Do definitly need improvement on pass defense.
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Do definitly need improvement on pass defense.
<blockquote><p align=justify><b>Louisiana has chance to finish strong in SBC</b>
LOUISIANA La. — UL coach Rickey Bustle kept the routine the same for the Ragin’ Cajuns on Wednesday as they hit the mid-week point in their preparations for the season finale at Middle Tennessee.
“We’ve talked about having a winning conference record, a chance to finish second in the conference, winning four of the last five and having the most wins since 1996,” Bustle said after Wednesday’s drill.
“When it comes down to it, I want the guys to win this game for themselves. I told them at practice that all of those other things are good for program, but when it comes right down to it, I want them to feel victory not for the coaches, but for themselves.”
The Cajuns have not been able to feel victories on the road under Bustle, and Middle Tennessee won’t make it easy to break that string.
“I believe that road win is going to come somewhere,” Bustle said. “It’s going to take a great game to do.
“Middle Tennessee’s offense is going to spread the field to open up room for the quarterback (Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week Andric Hines). I look for them to run some no-huddle offense and make calls at the line, which in turn forces you to make quick calls.
If the Cajuns can approach the 443-yard output (including a season-high 236 rushing) they had in last week’s 43-10 win over Florida International, that might be the best antidote for Hines.
“We have to get a beat on what they are going to bring at us defensively,” Bustle said. “They have changed their front from week to week the past couple of games. I’ve seen them in a 3-3, then move to four down lineman. I expect them to mix it up.”
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The Middle Tennessee staff has a good idea of what to expect from the Cajuns, especially with former UL assistant coach Carey Bailey handling the Blue Raiders defensive line.
“Carey is a good coach,” Bustle said. “He was a good coach for us and he’s doing a good job with the Blue Raiders. We need to be ready to play.”
UL seniors bowed out at home with the win over FIU, and MT’s senior class will try to do the same on Saturday in its home finale.
“I’m really glad that they won their final home game,” Bustle said of his senior group. “They have a lot invested in our program and I’d love to see them go out with a win. I want a happier locker room than we had at the end of last season.”
That 2002 closer was a 34-10 loss at UL Monroe.
“We are going to spend a lot of time on recruiting,” said Bustle. “I’ll have a team meeting and then individual conferences with each player. We’ll stress to our athletes the importance of going to class and finishing up the semester strong.”
Injury Update
Jamal Smith, ankle surgery (out for season), David Kirkley, knee surgery (out for season), Greg Hodges, knee (out for season), Ricky Thomas, foot (out for season), Eric Rekieta, collarbone (out for season), Lamar Morgan, knee surgery (out for season), Jarvis Murchison, wrist surgery (out for season), Wes Simon, shoulder surgery (out for season). There are no other significant injuries.
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<blockquote><p align=justify>MURFREESBORO, Tenn. — Andy McCollum knows the pain that accompanied Louisiana’s 0-7 football start.
The Middle Tennessee coach also knows the good feelings that now surround a Ragin’ Cajun program that has won three of its last four games.
His Blue Raider team’s in a similar boat, and they’d like nothing better than to match the performance that the Cajuns had in their home finale last weekend when MT hosts UL Lafayette Saturday.
Middle Tennessee started the season 0-5, but has since won three out of five heading into Saturday’s 2 p.m. contest at Floyd Field. The Raiders also started 0-5 last year but won four of their last seven.
“We all get loaded up front on our schedules with tough teams,” said McCollum, whose squad is 3-7 overall but 3-2 in the Sun Belt Conference.
“We’re all playing them well, but most of the time they’re still losses. When we get into conference, we’re 1-4 or 0-5, and it’s tough getting the kids to have confidence in themselves.
“Lafayette goes through the same thing. It’s tough on the kids when they go out and battle and battle and battle and record-wise it still doesn’t look very good.”
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Despite the record, last Saturday’s 27-20 win over Troy State in a designated conference game still kept the Raiders’ fleeting hopes alive to share the Sun Belt title. Should front-running North Texas lose its last two and MTSU beat the Cajuns and win at Arkansas State in the finale, the Raiders would tie for the championship.
That’s as far as the hopes go, though. Even though the New Orleans Bowl committee would choose a Sun Belt representative in the event of a tie, the Raiders’ losing overall record and attendance woes would preclude their selection.
Middle hasn’t hit the 10,000 mark in any of its last three home games and drew only 6,563 for the win over Troy.
The fans who have been in attendance have seen the Raiders go only 2-3 at home this year, and many have laid much of the blame on senior quarterback Andrico Hines for a lack of consistency.
For his part, all Hines has done is be named the Sun Belt’s offensive player of the week three times this season. Hines (130-212-3, 1,436 yds., 6 TD passing; 279 yds. & 6 TD rushing) completed 15-of-22 passes for one score and rushed for 90 yards on nine carries and another TD in the win over Troy.
He also did that with an injured hand that has him listed as day-to-day, but he’s expected to play in his home finale this week.
“The team believes in him and he’s a leader,” McCollum said. “We know what he brings. He’s taken way too much criticism at times, but I couldn’t be more proud of how he handles it.”
Hines was a one-man wrecking crew against the Cajuns last year in Murfreesboro, hitting 17-of-24 passes for 347 yards and rushing for a team-high 75 yards and three scores in a 48-35 win.
“I coached a guy a lot like him, so I know how hard a guy he is to prepare for,” said Cajun head coach Rickey Bustle, referring to his former tutoring of Virginia Tech and Atlanta Falcon star Michael Vick. “He hurt us throwing the ball, and then he got them out of trouble a lot of times running the ball. He’s such a good athlete that he presents a lot of problems for you.”
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<blockquote><p align=justify><b>Middle Tennessee also struggles to attract fans at home.</b>
LOUISIANA La. — Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns finished their 2003 home schedule on a high note with last Saturday’s 43-10 pasting of Florida International, but they’re still having trouble drawing fans to Cajun Field.
On a clear, mild day with no scheduling conflict from nearby LSU, coach Rickey Bustle’s team attracted just 13,571 backers to the 31,000-seat stadium.
In theory, a better record might have boosted that number — UL entered the game 2-8 on the season and Division 1-AA member FIU was 2-7 — but that’s not necessarily so.
This is a market in which the finest player in school history, Brian Mitchell, played before an average of just 16,089 fans when his Cajuns were 4-1 here in his senior season of 1989, so the answers to attendance woes are unclear.
The 2003 Cajuns averaged 13,995 fans at home for six dates, with a high of 24,211 coming in the home opener against Louisiana Tech a week after UL’s well-played 14-7 loss at SEC member South Carolina to start the campaign.
That represents a drop from Bustle’s first year, when an average of 15,056 watched the Cajuns go 3-2 at home.
In fact, it has been seven years since UL has had Cajun Field even half-filled, averaging 14,560 in 1997 and an all-time low of 8,798 in 1998 in Nelson Stokley’s final two years at the helm, as well as 15,289 in 1999, 14,624 in 2000 and 13,323 in 2001 under Jerry Baldwin.
In 1996, a record 38,783 fans watched the Cajuns stun Texas A&M 29-22, helping that year’s average reach 21,710.
The 1997 (0-6) and 2000 (0-5) teams were winless at home, while this year’s Cajuns were 3-3 at Cajun Field despite low attendance.
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Without the Tech contest, this year’s average dipped to 11,952, with a low of 9,213 for Idaho on Oct. 25.
If it’s any consolation, the Cajuns are not alone among fellow Sun Belt Conference schools in the problem.
Middle Tennessee, which hosts UL on Saturday, is currently averaging 12,363 fans for five games at home in 30,788-seat Floyd Stadium.
The Blue Raiders attracted 23,261 fans for the season opener against Florida Atlantic, then saw the bubble burst when Atlantic’s Roosevelt Bynes scored a 62-yard TD on the final play for a 20-19 upset win.
By the time MT was home again, the Raiders were 0-4 and drew 13,829 for Temple. After losing to the Owls, MT opened Sun Belt Conference play with a loss to New Mexico State before a paltry 9,114 fans.
They brought a 2-5 overall mark back home against North Texas in a battle of Sun Belt unbeatens, yet saw just 9,049 fans in the stands.
Last week against future Sun Belt rival Troy State and with a 2-7 record in hand, the Blue Raiders counted 6,563 faithful followers on hand for that 27-20 victory.
Without the opener against Florida Atlantic, Middle Tennessee’s home attendance average dips to 9,639.
This Saturday will be the Raiders’ home finale, before finishing at Arkansas State next Thursday, so their seniors will be in the same position as the Cajun seniors were last week.
“Every game’s important to them,” MT coach Andy McCollum said, “but any time you play your last home game it’s important. In their four years, the seniors have played 18 or 19 BCS teams and had a chance to win a few of those.
“They’ve been a group that’s gone through adversity. They wanted to do things better this year, but it wasn’t because of lack of effort. They’ll be excited about playing this last home game.”
Apparently, fans in Mufreesboro don’t share that fervor.
Bustle’s Cajuns can identify with the problem.
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<blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA La. -- Shawn Williams would probably feel comfortable in an earlier era, when college football players went both ways.
That's been the case during most of Williams' career at the University of Louisiana.
Williams came to ULL in 2000 as a defensive lineman, but found himself as a blocker on offense.
When Rickey Bustle became coach in 2002, Williams was moved back to defense, where he played until recently.
Since midseason, Williams has been back at offensive tackle, where he is scheduled to play his final game when ULL (3-8, 3-3) meets Middle Tennessee (3-7, 3-2) at 2 p.m. today at Floyd Stadium in Murfreesboro, Tenn. It's the final game of the season for the Cajuns.
Williams, a 6-foot-1, 313-pounder who played at St. Martinville High School, came to ULL as a walk-on, after failing to qualify academically as a freshman.
Under former Cajuns coach Jerry Baldwin, Williams played on the defensive line, a spot where he had his most success at St. Martinville.
"I like playing defense best and when I saw there were two seniors and two juniors in front of me at defensive tackle, I figured that's where I could get the most playing time," Williams said.
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It looked that way in 2001, when Williams played in six games and appeared as though he would move up the depth chart.
When Bustle was hired as coach, he moved Williams to the offensive line during spring practice.
When the season started, Williams was moved back to defense and last year he played in four games as a reserve.
He stayed there for most of this year and eventually became a starter at tackle.
This season, Williams has played eight games at defensive lineman, getting three tackles.
Recently, Williams experienced his fifth position change and was moved to left guard behind freshman starter Marshall Delesdernier.
"Overall, I think the defensive line is the better position for me, but the coaches who have been here have always asked me to help out when there have been shortages on either side," Williams said.
"I think I've accomplished a lot here, since I can say that I've been able to help out both the offense and the defense."
Williams, a physical education major, said learning techniques associated with both sides of the ball will provide advantages for his coaching career.
"I don't regret that things turned out that way, since I can now better teach players what to do on either offense and defense. I think that's a positive," he said.
Williams said his preference is defense, where there is a chance to make a play on almost every snap.
"I don't know how to put this, but offense to me first seemed kind of boring," he said. "You take care of the man you block, but you don't make that many plays there.
"On defense, that's completely different. You can be a playmaker and it seems you get into the game more. The one thing that I've come to appreciate about offense is that you can get just as big a thrill blocking for a running back that scores."
Bustle said Williams' nomadic career along the line of scrimmage has worked to everyone's advantage.
"The thing about Shawn is that he has always wanted to help the team and has done whatever we asked of him," Bustle said. "I don't think he ever once questioned what we've asked of him. As coaches, we always tried to put him in situations where he could play the most minutes.
"Sometimes things don't always work out like we want them to, but with Shawn, that really hasn't mattered."
The game will also be the last for ULL senior wide receiver Fred Stamps, who has at least one reception in his last 43 straight games.
Three players rank ahead of him with catches in 44 consecutive games.
In his ULL career, Stamps has 167 receptions in 2,588 games. He has 16 touchdown catches.
Middle Tennessee started the season 0-5. Three of those defeats were at No. 8 Georgia (29-10), Clemson (37-14) and No. 23 Missouri (41-40) in overtime.
MT quarterback Andrico Hines ranks No. 3 in SBC total offense. Hines has passed for 1,436 yards and rushed for 279 off 95 attempts. Hines' favorite receiver is Kerry Wright (59 receptions, 1,065 yards, 8 touchdowns).
The Cajuns have lost four straight season-ending road games, including the 2002 contest at Louisiana-Monroe (34-10).
Since coming to ULL, Bustle's teams have also not won a road game in 12 tries.
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Cajuns win 57-51 in four over times...O.. ..O.. ..O.. .~. .~. .~. .~.
Way to finish the season off in style with triple OT!!
Best of luck in the future guys...Bustle will get in done
Make that 4OT!! 574 total Off for UL.
Is that a first?
What a game. I was listening to the game on the radio in my truck in the church parking lot. It couldn't have ended any later, though...I had to get to mass!
500-somewhat yards of offense, the defense played pretty well (not including most of OT, and they still played well with all that stuff considered), and Fred Stamps goes out on a HUGE high note. Great stuff!
<blockquote><p align=justify>MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns won the most thrilling game under head coach Rickey Bustle by topping Middle Tennessee 57-51 in four overtimes on Saturday in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
The Cajuns entered the fourth quarter with a 10-point lead, but a 24-point quarter by MT in the final stanza forced the Cajuns to come from behind just to force overtime.
In overtime, the teams traded scores until Jerry Babb's one-yard run in the fourth extra session proved to be the difference. Babb's two point conversion pass failed as the Cajuns went on defense trying to preserve their six-point lead.
David Prater, who led the Cajuns with 11 total tackles, intercepted a Josh Harrison pass to seal the win for UL. The Cajuns stormed the field in jubilation, capping their fourth win in the past five outings. Bustle was doused with water by his seniors after earning his first road victory as a head coach.
Fred Stamps finished his Cajuns career with 13 catches for 201 yards. Babb finished his first season with a career-best 435 yards passing and four touchdowns. He also added 39 yards rushing a score to finish with 474 yards of total offense and five touchdowns.
Midway through the final quarter it appeared as though Middle Tennessee was going to rally for the victory. Leading 24-20, MT allowed Stamps to shake loose and collect a 49-yard touchdown pass from Babb.
The Blue Raiders returned the favor 62 seconds later as Kerry Wright beat all Cajuns defenders and raced in for a 60-yard TD pass from Harris.
MT increased their lead to seven, 34-27, with 2:47 left to play following a Brian Kelly 37-yard field goal.
Babb calmly engineered a 10-play, 84-yard drive that culminated in a two-yard TD pass to Bill Sampy with 26 seconds remaining in regulation.
MT took a knee on the final play of the fourth quarter and elected for overtime.
In overtime, Harris scored on a one-yard plunge to put the Raiders in front, but Babb found Stamps on a 12-yard pass play to pull the Cajuns to within one-point 41-40. Bustle sent his offense out onto the field for the two-point conversion, but a delay of game penalty changed his mind and the Cajuns used Sean Comiskey's extra point to tie the game.
Dwight Lindon scored on a one-yard run in the second overtime only to be answered by a three-yard run by Eugene Gross.
The teams traded field goals in the third extra frame leading to Babb's winning run in the fourth overtime.
The Cajuns stopped the Blue Raiders' first drive of the game when Darryl Blappert recovered a Don Calloway fumble to give the Cajuns the ball at the MT 48-yard line.
A combination of runs by Chester Johnson and Lindon and passing of Babb to Stamps carried UL 48 yards in 3:21.
Lindon carried the ball twice for 16 yards and Johnson added six yards on two carries. Babb found Stamps twice for 15 yards, the latter reception an eight-yard touchdown pass to give the Cajuns a 7-0 lead.
After the teams traded two punts apiece, Middle Tennessee moved in for a score. Blue Raiders' starting quarterback Andrico Hines was injured on the second play of the drive. Hines was replaced by Clint Marks, who directed a no-huddle offense featuring several runs by Gross.
MT's drive stalled at the Cajuns 27-yard line. Kelly converted on a 44-yard field goal with 12:43 remaining in the first half.
The Cajuns came back with their own no-huddle offense. Babb hit Bill Sampy with a pair of passes for 28 yards and connected with Eric Bartel for 12 yards. Babb gained 18 yards on the ground and Johnson added 10 yards to help the Cajuns move 72 yards in 11 plays.
UL's drive stalled on the eight-yard line, where Comiskey nailed a 25-yard field goal.
The Cajuns expanded their lead after marching 66 yards on 10 plays. Babb completed four passes for 51 yards and Josh Harrison ran five times for 15 yards including a four-yard touchdown run. The Cajuns led 17-3 with 1:27 left in the first half.
The Blue Raiders would not go quietly at the half. MT moved the ball 76 yards on seven plays in only 1:26, scoring on a seven-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Wardell Alsup with 0.8 seconds left in the half.
A 48-yard reception by Bartel on third-and-eight led way to a 30-yard field goal by Comiskey. The field goal gave UL a 20-10 lead with 2:32 left to play in the third quarter.
The Blue Raiders continued to answer. MT drove 69 yards into the end zone to close within three points, 20-17, with 14:01 left in the game. The Blue Raiders converted all four third downs on the drive, capped by a three-yard touchdown pass from Harris to Alsup.
A pass through the hands of Stamps was intercepted by the Blue Raiders on their own 39-yard line. The hosts needed five plays to travel 61 yards and take their first lead of the game. Harris found a wide open Pedro Holiday for a 35-yard touchdown pass. With 8:07 to play, MT led 24-20.
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