2007 Football preview and offseason fan talk

[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

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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

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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

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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.

[Pirogue]

_ _

Jason Desormeaux huh?

[Bert]

I could use some here in east texas

[NewsCopy]

  LOUISIANA – Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns football team completed its first scrimmage of fall camp, orchestrating a full-pad, 112-play practice Saturday morning at Cajun Field.

Twelve players were held out of the intrasquad scrimmage for various reasons, including two-time All-Sun Belt offensive tackle Jesse Newman (Powell River, British Columbia).

“The scrimmage went ok for the first one,” head coach Rickey Bustle said. “It was pretty hot out here. Some of the players gave into the heat, while some didn’t and that’s what it is all about.”

Two-time All-Sun Belt running back Tyrell Fenroy (LaPlace, La.) seemed to already be in mid-season form, rushing for 84 yards on eight carries, while Deon Wallace (Houston, Texas) carried the ball six times for 42 yards. New Iberia’s Michael Desormeaux completed 12-of-20 passing for 143 yards.

In addition to Desormeaux under center, St. Thomas More product John Hundley (Lafayette, La.) delivered a strong performance at quarterback. Hundley connected on 10-of-14 passing for 125 yards including a 40-yard score.

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RaginCajuns.com

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. . . The following are my impressions (not conclusions) from what I saw today.

Offense looked better than defense by a wide margin in the first part of the scrimmage. Defense looked better in the second half. Of course that may because both Fenroy and Deon Wallace did not see much action in the 2nd half. Both of those guys looked good as usual. I am no longer worried about Desormeaux’s passing. Today, he made quick decisions and delivered the ball accurately. The offense has been tailored to his talents. I also saw more depth in the OL than we have had in awhile. Speaking of depth, QB is a position we are deep at. All five QB’s who saw action, including the two freshman seemed to have a grasp of the offense, which appeared balanced between run and pass today. Final offensive point is that we will throw a lot of screens and use the TE more.

There was only one TD scored but that was because of the format as different units came onto the field at various points. Also, no goal line work occurred. I imagine goal line work will occur in next Saturday’s scrimmage. The TD came on a catch and run by Jason Cherry. He broke several tackles on that play which I am sure disappointed defensive coaches. Although offense seemed to have the upper hand most of the day, at least that was the only big play allowed by the defense. Defensively, LB Antoine Zanders was the most impressive player I saw. He was around the ball quite often and causes trouble when he blitzes. CB Derik Keyes had the best hit of the day when he stopped a TE going downfield after a screen pass.

I think both STM freshman will play. Fleming will be the No. 2 safety behind Lamar Morgan. I did note that the roster shows him as a LB, but it looked like he played more at safety today. I think Kelley will return kicks. Speaking of kickoffs, I think we will use the sky kick more this year due to the kickoff spot being at the 30. Drew Edminston will continue to be the PK while a new guy named Spencer Ortego may have the inside track at punter. He is from Teurlings and only joined the squad a couple of days ago. Tyler Albrecht may be the backup for both the PK and punter positions.

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