The time is now for Lamar Morgan.

The 6-foot-2, 215-pound sophomore safety from Copperas Cove, Texas missed the 2004 season for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns while recovering from knee surgery, but he's ready to make up for lost time in 2005.

"I'm good to go," Morgan said. "I wanted to play last year, but it was better to redshirt. Now I just have to get my confidence up and work on my speed."

That speed hovers in the 4.4-second range for the 40-yard dash, so there aren't any apparent lingering effects of the surgery. Certainly UL's coaches are eager to see Morgan on the field this fall.

"Lamar Morgan is a rising star in the program," Defensive Coordinator Brent Pry said. "He has the size and the tools of an NFL prospect. He's also a bright kid, a 3.5 student."

A Sun Belt Conference honor roll student in his first two years of college, Morgan was able to go to school on the performances of Cajun safeties C.C. Brown and Antwain Spann in 2004.

Brown was drafted by the NFL's Houston Texans after a senior season that saw him make a team-high 101 tackles, while Spann had 68 stops and four interceptions en route to earning a contract with the New York Giants.

"The safeties are very important to this scheme," Pry said. "C.C. was tops on our team in tackles and in the top five in the league as a down safety. His position is vital to our run defense. And Antwain made one big play after another last year on the deep ball from the middle safety position.

"Those are some big shoes to fill."

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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com