LAFAYETTE — University of Louisiana at Lafayette defensive tackle Korey Raymond is realistic about his team’s defensive goals when the Cajuns play North Carolina A&T for their first home game of the season today.

Raymond has memorized a list of “bad things” ULL’s defense will try to avoid when the Cajuns (0-2) host winless A&T at 4 p.m.

UL has surrendered 96 points and nearly 1,000 yards in the first two games against LSU and Texas A&M.

“We had a bad start, but what we’re concentrating on is sticking together and getting things right,” Raymond, a junior college transfer who prepped at East St. John, said. “Over the first two games, we’ve had a lot of breakdowns, but the key for us is sticking together.

“It’s been disappointing. We put in a lot of hard work for both those games, so that makes it even harder for this defense, knowing that we’ve given up so many points.”

A glance at ULL’s defensive stats shows Raymond has only four tackles. That’s something that he wants to improve against the 0-2 Aggies.

“As a lineman, I’m supposed to plug the middle and hold up the offensive linemen, so the linebackers can make a lot of tackles, but I’m also supposed to make some plays myself,” he said. “Right now I need to do what I’m supposed to do and the defense as a whole needs some confidence in themselves and each other.”

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By BOB ARDOIN
Special to The Advocate