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In one countdown, it's 41 days until Ragin' Cajun football.
The other one, one that's more important to the University of Louisiana players themselves, has only 14 days to cross off beginning today.
The Cajuns enter the 2006 season with the nation's fifth-longest winning streak, having won their last five games in 2005 to lock down the program's first winning season since 1995. That streak will be severely tested 41 days from now when UL opens its campaign on the road at top-10-ranked LSU on Sept. 2.
That's the date that Cajun fans have been waiting for, ever since last Nov. 26's 54-21 destruction of rival UL Monroe that wrapped up the season-ending streak.
For the Cajuns themselves, the calendar date with the biggest circle right now is Aug. 6. In two weeks, UL reports for the start of fall drills in preparation not only for the LSU opener but also to defend their share of the Sun Belt Conference title.
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
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"Everyone's anxious to get into camp," said Cajun quarterback Jerry Babb. "I think everybody's tired of doing the summer workout thing."
Babb and virtually every player talked to has taken the summer "voluntary" workouts to heart, both because of the way the squad ended its 6-5 2005 season and the expectations for this year. The Cajuns have been installed as the favorite to win the Sun Belt and grab the league's berth in the New Orleans bowl by most preseason magazines, a selection likely to be echoed Monday when the league holds its annual Media Day activities in New Orleans.
"We've got the bull's-eye on us and we know that," said Cajun coach Rickey Bustle. "But I'd sure rather be picked first than last."
UL won't be picked last in any poll, mostly because they return the major cogs from an offensive machine that ran on high octane the last two-thirds of the season.
The Cajuns led the Sun Belt in total offense, rushing offense, scoring offense and touchdowns last year, and return (a) the most accurate career passer in school history; (b) the first 1,000-yard running back in school history, and (c) most of an offensive line that allowed nine sacks all season, the fourth-lowest total in the country.
Babb has been under center most of the last three years, and backup Michael Desormeaux picked up valuable playing time when Babb missed four games with a mid-season injury. Tyrell Fenroy doesn't have those years of experience, but he did rush for 1,053 yards in a stellar freshman campaign.
The Cajuns' defense also improved numbers-wise as the 2005 season progressed, at least in part because the offense controlled the ball almost 35 out of 60 minutes in last year's final six games.
But offensive ball control didn't have anything to do with UL leading the Sun Belt in sacks, a number that could go up considering that the secondary returnees boast 11 letters. The major question is at linebacker, where injuries devastated a veteran group last season.
"There's a lot of expectations around the community," Babb said. "Everywhere I go, people are talking about the season. It's an experience. But the expectations within the team are higher."
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