You missed one hell of a game!!
We SHOULD have pulled it off!!
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You missed one hell of a game!!
We SHOULD have pulled it off!!
I'll tell you what happened at the end. Part of it was maybe our O-line not getting back to the line of scrimmage fast enough. I THINK, most of it was the slow, fat-a*s*s ref who didn't set that ball down quick enough for us to get off another play. I felt robbed in that sense, but overall I was VERY impressed with how our boys played. They showed some strength and resolve and comeback that I haven't ever seen. I'm very impressed. Now, I'm not making predictions, and I hope this doesn't sound ridiculous, but Kansas State better watch out! I mean seriously though, weirder things have happened, like FAU beating UNT!
--God Bless--
I don't know how anyone can be fustrated with that game tonight.
Keep in mind...
2003: LaTech 34 Louisiana 3
2004: LaTech 24 Louisiana 20
This Bulldog team has gotten alot better since last year, so it's even more impressive that we can make it that close after last year's whoopin.
When you play away you can expect some homecooking. That is what happened when precious seconds were allowed to run off the clock, and the official not having them put back on. Except for Moats Tech is no better than the Cajuns. He is one fine running back. We gave him some pretty good shots, and you could tell he was hurting and tired, but he always came back and gave it 100% plus. I am bushed and off to bed. Even though I was on the Alumni sponsored bus that ride back from Ruston is an ~~~ whipper.
Plus, getting to Ruston is a chore!
<blockquote><p align=justify><b> Upset bid against old rival runs out of time </b>
RUSTON — It was a night of missed chances, and the end result was the first loss of 2004 for UL Lafayette.
Louisiana Tech prevailed 24-20, rallying after the Cajuns had fought back from a 17-0 first half deficit to take a 20-17 lead late in the third period.
But the Bulldogs wasted three potential scoring drives before grabbing that 17-0 margin, serving up a pair of fumbles and an interception deep in UL territory.
“When you have three turnovers in the red zone in the first quarter, that’s a nightmare,” said Tech coach Jack Bicknell, whose team improved to 2-0.
“You almost figure that it is just not your day.”
Tech’s first-half possessions began on its 38, UL’s 41, Tech’s 41, the Cajuns’ 38, Tech’s 19 and UL’s 47 and 41 before the Bulldogs took a knee to end the half.
UL’s offense, meanwhile, was backed up most of the time.
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The Cajuns, who lost their sixth straight game to their old rival, drove 69 yards in 11 plays to get within 17-7 at the break on Jerry Babb’s one-yard run to the pylon.
Sean Comiskey’s 41-yard field goal got the visitors within 17-10 on the first drive of the third period, and Babb knotted the count with a perfectly-delivered 59-yard touchdown pass to Bill Sampy.
That rocket finished off a 5-play, 84-yard march.
Babb was picked off on the next UL possession, with Tech setting up at the UL 30. But the defense stiffened and Brad Oestriecher was called on for a 42-yard field goal.
The attempt was blocked and Antwain Spann returned the ball 57 yards to the Tech 13.
“I saw the ball hit the ground, and I was trying to judge whether it would take a good bounce,” Spann said. “I made a couple of cuts, and just ran down the field.”
But in another missed chance, UL had to settle for Comiskey’s 33-yard field goal for a 20-17 lead.
“We key play was not getting the ball in the end zone after the block,” UL coach Rickey Bustle said. “We should have got in into the end zone.”
The same holds true of the final march, when the Cajuns ran out of time.
Linebacker Barry Robertson tackled the Cajuns’ Dwight Lindon at the Tech 8-yard line, and the Cajuns couldn’t get off another play.
“It builds our confidence to rally like that,” Spann said. “I think we’ve finally jelled as a team.”
“We just came out and played better in the second half,” Bustle said.
“It was a tough, nasty game, but we came out of it with a win, thank God,” Bicknell said. “We obviously have to get better.”
The Cajuns are on the path to improvement, if they can cash in each opportunity to come.
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<blockquote><p align=justify><b> Cajuns scare Tech </b>
RUSTON — A few yards, a couple of seconds.
That’s all that separated Louisiana and Louisiana Tech here on Saturday, as the Bulldogs held off the Ragin’ Cajuns 24-20 before 22,467 fans and a regional TV audience.
The game was in marked contrast to the last five games between the two — all of them runaways by Tech — but the end result was still a gut-wrenching defeat for the visitors.
Sophomore quarterback Jerry Babb had the Cajuns on the Tech 8-yard line as time expired, needing perhaps one or two more snaps to complete a remarkable comeback.
“I just knew they were going to get it into the end zone,” said Cajun safety Antwain Spann, whose 57-yard return of a blocked Tech field goal set up a UL field goal for a 20-17 lead in the third period.
“It was tough,” Babb said. “Our receivers were doing a good job of getting out of bounds and stopping the clock. We ended up about 8 yards short. Give credit to their defense, though. They bowed up at the end.”
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Babb hit 10 passes on the last march, half of them to Bill Sampy (8-107-1), after a Tech punt was downed on the Cajun 11-yard line.
Babb’s 4-yard run to the 13 converted a fourth-and-4 with 24 seconds remaining. He then spiked the ball and found Dwight Lindon to the 8, but the Cajuns couldn’t get another play snapped.
“It was a situation where we were knocking at the door,” UL coach Rickey Bustle said. “We didn’t communicate real well there at the end. We were yelling on the field, trying to do some things.
“Our kids played their hearts out. I still thought we were going to win.”
Babb hit 32-of-54 passes for 327 yards including a 59-yard touchdown pass to Sampy, and also ran a yard for a score with 39 seconds left in the first half to draw the visitors within 17-7 at the break.
“That was a big boost for us going into the half,” Bustle said. “Jerry played his heart out, and he was taking some licks out there. We’ve got to protect him better ... got to keep him around.”
Babb’s effort was almost enough to overcome remarkable Tech running back Ryan Moats, who carried 34 times for 257 yards and a touchdown after a 257-yard effort on Monday against Nevada.
“He’s a great back,” Spann said. “We hit him hard, but he’d keep on going.”
“That back is everything as advertised,” Bustle said. “I think he’s one of the best in the country. He’s a hard guy to get on the ground.”
“I just have to keep going,” Moats said. “Like coach says, I can’t get tired. It was good for my endurance. Hopefully I can keep it up.”
Moats and the Bulldogs were in control early at 17-0, and could have been dominant if they had cashed in on three early drives that reached deep into Cajun territory, only to end with a pair of fumbles and an interception.
“That gave us confidence,” Spann said. “All along we knew we could play with them. We just had to play our defense. We weren’t playing our assignments.
Once we settled down, we did all right.”
While fumble recoveries by Terryl Fenton and Anthony Hills and Ricky Thomas’s tip-drill interception did snuff those early Tech advances, the Cajun offense also started in a hole for the entire opening period.
“The defense did a great job of stopping them with turnovers,” Babb said. “But it is tough to be backed up. They were stacking it and blitzing from everywhere — I think everyone on that defense blitzed at least once tonight — and that makes it hard to run the ball.
“That drive before the half gave us confidence that we could move the ball. We were able to hit some passes, and that opened up the run.”
“We made some adjustments in protection,” Bustle said. “We weren’t running a lot of different routes. We just caught the ball better.”
It was almost enough to swing the game in the Cajuns’ favor.
It’s no more fun to lose by 4 points, instead of last year’s 31-point margin.
But it is a sign that this year’s Cajuns don’t plan to stop until the final horn.
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<blockquote><p align=justify> <b> Cajuns-Bulldogs statistics </b>
La. Tech 24, UL Lafayette 20
UL Lafayette 0 7 13 0 — 20
Louisiana Tech 0 17 0 7 — 24
Second Quarter
LTU—FG Oestriecher 30, 9:30.
LTU— Franklin 19 pass from Allen (Oestriecher kick), 6:44.
LTU—Moats 13 run (Oestriecher kick), 3:03.
ULL—Babb 1 run (Comiskey kick), :39.
Third Quarter
ULL—FG Comiskey 41, 11:02.
ULL—Sampy 59 pass from Babb (Comiskey kick), 7:07.
ULL—FG Comiskey 33, 1:21.
Fourth Quarter
LTU—Allen 3 run (Oestriecher kick), 10:49.
A—22,467.
UL LTU
First downs 22 27
Rushes-yards 27-83 43-304
Passing 327 193
Comp-Att-Int 32-55-2 17-28-1
Return Yards 6 20
Punts-Avg. 6-31 4-26
Fumbles-Lost 0-0 2-2
Penalties-Yards 6-51 10-95
Time of Possession 27:31 32:29
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Louisiana-Lafayette, Johnson 7-33, Levier 6-21, Babb 10-18, Lindon 3-10, Cones 1-1. Louisiana Tech, Moats 34-257, Allen 6-39, Wilson 2-9, Team 1-(minus 1).
PASSING—Louisiana-Lafayette, Babb 32-54-2-327, Team 0-1-0-0. Louisiana Tech, Allen 17-28-1-193.
RECEIVING—Louisiana-Lafayette, Sampy 8-107, Lindon 6-52, Crist 5-50, Lewis 3-53, Campbell 3-13, Smothers 2-17, Johnson 2-15, Cones 2-14, Carter 1-6. Louisiana Tech, Cosby 5-53, Newman 3-50, King 3-31, Franklin 2-24, Wilson 1-16, Moats 1-13, Hawthorne 1-4, Chambers 1-2.
How they scored
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SECOND QUARTER
LT—Brad Oestriecher 21 FG, 9:30. A 52-yard touchdown run by Ryan Moats was negated by an illegal blocking penalty. Tech failed to reach the end zone after a first down at the UL 11.
LT—Erick Franklin 19 pass from Donald Allen (Oestriecher kick), 6:44. 47 yards, 3 plays. Allen's pass of 29 yards to Freddie King reached the 18, and a similar flanker screen to Franklin got the touchdown two plays later.
LT—Ryan Moats 13 run (Oestriecher kick), 3:03. 41 yards, 6 plays. Moats set up his own touchdown with a 13-yard screen pass to the UL 13. Opportunity began when Cajuns interfered with Tech's ability to field a UL punt.
UL—Jerry Babb 1 run (Sean Comiskey kick), 0:39. 69 yards, 11 plays. Babb hit 7-of-8 passes for 72 yards on the drive, including an 18-yarder to Kemmie Lewis that reached the Tech 2. A 7-yard swing pass to Chester Johnson to the LT 20 converted a fourth-and-5 with 1:10 left before half time.
THIRD QUARTER
UL—Sean Comiskey 41 FG, 11:02. 58 yards, 12 plays. Chester Johnson's spinning 15-yard run to the Tech 40 was the key play. Babb scrambled 11 yards for a first at his 45 and had a 2-yard quarterback sneak for another first at LT's 29.
UL—Bill Sampy 59 pass from Jerry Babb (Comiskey kick), 7:07. 84 yards, 5 plays. Babb hit Sampy on a streak route for the tying score, afer earlier passes of 15 yards to Travis Smothers and 7 to Chester Johnson on the march.
UL—Sean Comiskey 33 FG, 1:21. -2 yards, 3 plays. Ken Haynes blocked a 42-yard Brad Oestriecher field goal and Antwain Spann returned the block 57 yards to the Tech 13. Tech's defense held, forcing Comiskey's field goal.
FOURTH QUARTER
LT—Donald Allen 3 run (Oestriecher kick), 10:49. 86 yards, 13 plays. Allen completions of 17 yards to Julius Cosby to his 31 and 13 to Cosby to the UL 14 keyed the march, on which Moats went over 200 yards for the game.
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cajuncharlie and cajunjudo, LaTech belongs in the Big East (with Memphis), just ask them :rolleyes:Quote:
Originally posted by cajuncharlie
Plus, getting to Ruston is a chore!
After an extended stay in Ruston many people become phycotic. It is kind of the Cabin Fever syndrome. Let's be honest here, the Big East would NEVER take ANYONE from Louisiana for a future member. FAU has a better chance than Tech. Still as long as they are not in touch with reality, that can only be good for us.Quote:
Originally posted by SwampHound
I went over to BB&B to see what they were saying about the game. Their post just reminded me why I despise them. Did you know we just lost by 4 to a potiential future Big East member?
<blockquote><p align=justify>RUSTON - On a night when the Louisiana Tech offense failed to potentially put the contest away in the first half, it was the Bulldog defense that made the play that won the game.
With UL-Lafayette driving deep in Tech territory in the final minute of play, junior linebacker Barry Robertson tackled wide receiver Dwight Linden on the Bulldog seven yard line as time ran out on the timeout-less Ragin' Cajuns, giving Tech a 24-20 win before 22,467 fans at Joe Aillet Stadium.
"I have never been through a game like that and I don't want to go through a game like that again," said Tech head coach Jack Bicknell, who saw his team improve to 2-0 on the year. "It seems like every big play we had there was a flag. It was a tough nasty game but we came out of it with a win."
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Robertson's tackle ended a UL-Lafayette drive that started with 4:18 to play on its own 11-yard line. However, 18 plays and 82 yards later, it was the Tech defense that made a name for itself for the second straight weekend.
The Bulldogs looked dominant early on. Tech recorded 145 offensive yards in the opening 15 minutes of play but failed to score on three straight possessions inside UL-Lafayette territory.
On the first possession, the Ragin' Cajuns recovered a Tech fumble on their own three yard line. On its next possession, Tech quarterback Donald Allen made his one poor pass of the night which was intercepted by Ricky Thomas on the UL-Lafayette seven yard line.
Tech's third offensive possession ended with a Ryan Moats fumble on the Ragin' Cajuns seven-yard line.
"When you have three turnovers in the red zone in the first quarter, it's a nightmare," Bicknell said. "You almost figure that it is just not your day. We obviously have to get a lot better. But we are 2-0 trying to get better and that is a good feeling."
For the second straight game, Moats stole the show offensively, rushing 34 times for 257 yards and one score. It was the second straight game of 257 yards and Moats' fourth of over 200 yards in his career, setting a new Bulldog record for 200-yard games.
"It feels good to get the win," Moats said. "Those were the type of games last year we did not win. That was a fun win."
Tech jumped out to a 17-0 lead late in the second quarter thanks to a Brad Oestriecher 30-yard field goal, an Erick Franklin 19-yard touchdown pass from Allen and a Moats 13-yard run.
However, UL-Lafayette closed the game to 17-7 late in the half on a Jerry Babb one-yard run, giving the Cajuns the momentum. Thirteen straight Cajun points in the third quarter gave UL-Lafayette a 20-17 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs responded, marching 86 yards in 13 plays to regain the lead on an Allen three-yard touchdown run with 10:49 to play. Making his first career start for Tech, Allen finished the game completing 17 of 28 passes for 193 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
The Bulldogs travel to Miami to face the Hurricanes at noo
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I thought the Cajuns were awesome after the first quarter Saturday
There are many reasons the Cajuns should have lost, and yeah you will hear how Tech squandered a 17-point lead, but the point where Louisiana failed to win (in my view) is NOT when time ran out.
They failed to win when they they settled for 3 instead of getting a TD after Spann's fantastic return.
I know it was a fantastic rush and Jerry was sacked for a 10 yard loss, but a TD there and I promise you the Cajuns would have won. Yeah I know the game would have had different twists and turns, but at the end they easily would have made the needed easy FG.
Louisiana's defense has allowed 7 points in the 2nd half this year.