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UL's football team fell into a category on Sunday that's reserved for teams living through a nightmare.
When the NCAA national statistics were released Sunday afternoon, the Cajuns were among four teams allowing over 500 yards per game, right down there in 116th place and ahead of only Rice, North Texas and Minnesota.
That's what happens when an opponent tops you by more than 400 yards in one game, which is what happened Saturday in the Cajuns' 52-21 debacle at Arkansas State. The host Indians rolled up 681 offensive yards, a school record, and the Cajuns finished with only 270.
Thirty-three first downs to eight ... 85 offensive plays to 47 ... 41:11 to 18:49 in possession time.
The numbers are frightening. The visual images were more so.
"I've got a lot of respect for Arkansas State," said Cajun coach Rickey Bustle shortly after UL's worst loss of the season. "That had a lot to do with it. But to do what we did tonight is not acceptable."
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
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The Indians getting big yardage numbers shouldn't have been a surprise. UL (1-6, 1-2 Sun Belt Conference) has allowed at least 416 yards to all seven opponents this year, and even if that were the average it would rank in the nation's bottom third.
But three of UL's last four opponents have gone for over 500 yards, all of them league foes, and those games were at least competitive. One was a win, the 38-29 victory over a North Texas team that knocked off UL Monroe on Saturday, and except for the letdown against McNeese the Cajuns have been within striking range with the biggest difference being 18 points.
Not Saturday.
The Cajuns are banged up on the front wall on both sides of the ball, with a combination of three starting tackles sidelined, but Bustle didn't want to hear those excuses or the cries of youth after Saturday's loss.
"It hurts not to have some of those guys," he said, "but you have to have guys step up and play. They just ran right through us. I don't think our plan was as good as it needed to be and we didn't execute it very well. We all have to do a better job of making sure we execute better."
The woes weren't limited to the defense, especially in the second half when ASU turned a 10-point margin into a blowout. UL had two first downs in the second half with four straight three-and-outs before its final possession netted 55 yards - 37 on one pass play. Before that drive, the Cajuns had minus two yards in offense after halftime.
"I knew if we got into a high scoring game that we'd struggle," Bustle said. "We had some big offensive plays early, but there just wasn't anything that was consistent."
It's not getting any easier this week with a potent Florida Atlantic team coming to Cajun Field, and the last thing on the UL football family's mind is the pomp and pageantry of Homecoming activities that get underway in earnest today.
"We just got outplayed in every phase offensively and defensively," Bustle said. "And we've got a team coming in that's just as sound and just as good."
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