Why Louisiana football has harmony, not controversy with starting quarterback battle

Cory Diaz, Lafayette Daily Advertiser
·3 min read

LAFAYETTE – If you’re going to steal headlines, why not do it with one of your friends?

That’s how Ben Wooldridge and Chandler Fields look at the enduring battle between themselves for the Louisiana’s starting quarterback spot that’ll dominate the conversation around the football team as they opened preseason practice this weekend.

Fields, the sophomore who was former UL quarterback Levi Lewis’ primary backup last season, and Wooldridge, the junior who transferred in from Fresno State more than 18 months ago, have grown closer through competition.

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“Our relationship is good,” Wooldridge said. “We’ve built a friendship. Ever since I got here last year, we’ve been competing. We’ve been around each other for a year and a half now. It’s helped build our relationship because we compete against each other every single day in whatever we’re doing in the weight room or on the field. It’s made our relationship stronger.

Ben Wooldridge makes a pass while practicing on the field before the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns take on each other in a Vermilion vs White spring football scrimmage at Cajun Field on April 9, 2022.
Ben Wooldridge makes a pass while practicing on the field before the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns take on each other in a Vermilion vs White spring football scrimmage at Cajun Field on April 9, 2022.

“I look at him as a friend but also a competitor. I think that’ll stick throughout this process.”

“Controversy” is always the favorite term to describe when a team has an open competition at starting quarterback and it’s been a while for UL to have questions at the position.

But new offensive coordinator Tim Leger said how well Fields and Wooldridge understand the situation, creating something that couldn’t be further from a controversy.

“I hate to use the word ‘harmony’ at the position, but it’s not a controversy for those guys,” Leger said. “They’re in it for us and understand it’s about the big picture.”

That point couldn’t be stressed more than how Fields described what it’s been like battling Wooldridge at the spot during spring and offseason workouts leading into preseason practice.

“I think me and Ben have a good relationship where whoever wins the job, he’s going to have the support of the other guy which is a great thing,” Fields said. “Both of us have to be prepared for the best of our ability to be the starter.

“We have a great chance – whoever plays is going to win games here. That’s what the fans and we want as a team.”

Several months into the starting quarterback competition, not much separates the two. Wooldridge, at 6-3, is a few inches taller than Fields at 5-10 and brings just a tad more to the offense with his ability to run. Fields possesses more arm talent at release and played last season.

But both are skilled, accurate pocket passers and thrive on anticipatory throws with good timing.

Whichever guys ultimately emerges from the competition, Leger said it’ll come down to communication and which guy commands more efficiently.

“The natural draw for people to want to follow you. The measurables not as important as the intangibles,” Leger said. “Those things will go into that position battle and ultimately who’ll win that starting position.”

Fields and Wooldridge want to start at quarterback for the Ragin’ Cajuns but they know only one can. And first-year head coach Michael Desormeaux has said that he doesn’t want to rotate quarterbacks once one has been named the starter.

That’s why the first couple of weeks of preseason practice the pair will steal the headlines. Neither quarterback can give the other an inch as it could determine the race.

The friends and competitors want to keep each other close.

“If I see him having a good practice,” Fields said, “I’m like, ‘let’s go, I need to have one, too.’”

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana football's starting QB battle a harmony, not a controversy