USM Stuns Cajuns With First-Quarter Barrage
<blockquote><p align=justify>HATTIESBURG, Miss. - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns were shell-shocked early on Saturday afternoon in falling to Southern Mississippi by a final score of 48-3.
An early turnover snowballed into a 21-0 deficit just 9:36 into the game. The Cajuns (2-8) gave up a total of 38 points at the beginning of each half and were unable to regroup.
The Cajuns first drive saw Jerry Babb intercepted by Greg Brooks at the Cajuns 31-yard line. Southern Miss pounded the ball into the end zone on five runs by Anthony Harris. USM led 7-0 with 11:07 left to play in the first quarter.
USM (5-3) needed 1:58 to travel 40 yards into the end zone on their second possession. Almond connected on a nine-yard strike to Anthony Perine to appease the homecoming crowd with a quick 14-0 lead.
A flea-flicker on the Golden Eagles third play of their third possession hit paydirt. Almond found a wide open Marvin Young for a 51-yard touchdown and a 21-0 lead.
Fred Stamps reception in the first quarter extended his receiving streak to 42 consecutive games with a catch.
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USM continued to pile on points. A second quarter drive spanning eight plays covered 58 yards, ended in a 43-yard field goal by Darren McCaleb. The hosts enjoyed a 24-0 lead with 9:52 to play in the first half.
A double dose of Dwight Lindon sparked a Cajuns drive late in the second quarter. Lindon started with a career-long 17-yard rush, and then followed on the next play with a career-best 24-yard reception. Babb connected on consecutive third downs with Bill Sampy and Fred Stamps down to the USM 13-yard line. The Cajuns elected for a field goal facing a fourth-and-two from the five-yard line. Sean Comiskey connected on his ninth triple of the season to conclude the 12-play, 80-yard drive which consumed 6:26 of the clock.
Southern Miss responded with a scoring drive in 1:37. Almond hit Antwon Courington on a 23-yard strike to put USM up 31-3 at the half.
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Good Morning I have a running back question.
How many yards did Dwight Lindon have?
That figures - FIU is hitting its stride
<blockquote><p align=justify><b>Just the Cajuns’ luck — FIU hits its stride </b>
LOUISIANA La. — Just their luck.
Louisiana's Ragin’ Cajuns have had a hard enough time of things this season, falling to 2-8 on the year with last Saturday’s 48-3 thumping at Southern Mississippi.
Now comes Florida International, a Sun Belt Conference member competing in Division 1-AA in football which has caught fire just in time for next Saturday’s visit to Cajun Field.
True, the Golden Panthers are 2-7 on the campaign, but they hammered Jacksonville 55-12 last Thursday night and the Cajuns haven’t hammered anyone in a long time.
It was 41-0 at halftime before FIU pulled back on the reins, but the Panthers still finished with 391 yards rushing and 642 yards of total offense.
Both Adam Gorman (19-138-1) and Diamante Demerritt (9-121-1) rushed for over 100 yards, while Josh Padrick hit 10-of-14 passes for 232 yards and three scores to Cory McKinney (3-90-1) and Harold Leath (3-69-2).
Jacksonville had 303 total yards, but much of that came after the issue was decided.
Coach Rickey Bustle’s Cajuns, on the other hand, are anything but hot. They played the Jacksonville role for Southern Mississippi, falling behind 24-0 and generally failing to compete with the Golden Eagles.
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Bruce Brown
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It was a sobering end to a brief two-game win streak for the Cajuns.
“We gave them the momentum from the get-go,” said quarterback Jerry Babb, whose interception on the first UL series started the avalanche. “They capitalized on our errors.
“We knew they were going to move around a lot (on defense), and they’re a good football team.”
Now the Cajuns must regroup for Saturday’s Senior Day game, to be followed by the season finale at fellow struggling Sun Belt member Middle Tennessee.
“We have tried a lot of different things to try and change things around here,” Babb said. “I think we just have to try and get players in here who know how to win, and also maybe get a big win somewhere.
“We can’t sit around here and wait for someone else to do it. We have to do it ourselves.”
That hasn’t been easy to do all year, and now one of the games that looked like a relatively easy one in August looks like yet another challenge for UL.
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Early lapse hastens ULL's loss
<blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA La. -- The very thing Rickey Bustle hoped would not happen Saturday did.
Bustle's University of Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns turned the football over on only their third offensive play of the game, giving Southern Mississippi an early scoring opportunity and igniting a 21-point first-quarter onslaught by the Golden Eagles.
Sparked by the early success, the Eagles went on to a 48-3 victory.
"The very thing we didn't want to happen happened on that first series," said Bustle, whose team (2-8) saw its two-game winning streak snapped by the lopsided loss. "We knew we couldn't give them turnovers.
"They're a very good football team and when we spotted them 21 points, we knew it was going to be a tough night."
Tough indeed.
The Cajuns, now 1-21 in games against the Eagles in Hattiesburg, were outgained 550-200 in total offense and 26-8 in first downs. In addition, the Cajuns converted only 3 of 16 on third-down attempts.
"It looked pretty darn bad Saturday out on the field and the film wasn't much different today," said Bustle. "We just left our defense out on the field too long, we allowed too many big plays and we missed a lot of tackles.
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Special to The Advocate <!--
"And offensively, we never really got anything going."
Offensively, the Cajuns managed only 94 yards rushing and 106 passing. Quarterback Jerry Babb completed 11 of 17 passes and was intercepted once. Backup Matt Lane was 3 of 6 for 18 yards. Dwight Lindon led ULL rushers with 61 yards on 10 carries.
Bustle said the thing that disappointed him the most was that when the Cajuns found themselves trailing 21-0, they did not compete at the level he felt they could have or should have.
"When you look at the film, you don't see guys quitting or loafing; that's not what I mean," he said. "We just didn't seem to have the intensity that we should have."
Compounding things for the Cajuns was the loss of three defensive players during the game.
Defensive end Antonio Floyd and defensive back Jarrett Jones both left early with shoulder injuries and linebacker Ross Brupbacher limped off the field with an ankle injury late in the game.
Only Jones is doubtful for this weekend's home finale against Florida International.
"Antonio has been one of our steadiest players all year and it was tough to lose him early in the game," said Bustle. "But we had some young players who got some valuable experience. And we had a couple of other players who really played well.
"(Defensive tackle) Darryl Blappert had probably his best game of the season and Daniel Taylor played well, too. And I thought our special teams played well."
It simply wasn't good enough against USM (5-3) which has not allowed an offensive touchdown the last two games and had shut out the Cajuns in Hattiesburg four straight times before Saturday.
"I thought Southern Miss was the most athletic team we'd faced this year and I said that on (last) Monday. I thought they were very talented."
The competition level for the Cajuns drops off substantially this week (Florida International) and next (Middle Tennessee) as they wrap up their season.
"We've still got a corral them back up and get another win this week and next," said Bustle. "We still have a chance to win two of our last three and four of our last five.
"If we could do that with all we've been through, it would leave us feeling pretty good about ourselves going into the offseason."
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Saturday is Senior Day (UL vs FIU)
<center><b>Louisiana's 2003 Seniors</b><TABLE border=1 cellPadding=0 cellSpacing=0><TBODY><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><b>No.</b></TD><td><font size="2"><b>Name</b></TD><td><font size="2"><b>Pos.</b></TD><td><font size="2"><b>Exp.</b></TD><td><font size="2"><b>Hometown</b></TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">93</TD><td><font size="2">Darryl Blappert</TD><td><font size="2">DT</TD><td><font size="2">1L</TD><td><font size="2">Slidell, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">79</TD><td><font size="2">Chris Perrone</TD><td><font size="2">OL</TD><td><font size="2">1L</TD><td><font size="2">Covington, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">23</TD><td><font size="2">Jamaal Sanders</TD><td><font size="2">LB</TD><td><font size="2">2L</TD><td><font size="2">Bradenton, FL</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">27</TD><td><font size="2">Patrick Lamy</TD><td><font size="2">WS</TD><td><font size="2">2L</TD><td><font size="2">New Orleans, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">50</TD><td><font size="2">Shawn Williams</TD><td><font size="2">OL</TD><td><font size="2">2L</TD><td><font size="2">St. Martinville, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">44</TD><td><font size="2">Wayne Stein</TD><td><font size="2">FB</TD><td><font size="2">3L</TD><td><font size="2">Garyville, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">54</TD><td><font size="2">Dallas Charles</TD><td><font size="2">DE</TD><td><font size="2">3L</TD><td><font size="2">Lake Charles, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">55</TD><td><font size="2">Derace James</TD><td><font size="2">DE</TD><td><font size="2">3L</TD><td><font size="2">Patterson, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">2</TD><td><font size="2">Frederick Stamps</TD><td><font size="2">WR</TD><td><font size="2">4L</TD><td><font size="2">New Orleans, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">8</TD><td><font size="2">Ricky Calais</TD><td><font size="2">LB</TD><td><font size="2">4L</TD><td><font size="2">Lafayette, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">39</TD><td><font size="2">Grant Autrey</TD><td><font size="2">P</TD><td><font size="2">4L</TD><td><font size="2">Morgan City, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">47</TD><td><font size="2">Antonio Floyd</TD><td><font size="2">DE</TD><td><font size="2">4L</TD><td><font size="1">St. Francisville, LA </TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">59</TD><td><font size="2">Ross Brupbacher</TD><td><font size="2">LB</TD><td><font size="2">4L</TD><td><font size="2">Lafayette, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">61</TD><td><font size="2">D'Anthony Batiste</TD><td><font size="2">OT</TD><td><font size="2">4L</TD><td><font size="2">Marksville, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">63</TD><td><font size="2">Daniel Taylor</TD><td><font size="2">DT</TD><td><font size="2">4L</TD><td><font size="2">Sulphur, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">87</TD><td><font size="2">Josh Joerg</TD><td><font size="2">TE</TD><td><font size="2">4L</TD><td><font size="2">Ruston, LA</TD><TR ALIGN=CENTER><td><font size="2">22</TD><td><font size="2">Eric Bartel</TD><td><font size="2">WR</TD><td><font size="2">4L</TD><td><font size="2">Friendswood, TX</TD></TR></TABLE>
Cajuns, rest of Sun Belt still chasing North Texas
<blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA La. — With the 2003 football season entering the final stages, the Sun Belt Conference still looks like it did in August.
North Texas remains the banner carrier for the league at 6-3, ready for a third straight title and another spot in the New Orleans Bowl.
After that, UL and the other SBC members are a combined 15-49. No team has a winning record, and five schools have two or fewer victories apiece.
“North Texas is at the pinnacle of our conference,” Ragin’ Cajun coach Rickey Bustle said on Monday. “I do believe we will continue to close that gap, and that we will be able to compete at the top level in our conference.
“Next year we’ll have eight conference games, instead of having six big ones where you get beat down. I want to play in games we have a chance to win, and then see where we stack up.”
Bustle’s Cajuns, 2-8 after last Saturday’s 48-3 loss at Southern Mississippi, earlier played South Carolina, La. Tech, Houston, Minnesota and Oklahoma State in non-league games.
They played within seven points of USC (14-7) and Houston (21-14), but lost to the others (including USM) by a combined 186-to-23.
“In the Mid-America Conference, they play one or two of those big games, and anything can happen,” Bustle said. “But when you have to do it six times, it’s tougher.”
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The Cajuns and Southern Miss used to be on similar footing in their programs, but the Golden Eagles have clearly left UL behind.
“They’ve continued to improve and to have a commitment to their program,” Bustle said. “We’re trying to do that now. I always thought they had a heck of a program.”
One way to fight back and eventually approach that level will be for the Cajuns to defeat Florida International this Saturday and finish with a Sun Belt win at Middle Tennessee.
“We’ve asked the seniors to give us two more great weeks,” Bustle said. “We have a chance to win three of our last four games, and then a chance to win four of five. After the (0-7) start we had, that would be extremely exciting for us.
“That’s what we’ve asked the seniors to leave with us, give us something to build on.”
Bustle’s Cajuns fell behind Southern Miss 24-0 and never recovered last week, and have to quickly get past that debacle and focus on FIU, a Sun Belt member but a 1-AA football program.
“After practice today, the seniors will meet to see what the attitude is on the team,” said defensive end Antonio Floyd, one of 22 players making their Cajun Field finales.
“We need to prepare for Florida International as if they are a ranked team. If you start to sleep on the smaller teams, they stay close to you and pull an upset.”
“Antonio’s right about that,” Bustle said. “If you don’t get ready for a team like this, they’ll hang around, make it a close game and you lose. They’re playing hard. They (earlier) lost 21-10 to Troy State.
“I told the players that I wasn’t going to lose sleep over that (USM) game. We dug a hole, and from then on they just whipped us. I was disappointed that, once we got down 21-0, we didn’t compete as hard as we have been.
“I don’t think anybody quit. We just weren’t as wild-eyed. We weren’t out there clawing and scratching on every play.”
That’s the only way for the Cajuns to get where North Texas already is.
CAJUN CLIPPINGS — The La. Tech and FIU games count as Sun Belt contests for the Cajuns this fall ... Bustle said more recruits want to know UL’s conference future than their current record, adding, “The sooner it’s settled, the better.” ... The last time UL played a 1-AA team was a 20-0 win over Nicholls State in the 2001 season opener.
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