Spring Football

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University of Louisiana head football coach Rickey Bustle opened spring football practice Friday with a pep talk to his Ragin' Cajun squad, not much of it different from previous seasons. "We talked about what we're trying to do, and about doing things the right way," Bustle said, "And, how good things will happen if you do that." Then he pulled out the fruits of his team's most recent labors - the championship rings from last year's Sun Belt Conference-winning squad, which had arrived earlier that day. "There was a lot of whooping and hollering," Bustle said. "We'd been waiting on those things to get here." The veteran players, those who were part of UL's season-ending five-game win streak and a share of the league title, didn't know the rings had arrived until they hit the field for the first of 15 spring practice sessions. "It felt good," said offensive tackle and all-league returnee Brandon Cox. "Everybody got excited. We were all anxious to get in after practice to get ours. But we're not satisfied with just one." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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One of the things the University of Louisiana football team doesn't need to happen happened in the final minutes of spring drills Saturday morning. Cornerback Kyle Ward went down with a hamstring injury on his final play Saturday in the final drill of session two of UL's spring practice. The severity of the injury was not immediately known, but it was enough to keep him out of Saturday's Louisiana Classics track and field meet, where he was one of the favorites in the 110-meter hurdles. More importantly for the football squad, Ward will likely miss several practice sessions - not the best news, since UL has its spring sessions front-loaded with nine of its allowed 15 practices scheduled in the first 11 days. Day two of spring drills Saturday was very similar to Friday's day one, with installation dominating the two-hour and 15-minute practice. Cajun coach Rickey Bustle was hoping Saturday's drills looked better on film than Friday's opener. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[DaddyCajun]

Just hope he has a speedy recovery and does not get injured during the season, or anytime for that matter.


DaddyCajun

[gridiron]

I couldn't go yesterday is there a report?

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The University of Louisiana football staff will get its first full-speed look at its squad today when the Ragin' Cajuns hold their first full-scale scrimmage of spring practice. UL head coach Rickey Bustle said that the 11 a.m. scrimmage at Cajun Field will last approximately two hours, but that most of the 15 returning starters will see little action. "A lot of the starters will get some plays, but not very many," Bustle said Friday. "We're trying to bring our young players along in the spring, so the second and third guys will get most of the snaps." That swapping of the depth charts will include the quarterback position, with returning starters Jerry Babb and Michael Desormeaux likely never going under center in Saturday's first of three scrimmages. Instead, Connor Morel and John Hundley will alternate at the position, and will face live rush ... no non-contact jerseys this time. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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With its top two quarterbacks watching from the sidelines, it made sense that the University of Louisiana's first full-scale scrimmage of spring practice featured the running game. UL's running backs ran for 231 yards on 48 carries Saturday during the Cajuns' two-hour session at Cajun Field that wrapped up the first full week of spring. Returning Sun Belt Freshman of the Year Tyrell Fenroy had 41 yards on only four totes and redshirt freshman Deon Wallace also rushed for 41 yards. "The running backs ran hard again," said head coach Rickey Bustle. "They continue to make people miss and get yards when there is nothing there. I've been really pleased with them." Bustle was also pleased with his quarterback play. Returning starters Jerry Babb and Michael Desormeaux, who have taken very few snaps in spring drills, saw no action and freshmen Connor Morel and John Hundley took every scrimmage snap. Hundley finished 12-of-21 for 190 yards and rushed seven times for 29 yards, while Morel carried for 58 yards but hit only four-of-13 passes for 40 yards. The rest of the story

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The goals will be to cut back the penalties and keep players healthy today when the University of Louisiana football squad holds its second full-scale scrimmage of spring drills. The Cajuns will scrimmage at 10:30 a.m. at Cajun Field in its 11th practice of the spring session, and in its last scrimmage activity prior to the Red-White spring football game next Saturday. The scrimmage is open to the public. UL's offense had much success in last week's first scrimmage with the exception of nearly a dozen penalties - not including numerous delay-of-game flags that weren't marked off. Today, they will be. "We're going to emphasize the 25-second clock a lot," said offensive coordinator Rob Christophel. "We've got to cut down on that, but at the same time we're going to put them in more of a game situation to get ready for next week." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns football team took the practice fields for its 11th practice of spring 2006 on Friday afternoon at the UL football practice fields. The practice session was light as the Cajuns stayed in shorts and shoulder pads only in preparation for Saturday’s scrimmage. UL will scrimmage at Cajun Field on Saturday (April 1) morning. The players will hit the field at 10:30 a.m., with the scrimmage starting around 10:50 a.m. The scrimmage is scripted for 96 offensive plays and 12 kicking plays. “I thought we were really crisp today,” said tight ends coach Troy Wingerter. “Anytime you have a Friday practice, it’s a mental day.” Wingerter noted that with injury problems that have plagued the Cajuns in the spring the coaching staff has been pleased with the performance of those asked to fill in the gaps. “The guys that are stepping up behind them are really stepping up to the plate,” Wingerter mentioned. “They are really coming off of the ball giving us a real good look.” “I think the younger guys are developing very well, especially with some of the older guys getting banged up on defense,” Wingerter added. “We have asked some guys to step up and they aren’t backing down. They are excited about it. “They could tip-toe through it while you are in the process of learning,” Wingerter explained. “You tend to think too much, but they are all thinking before the play and reacting after the ball is snapped.” While injuries are never a good thing to deal with it has provided the Cajuns coaching staff with the chance to begin to develop depth at certain positions. The coaches have been getting help from the veterans to guide the up-and-coming guys. “I think all of our guys realize is the thing that separates a school like ours and the upper level schools is depth.” Wingerter noted. “We need some of our younger guys to come along. “Brandon [Cox] is doing an awesome job of taking time out of his day to teach some of the younger guys that play next to him,” Wingerter added. “We have two tackles with some experience to help to teach the younger guys in the middle. To help out a little bit, we also have some tight ends that have some experience.” Saturday’s scrimmage at Cajun Field will be the final one before the final week of practice. Next Saturday (April 8) UL will hold its Spring Game. LOUISIANA SI

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Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns football team held their second scrimmage of the 2006 spring football season. In the first scrimmage, the offense got the better of the defense. However, in the second scrimmage at Cajun Field, the defense got even by dominating the offense on Saturday. "It was pretty simple. The defense came out and established an attitude," head coach Rickey Bustle commented. "I told them the other day they didn't have [any attitude]. We scrimmaged last week and we didn't have it. "The biggest thing about the defense was the spirit they came out with today. They had an attitude to get after the offense and they did that. They did that from play one. There were a lot of people running around and they were having some fun out there." In the first half of the scrimmage, the defense was overpowering. The defense picked off three passes within the first 20 plays of the scrimmage. Jarrett Jones stood out on the defense during the scrimmage. The senior cornerback had an interception, a forced fumble and several big hits on the day. On the day, the defense finished the day with three interceptions, a pair of fumble recoveries, some tipped balls and a blocked field goal. "To me, the offense had too many mistakes," Bustle added. "We had too many turnovers and penalties. If this had been a real game, we would have fallen too far behind in the first half to come back and win." The Cajuns, playing on both sides of the ball with a depleted squad, committed nearly a dozen penalties on the day. The offense also fumbled the snap several times on the morning. "We had some young quarterbacks making bad decisions," said Bustle. "They need to grow up and play better. I didn't feel like the quarterbacks had gotten better today like I did last week. They are young and you have to be patient with them." The offense came out in the second half of the scrimmage after making some adjustments. After not being able to generate any significant positive gains in the first half, the Cajuns offense managed to string together some big plays and rewarding drives. After two incomplete passes, running back Chester Johnson was given the ball on third down and ten. The senior broke around the outside scored a touchdown on a 25-yard run. Redshirt freshman Deon Wallace scored a touchdown inside the red zone. Wallace punched in the touchdown from six yards out. The touchdown was set up by a 25-yard pass from John Hundley to Darrius Duffy and an 18-yard gallop by Wallace. While practicing red zone situations, Tyrell Fenroy used four rushes to push his way into the end zone for another score. The Cajuns will continue spring drills throughout the upcoming week. LOUISIANA SI