University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
McGuire Named SBC Preseason Offensive Player Of The Year
7/20/2015 8:01:00 AM | Football
Seven Ragin' Cajuns named to Preseason All-SBC Football Team
NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns junior Elijah McGuire picked up where he left off on Monday as he was selected as the 2015 Sun Belt Conference Preseason Offensive Player of the Year as the league released its Preseason All-Conference Team during SBC Football Media Day at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
McGuire, the reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, was one of seven Ragin' Cajuns named to the Preseason All-SBC team and the team's lone first-team selection. He was joined on the All-SBC team by offensive linemen Mykhael Quave and Octravian Anderson, wide receiver Jamal Robinson, defensive lineman Darzil Washington, linebacker Dominique Tovell and defensive back Tracy Walker.
McGuire, rushed for 1,264 yards and 14 touchdowns last season and joined former letterwinners Brian Mitchell (1989), Michael Desormeaux (2007-08) and Tyrell Fenroy (2005-08) as the only players in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season.
With 2,127 yards in his first two seasons in a Ragin' Cajuns uniform, McGuire joined Fenroy as the only two players in school history to record 2,000 or more rushing yards in his first two seasons.
McGuire has earned notice on four national watch lists this month, including the Paul Hornung Award Watch List, the Maxwell Award Watch List, the Doak Walker Award and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award.
The junior enters the 2015 season as the NCAA active leader in yards per carry (7.9). Last season, McGuire finished 29th nationally in rushing yards, 34th in rushing yards per game (97.2), 19th in all-purpose yards (1,848), tied for 21st in rushing touchdowns and third in yards per carry (7.61).
McGuire led the Sun Belt Conference in all-purpose yards and recorded a rushing touchdown in nine consecutive games as the Ragin' Cajuns posted their fourth consecutive 9-4 record. He accounted for a team-best 22 plays (13 rushes, eight receptions, one punt return) of 20 yards or more on the season, including seven plays of 40 yards or greater.
McGuire recorded five 100-yard games on the season, increasing his career total to nine. He rushed for a career-high 265 yards (the 12th-best total single-game among NCAA rushers during the 2014 season) on 19 carries with four touchdowns in a nationally-televised victory over Arkansas State. The 265-yard performance was the first of three straight 100-yard games for McGuire that included 116 yards against South Alabama and 136 yards at New Mexico State.
Quave, a 2014 Second-Team All-Sun Belt and All-Louisiana selection, started in all 13 games at left tackle for the Ragin' Cajuns and extended his streak of consecutive games started to 39. Named to the Lombardi Award Watch List for the second consecutive year, Quave one of the main anchors on a line that helped spark a rushing attack that ranked 23rd nationally and produced the school's fourth 1,000-yard rusher (Elijah McGuire) in school history.
Anderson, a senior from Shreveport, earned his first preseason honors after starting all 13 games opposite Quave at right tackle and extending his streak of consecutive starts to 26.
Washington, a senior from Edgard, played in the final 10 games of the season, finishing with 22 tackles (18 solo) with five tackles for loss, five sacks, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble and one blocked kick. He recorded a season-high six tackles, with an 11-yard sack, in a nationally-televised victory over Arkansas State and added three tackles against New Mexico State.
He posted a pair of sacks against Nevada in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and had a 9-yard sack and forced a fumble in the Ragin' Cajuns regular-season finale at Troy.
Tovell, a two-time Lombardi Award Watch List candidate, earned honorable mention All-Sun Belt Conference notice in 2014 after finishing second on the team in tackles (71). The Columbia, Miss., native was tied for second in tackles for loss (10.0) and was fourth in sacks (3.0). He set career-highs in total tackles, solo stops and sacks and had four or more tackles in nine games during the season.
He recorded a season-high nine stops in regular-season finale at Troy and added eight tackles in games at Boise State, Texas State and ULM.
Walker, named to the 2014 Sun Belt Conference All-Freshman Team, appeared in all 13 games for Louisiana earning starts in the final eight games. He finished seventh on the team with 44 tackles and was tied for team-lead with two interceptions.
Walker registered a season-high eight tackles with a forced fumble in the Ragin' Cajuns regular-season finale at Troy and posted six tackles in back-to-back wins over Arkansas State and South Alabama.
McGuire, the reigning Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year, was one of seven Ragin' Cajuns named to the Preseason All-SBC team and the team's lone first-team selection. He was joined on the All-SBC team by offensive linemen Mykhael Quave and Octravian Anderson, wide receiver Jamal Robinson, defensive lineman Darzil Washington, linebacker Dominique Tovell and defensive back Tracy Walker.
McGuire, rushed for 1,264 yards and 14 touchdowns last season and joined former letterwinners Brian Mitchell (1989), Michael Desormeaux (2007-08) and Tyrell Fenroy (2005-08) as the only players in school history to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season.
With 2,127 yards in his first two seasons in a Ragin' Cajuns uniform, McGuire joined Fenroy as the only two players in school history to record 2,000 or more rushing yards in his first two seasons.
McGuire has earned notice on four national watch lists this month, including the Paul Hornung Award Watch List, the Maxwell Award Watch List, the Doak Walker Award and the Walter Camp Player of the Year Award.
The junior enters the 2015 season as the NCAA active leader in yards per carry (7.9). Last season, McGuire finished 29th nationally in rushing yards, 34th in rushing yards per game (97.2), 19th in all-purpose yards (1,848), tied for 21st in rushing touchdowns and third in yards per carry (7.61).
McGuire led the Sun Belt Conference in all-purpose yards and recorded a rushing touchdown in nine consecutive games as the Ragin' Cajuns posted their fourth consecutive 9-4 record. He accounted for a team-best 22 plays (13 rushes, eight receptions, one punt return) of 20 yards or more on the season, including seven plays of 40 yards or greater.
McGuire recorded five 100-yard games on the season, increasing his career total to nine. He rushed for a career-high 265 yards (the 12th-best total single-game among NCAA rushers during the 2014 season) on 19 carries with four touchdowns in a nationally-televised victory over Arkansas State. The 265-yard performance was the first of three straight 100-yard games for McGuire that included 116 yards against South Alabama and 136 yards at New Mexico State.
Quave, a 2014 Second-Team All-Sun Belt and All-Louisiana selection, started in all 13 games at left tackle for the Ragin' Cajuns and extended his streak of consecutive games started to 39. Named to the Lombardi Award Watch List for the second consecutive year, Quave one of the main anchors on a line that helped spark a rushing attack that ranked 23rd nationally and produced the school's fourth 1,000-yard rusher (Elijah McGuire) in school history.
Anderson, a senior from Shreveport, earned his first preseason honors after starting all 13 games opposite Quave at right tackle and extending his streak of consecutive starts to 26.
Washington, a senior from Edgard, played in the final 10 games of the season, finishing with 22 tackles (18 solo) with five tackles for loss, five sacks, one fumble recovery, one forced fumble and one blocked kick. He recorded a season-high six tackles, with an 11-yard sack, in a nationally-televised victory over Arkansas State and added three tackles against New Mexico State.
He posted a pair of sacks against Nevada in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and had a 9-yard sack and forced a fumble in the Ragin' Cajuns regular-season finale at Troy.
Tovell, a two-time Lombardi Award Watch List candidate, earned honorable mention All-Sun Belt Conference notice in 2014 after finishing second on the team in tackles (71). The Columbia, Miss., native was tied for second in tackles for loss (10.0) and was fourth in sacks (3.0). He set career-highs in total tackles, solo stops and sacks and had four or more tackles in nine games during the season.
He recorded a season-high nine stops in regular-season finale at Troy and added eight tackles in games at Boise State, Texas State and ULM.
Walker, named to the 2014 Sun Belt Conference All-Freshman Team, appeared in all 13 games for Louisiana earning starts in the final eight games. He finished seventh on the team with 44 tackles and was tied for team-lead with two interceptions.
Walker registered a season-high eight tackles with a forced fumble in the Ragin' Cajuns regular-season finale at Troy and posted six tackles in back-to-back wins over Arkansas State and South Alabama.
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