2007 Football preview and offseason fan talk

[NewsCopy]

RaginCajuns.com

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns football team hosted their annual media day. Players and coaches addressed members of both the print and broadcast media in preparation for the 2007 season.

The Cajuns took their team photo and position photos before heading up to the concourse at Cajun Field to join the soccer and volleyball team for Fall Sports Fan Day.

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Coach Bustle, Coach Anderson (OC), Coach Fouquier (DC)

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Tyrell Fenroy (RB)

Torres Kingsby

Rodney Hardeway

Micheal Desormeaux

Mark Risher

Lamar Morgan

Keith Talamo

John Hundley

Jesse Newman

Jason Chery

Drew Edmiston

Derrick Smith

Deon Wallace

Brenton Burkhalter

RaginCajuns.com

[NewsCopy]

  You try to figure out this year's Sun Belt race.

On any given week there'll be a new lead dog in the conference race with parity almost certain to be the big story.

All eight teams have an honest shot at winning the title. Sure, Florida International and North Texas will need everything to break the right way to be in the running, but even those two have the potential to make serious noise in the dead-even league.

Middle Tennessee might have something to say about that after dominating throughout last season before blowing it late in a loss to Troy, but it's not so good that it'll roll at will with so many improved teams.

Florida Atlantic has the experience in place, as well as the coaching under Howard Schnellenberger, to be one of the sleepers in the race. UL Monroe might not have the best record, but it has the offensive talent to score on anyone in the league. UL Lafayette and Arkansas State each will be in the race until the end, and Troy, the 2006 New Orleans Bowl winner, has QB Omar Haugabook back to lead an even better Trojan team.

What'll be the difference that separates all the dead-even teams? Who'll be best at stopping the run?

No one in the Sun Belt can throw on a consistent basis in a run-first, run-only league. Calvin Dawson (UL Monroe), Tyrell Fenroy (UL Lafayette), Jamario Thomas (North Texas), Reggie Arnold (Arkansas State), Julian Reams and A'mod Ned (FIU), DeMarco McNair (Middle Tennessee), Charles Pierre (Florida Atlantic) and Sean Dawkins and Kenny Cattouse (Troy) are all are threats to run for 1,000 yards and will all be the featured stars week-in-and-week-out. Whoever can stop these runners consistently will be in the running. Last year that was Middle Tennessee, UL Lafayette, Troy and Arkansas State. Expect the same good defenses to rise up again, but don't hold your breath on the final order in the standings.

The rest of the story

Pete Fiutak
CollegeFootballNews.com

[CajunT]

By BJ Thompson
RedZone Publisher
Posted Aug 14, 2007

Much like the cornerback position, the safety position is not without talent. The question for the 2007 season is one of health and consistency for the safety position. The Cajun Red Zone previews the safety position for the 2007 season.

http://mbd.scout.com/mb.aspx?S=345&F...=3397&T=840064

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns worked a double shift on Tuesday, practicing at 8am and 3:30pm. The team covered the morning session in full pads, returning in the afternoon with shoulder pads. Although the temperature was cooler in the morning, the heat index from 9-10am was actually hotter than any of the previous afternoon sessions. The high heat index was a direct result of 60 percent humidity. In the morning, the Cajuns worked three tough periods of middle drill, team first-and-10 and team third down. “It was a good day for the whole team,” said running backs coach Brian Jenkins. “I saw the defense fly around and we (the offense) moved around pretty well. “The guys continued to fight hard and not complain.” The Cajuns seemed to find their groove within the offense, moving the ball very well on the ground during middle drill. A good defensive stance in first down drills was reversed by offensive success in the third down period. The offense was able to convert five third down plays in eight attempts, including a gadget play on third-and-four and a 20-yard pass completion on third-and-10. “We are doing a lot of the same things on offense,” added Jenkins. “We’ve been able to expand on our base offense and the guys have responded to it.” The afternoon featured a pair of team periods in run-play-action and pass-under-pressure. The first team offense connected on three long passing plays against the second team defense, but the first team defense stifled the second team offense with constant pressure. The Cajuns continue to work a lot on routes and pass skeleton. The afternoon session saw the team add red zone offense work for the first time this fall. “The guys are excited about running an explosive offense,” stated Jenkins. “The backs know that we have good receivers and a good quarterback. They want to see that side of our offense take off. It will help our running game be better.” RaginCajuns.com

[NewsCopy]

  UL's football team held its second day of two-a-day practices on Tuesday, working in full pads during a two-hour morning session and in shoulder pads and shorts in the evening practice.

And head coach Rickey Bustle saw some good things and some bad things in both.

The Cajun defense won a third-down battle during middle drills in the morning session, but the offense broke its share of plays in the middle session. Then, in the afternoon team-varsity segment, quarterback Michael Desormeaux completed four straight passes including three for long gains and one to Jason Chery for a 75-yard touchdown.

Minutes earlier, backup quarterback Connor Morel hit Richie Falgout for a 45-yard score.

"Way too many big plays right there," Bustle said after the afternoon workout. "I was disappointed defensively with what I saw in team drills.

"Both sides, you've got to bring your 'A' game every day. We've got 18 days and we've got to make every one of them count."

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Mark Risher and Brent Burkhalter figure to be in major roles for UL's 2007 defensive unit at the linebacker slots. Risher, a senior from Lafayette, enters his fifth year coming off an injury-plagued junior season, while Baton Rouge product Burkhalter is coming off two solid seasons as a freshman and sophomore.

Football is a huge part of both of their lives, and not just during their time on the field. In a wide-ranging conversation during UL's Fan Day activities on Sunday, both talked about the Cajuns' coaching changes, how they deal with the demands of football and college life, and their plans for the future.

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

  Dan McDonald: Q - You both went through a change in position coaches and your defensive coordinator in December when Brent Pry was released. How did that affect you?

MR - As a person I'll miss Coach Pry forever. He was here my first four years, and he treated all the linebackers like they were his sons. It was very difficult to see him go and the process take place. You don't realize how much it affects you until it happens. It was hard to hear him call us and tell us the news, because in some way you feel responsible as a player.
But the head coach had to make a judgment call and we respect that. That's the way the game's evolved.

BB - It was difficult. Coach Pry had been around me since my junior year in high school. He got me here, he was my position coach and he was the defensive coordinator. He was a well liked guy and a guy we miss a lot. But what's happened since then's better for him, and hopefully it'll be a good change for us too. Coach (Kevin) Fouquier brings a lot of good things to the table.

Q - The defense has obviously changed since the coaching shuffle. What are the biggest differences there?

The rest of the interview

[shof]

Sounds like a couple of young men with their head screwed on right!

[HoustonCajun]

While it is great to have the links, these are rediculous to try to view. Nothing runs for more than about 5 secords then spends a minute buffering, then 5 seconds of interview then a minute of buffering. Can't we get these things to run smoother?

[rhineaux]

_ While it is great to have the links, these are rediculous to try to view. Nothing runs for more than about 5 secords then spends a minute buffering, then 5 seconds of interview then a minute of buffering. Can't we get these things to run smoother? _

It might be your connection or not having an updated player. mine took about ten seconds or so for all of them to load, then they played straight through, no problems.

[Cajun Express]

_ It might be your connection or not having an updated player. mine took about ten seconds or so for all of them to load, then they played straight through, no problems. _

Ditto, except it took a couple of seconds longer for mine to load on Bustle.

[Turbine]

Nothing runs for more than about 5 secords then spends a minute buffering, then 5 seconds of interview then a minute of buffering. Can't we get these things to run smoother? _

You might try changing your settings to where it buffers to the max available memory before starting.

This will take longer to load but once it starts it should have enough of a head start to where it goes smooth all the way through.

just a thought.