Louisiana's Jerry Babb goes into his fourth year as the University of Louisiana's starting quarterback this fall and is seeking his best season yet. That's a tall order, since the Ragin' Cajuns claimed their first winning season in a decade at 6-5 and won their first-ever Sun Belt Conference title in 2005. Babb talked about the upcoming UL season with UL beat writer Dan McDonald.
Q: How many times a day are you getting asked about this year's team?
A: There's a lot more interest. People are starting to have a lot more interest in what's going on in the program as compared to when I first got here. Someone's always asking about when camp starts, whether we're ready for LSU. It's an experience to be out in the community.
Q: Is the team looking forward to getting the season started as much as the fans are?
A: We've got the same kind of anticipation. Everyone's anxious to get into camp . we're all tired of doing the summer workout thing. As a team, after last year, we're starting to feel confident in ourselves that we can win. We've been there, we've been in tough situations before and we have the ability to get things accomplished.
Q: How much did last year's success help in the off-season program?
A: We probably had over 90 percent of our guys that attended this summer. In the past, it's been maybe about half the guys showing up. I think we showed last year that we're willing to work and get better. There's expectations around the community, but I think expectations within the team are higher.