2007 Football preview and offseason fan talk

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns breezed through a short 90 minute practice on Friday, working only eight periods in shorts.

The team spent half of their practice on specials teams, with the remaining four periods dedicated to fine-tuning plays for Saturday’s scrimmage.

“Today was a day to get ready (for the scrimmage),” said head coach Rickey Bustle. “We polished things and did some kicking game stuff.”

Saturday’s scrimmage is slated for 8am at Cajun Field. The team will warm-up for at least 20-25 minutes and begin the first half with 10 specials teams plays. There are 56 offensive plays scheduled for the remainder of the first half.

“I’m looking to see where we are mistake wise,” stated Bustle. “We need to line-up and do the right thing.

“I’m looking for effort and people to do the right thing. The discipline is going to have to be there.”

Three specials teams plays will mark the start of the second half, followed by 56 more offensive plays for a total of 125 plays.

Saturday is also the second of four two-a-day practice dates for the Cajuns. A scrimmage correction practice is scheduled for 3:30pm.

The team will take Sunday off for Media and Fan Day activities before getting back to work on Monday.

RaginCajuns.com

[Zeebart21]

I was on the UL website reviewing the dates for the home football games and noticed a little icon attached to four of the games. Looks like there will be some giveaways/promotions for these games and the stuff is pretty decent.

Ohio-------------Ragin Cajun T-shirt

McNeese---------McDonalds/Ragin Cajun lunch box

North Texas------American Heros red/white/blue ice chest

ULM-------------Ragin Cajuns stadium blanket

Just thought I'd pass that along. My kids love this kind of stuff!!

Man, when I saw football promotions, I thought you were gonna tell me that Ray Blanco was our new head coach!!! Mais Im glad, glad, dats not whut you mint!

Z

[Zeebart21]

i did see that HOF fellow that calls himself boomer and believe he has been to erath before.. (grins)

ps. only walk thru this am..

LOL!!

[NewsCopy]

Pace of play offensively - It's the first fall test for UL's concerted effort to work at a break-neck pace on offense. How far along that process is will be easy to tell ... when the ready-for-play whistle blows, if someone's not in motion or the ball isn't snapped in two seconds, a lot of coaches won't be happy. Getting to the ball - The Cajuns' defense is formulated on every player running to the football. When there's a tackle today, count the number of red jerseys that are within three yards of the ball. The goal is to have a lot of them close by. Few mistakes - New offensive coordinator Blake Anderson said he won't mind mistakes today if they're made at full speed, but the squad won't be happy if they're plentiful. UL went through every offensive play and defensive alignment in the arsenal during Friday's polish-up practice. No injuries - UL's probably deeper at most positions than recent seasons, but the Cajuns have also picked up a lot of nagging pains in the first week of drills. Almost a dozen players who figure on getting playing time this season won't see the field today, and keeping that number low will be important as the opener nears. The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

UL's football team got its first major injury scare of fall camp Thursday, but a shoulder injury suffered by linebacker Mark Risher apparently wasn't as bad as first feared. The senior from Lafayette was injured in a middle drill during the afternoon session of the Cajuns' first two-a-day practice, getting assistance off the field and leaving the practice area on a cart with his left shoulder immobilized. Risher's left shoulder appeared to be dislocated, and athletic trainers managed to pop his shoulder back into place on the sideline. He is expected to miss today's practice and Saturday's first full-scale scrimmage, but is scheduled to return to practice next week. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

When UL holds its first full-scale scrimmage of fall football camp today, the Ragin' Cajun coaching staff will be looking for two things - tempo and consistency. If the Cajuns give them those two things, they won't worry too much about mistakes. They'll take a mistake-free two hours, of course, but that doesn't happen in opening scrimmages. "We just want them to go hard," said offensive coordinator Blake Anderson. "We're going to make mistakes since we haven't game-planned for our own defense, but we want to see them going full speed. "If we come out and our tempo is where we left off in the spring, and we get effort during and after every play, we'll be totally satisfied." The Cajun offensive and defensive units will square off at approximately 8:45 a.m. today at Cajun Field, following an extensive kicking-game session scheduled for 8:20 a.m. The scrimmage is open to the public and is the first of three such full-scale workouts prior to the Sept. 1 season opener at South Carolina. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA-LAFAYETTE - Running back Tyrell Fenroy leads the offense. He's had consecutive 1,000-yard seasons and needs 1,085 more to pass former NFL star Brian Mitchell (3,335) as the Ragin' Cajuns' career rushing leader. ... The quarterback is junior Jason Desormeaux, who didn't start a game at that position last season but impressed coach Ricky Bustle in the spring. The athletic Desormeaux saw most of his playing time last season at wide receiver, defensive back and special teams.   NEW ORLEANS (AP) -The Sun Belt Conference champion won only one of the first five New Orleans Bowls - the bowl game conceived specifically to make the league's top team a part of college football's postseason. Then came Troy, an Alabama school which upgraded to Division I-A in 2001, made its first bowl appearance in 2004 and won its first bowl last season. The Trojans' 41-17 rout of Rice was only the second victory for a Sun Belt team in the New Orleans Bowl, and only the first one by a convincing margin. North Texas had finished atop the fledgling Sun Belt during the conference's first four years, winning one New Orleans Bowl, 25-19, over Cincinnati in 2002. Conference USA teams won the next three by 10 points or more each time. Troy's dominant performance in last year's edition seemed to mark that the conference began to come of age. The rest of the story By BRETT MARTEL Associated Press Sports

[DestinCajun]

UL's probably deeper at most positions than recent seasons,

Just one of the severe problems that Coach Bustle faced when he arrived. No "probably" about it.

[Cajunpride101]

Last night I was watching the 3rd quarter of the Saints vs. Bills and saw Donovan Morgan catching passes from quarterback Bills Trent Edwards.

[Pirogue]

_ Last night I was watching the 3rd quarter of the Saints vs. Bills and saw Donovan Morgan catching passes from quarterback Bills Trent Edwards. _

That catch by Morgan was the only interesting thing that happened in a boring game.