The Book 2008 Football

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  NEW ORLEANS – Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns senior running back Tyrell Fenroy and safety Derik Keyes were named Sun Belt Conference Offensive and Defensive Player of the Week, respectively, as announced by the conference office Monday.

Fenroy blasted Big XII Kansas State with 183 yards on only 20 carries (9.1ypc) and scored three touchdowns (1, 15, 69) in the Cajuns near upset victory. He also added a 12-yard reception to total 195 yards. Fenroy’s first TD, a 15-yard run, capped a 10-play, 90-yard drive that saw the Cajuns score with 43 seconds remaining in the first half. His other two touchdowns were scored on back-to-back offensive possessions that took a 42-23 KSU lead and chopped it down to 42-37 with 8:49 remaining.

Fenroy has put up some big numbers over his last two games with 43 rushes for 377 yards and six TD’s, as well as three receptions for 80 yards. His 3,724 career rushing yards make him the NCAA’s leader among active running backs. He is the first player is school history to top 4,000 career combined rushing & receiving yards, as he currently has 4,182. Fenroy is now just 327 rushing yards away from passing North Texas’ Patrick Cobbs and becoming the new all-time leader in rushing in Sun Belt Conference history. With seven rushing touchdowns already this season, Fenroy has tied Cobbs for second on the career list. Fenroy is five behind SBC career leader Eugene Gross (Middle Tennessee).

Keyes had a career-high 18 tackles at Kansas State, including 11 solo tackles. It marked the most tackles by any Cajuns defender since Kyries Hebert had 20 tackles at Minnesota on Sept. 8, 2001. Keyes also made a tackle-for-loss late in the fourth quarter on a KSU first-and-goal play. The TFL helped the Cajuns defense hold the Wildcats out of the end zone, forcing a field goal, which gave the ball back to the offense with 1:37 to play in a one possession game.

The Cajuns begin Sun Belt Conference play on Saturday with a trip to in-state rival ULM.

RaginCajuns.com

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  Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns have played well for three consecutive weeks. Now they are ready to bring that play in to the Sun Belt Conference opener. The Cajuns (1-3) take on ULM (1-3) Saturday at 6 p.m., in Monroe, La.

The Cajuns are coming off another spirited performance against a BCS conference team. The offense racked up over 500 yards of total offense. The defense had a great second half for the third week in a row.

Saturday's game at ULM begins Louisiana's eighth season in the Sun Belt Conference. In the last trip to Monroe, UL rolled to a 54-21 victory which clinched a share of the 2005 Sun Belt Conference championship.

Tyrell Fenroy and Derik Keyes were named SBC Offensive and Defensive Player of the week, respectively, for their efforts against Kansas State.

Fenroy rushed for 183 yards on 20 carries. He scored three touchdowns to register his sixth career game with three touchdowns. He also had one reception for 12 yards. In the past two weeks Fenroy has 43 carries for 377 yards and six touchdowns. He is the NCAA career rushing yards leader among active running backs.

Keyes had a team-and career-high 18 tackles at KSU (11 solo tackles). Keyes had a big tackle-for-loss on Kansas State’s last possession where he helped the team hold the Wildcats to FG which kept the Cajuns within one score.

The coaches named their players of the game and scout team players of the week. The offensive players of the game were Michael Desormeaux, Fenroy, the Offensive Line, Jason Chery and Undrea Sails. Defensive players of the game were Keyes, Grant Fleming, Terrell Richardson, Hall Davis and Gerren Blount.

Desormeaux had a total of 224 yards of total offense and one touchdown. Chery had seven catches for 80 yards and a touchdown. The offensive line helped the offense gain 335 yards on the ground.

In addition to Keyes' 18 tackles; Fleming, Richardson, Davis and Blount combined for 27 tackles.

The scout team players of the week were; Draylon Booker-offense, Jesse Broadnax and Tyler Albrecht-defense.

After ULM, the Cajuns will finish up their three-game road trip at North Texas on Oct. 11 at 6 p.m. The Cajuns will return home Oct. 18 to take on Arkansas State at 6 p.m.

RaginCajuns.com

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  Take away a nightmare trip to Hattiesburg and what exactly do you have looking at this Ragin' Cajuns football team?

Obviously a 1-2 record, because the Ws and Ls add up that way. But what's happening with the program right now is a lot more complicated than that.

And exciting.

"I've said this since Day 1 -this team is different," UL coach Rickey Bustle said Monday. "This team is very special ... I felt this way after spring practice."

Which leads to two negatives adding up to a positive for Cajuns football. An odd pairing, yes, but warranted.

The rest of the story

Bob Heist • bheist@theadvertiser.com • September 30, 2008

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  UL coach Rickey Bustle said so when the Cajuns got an off week after giving up 633 yards in a 51-21 loss at Southern Miss to open this season.

Since that break, UL has looked like a totally different team.

First, the Cajuns nearly upset Illinois, 20-17, on the road on Sept. 13. The following week, they blasted Kent State, 44-27, at Cajun Field. UL fell just short against another major BCS conference school last week, rallying from a 25-point deficit at Kansas State only to lose a 45-37 heartbreaker.

Now the Cajuns (1-3) are set to open Sun Belt play at 6 p.m. Saturday against ULM (1-3) in Monroe - and the timing appears to be on their side again.

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Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • September 30, 2008

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 Across college football, the best rivalries have their own spoils of war.

When Michigan and Minnesota play annually, the winning team lays claim to "The Little Brown Jug."

Notre Dame and USC compete for "The Jeweled Shillelagh."

For Washington and Washington State, it's "The Apple Cup." Indiana and Purdue prize the "Old Oaken Bucket." The LSU-Arkansas winner brings home "The Golden Boot."

Then you have ULM and UL — two schools with a long history of competition — and nothing tangible at stake in their frequent battles.

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By Paul J. Letlow • pletlow@thenewssstar.com • September 30, 2008

[DestinCajun]

_ _

You'd swear he covered the game. Better than Futiak etc. I must say.

[Boomer]

Don't want them as a rival--don't want to be in a conference with them---Hope we are planning on this happening in 2-3 years---I think that there needs to be 3-4 major colleges in the state Tech to the North with LSUS Gamb. Monroe. N'west under them---Ul with LSUA LSUE McNeese and Nichols under---LSU with Southern SLU UNO ----maybe make UNO a major!!!!!!!

[NOCajun]

_ Dude, we have a game against ULM Saturday.

Z _

Hey, tell UHOUCajun over there!! My ticket's already punched for this trip!!!

[Boomer]

_ Actually, it started earlier than that. 1984 was when, for a brief time, we officially attained the name "University of Louisiana" (w/o the city tag). I got my first degree in 1982 and I remember serious discussions back then. I first started at UL in 1973 and recall some limited discussions in the mid-70's about a name change because the "Southwestern" was so limiting. The interest really grew between the mid-70's and early 80's. _

I remember reading in the Verm in'63-'64ish in an article by a Kelly ? about our changing our name to the UL thing---It has been a LONG fight!!!!

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  Perhaps the most impressive play made by UL quarterback Mike Desormeaux in last week's 45-37 loss at Kansas State was done without the ball in his hands.

On Tyrell Fenroy's 69-yard touchdown sprint, Desormeaux raced downfield and made the final block to help clear the path for his teammate's scoring run.

Desormeaux suffered a bloody nose, a hip pointer and some bruised ribs in the loss but finished with 234 total yards, including 98 on the ground and one touchdown run.

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