Baylor TE a Bear of a man: LaQuan McGowan goes 6-foot-7, 410 pounds

By Matt Tait     Oct 9, 2015

Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press
Baylor tight end LaQuan McGowan participates in warm up drills before the Bears’ game against Texas Tech on Saturday, Oct. 3 in Arlington, Texas.

Kansas University defensive coordinator Clint Bowen had a unique way to describe Baylor tight end LaQuan McGowan, who stands 6-foot-7 and weighs a whopping 410 pounds.

“There’s a couple of plays (on Baylor’s game film) that looks like the end of the movie when a team has to score a touchdown, and one guy knocks 11 people over, and they run behind him and score,” Bowen said of the Baylor senior who primarily is used as another blocker.

“There’s actually a couple clips in there that resemble that, where he knocks a guy down, knocks another guy down and keeps running. He’s a big fella.”

While the senior from Amarillo, Texas, does not necessarily fit the make-up of the rest of the Baylor offense — fast, explosive, athletic guys who like to do their damage in space — he does operate as the perfect complement to those other receivers and offers a perfect option for when BU coach Art Briles and his son and offensive coordinator Kendal Briles want to mix things up.

“Kind of a unique situation with what they do with him,” Bowen said of the tight end who does not yet have a reception this season but gained national fame by snagging an 18-yard TD reception during the 2015 Cotton Bowl. “They will throw him the ball, but, obviously, he’s in there to be a lead blocker, and he’s a big human that gets a lot of movement.”

McGowan, who wears a size-20 shoe, red-shirted his first season at Baylor and dressed for four games but did not play as a red-shirt freshman in 2012.

A year later, McGowan played in all 13 games on special teams and as a reserve offensive lineman. He filled the same role in 2014, when he again played in all 13 games, and was moved to tight end for the final third of the Bears’ schedule.

Asked how to handle him if he does catch the ball during Saturday’s 11 a.m. kickoff against Kansas at Memorial Stadium, Bowen had one rule for his defense to remember.

“We gotta make sure we don’t take him on real high,” Bowen said with a grin.

As for which Jayhawk has filled McGowan’s role during practice with the scout team this week, Bowen did not provide a specific name but did offer some feedback.

“We don’t have that guy,” he joked. “The guy playing him does not look like him.”

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Written By Matt Tait

A native of Colorado, Matt moved to Lawrence in 1988 and has been in town ever since. He graduated from Lawrence High in 1996 and the University of Kansas in 2000 with a degree in Journalism. After covering KU sports for the University Daily Kansan and Rivals.com, Matt joined the World Company (and later Ogden Publications) in 2001 and has held several positions with the paper and KUsports.com in the past 20+ years. He became the Journal-World Sports Editor in 2018. Throughout his career, Matt has won several local and national awards from both the Associated Press Sports Editors and the Kansas Press Association. In 2021, he was named the Kansas Sportswriter of the Year by the National Sports Media Association. Matt lives in Lawrence with his wife, Allison, and two daughters, Kate and Molly. When he's not covering KU sports, he likes to spend his time playing basketball and golf, listening to and writing music and traveling the world with friends and family.