JONESBORO — After four seasons, Chris Odom has seen enough film of Elijah McGuire, Louisiana-Lafayette’s do-everything back.
“Oh yes, I’m real tired of him,” Arkansas State’s senior defensive end said. “But, at the same time, I’ve got to be prepared for him.”
ASU will get its last crack at what Coach Blake Anderson called one of the Sun Belt Conference’s top athletes at 11 a.m. Saturday at Cajun Field. The Red Wolves (6-4, 6-0) will try to slow a back that has given Sun Belt teams fits over the last three seasons while earning Sun Belt Freshman of the Year honors in 2013 and being named its Player of the Year in 2014.
McGuire, who played for the Ragin’ Cajuns basketball team last season, enters Saturday as their leader in all-purpose yards (5,512) and second in rushing (3,947). Plenty of those yards came at the expense of ASU, too. In three games he has 542 yards of total offense on 53 combined rushes and receptions with 6 touchdowns.
As a freshman in 2013, he had 110 yards on 10 rushes in the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 23-7 victory over the Red Wolves.
He exploded for 265 yards and 4 touchdowns in their 55-40 victory in 2014, a game that in part convinced Anderson to recruit junior-college defensive linemen. Last year, he was held to 32 yards rushing in ASU’s 37-27 victory, but he had 134 yards receiving. In the 53 combined rushes and receptions, he’s averaging 10.2 yards against ASU.
“I thought that guy would be out of there by now,” defensive coordinator Joe Cauthen joked this week. “But he’s still playing.”
Not yet, and Cauthen has to figure out one more time how to slow him down.
If ASU can, it’ll likely win today and wrap up at least a tie for another Sun Belt title and put it one victory away from an outright title.
If not, it could end up being a lot like ASU’s last trip to Lafayette, a 55-40 loss in 2014 in which it gave up 521 total yards.
“We know what his capabilities are, we know what he can do, so that’s our motivation,” Odom said. “Since he’s made the impact on us in the past when we haven’t had the proper preparation, we’ll need a better preparation than last time, so he’s not an impact this game.”
It’s not as simple as keying on a player getting the ball out of the backfield. McGuire is the Ragin’ Cajuns’ most dependable runner, leading the team in rushes (177) and yards (891). But he’s also a part of their passing game, third on the team with 24 receptions for 181 yards.
Anderson said he wouldn’t be surprised if McGuire returns punts Saturday, even if he hasn’t done it much this season while dealing with a foot injury.
“Any way that dude touches the ball is not a win for us,” Anderson said. “I think he’s just so good at what he does and they’re obviously committed to getting it to him.”
It’s a challenge ASU’s veteran defense is excited to take on one last time. Odom, linebacker Xavier Woodson-Luster and safety Money Hunter have played in all three games against McGuire.
As freshmen, the three saw McGuire break off a 70-yard run on an eventual touchdown drive that put the Ragin’ Cajuns up 17-0 in 2013. As sophomores, they let McGuire score on runs of 13, 43, 54 and 74 yards while the Cajuns rushed for 419 as a team.
As juniors, they bottled him up in the backfield, but let him get loose on the edge catching passes.
“Iron sharpens iron,” Woodson-Luster said of playing one of the conferences top backs. “Whether it’s guys on your team or the opponents, you always want to play the best, because it brings the best out in you.”
ASU gets one more chance with McGuire, and the Red Wolves expect to see him all afternoon.
“We’ve seen him plenty of times and we expect to see him again,” Odom said. “We always see him.”
Stopping McGuire
Stopping Louisiana-Lafayette’s Elijah McGuire has been a tall order for Arkansas State in the past. The Ragin’ Cajuns’ all-time leader in all-purpose yards has 542 yards of total offense in three games against the Red Wolves. ASU plays at Louisiana-Lafayette at 11 a.m. Saturday.
YEAR;RUSHES-YARDS;RECEPTIONS-YARDS;TDS
2015;13-32;10-134;2
2014;19-265;1-1;4
2013;10-110;0-0;0
TOTAL;42-407;11-135;6