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Others may have given up on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, but their refusal to surrender to a rocky start helped them to scratch their way to a 13-10 victory at Middle Tennessee last Saturday.
And after a gut-wrenching road loss at Arkansas State the week before, the players took the MT game personally.
"The key was everybody not giving up," said fullback Booker Jenkins, who blasted into the end zone from 6 yards away for the game-winning touchdown. "We were going to keep fighting.
"Normally before the game the coaches come in and talk to us, but this week we asked it to be a team thing. A couple of guys stood up and said some things they needed to say."
An inspired Cajun defense sacked Middle Tennessee quarterback Clint Marks a school-record 9 times and slammed the door on the Blue Raiders after their first two possessions, while Jenkins and the UL offense staged a crucial late drive to survive.
"We had to break the ice," defensive end Tony Hills said. "This win takes some of the pressure off our backs. The defense shut them down and the offense came through when they needed to.
"On the last Middle Tennessee drive, we said we have to hold up our end of the deal. We knew they were going to air it out, so we had to get coverage by the defensive backs and get pressure. We finally got the win we were looking for."
"I've said all year how much I like the character of this team, and it showed," coach Rickey Bustle said. "The players really responded last week in practice.
"They hear that people have given up on them, even some of the students, but this time they found a way to win."
<center><p><a href="http://www.theadvertiser.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20051025/SPORTS/510250347/1006">The rest of the story</a>
Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
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"A big burden is gone," Jenkins said. "All the hard work we've done since last spring, and we finally got a win on the road."
"The scoreboard says we haven't been playing very good defense," Hills said. "This isn't hockey, with three periods. You've got to play all four quarters in a football game.
"We were snakebit with a few injuries, but we had some guys step up and make plays. We all took care of our responsibilities, and it was a beautiful thing."
"Besides making plays, we also didn't have any bonehead penalties that can kill you," Bustle said. "On the last play, when we knew they had to try a Hail Mary, we had players on the first level of defense and players on the second level. We kept our discipline."
The Cajuns host Troy University for homecoming this at 4 p.m. Saturday at Cajun Field.
"I hope this is a win we can build on," Bustle said.
At the same time, the Cajun coach recognizes that good vibrations from the victory could be short-lived for his 2-5 squad.
"I don't want to hear players talk about running the table (winning the last four games for a 6-5 finish)," he said. "We're not going to put that cart ahead of the horse.''
I want to talk about today, and what we can do to get better."
RELAX AND KICK: When place kicker Sean Comiskey suffered only the third extra point miss of his career last Saturday, it left Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns with a tenuous 13-10 lead at Middle Tennessee.
Coach Rickey Bustle was understandably concerned, but immediately backed Comiskey.
"I can only imagine what people were thinking," said Bustle, whose team has lost twice on last-second field goals this season. "I put my arm around Sean - it might have looked like a choke hold, but it wasn't - and told him we weren't going to lose this game on a field goal.
"I told him I needed him to kick the ball as high and as far as he could on the kickoff, and we covered it. He got over it.
"The same kickoff team that allowed Arkansas State those long returns last week downed the ball at the 8-yard line. They had a chance to prove themselves, and they did."
TRUE GRIT: One thing that made the win at Middle Tennessee satisfying for coach Rickey Bustle was the Cajuns' refusal to surrender to injuries.
"Tre' Green, our Sam linebacker, had a family emergency come up and he couldn't play last week," Bustle said. "That left Mack Fair, and he bruised his ACL the next day in practice. So we asked Mark Risher to move from Mike linebacker to Sam, and he couldn't practice Thursday because he was in the infirmary.
"We moved Jonathon Vance from defensive end to Sam (behind Risher), and Brenton Burkhalter got his first start at Mike."
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