The Book: 2002-03 Louisiana Football season

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Daily Advertiser-Dan McDonald

Don't look now, but the folks way up North are laughing at you.

Those evil columnists who cover the University of Minnesota are dissing your hometown football team.

It was only a few hours after Minnesota and UL opened their respective seasons that the mud-slinging began.

One day after the Gophers (we'll discuss having a rodent as a mascot later) crunched Southwest Texas State in a Saturday opener at the Metrodome (also worth later discussion), Dan Barreiro of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reported:

"On the same week that the Vikings capped their four-game preseason schedule with a tepid 17-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Gophers opened their own four-game preseason schedule with a crisp victory over the Southwest Texas State Bobcats. The Vikings open their regular season next Sunday against the Bears. The Gophers do not open until Sept. 28 in West Lafayette, Ind."

That's when Minnesota meets Purdue in what is allegedly the Gophers' first true test.

But that's mild compared to the words of Bob Sansevere of the St. Paul Pioneer Press:

"It should be more of the same this week when the Gophers travel to Louisiana. They should come away with their second big win in a row. They should also come away with an empty feeling. There's no reason to get all warm and snuggly about yourself when you've opened the season with a Division I-AA school and a hyphenated school from the Sun Belt Conference.

"With rare exceptions, teams with hyphens or compass points in their name are lousy in football. Games against the likes of Southwest Texas State, Louisiana and Buffalo do little more than pad your record."

I have it on good authority that those guys also think your girl friends are ugly.

Just think how amused they'll be when they watch you eating crawfish this weekend. Tailgating should be a real hoot when the chank-a-chank band cranks up under the oak tree.

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Advertiser-Bruce Brown
Posted on September 5, 2002

LAFAYETTE - How much different will Cajun Field look for Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns this week, after last Saturday's 31-7 loss to Texas A&M before 75,087 fans at Kyle Field?

The sight of three decks of maroon-clad Aggies fans swaying in unison to their traditional songs remains one of the enduring images of the evening. Their constant level of noise helped the Aggies past the mistake-prone Cajuns, who played in front of the fifth-largest crowd in their history.

A&M's attendance was the 19th-largest turnout in school history, and the largest crowd ever for a home opener, topping the 71,282 who watched the Aggies fall to LSU 17-3 in 1987.

Cajun Field seats 31,000, but hasn't had many memorable crowds in recent years.

Only once in the last five seasons have the Cajuns played before more than 20,000 fans - 20,113 attended a 38-37 homecoming loss to Tulane in 2000 - and dwindling attendance was one reason Jerry Baldwin was fired with a year left on his contract last fall.

Season ticket sales spiked with interest generated by the hiring of Rickey Bustle as head coach, and he and his staff have taken steps to revive interest from the UL Lafayette student body.

But, will it be any different for Saturday's visit by Big Ten member Minnesota?

Cajun Field can be a rowdy place, as Texas A&M players recall from a 29-22 loss here in 1996 before an overflow throng of more than 38,000.

More often, it has had a neutral effect, at best, on visiting teams.

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Daily Advertiser-Dan McDonald
Posted on September 6, 2002

LAFAYETTE - It has been one of the worst weeks imaginable for Minnesota head coach Glen Mason.

Losses are a part of life in the coaching profession, but there is no preparation for the loss of a player to an untimely death.

Golden Gopher sophomore defensive tackle Brandon Hall, 19, was killed early Sunday following an altercation in downtown Minneapolis involving several of his teammates. His shooting death overshadowed a 42-0 win over Southwest Texas State hours earlier in Minnesota's season opener, and cast a pall over the team's preparations for Saturday's contest against UL Lafayette at Cajun Field.

The team returned to practice Tuesday and worked out three times prior to its scheduled travel to Lafayette today. Mason said that the squad's focus is slowly turning back to the Saturday contest.

"It's little degrees of improvement, but it's better than it was here Sunday morning at 4 a.m.," Mason said Wednesday after his team's practice. "All I expected of this team was for them to try, and they did do that."

The Gopher squad has dealt with the loss by banding together. The team held a cookout Monday evening, with Mason telling team leaders that's what families do on Labor Day. A memorial service was held Thursday evening.

"The team's handling things as well as they possibly can at this point," said co-offensive coordinator Mitch Browning. "It's a day-to-day situation. Everybody handles something like this different and there's no way to prepare for it."

Louisiana officials said a moment of silence would be observed prior to Saturday's 7 p.m. home opener for the Ragin' Cajuns.

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ADVOCATE
By ANDRES YBARRA
Associated Press writer

MINNEAPOLIS -- As the schedule reads, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette plays host to the Minnesota Golden Gophers on Saturday.

But the Ragin' Cajuns won't face the same team that opened the season with a 42-0 win over Southwest Texas State last weekend.

Those Gophers were transformed only hours after that game when defensive tackle Brandon Hall was fatally shot after an altercation in downtown Minneapolis. Hall, a redshirt freshman, had just played in his first college game.

This week, the Gophers have had to balance studying, practicing and mourning.

"They're still grieving, they're still hurting," coach Glen Mason said.

Mason said the coaching staff won't rush the players back into the normal routine. A public memorial service was held Thursday night and Mason said he plans to attend Hall's funeral in Detroit next Monday.

The team gathered Monday night for dinner. Attendance wasn't mandatory, but every player showed up at Mason's invitation to help console each other.

"We needed to do things more team-oriented," quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq said.

Minnesota enters as a strong favorite for the second straight week, but this week's preparations have been overshadowed by Hall's death.

"The challenge for us internally is to get back to the job at hand," Mason said.

Last Saturday, the Cajuns gave Texas A&M a scare, trailing only 3-0 at halftime. The Cajuns might have won if they would have just held onto the ball. ULL committed 10 turnovers against the Aggies -- six interceptions and four fumbles. Two fumbles came inside the Aggies' 10-yard line. Texas A&M won 31-7.

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[Turbine]

Last year I made the mistake of bringing an umbrella to the gate.

. . . It can be a long trek back to the car. . . especially if you are late to the game and Jon VanCleave just tossed a 1st quarter TD to Jerome Coleman. . . .

So besides arriving early, please remind friends of what they can and cannot bring in the gates.

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Originally posted by CajunDave1
Coach Ricky Bustle, and his staff, are on the right track and "will" be getting their first of many W's in the very near future!!!!!!

Today would be a great start.

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Advertiser-Richard Burgess

LAFAYETTE - A chance to win a car, free watches, cash prizes, fun jumps for the kids and a petting zoo, and, in case that's not enough, football.

Those are the things Ragin' Cajun fans can expect today when UL faces Minnesota-Twin Cities at the SWAMP - all part of a marketing push to get more fans in the stadium in an effort to keep the Ragin' Cajuns football team in NCAA Division 1A.

That division brings the kind of prestige that attracts money, students and faculty to a school.

To remain there, the Ragin' Cajuns need to fill an average of 15,000 seats for each home game by August 2004.

Last season, the average was 13,323.

But the expected attendance numbers for today's game - 20,000 to 25,000 - are promising, said UL Director of Public Relations and New Services Julie Simon-Dronet.

"Tickets have been selling unbelievably well for the last few days," she said.

That may be due in part to the buzz the university's promotions department has tried to create over the last few months.

"We are trying to create momentum for the games and build interest," Simon-Dronet said. "And games from here on out are going to be different."

Game day, she said, will offer more entertainment than just football.

Two radio stations will be doing live remotes from the game. A band will play for tailgaters. Kids can visit a petting zoo and romp in a fun jump.

And then there are the prizes and giveaways.

Ticket-holders can win a GMC Sonoma with a tailgating barbecue pit package. Ragin' Cajun watches will be given to the first 500 people through Gate A. Two ticket-holders will win $500.

"There will be a lot of excitement," Simon-Dronet said.

She said Louisiana set out last spring to create a new marketing plan to build attendance.

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Advertiser-Bruce Brown

LAFAYETTE - UL committed 10 turnovers in last weekend's 31-7 loss at Texas A&M.

The Minnesota Golden Gophers scored four touchdowns in their first 10 snaps of last weekend's 42-0 home thrashing of Sam Houston State.

Obviously, coach Rickey Bustle's Ragin' Cajuns have to avoid self-destruction in today's 7 p.m. Herbert Heymann Classic at 31,000-seat Cajun Field.

But they also have to be ready from the opening kickoff against the visitors of coach Glen Mason, who last week ran a flea-flicker on the first snap that resulted in a 75-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Asad Abdul-Khaliq to tight end Ben Utecht.

By the time the Bobcats came up for air, they were behind 28-0 and out of luck.

A crowd in excess of 20,000 is expected for the home opener, Bustle's first game in front of pro-Cajun fans, and he's hoping for a better ending than last year's 44-14 win by Minnesota in the Metrodome.

The Gophers, meanwhile, are struggling to deal with the shooting death last weekend of redshirt freshman Brandon Hall. A memorial service was held Thursday night, and the team had to quickly re-focus on football for Friday's flight to.

A moment of silence will be observed tonight in Hall's memory.

On the field, the Gophers had a near-perfect opener. They outgained Southwest Texas 395-129 and quickly removed all doubt about the outcome.

Abdul-Khaliq hit 6-of-7 passes for 172 yards and a pair of scores, adding a 67-yarder to Aaron Hosack. Terry Jackson didn't start, but still led the team's ground game with 80 yards on 14 carries.

Jackson had 51 yards in last year's win over the Cajuns, when the Gophers rolled to 331 yards rushing and 533 total.

The Cajuns have re-structured their defense this year into a 4-4-3 alignment that is geared to stop the run and force teams to pass. Last week at A&M, often lining up all 11 defenders on the line of scrimmage, UL held the Aggies' Derek Farmer to 39 yards in 18 attempts and limited A&M to 179 rushing yards.

"What I've seen is that they line up and run the football really well," Bustle said of Minnesota. "They are a very physical offensive team, and we have to be better up front getting off blocks in the running game. Their approach last year was to knock us off the ball and make some big plays in between.

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[AsaPW]

He isn't doing good at all. Who's the backup QB? Is he any good? It's the third quarter and he's 9 for 21 with only 74 yards! COME ON CAJUNS!!!

[AsaPW]

THANK YOU! Go Rekeita