The Book: 2003 Football

[Turbine]

I loved the band tonight I took more footage of them than anything else, but I think some untimely music might have cost us the game.

Some have pointed to Eric throwing 9 yards instead of 11 when we needed 10, and I am no different. But that is not the game costing play. It's just one of them. The play before was much more harmful, as I think it would have put us in Commisky territory.

Before I go any further, I don't know if any of you heard Nick Saban complain (a few weeks back) that LSU fans were not the most knowledgeable around. He was referring to the LSU fans making noise when LSU was on offense. It just doesn't give you the best chance to win, it is a no-no.

Well I know we are not used to winning but we can all become more knowledgeable on ways to win. The band can absorb some criticism for playing great music at the wrong time. On the second to last offensive play of the game the team could not hear Eric either call the play or audible.

Remember we were in no huddle the whole second half; often the players were at the line when the plays were called. On the second to last offensive play the band starts playing while Eric is either trying to call the play or call an audible.

Now I recorded this completely across the field from the band, I can only imagine how loud the band sounded at this point in the game because the players were just a few yards removed from the band.

The result is no receiver was where they were supposed to be when Eric threw the ball.

The video has the last three offensive plays of the game. Notice the trouble Eric has calling the play on the second to last paly.

Allow 2 minutes loading time.

[Turbine]

Originally posted by CAJUNGURU
Again Turbine, Stanley smith and Jerrel Carter both played tonight

You're not saying they were either 100% or should have been are you?

[CajunGuru]

"You're not saying they were either 100% or should have been are you?"

Nope! But I did not say the didn't play either! Look, I'm not disappointed in the effort tonight. But, I do believe that this defense and special teams should be showing some improvement now that our schedule is in conference play. Just imagine what our defense would be like without Ross B. back. I think when the season is over, I believe coach Bustle and his staff need to do some sole searching . Some examination of defensive philosophy and scheme needs to take place. We did not play Minnesota or Oklahoma State tonight. We played a team that lost their starting quarterback in the third quarter and still lost. We are tied with Buffalo as the worst Div1a program right now and recruiting kids to play here just got harder.

[ATXCajun]

lets not give the offense too much credit. early turnovers set up ulm with scoring opportunities.

[CajunKate]

Originally posted by RaginFan2
All of the rationalizing about our tough early season schedule just went out the window. Losing sucks, especially at home to a team that has already lost to 2 D1-AA teams this season. If our defense is that beat up & short of talent, I don't know who we can beat the rest of the season.

Amen! I must say I was completely shocked at the end of the first half, ____ed off, and ready to leave, but barring a life threatening emergency, I never leave a game early. I thought we were losing because of the level of talent we were playing on our schedule up to this point, but after tonight I wonder if some of those losses would have been a lot closer if we'd had more talent on the field. I thought the team was also outcoached at some points. I'm proud of the team for not giving up, but did anyone see those poor guys after the game? I have never in my life seen a more dejected looking group of young men. I fear an 0-12 season. Say it ain't so!

[Turbine]

I saw a Cajun team that due to the level of competition the first six games -and loss of key offensive linemen- had not been able to find its offense all year. I think it found its offensive niche last night.

When 3 points is the difference between hero and goat, I can't get down. I saw massive improvement in the team last night.

What I did notice last night -I have noticed this all year- is the loss of a 100 tackle player to the NFL. I knew Peanut would be hard to replace, his replacement was drafted as well

The only thing that stopped it from being a great game was 3 points from Sean. That would have kicked this game into the best Cajun game ever.

[Turbine]

I am sick and tired of everyone thinking this team (ULM) is worthless. That UL lost to a worthless team. Those games against ULM should be automatic wins. That simply is not true, nor should it be, at leas not historically.

Let me back up a second.

What jumps out at everyone this season is that they have lost to not 1 but 2 D1aa teams. But they fail to look at the fact that early in the season ULM had an emergency coach trying to teach a new system. They found their offense last week and this week implemented it to its fullest extent.

Give the Indians credit they beat a good Cajun team last night when they won the first half by 14 and lost the second half by 11 points. Granted it was two different quarterbacks, but give coach Charlie Weatherbie credit he went with a totally different offense to maintain the game. It almost didn't work it took a Tyler Kuecker kick with 1:46 remaining to provided the difference in 45-42 victory.

And don't ignore the talent level that coach Charlie Weatherbie inherited. This team pistol whipped the Cajuns last year with 2 NFL players on the Cajun Squad.

Perhaps most of all, don't ignore Indian Charlie Weatherbie, he has turned other losers into winners before at Utah and Navy. So the sacrificial loses to D1aa teams early are not indicative of the talent level he has. It is indicative that they were learning his system and that team diced with talent from the Acadiana area is finally coming together.

For those who think a game against ULM should be an automatic win? When and where did you get this idea? In the history of the rivalry ULM has out scored the Cajuns to the tune of 714 to 632. This is the second time they have put 45 points on the Cajuns. Louisiana has never put 45 on ULM.

The best the Cajuns have ever done against ULM occurred last night when they put up 42 against a much improving ULM squad. We certainly didn’t lose to a worthless team. It is a team with more talent at this point than UL and a national title under title belt to boot.

ps ULM's national title run utilized and offense implemented by current Ragin' Cajun coach Rickey Bustle.

[Sanchez]

Did you record from the upper deck? It was probably much louder down on the field.

[BrockMeaux]

Hey Turbine, I'm in the band and get what you're saying, but have to defend the band a little.

We're doing a job, same as the football team, cheerleaders, and the Ragin Jazz. If we don't play in those last minutes, people start to call us dispondent and say that we're not doing what we're supposed to do. The band director gets an earful which is passed to us even though we had nothing to do with playing/not playing and we eventually start to lose our already non-existent funding because University higher-ups are displeased with us. It's happened before and I think we'd like to prevent it from happening again.

I know that seems a little extreme for playing in the last 3 or 4 minutes in a big game, but we played the same in those last minutes as we did for the rest of the game and that's what we're there to do. When they make a 1st, we play the Fight Song. Time-out or quarter change, we play a longer song to entertain the crowd.

Like I said earlier, though, I understand what you're saying and can't really disagree with it. Thanks for the kind remarks and criticisms. I'll make sure that it's passed on to someone that can fix the problem and find the balance between playing too much and not enough in critical moments!

[TuffGuy84]

Originally posted by CajunKate
Amen! I must say I was completely shocked at the end of the first half, ____ed off, and ready to leave, but barring a life threatening emergency, I never leave a game early. I thought we were losing because of the level of talent we were playing on our schedule up to this point, but after tonight I wonder if some of those losses would have been a lot closer if we'd had more talent on the field. I thought the team was also outcoached at some points. I'm proud of the team for not giving up, but did anyone see those poor guys after the game? I have never in my life seen a more dejected looking group of young men. I fear an 0-12 season. Say it ain't so!

I dont fear an 0-12 season, though I do fear a 1-11 season. If we cant beat FIU, then we should not be playing at this level. Regardless, after such a hopeful start, we may end up with 1 or 2 wins because if you look at the rest of the schedule, this is what Im seeing. A NMSU team who has caught alot of bad breaks, they run all over you and just cough up the ball and shoot themselves in the foot, any game they could hold onto it a little better and get a win. An Idaho team who finnally started Brian Lindgren and came back to beat NMSU, and nearly pulled off an upset of UNT. A good Southern Miss team, and a MTSU team thats finnally found itself when they trounced NMSU, and thats besides the FIU game. The chances of even having a 3 win season arent even looking good to me.

Tuffguy