Football: Senior leaders played key roles this season

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, December 15, 2014

No team goes bowling without leadership from within of some sort.

For 8-4 UL, which will play Nevada in Saturday’s New Orleans Bowl, it’s been a 12-frames process to identify just which Ragin’ Cajuns would guide teammates down the alley.

In time, Cajun coach Mark Hudspeth suggested, senior quarterback Terrance Broadway stepped to the forefront – as did senior offensive lineman Daniel Quave and senior defensive lineman Justin Hamilton.

“He (Broadway) is a lot more vocal than he was early in the year,” Hudspeth said. “I think he realized that’s been something we needed.”

Senior tight end Larry Pettis, meanwhile, sometimes has stepped in to act as something of a go-between between teammates and coaches.

“But the other guys (Broadway, Quave and Hamilton) … have done a pretty good job of being ‘the voice other than the head coach,’ ” Hudspeth said.

As coach, Hudspeth added, “When you do all the talking, sometimes it loses that message.”

“So when it comes from within the program, then you know you have something special,” he said. “Then I can pick and choose when I really want to give them something to stick their teeth into.”