The Book: 2003 Football

[TuffGuy84]

Thnx briles. Just wonderen, what happened to houston, yall were looken great, but yall have had a couple bad games and are on a skid. Is kolb still alright or has he lost some confidence or somethin? Thnx

Tuffguy

[NewsCopy]

Bustle on the Idaho game-
"It was a total team effort. The one play I was most disappointed in was the kick return for a touchdown. When I watched the film, we had a couple of guys that thought someone else was going to make the play. I thought the defense played with a lot of heart and played better in the second half than in the first half. Chester ran well and I thought our offensive line played well. Some other guys came in and they stepped up and played well. I enjoyed the blocked extra point and it will be on the highlight tape.”

On Southern Miss-
“I think they are the most athletic team we’ll play all year. They may not be as big in some areas, but they are athletic. After watching the film, our defense will have to play a heck of a game, get a couple of turnovers and keep the points down. They are an athletic defense that comes at you from both sides. I don’t know how they learn all of that. They make it from everywhere and they are really good at it and it presents a lot of problems for us offensively. If we can play an error free game, then we can keep it close."

On the Cajuns’ two-game winning streak-
“We’ve had three close football games. We didn’t find a way to win the first game. We found a way in the second game to win. In the third game, we came through in crunch time to win it. I know the guys are tired of me preaching on how to win.”

On Chester Johnson-
“I felt like he was running hard, picking good holes and then all of a sudden he puts one on the ground. I wasn’t about to take him out. I felt like he was working that night like a running back was supposed to, but I wasn’t afraid to put him back in the ball game.”

On a Balanced Attack-
“I think it is extremely important to have a balance between running the football and throwing the football. It took a lot a pressure off Jerry. We put in a couple of wrinkles that we thought could help us and it did. I just think there needs to be some sort of balance in your offense.”

On Southern Miss’ Defense-
“When you look at their film, you will see a nice run and then you will see three tackles for loss. You have to be very patient in order to have success. They have guys that play very physical. I think they are very aggressive and they live and die by the way they play. I think if you can be patient, I think you can make a couple of things happen for you offensively.”

On Saturday’s victory-
“I told them that I know you can’t forget what it feels like to win. You can’t assume anything. We don’t have a path of success that you can follow. We talk about it everyday and I challenge them everyday. We are finding ways to win football games. I didn’t feel like it should have been that close. We should have put some space between us, but we didn’t go the other way.”

On Keeping Things Positive-
“You have to manufacture things. I think that it’s not easy to be pumped up. It’s human nature. There were some Sundays where I didn’t want to get out of bed. I didn’t know what to say. I was trying to find several linings in the things we were doing. These young players can only be down so much."

LOUISIANA SI

[L.J.]

CajunRebel

Right now USM is 4-3, 4-0 in C-USA play. Our wins are over UAB, Memphis, Cincinnati and South Florida. Our losses were to Cal, Alabama and Nebraska.

I really don't know our record against Sunbelt teams. I think the only Sunbelt teams we've player with any regularity are you guys and ULM. I know we lost to Idaho back in 98 in the H-Bowl.

I think we have a very good chance to win this game. But, we have been hot and cold this year. If we play the way we did against Cal, we will lose to you guys. If we play the way we did against USF or Memphis we should win. I don't do score predictions, because I am terrible at them.

If we play well we should win by a nice margin. If we are not ready to play, and it's happened before, we are very capible of losing. We do have a very good kick-off returner, Johnny Eubanks is ranked the #4 guy in the nation.

[Cajunfever]

Jesse has been to all of the home football games.

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. - Louisiana rover safety C.C. Brown was named the Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his effort this past Saturday versus Idaho.

Brown led the Cajuns with three solo stops and two interceptions, while adding a pass break-up. His first interception came in the Cajuns endzone on the first drive of the game, stopping a Vandals scoring bid and creating a score for Louisiana (the Cajuns went 80 yards to score following the INT, taking a 7-0 lead). Brown's second pick came late in the fourth quarter to stop IU's comeback attempt.

The two interceptions mark the first picks of Brown's career. It is the first multi-interception game by a Cajun since Charles Tillman collected a pair of INT's at Central Florida on Nov. 24, 2001.

The individual Sun Belt weekly honor is the 12th for Louisiana and the first defensive player of the week won by the Cajuns.

LOUISIANA SI

[BrilesBall]

Tuffguy...

UH is fine...we got our butts kicked against Memphis...many speculate that they were stealing our hand signals on incoming plays...because it was literally like we were playing the best team in the country...no joke...

We lost to TCU 62-55...our defense was horrid...has been for the majority of the year with the exception of the game against you guys and maybe Rice...

As far as Kolb goes, heck no...this guy is a budding star...he got a helmet sticker on the ESPN College show for his performance against TCU...Kolb threw for 440 yards with 4 Touchdowns and he rushed for 144 yards and a TD...only the 4th player in NCAA history to pass for 400 rush for 100...

On the season Kolb has passed for 1920 yards, 60% passing, 17 Touchdowns to 3 interceptions and rushed for over 300 yards with 3 tds...over 500 but the sacks kill ya...

He's arguably the best true freshman QB in the country

[Turbine]

Originally posted by BrilesBall
As far as Kolb goes, heck no...this guy is a budding star...he got a helmet sticker on the ESPN College show for his performance against TCU...Kolb threw for 440 yards with 4 Touchdowns and he rushed for 144 yards and a TD...only the 4th player in NCAA history to pass for 400 rush for 100...

On the season Kolb has passed for 1920 yards, 60% passing, 17 Touchdowns to 3 interceptions and rushed for over 300 yards with 3 tds...

He's arguably the best true freshman QB in the country

WOW, I'll say!

[NewsCopy]

ORLANDO (FWAA) – Fifteen athletes, a student manager and an assistant coach – each with a special story of accomplishment in the face of difficult circumstances – are the nominees for the 2003 FWAA/ESPN The Magazine Courage Award.

Nominees include San Jose State special teams player Neil Parry, who returned to college football with a prosthetic leg after an on-field injury led to an amputation in 2001, and Oklahoma's Lynn McGruder and Mark Clayton, who barely escaped a fatal car accident, then helped others who were caught in it.

Southern California assistant coach Chris Carlisle and Georgia Tech punter/holder Hal Higgin survived Hodgkin's disease. And Louisiana-Lafayette defensive end Justin Venable was awarded three medical hardship seasons – his career could span an unprecedented eight years – because of a series of injuries.

In alphabetical order, the nominees are:

C.J. Ah You, Sophomore, Brigham Young (Defensive End)
Chris Carlisle, USC (Assistant Coach)
Mark Clayton, Junior, Oklahoma (Wide Receiver)
Emmanuel Franklin, Junior, Arizona State (Cornerback)
Travis Freeman, Senior, Kentucky (Student Manager)
Hal Higgins, Senior, Georgia Tech (Punter/Holder)
Norm Lewis, Junior, Central Florida (Offensive Lineman)
Lynn McGruder, Junior, Oklahoma (Defensive Tackle)
Medford Moorer, Senior, Colorado (Free Safety)
Tez Morris, Sophomore, Pittsburgh (Free Safety)
Neil Parry, Junior, San Jose State (Special Teams)
Rayshun Reed, Senior, Troy State (Defensive Back)
Alan Reuber, Senior, Texas A&M (Offensive Tackle)
Keith Robinson, Junior, UTEP (Kicker)
Jeff Smoker, Senior, Michigan State (Quarterback)
Justin Venable, Graduate Student, Louisiana Lafayette (Defensive End)
Chad Wangerin, Senior, Western Michigan (Offensive Tackle)

The award honors someone in college football who shows great courage in the face of adversity. Requirements for candidacy include displaying a courageous act on or off the field, overcoming any injury or physical handicap, preventing a disaster or living through a lifetime of hardship. Toledo running back William Bratton, who endured a blood disorder and great pain but still played football, won the inaugural award last season.

The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La. -- Rickey Bustle wishes he could turn back the hands of time.

If he could, his University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns, winners of two of their last three games, would be preparing to start the 2003 season instead of approaching the end of it.

In particular, he wishes his team had second chances at teams like South Carolina and Houston. The Cajuns had opportunities to win each of those games before losing by seven points to both.

"To be honest with you, I'd like to take this team I have right now and go back to those two games," Bustle said Monday at his weekly news luncheon. "We weren't playing quite well enough to win then.

"Maybe the way we're playing right now and not having a couple of guys injured like we do, we ... We're a much better football team today."

The Cajuns opened the season losing their first seven games and since have beaten New Mexico State (26-24) and Idaho (31-20) in back-to-back outings. They also came within a field goal of defeating the University of Louisiana at Monroe (45-42), another game Bustle wouldn't mind getting to play over again.

Unfortunately for the Cajuns, the season is winding down to a close. Road games at Southern Mississippi (this Saturday) and Middle Tennessee, along with a home game Nov. 8 against Florida International are all the Cajuns have remaining and Bustle is hoping his team can at least go 2-1 in the final stretch.

Such a finish would leave his team 4-8 for a season that once was tough to get up for each week.

The rest of the story

By GLENN QUEBEDEAUX
Special to The Advocate

[CajunCharlie]

DITTO!!!!!