Football: RB battle hot – There were hints throughout spring drills

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, August 21, 2012

It continued with comments during mid-July Sun Belt Conference Media Day in New Orleans, on the same day 2011 SBC Freshman of the Year Alonzo Harris was tabbed by conference coaches and selected media members as a 2012 preseason All-Sun Belt pick.

And on Friday, the second day of preseason training camp for the Ragin’ Cajuns, UL coach Mark Hudspeth did not let up.

Hudspeth is challenging Harris to hold on to the starting running back job he won last season, but is making it known there are contenders who can take the job if the Gadsden (Ala.)-Gadsden City High isn’t careful.

Chief among those in line behind Harris are two redshirt freshmen, Cecilia High product/Lafayette native Montrel Carter, the son of ex-Cajun Marcus Carter, and Dutchtown-Geismar High product Effrem Reed, who sat out most of the spring with an injury.

Carter produced 21 touchdowns and nearly 2,400 all-purpose yards as a senior in high school, while Reed rushed 271 times for 1,926 yards and 32 TDs. "Each one of those guys is a little bit different, which is not all bad, because they bring something different to the table," Hudspeth said after Friday’s morning practice.

"I still think they’re pushing Alonzo. I still think that’s, for me, a three-man race. I’m still not ready to give it to Alonzo, even though he’s preseason Sun Belt and last year was Freshman of the Year. I’m not gonna anoint him with the starting job quite yet.

"I’m trying to give all those guys opportunities," Hudspeth added. "We’ve got some talent back there."

But Reed and Carter aren’t the only ones vying for time with Harris, who — especially at 215-to-220 pounds, up from 195 a year ago — is more of a power back than the other two.

Though he isn’t currently contending to start, Hudspeth said fellow redshirt freshman Torrey Pierce is "not far off the rest of them."

"He had a big spring," Hudspeth said of the John Curtis High product. "And he is a very capable guy."

Then there is senior Yobes Walker, who played in seven games as a reserve last season.

Slimmed down from last season, Walker is a contributor on special teams — and that can only help his cause.

Hudspeth said the Cajuns may travel to away games with as many as four running backs, and having a special-teams role will play a factor in which among them he chooses.

The big battle, though, is for the right to start at running back.

Because even in a spread offense that relies mostly on quarterback Blaine Gautier’s passing to the likes of Javone Lawson, Darryl Surgent and Harry Peoples, the ground game is expected to have an increased presence this season.

That’s bound to be sweet music for Harris, who ran 163 times for 700 yards and eight touchdowns last season, including a 189-yard, two-TD outing at Middle Tennessee.

If, that is, he can keep his job.

"I hope he’s taking that as a challenge," Hudspeth said. "Any guy, to me, that’s a competitor loves a challenge — and most of the time great competitors answer those challenges."