Football: Terrance Broadway exits Medal of Honor game with finger injury

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, January 10, 2015

 

Terrance Broadway’s Medal of Honor Bowl experience was a short one.

The UL quarterback, a senior in 2014 and a pro hopeful, was injured in the first half of the all-star game at The Citadel in Charleston, South Carolina.

Broadway tweeted — apparently at halftime — that he had an “injured index finger.”

Broadway opened his appearance in the NBC Sports Network-televised game with a 12-yard strike over the middle to Alabama-Birmingham receiver Jamarcus J.J. Nelson.

He hurt his finger on the very next play, however, after striking the helmet of a rushing player while throwing a pass to an American team teammate.

Broadway remained in the game for one play and handed off the ball to a running back, then immediately asked out.

Attendance for the second-annual game, won by the National team 26-14, was announced at 12,578 — up from 5,135 in its inaugural year.

According to the Post and Courier newspaper, 138 NFL, CFL and arena-league scouts were on hand in Charleston at some point throughout the week leading up to the game.

SELECTIVE INTERVEWS

UL coach Mark Hudspeth’s efforts to fill his final assistant coaching vacancy will be complete only after he interviews candidates this week at the AFCA coaches’ convention in Louisville, the Ragin’ Cajuns coach said before leaving this weekend for the annual January meetings for college coaches from throughout the country.

Hudspeth started the offseason with three vacancies to fill after defensive line coach Tim Edwards was let go, outside linebackers coach Matt Wallerstedt left to become defensive coordinator at UNC-Charlotte (his hiring was made official last week) and secondary coach Tim Rebowe was named head coach at Nicholls State.

Last week, Hudspeth hired former Southeastern Louisiana head coach and Northwestern State defensive coordinator Mike Lucas to coach outside linebackers and ex-Auburn cornerbacks coach and longtime Mississippi State assistant coach Melvin Smith to coach the secondary.

UL still needs to hire a d-line coach, and Hudspeth suggested before after landing Lucas that he’s going to be selective about whom he interviews in Louisville.

“That will be a priority for me — to get in front of as guys as I can that I want to get in front of,” the Cajun coach said

Hudspeth said he had more candidates “than you can imagine” interested in all three openings, but added that “it’s not gonna be a deal where it’s a free-for-all.”

HUDSPETH RANKED

In a ranking last week of the nation’s Top 15 best college football coaches by the website Saturday Down South, Hudspeth checked in at No. 15.

Wrote the site’s Christopher Smith: Hudspeth has “become perhaps the hottest lower-tier FBS coach.”

Among those considered but not ranked: South Carolina’s Steve Spurrier, Missouri’s Gary Pinkel, ULCA’s Jim Mora, Penn State’s James Franklin, Notre Dame’s Brian Kelly, Memphis’ Justin Fuente, East Carolina’s Ruffin McNeill and Marshall’s Doc Holliday.

JOHNSON’S SCORING

According to the website Coaching Search, UL offensive coordinator Jay Johnson is the 17th-highest-scoring play-caller over the last four seasons at 32.52 points per game.

Baylor offensive coordinator Philip Montgomery leads at 47.6.

The Cajuns averaged 29.5 points per game in 2014.

N.O. BOWL VIEWERSHIP

According to the website Sports Media Watch, UL’s ESPN-televised Dec. 20 New Orleans Bowl win over Nevada drew a 1.6 final rating and 2.2 million viewers — up 23 percent in ratings and nine percent in viewership from its 2013 New Orleans Bowl win over over Tulane (1.3, 2.1 million), but down 11 percent and 15 percent, respectively, from its 2012 New Orleans Bowl win over East Carolina (1.8, 2.6 million).

UL’s 2011 New Orleans Bowl win over San Diego State was viewed by 2.3 million.

After attracting just 993,000 viewers in 2009, the bowl — according to Sports Media Watch — has now topped 2.0 million viewers in five straight seasons, with UL involved in the top three highest-watched games in New Orleans Bowl history.

LAGNIAPPE

Going into Monday night’s national championship game Oregon and Ohio State, UL and Oregon are the country’s only two FBS programs with at least four straight bowl wins and at least four straight nine-win seasons. The Cajuns have gone 9-4 each of the past four seasons. … UL last week unveiled its newly designed athletics website, ragincajuns.com. … According to multiple reports, Todd Watson decided last week to leave his post as Foley (Ala.) High’s head coach to become Sun Belt Conference-member Troy new director of football operations. … Troy recently announced it will play games in 2016 and 2019 vs. Southern Mississippi of Conference USA. … Chasse Conque, named athletic director last week at Sun Belt-member Arkansas-Little Rock, is the son of ex-Central Arkansas and current Stephen F. Austin head football coach Clint Conque.