Injury Update for Louisiana Tech Game
from Ragincajuns.com
Lamar Morgan, hand (probable), Corey Glover, ankle (probable), Ken Haynes, knee (probable), Eugene Kwarteng, hand (probable), Josh Harrison, ankle (questionable), Chester Johnson, shoulder (questionable), Jamal Smith, ankle (out).
Tech Game Scouting Report......
:D
SCOUTING REPORT LA. TECH vs. LOUSIANA’S RAGIN CAJUNS
La. Tech Bulldogs
Tech’s obvious strength is its offense. QB Luke McCown is really good in their offense and is the team leader. If you give him time, he will pick you apart. Ryan Moats is the best of the backs, he is quick and elusive. The receiving core is deep and fast with guys like Davis, Franklin and Curry. The offensive line is big and young. They do have several good athletes on the line like Gonzalez and Brown. As a group their strength is pass blocking, but they are not the quickest bunch. As a group, they are not better then USC.
Advantage TECH.
On defense, Tech’s strength is the middle with the tackles Van Hoy and Street. They are better then the starting two at USC. The linebackers are solid with Nash, Hamilton and Jackson. As a group, they are good. The two safeties, M. Johnson and L. Johnson are the best of the secondary group. They both are very solid and will hit. Tech’s weakness is the corners of their defense. While do have a few good athletes, they do not have the speed or skill at DE and CB that the Cajuns faced at USC.
The Defenses are a wash.
On special teams, Josh Scobee is as good a FG kicker as you will find in college football. He has a great leg and is a clear advantage for Tech. The other parts of Tech’s Special teams are solid. Scobee gives Tech a big advantage in the FG part of special teams. But the Cajuns coverage and block schemes are better then Techs. No program, with the exception of Virginia Tech spends more time on special teams then Bustle. I wonder where he was taught the importance of special teams?
Keys to a Tech victory.
Keep McCown off the turf.
Stop the Cajun running game.
Change defenses and pressure the young Cajun QB to force turnovers.
Put Scobee in position to win the game if its close in the fourth quarter.
Louisiana’s Ragin Cajuns
The Cajun offense has RS FR. QB Jerry Babb at the helm. Babb was solid and made good decisions against USC. But the Cajuns did not win. Babb will see pressure and many different looks from the Tech defense. The key for Babb will be not to turn the ball over and run when necessary. Smothers has brought a new dimension to the Cajun backfield, speed. He is quick and he is hard to see behind the line. The offensive line did showed promise against USC, but they are still young and have not played enough together to jell. They are quick, but not as large as Tech’s line. The Cajuns have a few good receivers as well in Stamps, Lewis, Sampy and Bartel. They have good speed and block well down field.
The Cajuns defense is still a work in progress and can get better. The DL did a great job against USC and may get some extra depth this week with the return of DT Haynes. The Cajuns played eleven defensive linemen last week and they will need to rotate to stay fresh against Tech. The Cajuns have an advantage on the corners of their defense over Tech with speed. No, they are not Miami, but they do have two guys that run 4.6 at 240 plus pounds at DE. Look for Travis Bass to get the start at one DE this week. The Cajun
Linebackers are very solid with Brupbacher, Smith and C.C. Brown. The secondary is solid and will be tested this week against Tech’s receiving core. They will have to watch for the screens, outs and rubs that Tech likes to run anywhere on the field. Carter, Spann,
Fenton and Thomas will man the corners and have good speed. Lamy and Prater must play well also for the Cajuns to win.
The Cajun special team scored the only points in the USC game last week. The coverage teams must continue to play well and Autrey must be more consistent. Comiskey is solid, but he is no Josh Scobee. The coverage teams and kick blocking schemes give the Cajuns the advantage on special teams.
Keys to a Cajun victory.
Cajuns cannot have turnovers.
The Cajuns need to run the ball to keep Tech’s offense on the sideline.
The defense needs to pressure McCown and limit long plays.
Babb must play within himself again.
Special teams need to make several big plays.
Tech is favored in this game, as they should be right now. They still have more depth in their program and a big play offense. But make no mistake here; if the Cajuns can play at the level of last week, they have a chance to win this game. Warning, the Cajuns cannot turn the ball over, we are simply not good enough yet to beat any team while committing turnovers.
Reserve (Marshall Delesdernier) Seizes ig Shot
<blockquote><p align=justify><b>Delesdernier delivers two sacks after moving over from offense.</b>
LOUISIANA La. — “Who’s that number 65?” the South Carolina faithful kept asking during the fourth quarter last Saturday night.
That “number 65” had just recorded his third tackle for minus yardage and his second quarterback sack in a six-play stretch, and had single-handedly rejuvenated Louisiana's defense that was gasping for air in its upset bid
A check of the flip card didn’t help, because there was no “65” on the Ragin’ Cajun defensive depth chart. The Williams-Brice Stadium public address announcer provided no insight, since he butchered the name.
So who was this guy tackling every Gamecock in sight?
The answer was on the offensive side of the roster, where Marshall Delesdernier was listed as a backup offensive guard — the last place he expected to be listed as recently as two weeks ago.
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@lafayette.gannett.com <!--
“It’s definitely been an experience,” Delesdernier said after he finished Thursday’s two-hour workout with his new friends on the offensive line.
Wait ... he gets five tackles in the last 12 minutes, sacks the USC quarterback twice and forced a fumble that may have cost the Gamecocks a field goal, all of this with the Cajuns down 14-7 and desperately needing defensive plays ... and now he’s back working on offense?
“We’d like to have him all the time,” said Cajun defensive assistant Clay Jennings, “but he and all these guys know it’s a team effort. His teammates called on him to make plays there, and he did that.”
It was the kind of day Delesdernier had dreamed about in his first collegiate game — until his dreams took two major detours.
The first came in the spring of his senior year at Jesuit High in New Orleans, when a promising football future and a knee ligament both blew up. Full ACL reconstructive surgery kept him off that knee until last spring, when he joined 43 players for Cajun walk-on tryouts.
He was one of two survivors from that group, and had pretty much solidified a spot as a backup defensive tackle with a solid spring and good performances in early fall drills.
That’s when the Cajun coaches came to him and said they needed him to play offensive guard — 10 days before the season opener.
“I had worked so hard to get back ready to play,” he said. “I had worked really hard at tackle, and I pretty much was going to be the fifth tackle, probably travel and play some snaps.”
Delesdernier had never played offense in his life, except for part of an eighth-grade season at Jesuit. He’d certainly never played any in high school when he was earning All-Metro honors for coach Vic Eumont.
“For that whole week I was just trying to learn the offense,” he said. “I still haven’t learned it well enough, but it’s coming.”
Fast forward to last Saturday to Louisiana's defensive front that had left the injured Kendrick Haynes back in Lafayette, and the other Cajun tackles were showing signs of wear in the Columbia, S.C., heat. When tackle George Benson went down with cramps in the fourth quarter, Delesdernier got the call to switch back to defense.
“I figured I may have to play some there,” he said. “We had really only three tackles rotating in. And I’d been on the squad a little longer than some of the freshman guys ... I’d been working against a lot of these guys since February. It was almost like I was back home.”
First and 10 at the Cajun 33: Delesdernier sacks USC quarterback Dondrial Pinkins, loss of five yards. First and 10 from the 13: Delesdernier tackles tailback Daccus Turman for a loss of one. Third and 11 from the 14, another sack, a forced fumble, a loss of seven yards.
“It was really uplifting,” said Jennings, “for a guy who’d been practicing with the offense, for him to go out there and be as disruptive as he was, it really uplifted and rejuvenated our kids.”
Doing that at any time would have been uplifting. To do that with 82,227 hostile fans watching ...
“It was an unbelievable feeling,” he said. “It sounds funny now, but when I went out there I said to myself I needed to make a play. It was fun making 82,000 people shut up. We were just so close to winning.”
The performance didn’t come as a surprise to the Cajun defensive coaches.
“He didn’t do anything we didn’t expect,” Jennings said. “He plays hard and he’s got a motor.”
His motor’s back running at guard this week, and he may see his first collegiate offensive action Saturday when the Cajuns host Louisiana Tech.
“If I had my choice, I’d be back on defense,” Delesdernier said. “That’s where I’ve played all my life. But offense has its perks, too. As good as it feels to get a sack, it feels just as good to punish a linebacker when he doesn’t see you coming.”
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It's GAME DAY: Cajuns’ big chance
<blockquote><p align=justify><b>Bustle’s troops hope to win over home fans against old rival Louisiana Tech.</b>
LOUISIANA La. — When UL hosts Louisiana Tech at 7 p.m. today at 31,000-seat Cajun Field, it might be the most pivotal game of the season for both teams.
For Rickey Bustle’s Cajuns, who lost 14-7 at South Carolina last week to start the campaign, the Tech game is a designated Sun Belt Conference contest even though the Bulldogs are in the Western Athletic Conference.
A victory would vault the Cajuns into the thick of the Sun Belt race, not to mention assure large crowds at home next week against Houston and in the near future.
For Tech, tonight’s game falls in between last week’s 48-9 loss in Shreveport to the Miami Hurricanes and a trip next week to Michigan State. Coach Jack Bicknell’s staff needs some positive reinforcement in between those tests.
On the line is early-season momentum, at the very least.
Also at stake are bragging rights for two old rivals, stakes that are higher with Tech jumping to the WAC and the Cajuns upholding Sun Belt honor.
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Bruce Brown
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“It’s great to have a chance to have the first conference game at home,” Bustle said. “It’s a big, big, big game, one we have to have.”
“It really has not been difficult to re-focus after the Miami game after seeing what they (the Cajuns) did at South Carolina,” Bicknell said. “They had a lot of opportunities to win that game.
“It is important for the confidence of our team to play well. Every game is tough and we have to approach every one the same way.”
“I hope we pack the stadium,” Bustle said. “I hope we have people standing up on the hill. The crowd (82,227) at South Carolina was loud and it would be great to have a big crowd for our home opener.”
Senior quarterback Luke McCown is the trigger man for Tech’s aerial circus, a 6-foot-4, 200-pounder with over 9,000 career passing yards. He jump-started that career as a freshman when he lit up the Cajuns for an NCAA freshman record six touchdown passes in a 48-14 victory in 2000.
McCown hit 31-of-42 passes for 353 yards that night, finding eight different receivers. His six scores also equalled the UL opponent record held by Florida’s Terry Dean, Houston’s Jimmy Klingler and Steve Ramsey of North Texas.
The Bulldogs were limited to three field goals last week. McCown hit 16-of-26 for 195 yards, including shots of 57, 45 and 40 yards, but Miami’s speedy defense stood strong.
The Cajuns, who broke up 10 passes in the opener, are still adjusting to injuries and shuffling in a secondary already revamped after losing Charles Tillman and Ivan Taylor to the NFL.
“Jamal Smith (ankle) is missed,” defensive coordinator Brent Pry said. “There were some plays at South Carolina that we couldn’t get to that I’ve seen him make a dozen times. He’s a smart football player and a lot of our adjustments are initiated through him.
“We get a boost (this week) with C.C. Brown coming into the lineup. Then you have James Roberts, who gained a ton of experience (and 10 tackles) last week. Jarrett Jones can make some plays, as well.
“I feel confident in those three players getting the job done while Jamal is out.”
Bicknell got a first-hand look at a swift defense last week, so the Cajuns shouldn’t be a surprise.
“I think they are going to be just as fast as we are,” Bicknell said. “I don’t think we have any advantage there. I think they’re a very similar team to us, especially defensively. They seem to be flying to the football out there.”
Scoring was a problem for the Cajuns last week as their only touchdown was an 89-yard blocked field goal return by Patrick Lamy. One scoring drive was halted at the USC 1-yard line by a fumble.
“We need to get the ball in the end zone,” said Bustle. “Tech’s defense is improved. They’ve involved their safeties in run support this year.”
Bustle liked the poise shown by redshirt freshman quarterback Jerry Babb (12-of-25, 134 yards) in hostile surroundings, and he also enjoyed the emergence of junior running back Travis Smothers, who gained 113 yards on 19 carries for the first 100-yard rushing game by a Cajun in two years.
“We had a good game plan going into the South Carolina game,” Babb said. “There wasn’t much they did that we didn’t expect. We were able to put some drives together, and that’s a bright sign for the future.”
In the present, both teams need this one tonight.
“It’s a game of ‘ifs’ a lot of times,” Bustle said. “We really should have won the (South Carolina) game. We’re still looking for our first win. If we’re more fundamentally sound than last week, we have a chance.”
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Louisiana must contain La. Tech's McCown
<blockquote><p align=justify>LOUISIANA La. -- There's nothing in free safety Wendall Williams' experience that can help him for what he could witness today at Cajun Field.
In the University of Louisiana at Lafayette defensive scheme, Williams is responsible for keeping an eye on the quarterback.
The former running back/wide receiver will get to observe a good one in Luke McCown of Louisiana Tech, a senior high on the all-time list of NCAA career passing statistics.
The UL-Tech matchup, set to start at 7 p.m., has been designated a Sun Belt Conference game for the Cajuns. It is also the first home game for ULL, which lost a 14-7 season opener at South Carolina last Saturday.
That game was the first of any consequence for Williams, a junior from Baton Rouge, who didn't play much on offense during his first two seasons at ULL.
The switch to defense has been beneficial for Williams, who said free safety allows him to use more of his athletic ability than he did on offense.
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By BOBBY ARDOIN
Special to The Advocate <!--
"It's been a big change for me, but the move has been good," Williams said. "I played a lot of defensive back (at Belaire High) and I've been waiting for the chance to show what I can do on defense."
Although Williams didn't start the South Carolina game, his performance was impressive enough for secondary coach Gary Bartel.
"I thought he had a solid first game," Bartel said. "The free safety in our defense has the quarterback and makes all the checks. A couple of times early against South Carolina, you could see (Williams) get caught up in the excitement of the game, but overall his play was excellent and he came through with some nice tackles."
Bartel said David Prater will probably start at free safety against Tech, but Williams will see significant action against McCown, who has thrown for 9,420 yards in three years.
In last week's 48-9 loss to Miami, McCown passed for 195 yards on 16 completions. He threw two interceptions with no touchdowns.
Williams, who had three solo tackles against South Carolina, said McCown presents a challenge.
"Luke McCown is a great quarterback. The defense has to step up to the fact that McCown's passing game is a great one," Williams said.
Williams is happy he'll get the chance to slow McCown at his new position.
"The free safety in our defense makes a lot of plays on the pass and the run. Last season I talked to the coaches about switching to play defensive back around midseason and this spring I got the chance," he said.
Bartel recalled Williams was tentative at free safety when spring training began, but his aggressiveness and recognition improved toward the end.
ULL coach Rickey Bustle said the matchup with Tech is important.
"It's a conference game and our first home game. It's also a game we need to win because we're playing an in-state rival," he said. "Tech has that great passing game that is helped by the fact that they have some veteran receivers."
Tech has three seniors scheduled to start in a four-wide receiver offense. Trasmissian Davis is the only junior among the four which includes D.J. Curry, Erick Franklin and Chris Norwood.
McCown completed passes to 10 receivers against Miami. Sophomore Freddie King caught the most (4 for 27 yards), while Curry had three receptions for 13 yards.
The Cajuns featured redshirt freshman quarterback Jerry Babb as the starter against South Carolina. Babb completed 12 of 25 attempts for 134 yards.
Babb's debut impressed Bustle.
"Jerry did a heck of a job, starting his first game like he did. I thought he was very comfortable the whole game. I thought he showed a lot of maturity for a young guy," Bustle said.
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