2018 FB G5: Louisiana 42 Texas St. 27

[angeleast]

There were no surprises tonight. We are going to have to outscore teams in the Sun Belt to win. Our defense is not talented enough to stop anyone still on our schedule. At least on a consistent basis. I will hold out hope that they improve over time, but even if they do I don’t think the talent upside is very high.

One thing is for sure. We going to have to run , run, run, then make critical pass plays when opponents stack the line. I feel a lot better about our chances going forward now that Naps and co. seem to have a better feel as to play calling etc

[BrockMeaux]

Right. Lewis did surprise tonight. He made a critical "stand in the pocket and throw a strike" throw that may be under rated. That was a 3rd and long. Well done.

That's why Napier is getting him playing time. We'll see him continue to improve. I know some fans don't like it, and I don't always agree with when he decides to give him a series, but he's giving him seasoning facing live bullets without the pressure of being the full-time starter so that he's not a deer in the headlights when he'll possibly be the guy. I know the old adage is "if you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks," but our situation isn't that there's some kind of controversy or Napier can't make a decision. I like the long-term thinking.

[LifeTimeCajun]

Please explain what you mean by long term

[BrockMeaux]

Please explain what you mean by long term

Beyond the next game. Everybody hopes the kid from Rummel comes in and is the future, or that we get a high-level transfer, but the freshman may not be ready to go day one and who knows about transfers. Maybe there's an injury. Maybe Levi Lewis actually really grows and earns the starter job for 2019 and 2020. We're in the situation we're in because Hud rode Broadway until the wheels fell off and they never developed Nixon, Haack, or Davis, and by the time he was done here, he spent every week throwing Davis, Lewis, and Nunez at a wall to see if one would stick. There's at least some method to this particular madness.

[angeleast]

Please explain what you mean by long term

Think he means Levi's future

[LifeTimeCajun]

Both have had flashes. I know Napier has coached at a high level brfore. He knows what it’s suppose to look like. But I don’t see what he is seeing. And I’m not a coach but it just seems like we are throwing 50/50 balls on almost every down field throw. Maybe that’s partially bc our receivers aren’t getting separation in the route. To their credit they are catching some of them. And with the run game we have it should make the passing game a little better. Sooner rather than later someone will come to stop the run and make the quarterback beat them. Not sure we can do that.

[CajunVic]

I think today might be a good day to make a little wager on the Cajuns.

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. I think I'm going with steak today.

[Policarp]

Fun with scores...

Coastal beat UAB by 23.

UAB beat latech tonight by 21.

Lots of fun. LTURds crapped a big steamer in Ruston last night

[RaginScotsman]

Man, Sunday mornings just feel better after a win. A lot to critique about the game, but that can wait till Monday. Geaux Cajuns and enjoy the day.

[CajunNation]

Beyond the next game. Everybody hopes the kid from Rummel comes in and is the future, or that we get a high-level transfer, but the freshman may not be ready to go day one and who knows about transfers. Maybe there's an injury. Maybe Levi Lewis actually really grows and earns the starter job for 2019 and 2020...

I'm a huge fan of playing a true Freshman QB if he is the best guy, but I would be overjoyed if Lewis' passing skills developed enough to be better than those HS commits.

[MetryCajun]

I'm a huge fan of playing a true Freshman QB if he is the best guy, but I would be overjoyed if Lewis' passing skills developed enough to be better than those HS commits.

Saw Fields play last night. He is good. But guess what, he throws almost no passes in between the hash marks. He has an awesome young receiver on the outside that he likes to throw deep balls to. He could connected on some. It will be interesting to see if his athleticism translates to D1 football. He likes to identify his primary target and if not open he pulls it down and runs. Rummel runs the same offense as UL.

[CajunProud]

I'm not the biggest fan of a two QB system, but I believe we are stuck with it due to the lack of talent at that position. Napier is doing the best with what he was left. If Lewis develops, then great. He seems to be a good kid, and I would be happy for the young man. I think this season is very much an experimental one, and I'm ok with that; quite frankly, it is what I expected, and somewhat looked forward to. However, I was truly open to see some innovation and new schemes on offense. I was very pleased with what I saw in the Grambling game and the first quarter of the MS St. game, and was hoping to see more of that going forward, but over the last 3 games, I have been very disappointed with the play calling. The tight ends have been non existent, and I don't think I've seen a slant or anything in the middle of the field.

[zephyr]

Good representation of Cajun fans at game tonight. Glad to go home with the win.
Definitely a tale of 2 halves. Team looked very good in first half ( minus the lame throw away int!). I couldn't understand why Tx State wasn't having better success throwing against us. Looks like they figured that out in 2nd half. Fortunately our ground game was on point most of the night. Was also good to see Levi have some success, and he definitely gave us a spark in 3rd qtr.

They weren't better throwing because their starting QB was injured a week or so ago and they had to start a true freshman which is probably why we actually saw some blitzes and we attacked the line of scrimmage to pressure him. We did what we had to do although this defense is scary bad in pass defense in the middle of the field.

[CajunT]

That's why Napier is getting him playing time. We'll see him continue to improve. I know some fans don't like it, and I don't always agree with when he decides to give him a series, but he's giving him seasoning facing live bullets without the pressure of being the full-time starter so that he's not a deer in the headlights when he'll possibly be the guy. I know the old adage is "if you have two quarterbacks, you have no quarterbacks," but our situation isn't that there's some kind of controversy or Napier can't make a decision. I like the long-term thinking.

This is why I pulled myself back and said we will see what happens in the spring. I still don't believe Lewis is an FBS QB, but Coach Napier may have seen enough from him now to think that he can coach him up to run his offense. While he played well last night, he was facing the worse defense in the SBC outside of UL and ULM.

After his scoring drive in the second half, I wish Coach Napier would have left him in for another series because the Texas State defense was keying so much on Mitchell and Ragas, there were opportunities for him to run the ball. I thought neither QB was great throwing the ball last night, Bradley was just such a mismatch against the shorter CB that covered him, he won jump balls several times.

Today I'm going to enjoy the win and try not think about our defense. Win and mover forward!

[HOUCajun]

Where was Keenan Barnes? Are the zone read plays we run designed handoffs? Because if the QB kept 1 out of 7 they would all be big plays and make the d more honest.
Tx St has a good band and a nice facility (other than the PA system). Their football team is painfully bad.