Porter helps lift Cardinals to brink of title
As Incarnate Word receiver Brandon Porter looked around Benson Stadium at the cameras and banners for the Cardinals’ home playoff game against Furman last year, he paused to take in the moment.
Then in his sixth season, Porter had never tasted the playoffs, and he imagined the energy and intensity he felt that day would be the closest he’d get to the experience of big-time FBS competition.
But less than five minutes into the game, Porter endured “probably the hardest thing that I’ve been through in my college career,” he said, suffering a broken ankle at the end of a 17-yard catch. Forced to sit and watch UIW’S recordsetting run to the FCS semifinals, Porter said he fell into a hole that persisted into the spring.
“The feeling of not being able to experience that and be there for my teammates through that time, it definitely took a toll on me,” Porter said. “Finding a way to keep faith and keep that belief and keep going is the hardest thing. I definitely missed that time, so these last two games, we want to win, so we can get back to that same position.”
Stepping forward in 2023 as the Cardinals’ top target and the No. 2 receiver in the FCS at 103.9 yards per game, Porter can help punch the team’s ticket to the playoff stage once again.
A win against Nicholls, the lone other unbeaten in the Southland Conference, at 3 p.m. Saturday at Benson Stadium would secure No. 8 UIW (7-1, 4-0) a third straight league championship and an automatic bid to the postseason. In the wake of Northwestern State’s decision to cancel the rest of its season, UIW has just one remaining date on the schedule after Saturday, traveling to face Houston Christian on Nov. 18.
“We’ve put ourselves in a special spot, to be able to play for a championship, which at the beginning of the year is always the goal,” UIW tackle Joe Bryson said. “It’s here right now. We’ve given ourselves that opportunity to be able to seize it. So, we’ve been focused on doing that. We’re confident and ready to roll.”
For Porter, a win Saturday would continue to validate his decision to transfer to UIW ahead of last season, as he said his greatest motivation was the desire to be part of a winning program.
After playing receiver, running back and even three games of emergency quarterback as a redshirt freshman at Northern Arizona in 2018, Porter emerged as one of the top targets in the FCS in 2019, ranking No. 9 in the country with 1,198 receiving yards and racking up 10 touchdowns.
But Porter’s connection with the coaching staff started to fray, he said, and after Northern Arizona’s 2020 season was pushed to spring 2021 by the COVID-19 pandemic, Porter opted out after just three games due to what he called “family issues.” He also played only three games that fall, unable to shake a nagging injury.
“My journey has been a journey that I can’t wait to tell the story to my kids one day, or whoever I’m coaching one day,” Porter said. “I have one hell of a story. So many ups and downs, but right now, I’m definitely on the high, on the up right now.”
Bothered by soft tissue injuries even before suffering the broken ankle last season, Porter still finished as UIW’S No. 3 receiver with 601 yards and six touchdowns, averaging 54.6 yards per game.
Coming back with 48 catches for 831 yards and six touchdowns this season, he feels his play is “the best I’ve been so far in college,” positioning him as a leader on an overhauled roster.
Playing mostly out of the slot, Porter has proven to be “special with the ball in his hands,” coach Clint Killough said, often shaking off the first attempted tackle after a reception.
“He battled some things. Things start going good, and then all of a sudden, the rug gets pulled out,” Killough said. “But he had a really good spring, and he had a really good summer. I think he just stayed true to it, believed in himself, stood on his faith, and it paid dividends.”
UIW has slogged through recent games, needing a 17-point secondhalf comeback to beat winless Mcneese two weeks ago before grinding out a 17-7 win last week at Lamar — the Cardinals’ lowest scoring output against an FCS opponent since the spring 2021 season.
Injuries have played a part in the slump, with quarterback Zach Calzada sitting out the last two weeks while freshman Southside product Richard Torres, a Nebraska transfer, led UIW to a pair of wins. Killough said the decision of who to start at quarterback Saturday is “something I’m going to be chewing on over the next couple days.”
The list of Cardinals missing time in recent weeks also includes offensive linemen Alex Costilla and Jayden Borjas, running backs Tre Siggers and Jarrell Wiley, and receivers Jaelin Campbell and Marquez Perez.
“We’re banged up, but we have enough to win a football game, at the end of the day,” Killough said. “Championship teams get the job done in November, period.”