2006: Preseason Practice Reports

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Rickey Bustle's not getting soft on his Louisiana Ragin' Cajun football team. Allowing the players to shed their pads midway through Monday's afternoon practice, and finish out the session in jerseys and shorts, was just part of the master plan. "We'd had a good morning practice," Bustle said, "and we had a chance to get in some individual work that we needed during the first part of the afternoon. The rest was mostly mental stuff. The guys didn't know this was coming." The Cajuns, going through their second two-a-day session of fall camp, worked out in full gear in Monday's two-hour morning session. They were in shoulder pads and shorts in the afternoon until Bustle told them to remove the shoulder gear during a mid-practice water break. Bustle said he wanted his squad to be as fresh as possible for Wednesday's first full-scale scrimmage of fall practice. That session is now scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. in the morning half of Wednesday's two-a-days, following a single session at 8 a.m. today. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns spent Tuesday morning on the practice field in shorts and shoulder pads for their eleventh workout of the fall. The Cajuns covered 11 periods, ending in a team period facing first-and-10 situations. The offense was very productive on first down, picking-up five or more yards of five of the eight plays. “There were a few people playing well today,” said Cajuns cornerbacks coach Terry Sims. “As a unit, offensively or defensively, we have a lot of work to do. “It’s a combination of things with some guys giving in to the heat and some guys giving in to the bruises. We have to get tougher and push through it.” One group that will help the team persevere is the cornerbacks. Each of the five corners on the two-deep is an upperclassman. In addition, that group has a combined 11 letters of experience and 34 career starts. “We have some older players at the corner position,” stated Sims. “Our seniors are leading the secondary and the rest of the group has played a lot of football. They have played under the lights and been in some tough situations. Everybody is pushing each other and trying to get it done. “The older guys have been to a number of camps and they know what’s expected. We as coaches can’t allow players to think they have the system figured out and then cruise through. “Some of the players slacked off today and we have to continue to push.” The Cajuns will scrimmage on Wednesday morning at 8:30am. The team is scripted to run a total of 104 plays, 20 of which will be special teams. Six players have been listed as doubtful for the scrimmage, with another three listed as questionable. LOUISIANA SI

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Noone needs to be "slacking off" if they plan to stay on the field with LSU and T-A&M. Powerhouse teams don't slack off.

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Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns worked 11 periods of practice on Thursday afternoon, followed by an extended conditioning session. The team wore shorts and shoulder pad during their fourteenth practice of the fall. Practice started with a corrections period from Wednesday morning’s scrimmage. The next eight periods had a familiar look before the team spent a 10-minute period installing goal line plays. Following the installation period came a brief eight-play varsity period and five field goal attempts. The first field goal attempt misfired due to a bad snap. Holder/punter Brit Framel was able to hit tight end Erik Jones with a 30-yard touchdown pass to the dismay of the defense. A conditioning session ended practice, with most position coaches putting their groups through extra conditioning. “We came back today with a good mental morning,” said Cajuns tight ends coach Troy Wingerter. “We watched film this morning and came out and made the corrections. “Practice was crisp. We had some good one-on-one competition against each other.” The quarterbacks attempted only one pass during Thursday’s team period. That total is in stark contrast to all of camp, which has seen numerous players involved in the aerial attack. Wednesday’s scrimmage featured 14 different players with at least one reception. “The ball is being spread around quite a bit,” added Wingerter. “The scrimmage was a pleasant surprise to see how far they’ve come.” Wingerter’s tight ends have perhaps the most difficult job on the Cajuns offense. Sometimes the tight ends are used as run blockers and other times as receiving targets. Often times the tight end is not even on the field when the Cajuns use a spread formation. “We roll a lot of personnel packages and it’s tough for the tight ends to get into the flow of the game,” stated Wingerter. “My guys are the kind of people that can sit on the sidelines and get cold, but come out 100 percent when called upon. “The fact is that we have some good offensive weapons and the tight ends are prepared to do whatever it takes to win football games.” The Cajuns have only three days left before the end of fall camp and the start of school on Monday. The team will practice twice on Friday before a scrimmage on Saturday at 8:30am. The team will finish camp with a practice on Sunday afternoon. LOUISIANA SI