Football – Spring Game: Passing game shines + video and digital pictures

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, April 1, 2012

Starter quarterback Blaine Gautier. Backup Terrance Broadway. Heck, even Harry Peoples.

It really didn’t matter who was tossing the ball during UL’s annual spring game in front of an announced 1,678 on Saturday at Cajun Field. Because when the call came for volunteers to pull down their passes, mitts went up left and right.

Peoples’ hands. Darryl Surgent’s hands. Jamal Robinson’s too.

"Every receiver that was out there today made plays," Gautier said.

The most productive among belonged to senior-to-be Javone Lawson, who had three grabs for a game-high 85 yards and three touchdowns to help lead the Broadway-quarterbacked Red team past the Gautier-led White 24-17 — or 25-19 if, like Ragin’ Cajun coaches did, you count the 2-1 advantage the Red started with following a pregame tackling drill.

No matter what was on the scoreboard, though, the numbers that jumped out were all pass-related — for 415 for the two sides combined to 63 of their 105 total plays going through the air.

And in the case of Lawson, that meant simply picking up where he left off in last December’s New Orleans Bowl-win over San Diego State.

At the Superdome, UL completed 25-of-44 passes for 492 yards and three touchdowns — with each of the TDs and all but one of the completions by Gautier.

Lawson caught nine passes for 192 yards and two scores that night, all from Gautier.

On Saturday, though, it was Broadway throwing to Lawson — as he, Peoples and freshman Jamal Robinson played for the White, while Gautier’s top targets included Surgent, Tulane transfer Devin Figaro and Northwestern State transfer Bradley Brown.

But either way, bowl game or spring game, Lawson’s mindset didn’t change.

"No matter which quarterback it is," he said, "you just have to go out and attack it."

Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth liked how his receivers did just that at certain times, but not others.

Ditto for his QBs.

"I saw some guys miss some easy, maybe, catches, and saw some guys make some great catches," Hudspeth said. "Saw some guys made bad plays, saw some guys make some good plays."

What Hudspeth saw first was an admittedly jittery Broadway, a University of Houston transfer who ran the Cajun scout team last season.

"As you can see, I was nervous," said Broadway, who finished an efficient 10-for-18 from 184 yards, two TDs and one Sean Thomas interception off a deflection. "My first pass was in the ground. I mean, I had to get a lot of nerves out of me. But I felt good."

Looked good, too.

"He started a little shaky, but I thought after that he settled down, made some nice throws, especially in the second half," Hudspeth said. "That was good to see, because I think we’ve got two very good quarterbacks, and we’re fortunate to have some quality depth there."

Broadway was the first Cajun QB to strike Saturday, lobbing a 6-yarder to Lawson in the left corner of the end zone late in the 10-minute first quarter.

Some trickery followed in the second, with Peoples — a receiver who played quarterback at his Mississippi high school — finding Lawson for a 50-yard touchdown.

"We saw it coming before it was even called," Peoples said. "We were talking about it on the sideline the whole time.

"I knew it was gonna be open as soon as I got it, because MJ (cornerback Melvin White) always bites down — every time we run the (sweep)," he added. "I just knew Javone would be open, so I just threw it."

The Red got one back before the end of the half, though, as Gautier connected with Lafayette High product Figaro with 11 seconds remaining.

That capped an 11-play, 65-yard drive that started with 1:46 to go — reminiscent of the countless late-half and late-game scoring drives Gautier engineered last season, including one that set up a Brett Baer field goal to win the New Orleans Bowl.

Only this time it was Figaro and Brown, not Lawson and Peoples, he was throwing to most.

"We work that over and over and over again," Gautier said. "It’s so routine. It’s something we continue to work on, and it’s like a ‘common’ feeling when we’re in that two-minute offense."

"That’s one thing Blaine’s got a patent on," Hudspeth added. "If he had made those decisions throughout the game, the Red team probably would have won."

Hudspeth really was less than thrilled with the performance of Gautier, who wound up 19-of-40 for 181 yards and three TDs — but also threw interceptions to Jemarlous Moten, Jevante Watson and Trevence Patt.

"I don’t think Blaine will disagree with me — I was a little disappointed with the quarterback play," Hudspeth said. "We missed some easy throws.

"I didn’t think Blaine was as sharp as he would have liked to have been. The thing he knows is we want to just take what the defense gives us, and he was probably pressing a little bit — spring game, trying to make a few more big plays.

"I think when it gets down to it, in a game situation, he’s gonna make those plays he needs to make to move the chains, because he’s done that in the past," the Cajuns coach added. "But he made a few uncharacteristic throws, I thought, today."

After a 32-yard Baer field goal for the Red midway through the third quarter, a 29-yard Broadway-to-Lawson scoring pass late in the third and a 30-yard Carlos Alvarez field goal pulled the White back to within two touchdowns.

Gautier went to work again late, this time directing a seven-play, 77-yard drive that started with a 6-yard pass to freshman running back Montrel Carter, featured completions of 25 and 19 yards to Surgent and ended with a 17-yard pass to Cecilia High product Carter.

Baer then recovered his own onside kick, but two short White possessions in the final 1:46 — one ending in just two plays before time expired — went nowhere.

"It definitely wasn’t the day we hoped for," Gautier said.

Yet not all was lost, especially among the receivers.

For the White, Surgent finished with five catches for 71 yards, Figaro five for 47, Carter three for 33, tight end Ian Thompson three for 20 and Brown three for 10. And for the Red, beyond Lawson, Robinson had three catches for 55 yards and Peoples two for 30 yards.

"Jamal Robinson really stepped up and made some big plays, and that was great to see," Hudspeth said of the sophomore-to-be from Slidell.

"We’ve got some big-play ability at the wideout position," he added, "and our quarterbacks can get it down the field to them."

That much was known about Gautier, a senior-to-be, before Saturday.

And now the same can be said of Broadway, who insists neither he nor Gautier consider their situation as "a battle."

"Me and Blaine just come out every day and play opposition," he said. "We meet together, and we practice together, so we’re just pushing each other, and regardless of if I start or not, or if he starts or not, we both made each other better this year.

"I really don’t see it as a competition," Broadway added. "I just see it as we’re both getting better, so when he leaves I’ll be ready full-force."

So just what will Broadway’s role be next season? Even he wasn’t willing to venture a guess Saturday.

"Whatever Coach Hud wants me to do," he said. "If I’ve got to play receiver, I need to go out there and play receiver."

Though after Saturday it’s evident the Cajuns are loaded with those, too.

"It’s just a reflection of what we have this year," Gautier said. "We have depth all over the field, but at the receiver position it’s something special to have that much support."

 

Athletic Network Footnote: 

Click here for video of Cajun Walk.

Click here for digital pictures photo gallery of Spring Game.