The Cougars return more than just stud QB Case Keenum to this year’s squad. Also returning are Tyron Carrier, Patrick Edwards, and James Cleveland, the first wide receiving trio in school history to each surpass 1,000 receiving yards in a season.
And while it might have been Cleveland who led the team in receiving TDs last season, and while it might have been Edwards who was making the big comeback from a devastating injury, perhaps there is no more electric of a player on the team than Carrier.
Carrier’s the speed guy, the guy who competes in track and seems to have that special gear he can kick into when it appears that a defender is closing on him. And it’s Carrier who, more often than not, serves as the spark plug that gets the team going.
Last season, Carrier set the school record by returning four kickoffs
for a touchdown, and he owns the school’s career record with five return
TDs. It’s easy to credit Carrier for the scores, and for averaging 29.0
yards per return. It’s easy, but it’s not accurate. Especially if you
ask Carrier.
Carrier credits his special team’s coach, Tony Levine, and their practice work, for his success on kick returns.
“Everyday
after practice, and sometimes before, I get some special teams stuff
done, fielding punts and working on my tracks with my returns,” Carrier
says. “I have a great special teams coach. Most of the things we do are
mental, and he helps me out a lot with what I should do. I watch some of
the David Hester films. This past year I was watching the Jets films.
They do a real good job with that. He helped me out a lot with it.”
But
Carrier’s speed and Levine’s work notwithstanding, Carrier’s kick
returns would not be possible were it not for the other 10 guys out on
the field with him. And they take their duties as seriously as Carrier.
“I
couldn’t take one of those back without those guys,” Carrier says. “I
wasn’t touched on any one of those. Those guys work hard. They want the
[kick-off return] record a lot more than what I do, and that means a lot
to me. The way they work at it. Every kickoff, they tell me every
time, you ain’t got nothing worry to about. You just do what you’ve got
to do we’re going to get you in the end zone.”
In many ways,
Carrier’s season was as successful as the team’s last year. He was twice
C-USA’s Special Teams Player of the Week. He was first team
All-Conference C-USA as a kick returner, he was honorable mention
All-Conference C-USA as a receiver, and he was also an honorable mention
All-America for SI.com. And he had over 1,000 receiving yards for a
second straight season. But he wasn’t happy about last year. And while
Kevin Sumlin says last season was last season, Carrier seems to be using
last season’s finish as his fuel for this season.
“Keep that
oh-and-two in your mind [losses in the C-USA Title Game and the Armed
Forces Bowl],” Carrier says. “We started strong, but we didn’t finish
strong. You can’t win games, you can’t have a successful season by
falling off at the end. We’re going to keep that in our mind, and we’re
going to roll with it.”
Heading into his junior year, Carrier’s
not concerned with the team’s ranking, or with the national attention
the team is (or isn’t) getting, or what bowl the team might play in. His
focus is on winning Conference USA this season, something they haven’t
been able to do in his time with the team.
“We’ve got to tackle
the conference championship first,” he says. “Playing for that bigger
prize will come along with the territory. We’re sitting back, and we’re
going to take one game at a time, and we’re going to try to get there.”
Carrier’s,
and the team’s, first chance to wipe away that 0-2 finish comes on
Saturday, September 4 when they host Texas State at Robertson Stadium.
Carrier, Edwards, and Cleveland will be looking to repeat their 1,000
yard receiving seasons, and Carrier will be looking forward to returning
more kicks for touchdowns.
But more than anything, Carrier will be
happy to call himself, and his teammates, C-USA champions.
This article appears in Aug 12-18, 2010.
