The Book 2008 Football

[NewsCopy]

  UL - The Ragin' Cajuns are 2-0 in the Sun Belt Conference for the first time in school history. It is the first time since 1980 that the Cajuns opened up conference play 2-0. Louisiana will host Arkansas State on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Cajun Field. The Cajuns will look to knock off the Red Wolves who are also undefeated in SBC play.

Since 1997, the home team has won every game in this series.

Arkansas Sate is ranked second in total defense in the SBC, and that defense will look to stop the Cajuns’ stout offense.

The Cajuns bring the number one rushing offense in the NCAA back home for the first time since beating Kent State on Sept. 20. The Cajuns rushing game is averaging 332.2 yards per game.

The rushing game is led by Tyrell Fenroy who ranks fifth in the nation in yards per game while Michael Desormeaux ranks 11th in the same category. Desormeaux also ranks 13th in the NCAA in total offense with 297.3 yards per game.

Joining the offensive party is been Jason Chery who ranks fourth in the nation in all-purpose yards. Chery had a monstrous game against North Texas, totaling 335 all-purpose yards. He scored five touchdowns—all in the first half. He finished the game with three carries for 85 yards and a touchdown; three receptions for 123 yards and three touchdowns; and two kick returns for 131 yards and a touchdown.

The coaches released their weekly awards:

The offensive players of the game were; Brad Bustle, Chris Fisher, Jonathan Decoster, Erik Jones, Ladarius Green, Tyrell Fenroy, Louis Lee, Jason Chery and Michael Desormeaux.

The defensive player of the game was Dwight Bentley who had nine tackles, one tackle-for-loss and one fumble recovery.

The scout team players of the week were Brady Thomas and Marlin Miller on the offensive side, and Ben Duhon and Rodney Gillis on the defensive side.

Following the Arkansas State game, the Ragin’ Cajuns will have a bye week. The Cajuns next game will be on Nov. 1, as UL hosts the FIU Golden Panthers at 4 p.m. in the 63rd annual homecoming game.

RaginCajuns.com

[NewsCopy]

  Opening Comments - “We had another big game offensively at North Texas, making some huge plays. Jason Chery was uncanny with all the plays he made in the first half. Mike Desormeaux and Tyrell Fenroy are two guys that defenses always try to defend, but it was nice to see Jason make some big plays over the last two weeks. I know that all three of those guys would credit the offensive line first. Those guys up front are pushing guys around and making holes for our offense. I was proud to see our offensive answer the bell a couple times when North Texas put up some points.

Our special teams were very solid. It was backed up by Jason’s return. Our other areas were very solid as well. It was another solid part of our performance.

I don’t think our defense played like they had been playing. They didn’t seem to be at a high level of emotion. I felt that North Texas was throwing the ball better, but they were just inconsistent. They didn’t drop anything against us. We didn’t do a good job of containing the quarterback. When the quarterback is able to get free and roll out, the cornerbacks have to step up and thus he was able find some open receivers down field. We just weren’t as sharp as we need to be. We have had some injuries, and we will move Antwyne Zanders back to middle linebacker. Daylon McCoy and Jezreel Washington will stay in the same spot they played in Saturday; behind them are three true freshmen. Matt Desormeaux has been moved to linebacker, and we are hoping to get him ready quickly. We know we can play better as a unit. Our level was not where it needed to be.”

On the status of Mike Desormeaux
RB- “Right now he is day-to-day. We will continue to evaluate him. If he is cleared, we will practice him, but I don’t know.”

On the confidence in Brad McGuire
RB- “He played well the times he has been in, once against Kansas State and then again Saturday night. He was improved vastly since the beginning of the year and I know that the team has confidence in him. He has a lot of intangibles that Mike has. He is a great leader and a little bit bigger guy. I am confident he can run our offense. We would have to shave some things here and there. We will throw the ball more. He has a stronger arm and he does want to run the ball. He has confidence and calmness about himself, which the team sees and likes.”

On the long touchdown plays
RB- “Big plays come from the athletes. Chery, Desormeaux and Fenroy can all out run the defense. Smith can do the same thing. We saw a lot of good blocking down field from receivers and from the offensive line pulling and blocking down field. It is the line that gives you eight to ten yard runs. The wide receivers are blocking down field which helps us get those big plays we have been getting. The ball is getting in the hands of people who can make the big play. Fenroy has always been fast but now he has gotten a step faster that has made a big difference. Chery is fast as well and now he has confidence to go along with his speed and talent.”

On the offense keeping up their numbers
RB- “I am looking for them to continue to be productive. If we are productive that will equal points on the board.”

On if the offense is masking the defense
RB- “I don’t know if it is masking it. We have a lot of young guys and injuries that have hampered the team especially at linebacker. These three freshmen that are back-ups are great athletes; they just haven’t been in game situations yet. We need to raise our play around the linebacking core.

On the defense creating turnovers
RB- “That was something nice we did. We cause a couple turnovers which helped set up scores. We want to keep doing that. We need to get back to the root of two-a-days and getting one percent better. It is easy to get away from that

RaginCajuns.com

[NewsCopy]

  Since the inception of the Sun Belt Conference seven years ago, this is the week UL's football program has been waiting for.

The Cajuns are unbeaten two games into league play for the first time and playing from the top of the standings - not the middle of the pack or lower - in the championship chase.

And outside of the obvious hype from the fan base after winning three of the last four games, UL (3-3) is creating a stir nationally with a PlayStation offense that's operating at a dizzying level.

Life, in that regard, is good for UL, which hasn't been this healthy as a program in a long time heading into Saturday's 6 p.m. showdown against Arkansas State (4-2, 2-0) at Cajun Field.

The injury report, though, is a completely different story.

The rest of the story

Bob Heist • bheist@theadvertiser.com • October 14, 2008

Joshua Parrott contributed to this story.

[J-Town Cajun]

Don't forget LB Fred Davis was kicked off the team over the summer, he may have been our starting MLB.

[CajunZ1]

So i gather everyone's gut feeling is that Dez starts? I hear "sprained knee" and think that at least puts him at limited playing time this weekend.

Anybody venture to compare Brad and Desormeaux? How big of a drop off are we gonna get here? Also, in ya'lls opinion, is the bigger concern Dez being injured, or our LB's being injured/kicked off team?

IMO, I'm more worried about Desormeaux being out because it's not like our defense was ever great even with those LB's, whereas there's no doubt that the Dez-Fenroy-Chery combo is truly exceptional.

[Crackleton]

_ Desmo is a warrior and it will take a lot to keep him off the field Saturday! _

Can we get this dude a hyperbaric chamber or something?

[Crackleton]

_ THB, not mentally ready. Hurricane Gustav bearing down. If you recall lsu changed their game to 10 am.

S Miss refused to change the game time. Lots of uncertainty amongst our guys about how long to get back. I believe contra flow had been started by the time the game had ended. Lots of uncertainty about safety of family members in the path of the storm.

Not an excuse, just a fact. USM got to show off their shiny new palace, not one USM fan inconvenienced....everything peachy for them.... we got blown out.

Anyone got a different take on what happened?

Z _

Q: What is the most overused word that wasn't even in my vocabulary 10 years ago?

A: contraflow


contraflow, contraflow, contraflow, contraflow... I want to say it until your ears bleed.

[CajunZ1]

_ Q: What is the most overused phrase that wasn't even in my vocabulary 10 years ago?

A: Main Street vs. Wall Street

Main Street vs. Wall StreetMain Street vs. Wall StreetMain Street vs. Wall Street

[billbeck451]

I preach it to every usm fan that I know - their new coach and administration was chicken____ not to move the game start time when a hurricane was bearing down on the central la. coast. Also that this would have been a very different game otherwise, I don't know what the outcome would have been, but distracted players make for poor players.
Also, most of the usm fans that I know agree that this would have been a different game otherwise.

[cajun4life]

_ So i gather everyone's gut feeling is that Dez starts? I hear "sprained knee" and think that at least puts him at limited playing time this weekend.

Anybody venture to compare Brad and Desormeaux? How big of a drop off are we gonna get here? Also, in ya'lls opinion, is the bigger concern Dez being injured, or our LB's being injured/kicked off team?

IMO, I'm more worried about Desormeaux being out because it's not like our defense was ever great even with those LB's, whereas there's no doubt that the Dez-Fenroy-Chery combo is truly exceptional. _

It will hurt more to lose three of your top four LB'ers over losing Des, McGuire is not quite as explosive when he runs the ball as Des is, but he has a better arm and a little more accurate. He is also a leader and fiery competitor much like Jake was. The guys will play for him.

Losing what was considered the strength of your defense hurts. We play bend but don't break against UNT. We dominated ULM forcing 9 punts. We handled and explosive Illinois very well and Kansas State we were hosed with 5 ____ poor calls that led to 3 TD's. Kent State we dominated on defense again, the QB rushed for some yards but the RB's did not.

We will see truly how deep we are and how good we will be the rest of the year this weekend. The next three game are the most importent games for the Cajuns in over a decade. We win all three we become bowl eligible with three games remaining.