Louisiana vs Jacksonville State in 2023 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl

[Winning]

I’ll pushback a little on the notion that this game will sway our brand one way or the other too drastically win or lose.

When I think of a game that had the kind of tailspin impact you are talking about I think La Tech 2014. Think about that game. 3 straight NOLA bowl wins and 9-4 seasons. All record breaking crowds for the bowl. Tulane was down and we had already beaten them twice in HUD’s tenure. ULM was nothing. Tech had been down. We were finally perception wise the clear 2nd best team in the state of Louisiana. The expectation was we would send Skip and the Dogs back to Ruston with their tails between their legs. Most people my age had never seen a UL win over Tech. Hud knew how big that game was perception wise, and he invited all of Tech’s recruits to see the beatdown we would administer. 25,000+ showed up, and…we got absolutely crushed. 28 point loss. Complete embarrassment. All illusions were exposed. We went 9-4 that year, but HUD’s descent had begun. Our balloon was as full as it had ever been and it got absolutely burst that night.

When I look at this game, I don’t see any of that. There is no expectation of this team. Hell the few people still paying attention know good and well we may lose. We clearly aren’t the 2nd best team in LA. Our balloon is about as empty as it’s been since the Baldwin days in terms of excitement. Difference this time between 2014 is no one else popped our balloon. We’ve just been slowly letting the air out since the day Napier walked off of campus. I don’t see how much more air this game could possibly let out because, let’s be honest, there just isn’t much there to begin with. Our fanbase is already down to the bare bones, old school, diehards, who support no matter what. Apathy is on 100 as it is. How much lower can one game get us? The true last gasp will be when the old timers propping this bad boy up die off. The most that will come from this game, IMO, is the mockery on Twitter of losing to CUSA school.

Damn this is depressing…and accurate.

[Cajun Soldier]

It’s about setting the program back 10 years. There is nothing that can happen in a bowl game almost nobody outside of the two fan bases will follow that could set us back 10 years. In two years we went from Huds train wreck to Napier success. From Napier to current mediocrity took 2 seasons, or 1 really. Things just aren’t that permanent. The one entity that can truly set us back for extended periods is Martin Hall.

Hud took over a 3-9 program and went 9-3 in his first year. It took him five years to have a losing season. In his 7 years at UL he had two losing seasons. Dez took over a 13-1 top 25 team and in two seasons we had to beat a terrible Monroe team to get bowl eligible and can possibly lose to an upstart team in the bowl game. Hud was nowhere near a train wreck with the program. It is in worse shape now than it ever was under Hud. Only tenure worse than now is the Baldwin era.

[Million$Mullet]

Hud took over a 3-9 program and went 9-3 in his first year. It took him five years to have a losing season. In his 7 years at UL he had two losing seasons. Dez took over a 13-1 top 25 team and in two seasons we had to beat a terrible Monroe team to get bowl eligible and can possibly lose to an upstart team in the bowl game. Hud was nowhere near a train wreck with the program. It is in worse shape than now than it ever was under Hud. Only tenure worse than now is the Baldwin era.

Calm down.

[Big Tyme]

Hud took over a 3-9 program and went 9-3 in his first year. It took him five years to have a losing season. In his 7 years at UL he had two losing seasons. Dez took over a 13-1 top 25 team and in two seasons we had to beat a terrible Monroe team to get bowl eligible and can possibly lose to an upstart team in the bowl game. Hud was nowhere near a train wreck with the program. It is in worse shape now than it ever was under Hud. Only tenure worse than now is the Baldwin era.

That is dramatic.
The other question is "If we win, what does that look like?". I think a loss is more damaging than a win is positive. We are SUPPOSED to beat a back-fill fcs callup team, right? PErception-wise a loss is huge and a win is meh.

[ManAboutTown]

That is dramatic.
The other question is "If we win, what does that look like?". I think a loss is more damaging than a win is positive. We are SUPPOSED to beat a back-fill fcs callup team, right? PErception-wise a loss is huge and a win is meh.

A win is a sigh of relief from most people. And more propaganda fonder for MH.
A loss is detrimental to reputation and perception.

Hooray.

[ManAboutTown]

Hud took over a 3-9 program and went 9-3 in his first year. It took him five years to have a losing season. In his 7 years at UL he had two losing seasons. Dez took over a 13-1 top 25 team and in two seasons we had to beat a terrible Monroe team to get bowl eligible and can possibly lose to an upstart team in the bowl game. Hud was nowhere near a train wreck with the program. It is in worse shape now than it ever was under Hud. Only tenure worse than now is the Baldwin era.

Little dramatic, cat. Mike took over an unprecedented situation here.

[ManAboutTown]

Ragin Review ended up on Sports Illustrated because of this, so that's pretty cool...

[jaxmc1023]

Sigh..

Basketball loses to another high school and football gets another lame a** New Orleans Bowl against an FCS team

[MetryCajun]

Looked at our previous coaches in the modern era.
Win percentages: G W L T %
Russ Faulkinberry 1961–1973 131 66 63 2 0.511
Augie Tammariello 1974–1979 67 30 35 2 0.463
Sam Robertson 1980–1985 65 29 34 2 0.462
Nelson Stokley 1986–1998 143 62 80 1 0.437
Jerry Baldwin 1999–2001 33 6 27 0.182
Rickey Bustle 2002–2010 106 41 65 0.387
Mark Hudspeth 2011–2017 89 51 38 0.573
Billy Napier 2018–2021 52 40 12 0.769
Michael Desormeaux 2021–present 14 7 7 0.500

The sky is not falling

[Big Poppa]

We fought the perception battle for 15+ years. We've finally climbed out of the cellar and people wonder why it would be a setback to lose to a bottom dwelling conference member in a bowl game.... Does anyone pay attention?

Maggard handed you the set back on a silver platter. What did you expect?

[Cajunsmike]

I hear you. Perception is reality, especially with our fickle fanbase. Once people realize they don't need UL sports to pass their time or don't need to feel obligated to supporting UL, or enjoy their weekends better without it, they're never coming back. Couple that with Boomers dying off and you have a major issue on the horizon. Last thing we need is to take steps backward on the fields/courts of play.

People in Acadiana have already concluded they don’t “need” Cajun sports. Lots more things to do these days in this area than even a few years ago. Flip side is they have forgotten how important university is to the area. Challenge is to remind them and to have folks enjoy our events.

[SportyCajun459]

I hear you. Perception is reality, especially with our fickle fanbase. Once people realize they don't need UL sports to pass their time or don't need to feel obligated to supporting UL, or enjoy their weekends better without it, they're never coming back. Couple that with Boomers dying off and you have a major issue on the horizon. Last thing we need is to take steps backward on the fields/courts of play.

Have to admit that I am the fan you are describing. I am 55 years old. I have always been a casual football fan. Only go when I am given a free ticket but my preference is to stay home on Saturday in my Lazy Boy and watch what I think are better quality games on tv. Doesn't matter the conference, just the match-ups. Will watch the Cajuns on tv if they are the best game on at the time. Currently only have season tickets for softball and never miss a home series. The games aren't long and the girls are athletic and fun to watch. My wife and I travel to some out of town games that are within a 4 hour driving distance. Used to have basketball season tickets until the price got too crazy the past couple of years. Probably going to get crapped on for making this post.