The Book 2008 Football

[Just1More]

_ I think the game will be moderately close at first but I do think USM will turn it into a blowout. I say this not to take anything away from the Cajuns, but the fact that unlike our previous coach, this team has been coached not to get complacent after going up by 21 or such. I think after reading about both schools Southern Miss' offensive weapons can tear up the Cajun's holes on defense. Southern Miss' defense practices daily against the Running Back who has gained the most yards in the nation in the past 2 years so i'm not really worried about that account. I'm a Southern Miss fan but even if I wasn't I would be scared of Damion Fletcher. This is a kid that is 600 yards away from 3,000 career yards and has shaved a tenth off his 40 time this season as well as added more muscle while saying he is 'applying himself' more than he did in the past. Based on the past scores I say 14-7 at halftime and 38-10 final Southern Miss over the Cajuns _

Based on past scores? I don't think a single starter on either side has ever played against the other. I sure wouldn't go on past history, one way or the other.

I think our game against Houston season before last might be something to compare. We came back from 21 and beat them, at Houston. USM beat them with a similar score, at USM, the following game, then lost to Houston in the CUSA championship. I would also look at our opening game at South Carolina last year, where indeed we lost 28-14... but the score doesn't show that we sustained 2 drives in the second half, to inside the 5 yard line and shot ourselves in the foot. We may get rattled in SEC games, but we won't against CUSA.

Expect a better game, from start to finish. You won't hold UL to a field goal in the second half... but we will see come next Saturday.

[Zeebart21]

_ I think the game will be moderately close at first but I do think USM will turn it into a blowout. I say this not to take anything away from the Cajuns, but the fact that unlike our previous coach, this team has been coached not to get complacent after going up by 21 or such. I think after reading about both schools Southern Miss' offensive weapons can tear up the Cajun's holes on defense. Southern Miss' defense practices daily against the Running Back who has gained the most yards in the nation in the past 2 years so i'm not really worried about that account. I'm a Southern Miss fan but even if I wasn't I would be scared of Damion Fletcher. This is a kid that is 600 yards away from 3,000 career yards and has shaved a tenth off his 40 time this season as well as added more muscle while saying he is 'applying himself' more than he did in the past. Based on the past scores I say 14-7 at halftime and 38-10 final Southern Miss over the Cajuns _

You have a new coach with NO head coaching experience. An inexperienced D line. A secondary that you ASSume will be pretty good, but had some big mistakes last year. An untested freshman quarterback. This game will be close. You arent BCS. You are CUSA, who by the way has a very marginal record against the Sunbelt the last few years.

Go tell yourself how great you are on your board.

Z

[Zeebart21]

_ Ragin Rash,

I won't be able to provide designated driver services once the tailgating begins. A couple of cougar hunters are part of my crew. It could a 12-14 hour sauce-festival. _

get shots before you leave town.

[NOCajun]

_ Question for So Miss fans reading this forum -

Who is your football "rival"? _

They would probably say the SEC!!

[SpreadEagle]

You have a new coach with NO head coaching experience. An inexperienced D line. A secondary that you ASSume will be pretty good, but had some big mistakes last year. An untested freshman quarterback. This game will be close. You arent BCS. You are CUSA, who by the way has a very marginal record against the Sunbelt the last few years.

Go tell yourself how great you are on your board.

Z

USM isn't BCS, but we do have 14 straight winning seasons and 10 bowl games in the last 11 years. The scores in the last five games against UL

USM 48 ULL 3
USM 35 ULL 10
USM 48 ULL 0
USM 55 ULL 0
USM 52 ULL 27

As for USM vs. the Sun Belt, USM is 10-0 in the last ten games played against Sun Belt teams.

Don't think that Fedora inherited no talent. This USM team is lacking depth, not talent at starting positions.

So no, we aren't BCS and we do have a new head coach, but your team got whipped by McNeese State last year. I think this will be a close game and I will be happy with a one point win, but history does say that UL is in for a tough night this coming Saturday. Of course history is yesterday's news. We shall soon see how this year's game turns out and if history repeats itself or not.

[TuffGuy84]

The sad part is that the USM fans are making me more confident. The game will come down to the turnovers and on one side you have a senior QB who threw only 10 picks all last year, and on the other side you have an untested freshman...you tell me who you think is gonna win that turnover battle. I think the cajuns win 28-24.

Tuffguy

[NewsCopy]

 As Rickey Bustle enters his seventh season as UL's head football coach, he knows the importance of improving on last season's 3-9 record.

He made a few coaching changes in the offseason to help make those improvements.

Bustle, 26-44 with the Cajuns, promoted Ron Hudson to offensive coordinator. He hired Jorge Munoz as quarterbacks coach and passing game coordinator and former Ragin' Cajun player and coach Gerald Broussard to lead the defensive line. He also shifted coaching responsibilities on the defensive side of the ball, putting former safeties coach Tim Rebowe with the linebackers and ex-cornerbacks coach Hurlie Brown with the secondary.

With the Aug. 30 opener at Southern Miss less than a week away, Bustle recently spoke with The Daily Advertiser about the upcoming season.

Question: Since winning a share of the Sun Belt Conference title in 2005, the Cajuns went 6-6 in '06 and 3-9 last season. Last December you received a contract extension that runs until Jan. 31, 2011. With all that said, how are you approaching this season?

Answer: I'm going to approach it like any other season. You don't approach the season any differently. It's good to see a lot of guys who did play last year, the 30 or 31 freshmen and sophomores that have some experience. We just need to stay focused on what we need to do.

The rest of the story

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • August 24, 2008

[Zeebart21]

_ USM isn't BCS, but we do have 14 straight winning seasons and 10 bowl games in the last 11 years. The scores in the last five games against UL

USM 48 ULL 3
USM 35 ULL 10
USM 48 ULL 0
USM 55 ULL 0
USM 52 ULL 27

As for USM vs. the Sun Belt, USM is 10-0 in the last ten games played against Sun Belt teams.

Don't think that Fedora inherited no talent. This USM team is lacking depth, not talent at starting positions.

So no, we aren't BCS and we do have a new head coach, but your team got whipped by McNeese State last year. I think this will be a close game and I will be happy with a one point win, but history does say that UL is in for a tough night this coming Saturday. Of course history is yesterday's news. We shall soon see how this year's game turns out and if history repeats itself or not. _

You could have saved yourself alot of typing.

Z

[DestinCajun]

You could have saved yourself alot of typing.

Z

It figured if they hung here around long enough, the buttshining would start. US@Hattiesburg: The Creator's gift to college football.

[NewsCopy]

  UL — Want to know how well the University of Louisiana football team does this season?

Check back with head coach Rickey Bustle after the first six games.

UL opens Saturday at Southern Mississippi and then plays four of its next five contests on the road.

Included in those are games at Illinois, Kansas State and two against Sun Belt Conference opponents Louisiana-Monroe and North Texas.

“That’s going to be the biggest difference right there. In addition to the caliber of teams we play, five of the first six on the road is tough for anybody,” Bustle said.

“We’re going to be some kind of road warriors by the time we finish with all of that.”

The rest of the story

By BOB ARDOIN
Special to The Advocate

[DestinCajun]

They would probably say the SEC!!

I am curious because of the discussion in another thread about "rivalries" and what defines them and so on. It seems based on what really defines rivalries that So.Ms. is in a difficult spot from a geographical standpoint. So, who by the typical standards, is their "rival"? If they want to claim Ole Miss and Miss St. then so be it but I doubt that is the view as well of the fans of those programs.

[HoustonCajun]

_ _

Good interview. However, he just seems to always hope for the best and we'll see what happens. He apparently got an extension to 2011 (I'm not sure why), so we are not likely to buy him out with 3 years to go on his contract. He is already talking about how young we are again this year. I wish Bustle was a little more positive and inspiring. We as fans need to hear that. I want to see this team come out with an attitude like they did vs. UH a couple of years ago. For some reason, we lost our swagger after that game when we lost HC to MTSU. We need to regain it vs. USM. It seems to me that the attitude of the coach(s) will help dictate that.