Kansas defensive coordinator Clint Bowen had a unique way to describe Baylor tight end LaQuan McGowan, who stands 6 feet, 7 inches tall 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 simple 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.”
