The Book: 2002-03 Louisiana Football season

[NewsCopy]

By BOBBY ARDOIN
Special to The Advocate

LAFAYETTE -- Eric Rekieta was told to find a way to win as he came off the bench in the fourth quarter Saturday night.

Then in somewhat dramatic fashion, he accomplished the task.

Replacing injured University of Louisiana starting quarterback Jon Van Cleave, Rekieta orchestrated two late touchdown drives that defeated Idaho 31-28 at Cajun Field.

UL escaped with its second win of the season when Idaho place-kicker Keith Stamps missed a 46-yard field goal on the game's final play.

Rekieta had thrown only 18 passes this season before he replaced Van Cleave, who hurt an ankle after he ran out of bounds behind the Idaho bench with 13:59 left to play.

Before entering the huddle with UL trailing 28-17, Rekieta got some explicit directions from UL coach Rickey Bustle.

"I told him that you're going to find a way to win this game," Bustle said. "Go into the huddle and tell them that and then you lead them."

Rekieta responded with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Fred Stamps with 8:05 left.

Then with 49 seconds remaining, the Cajuns went ahead 29-28 when running back Jerome Coleman scored on a 3-yard run.

UL added the two-point conversion when Rekieta faked a handoff to Coleman and then delivered a throw to wide receiver Bill Sampy.

Idaho went from its own 40 to the Cajuns' 28 in 47 seconds, before lining up for Keith Stamps' attempt that dropped just below the crossbar.

Rekieta had trouble explaining his emotions after the game.

"Words can't explain all the emotions I have right now," he said. "It was unbelievable how we came back. Everyone stepped up and made the plays.

"When (Van Cleave) went down with the injury, everyone came in and did their part big time. I felt confidence in my O-line. They were really pumped up. How all this turned out today is perfect, I can't begin to explain how I feel about it."

A postgame diagnosis of Van Cleave's injury revealed a twisted ankle. X-rays of the injury were also taken and apparently proved negative, Bustle said.

He also praised a 2-7 team for the way it handled the adversity of three first-quarter Idaho touchdowns.

"I can't say enough about the way our guys hung in there and had the pride to come back the way they did," said Bustle.

The rest of the story

[Cajun1997]

Louisiana 34
Arkansas State 24

[Cajun1997]

Season Record (2-7)
SBC Record (1-3)
Texas A&M (5-4) Loss
Minnesota (7-2) Loss
Houston (4-4) Loss
Alabama@Birmingham (4-4) Win
Louisiana State (6-2) Loss
New Mexico State (6-3) Loss
Middle Tennessee (2-7) Loss
North Texas (4-5) Loss
Idaho (2-7) Win

Of our 7 losses, 4 have been to teams with winning records, 2 have been to teams at .500, and 1 loss to a team with a losing record (Middle Tennessee).

Through 4 SBC games our
points scored avg is 24
points allowed avg is 34

Our Non-Conference games
points scored avg is 14
points allowed avg is 30

[NewsCopy]

Advertisers-Dan McDonald

LAFAYETTE - One thing was lost amid the excitement of Louisiana's come-from-behind Homecoming victory over Idaho, quarterback Eric Rekieta's inspiring performance in relief of the injured Jon Van Cleave, and the last-second Vandal field goal miss that provided the 31-28 victory Saturday.

That was the performance of the Ragin' Cajun defense, which came up with one of its best efforts of the season over the final three quarters.

And nobody, absolutely nobody, in the crowd of 12,621 rain-soaked fans would have expected that after the game's first 11 minutes. Most of that crowd was wondering at that time if the Cajun defense was bothering to make an appearance or avoid embarrassment.

"When they went down and scored the first three times they had the ball, we were a little shell-shocked," said Cajun head coach Rickey Bustle.

"We got off to a slow start," said defensive tackle Walter Sampson.

No kidding. Idaho, ranked sixth nationally in pass offense, made it look pretty easy in the opening minutes. It took the Vandals only 16 plays to put up 21 points, driving for scores on drives that ate up only 1:43, 1:14 and 2:44 on the clock.

IU quarterback Brian Lindgren had 135 yards and three touchdown passes by the 4:42 mark of the first quarter.

The rest of the story

[CajunGrad94]

Am I the only one that noticed the awesome RED uniform pants the team came out in Saturday. Surely not! The RED pants make all the difference in the world. It seems to complete the uniform, to me anyway.

I am going to take credit for bringing this subject up last week and the Cajuns having an inspired performance. I need some feeling of accomplishment after falling to #3 in the YARDAGE contest!

Great move by the admin. or coaches whom ever is responsible for the decision. I only hope this was not a one time appearence for the RED pants and they will continue to wear them through the rest of the season.

Turbine, do you know if they will or not? Thanks

[Turbine]

There is no doubt that traditions can have a positive influence on the feelings surrounding games.

A couple of things, based on a spark by SwampFox, this sight brought up the subject of the Cannon on October 31st.

And CajunGrad94 called for a return of the all red uniforms.

Both of these things happened on Saturday and "Cajuns WIN"

We are not taking credit for the win, just hoping to keep improving on home game atmosphere.

[RaginRash]

Do you have a picture of the red pant unis from this past weekend's game???! Turbine, HELP!

[Turbine]

Originally posted by CajunGrad94
...I only hope this was not a one time appearence for the RED pants and they will continue to wear them through the rest of the season. Turbine, do you know if they will or not? Thanks

I sure don't. I will try to find out. They do look good

Originally posted by RaginRash
Do you have a picture of the red pant unis from this past weekend's game???! Turbine, HELP!

I was sick saturday and listened on the radio. If I had known about the resurrected cannon I would have forced myself to go take close ups. Perhaps the big bang would have cured my ills.
Advertiser photo of the QB club

[Turbine]

U L 33
ASU 27

3 TD's, 4 field goals for the Cajuns

[CajunGrad94]

An example of the Home uniforms pre-Idaho game.
UL vs UAB

[CajunGrad94]

This past weekend. UL vs Idaho

[CAJUNDOG]

Keep the red drawers