The Book 2008 Football

[RCAJUN90]

_ Well we all just need to remember

1. We are very young.....

2. We just dont have any money....

3. They are trying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. It's negative people who are at fault...............

5. Ricky Bustle sure is a nice guy

6. Hey la tech doesnt have nearly the tiddlywinks team that we have.... they are NOT separating themselves from us

7. Look its only the SECOND year of a new OC and DC.. Everyone knows it takes at least 7 YEARS when you get new coordinators

8. Did i mention we are real YOUNG??

So now we go through it all again.. when in point of fact this butt kicking may have been acceptable as we began a new direction and a new program.... but no... we will wait yet another year to make the tough decisions.... _

LOL! That is the mantra of the Ksips. Cajun fans have become so use to losing down looks up. We should have shown the door to Busted after four years. Even with the "co-championship".

[RCAJUN90]

_ Well, at least one of does... _

??

[SpreadEagle]

You must feel pretty big don't you? Your team wins and you have to come to our boards to run your mouth...some more. Pretty much had it with you guys. We do have some bigger things to worry about though, like a huge storm affecting our homes and businesses. Take your gloating and run along.

That post was directed to the LaTech fan that attacked USM on this board. Best wishes with Gustav. Hope all is well.

[CajunFun]

Talked with one of my sources:

1) USM estimates they sold us about 2500-3000 tickets, and with Gustav, they think we might have brought 4K. That is much, much better than they get from most other schools, including most conference members.

2) As it was, they think we brought 1500... which was still a very respectable crowd.

3) Because of the friendliness of our fans (a few people here on the boards withstanding), and the pleasant interactions and fun they've had tailgating when they've been here, and we've been there, they are very interested in seeing how they can play us more often, in more sports.

4) Our attendance numbers and traveling fanbase help offset our small budget and on-field struggles.

THPs:

1) Be friendly and positive, particularly to opposing fans: at Cajun Field, at away games, AND ON THE BOARDS.

2) Support the Cajuns, even when we struggle. Strong support (i.e., home & away attendance) is every bit as important to opponents and potential conference mates as budget, market size, and competitiveness. Ticket sales won't get us there alone, but they make up for a lot of other shortcomings.

Super THPs:

A positive outlook helps Louisiana.

A negative outlook hurts Louisiana.

[mhulin]

_ Well we all just need to remember

1. We are very young.....

2. We just dont have any money....

3. They are trying!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

4. It's negative people who are at fault...............

5. Ricky Bustle sure is a nice guy

6. Hey la tech doesnt have nearly the tiddlywinks team that we have.... they are NOT separating themselves from us

7. Look its only the SECOND year of a new OC and DC.. Everyone knows it takes at least 7 YEARS when you get new coordinators

8. Did i mention we are real YOUNG??

So now we go through it all again.. when in point of fact this butt kicking may have been acceptable as we began a new direction and a new program.... but no... we will wait yet another year to make the tough decisions.... _

How can fans of this program continue to make excuses? Fact is, Tulane, LA-Monroe, LA-Tech, and McNeese all have superior teams to ours. That's pretty pathetic for the state's second largest school.

This is what we get for employing a guy who was only successful because he coached Mike Vick.

[Broadway Brett]

_ Its an SEC thing not just an LSU thing. DeAndre Brown could not play at any SEC school. But who cares how you got him. You got him and he will be great at Southern Miss. Tech got Terry Bradshaw the same way. _

Congrats on beating Sly and the family leghumpers, but please tell me how D Brown could not play at an sec school when the NCAA cleared him as a full qualifier?

You cajun fans might get a kick out of this. The week Brown announced his commitment, LSU sent their entire coaching staff to Ocean Springs high. The next day the head corndog Miles himself visited. Both days they pulled the young man out of class to visit.

THEY CLAIM HE WOULD NOT QUALIFY, BUT YET THEY PULLED HIM OUT OF THE CLASSROOM LOL. Brown was late showing up at the tv station in Biloxi 2 days later for his announcment, why??? Cause ole Les made another trip to Ocean Springs to beg him to come to (as we call them) Univ of La Baton rouge center.

Now unless a rule has changed 2 face to face visits in a 7 day period by the head coach is a ncaa violation.

Three visits in a week, pulling him out of his classes, does that seem excessive for a kid, that cant qualify "at an sec school"??

[fla_cat]

I know that you all are in for some weather down in Louisiana. Just want to send along my well wishes and hope that you and your families are all safe.

We are looking forward to the Cajuns coming up to Kansas State at the end of the month.

Hope that some of you can make it up for the game--we will do our best to extend some hospitality to those of you who can make it.

Good luck to your team (aside from when they play us!).

[Orpheus]

_ Its pretty easy for us as cajuns fans to comprehend, if our D is in fact much improved which I think they are, this will be a much more competitive game than anybody outside of cajun nation believes. Why do I believe this D will be much improved over losing most of our D Line and some secondary members? First, the DT who is coming back couldn't even crack the starting lineup on the depth chart for week 1. He was a little banged up all fall but the development of our other guys was substantial. Our DE's are both bigger and faster than last years starters that we lost but both played a lot last year. We start a Freshman at CB but he has earned the spot over veterans who played a lot last year. His coverage skills are probably the best of our CB's which is why he gets the nod over other guys with more experience. Our entire D rotates a lot of people at every position. We may have a lot of youth but they are experienced. The entire D has bulked up tremendously this year and they have gotten faster. Next, once we had our entire unit on the field for the last 3 games of last year, they allowed a little over 300 yards a game in total yardage. This ocurred once they all got on the field at one time. I believe this D will be faster, stronger, bigger and much more aggressive. Do I think they will turn into LSU's D? Of course not. I do expect them to be a different unit though.

Our offense is experienced all over the field but especially in the skill positions. Our line is young but they've all been playing for at least a year. Our sophomores have more experience than most juniors or seniors on a lot of teams. Our line is well coached and smart. Our skill players are going to be amongst the best in the SBC and if Des is throwing like the coaches are indicating, Smith and Chery will have great years as they are deadly after the catch.

I hope the USM team is taking us as likely as the fans. If you are foolish to go by last year's stats, that is your mistake. This team is coming ready to play. I saw this change in attitude at the last couple of scrimmages and this team is coming to prove something. _

Well Zephyr, what happened????

[Orpheus]

_ With all do respect... NO team with a new HC, OC and brand spanking new QB is blowing out ANY team in the first game of the regular season.. Most defense (good or bad) are light-years ahead of most offenses early in the season, any avid football fan knows that. True, you have a stud at halfback, but you also have a lot of questions marks and unproven players that surround him. A good running game will always help tremendously... but it just so happens that we aren't so bad in that arena of the game either

Homer to Homer.. this game will shock one nation either way (Cajun Nation or Eagle nation, respectfully)

Cajuns 33
Eagles 31

..and we're bringing the RAGIN' RED ZONE with us baby! _

NO Team????

[Orpheus]

_ 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 _

Close??? I guess a poor CUSA team did ok...LOL!!

[HoustonCajun]

_ That's just a lame defeatist attitude. These guys don't want to lose any more then the fans. They just got beat by a better team and will try and learn from their mistakes. I'd rather see them lose every game then to play in a "lower level league". Things will get better..Can't get much worse. _

It is not fair to the kids to be so ill-prepared by a coaching staff than makes no adjustments and doesn't give them a chance to win. It is one thing to lose to a better team, but not to lose like we did. I don't blame the kids, I blame the coaches. And until that changes, it will continue to be the same thing week after week and year after year.

[PR_Eagle]

He will stay, but I am not sure about Gerald McRath.

Damion is a Brian Westbrook type back. He's physical, shifty, and intelligent, but lacks that breakaway speed once he makes it to the secondary to really bust out the huge runs- so he needs all four years to really pump his numbers up and show scouts what he's capable of.

Whats even more scary is that he only had 1 reception Saturday. I didn't notice that until someone on our board pointed it out. We've been hearing all pre-season how much they are going to integrate him into the passing game. I'm hoping we have a lot of surprises for Auburn.

[CajunPride]

Thanks for your concerns and well wishes. Most of us are happy that it came in at a Cat 2 instead of Cat 4 or 5. It could have been worse.
There was much loss of property and even some lives. We are praying for comfort for the survivors who have lost much.
I am sure you can understand since you have tornado experience.

[zephyr]

_ Same question some of us have been asking. I for one don't like getting our butts kicked every year. It's time to think about playing NAIA ha... _

Dude, get a life. If you only want to root for a winner go down the road. None of us want our program to stink but you have to stop with this dropping down several levels talk. Its not good for the building of a solid program to go beat Mount Union Technical college or something so we can throw a W in the win column. That will do nothing for the future of this program. For all of you negative people, just keep telling us what is wrong and hoping and expecting for us to lose so you can get the admin to pony up and get a real ball coach in here. Maybe it'll happen and be great for us. Who knows? I just don't want to hear the" I've been telling you guys for years" crap

[zephyr]

_ Next year is going to be awful. Did you happen to see Gautier's performance in the Bayou Bowl? He was the biggest factor in Texas' win over Louisiana. _

You are incorrect of your assessment of Gauthier. I believe he has a ton of potential and will run this offense for the next 4 years (hopefull with a different coach). He didn't have a very good all-star game but he was under a ton of pressure all night. In the last scrimmage, he was perfect passing for about 100 yards and 60 rushing with a couple of touchdowns. I saw him play several times his senior year and he is the real deal. I know someone who covered him the past couple of years and feels he's going to grow into one of the best qb's we've had here. I believe he is one of the few brightspots for this offense in the next couple of years.