson, on the Cajuns, who also beat the Green Wave 41-13 in the 2012 regular season: “I think Coach (Mark) Hudspeth does an outstanding job. Last year, they took us to the woodshed. This year, we gained on them a little bit. … This is a good team. They could probably play with anybody.”

LAGNIAPPE

In its first two New Orleans Bowl wins, over San Diego State and East Carolina, the Cajuns rolled up 568 and 591 yards in total offense, respectively. On Saturday they won with just 325. … With his 50 yards Saturday, UL receiver Jamal Robinson moved from 11th place to ninth – passing Donald Richard and Harry Peoples – for receiving yards by a Cajun in a single season. The junior finished 2013 with 862. … UL cornerback Corey Trim’s 82-yard pick-six Saturday was the second-longest scoring play in New Orleans Bowl history, topped only by an 87-yard punt return by Darryl Surgent against San Diego State in 2011. … Trim, Jeremy Pearl of North Texas (in 2002) and Southern Mississippi’s Michael Boley (in 2004) are the only three players in New Orleans Bowl history to score on a pick-six. … After getting a pair Saturday, UL’s Sean Thomas joined Troy’s Elbert Mack (in 2006) as one of just two players with two interceptions in the same New Orleans Bowl. … With one PAT on Saturday, Stephen Brauchle finished one shy of tying Baer (53 in 2012) for most extra points made by a Cajun kicker in a single season.