College Football 2010 Rankings: No. 103 Louisiana

[NewsCopy]

The Ragin’ Cajuns do have QB Chris Masson back and many starters on defense back, too. But the running backs are inexperience, and three starters must be replaced from the best offensive line in the Sun Belt. If the running game isn’t going ...

The rest of the story

[keithj]

http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/spo...lafayette.html

FTFY

[wcd35]

Still didnt work. If you click the link, you have to add the -lafayette after the louisiana part

[Bankruptcyman]

WOW. . . Not much love. He believes ULM, LaTex, FAU and stAte are all better than us.

[ManAboutTown]

"Losing Hall Davis and Garren Blount is huge"..

Umm, no its not. Hall Davis was an "ok" defense player for us. This guy saw his name in the draft and figured it was a 'huge loss'. Also, the inexperience at RB is fair, but he fails to tout what kind of talent is back there, and how many options we have. Brad McGuire is NOT going to be a running back. Maybe, MAYBE and H back, but not a tailback. I think this defense is going to surprise some people, and again, he failed to talk about the incoming JC's and other guys who are expected to contribute. He's also failed to talk about Ladarius Green being the best pass catcher and big play threat in the Belt (and the overall development of Pierre Hill and Javone Lawson, who came on late last season).

He also failed to say that even though we're losing some damn good Offensive line guys, we're stacked with depth there, and those players have seen playing time due to injury..

This guy is just another half ass reporter..

[zephyr]

_ "Losing Hall Davis and Garren Blount is huge"..

Umm, no its not. Hall Davis was an "ok" defense player for us. This guy saw his name in the draft and figured it was a 'huge loss'. Also, the inexperience at RB is fair, but he fails to tout what kind of talent is back there, and how many options we have. Brad McGuire is NOT going to be a running back. Maybe, MAYBE and H back, but not a tailback. I think this defense is going to surprise some people, and again, he failed to talk about the incoming JC's and other guys who are expected to contribute. He's also failed to talk about Ladarius Green being the best pass catcher and big play threat in the Belt (and the overall development of Pierre Hill and Javone Lawson, who came on late last season).

He also failed to say that even though we're losing some damn good Offensive line guys, we're stacked with depth there, and those players have seen playing time due to injury..

This guy is just another half ass reporter.. _

This is, of course, why these types of rankings mean nothing. If you look at losses and returnees as your criteria to a successful season, you likely aren't making money with these predictions. I agree on Hall and Gerron. Both were really nice players for us but the vaunted Hall Davis who was drafted had a whopping 6.5 sacks his entire career. That is not the numbers of a dominant defensive force. Blount lost his starting position before the season even started and had Rolle not been injured, would not have been counted as a starter. Also, how does he say we lost 6 offensive starters? We lost 3 linemen, Sails and Aubrey ( who technically wasn't even a starter).

While he did note the lack of depth at running back, he obviously doesn't know of the talent we have at the position. Our starter for most of last year is also now a fullback. The funny thing is he talks up Masson quite a bit and for good reason, however, if he continues on the path he took in the spring, he won't be a starter for long. The linemen that left are considerable losses but I think the guys taking their places will play just as good. I found that the line did not open up the types of holes last year that we were accustomed to seeing. I think the guys we have now will certainly not be any sort of downgrade of what we've had the past couple of years. Last year, we were hinging a lot of our potential success on the depth and experience of that OL and it really didn't lead to anything different. Maybe we can look for that assumption to work in reverse this year as having 3 new starters may not be as big of a transition as some may think it will be.

I do think Brad will add a lot to the H-Back position with some athleticism and leadership. I agree with the defense but the DL has to be the improved piece of the puzzle. If they can rush the QB and stop the run for a change, this D can be really good. We've been unsuccessful in getting any penetration with our DL over the years so I'm a bit skeptical there but if they can improve, this Defense will be highly underrated. We have the best cover corner tandem in the league and the best overall defensive secondary. Our linebackers are certainly on par with the most productive in the league and the DL has the potential to make this defense the sleeper of the conference.

[ManAboutTown]

_ This is, of course, why these types of rankings mean nothing. If you look at losses and returnees as your criteria to a successful season, you likely aren't making money with these predictions. I agree on Hall and Gerron. Both were really nice players for us but the vaunted Hall Davis who was drafted had a whopping 6.5 sacks his entire career. That is not the numbers of a dominant defensive force. Blount lost his starting position before the season even started and had Rolle not been injured, would not have been counted as a starter. Also, how does he say we lost 6 offensive starters? We lost 3 linemen, Sails and Aubrey ( who technically wasn't even a starter).

While he did note the lack of depth at running back, he obviously doesn't know of the talent we have at the position. Our starter for most of last year is also now a fullback. The funny thing is he talks up Masson quite a bit and for good reason, however, if he continues on the path he took in the spring, he won't be a starter for long. The linemen that left are considerable losses but I think the guys taking their places will play just as good. I found that the line did not open up the types of holes last year that we were accustomed to seeing. I think the guys we have now will certainly not be any sort of downgrade of what we've had the past couple of years. Last year, we were hinging a lot of our potential success on the depth and experience of that OL and it really didn't lead to anything different. Maybe we can look for that assumption to work in reverse this year as having 3 new starters may not be as big of a transition as some may think it will be.

I do think Brad will add a lot to the H-Back position with some athleticism and leadership. I agree with the defense but the DL has to be the improved piece of the puzzle. If they can rush the QB and stop the run for a change, this D can be really good. We've been unsuccessful in getting any penetration with our DL over the years so I'm a bit skeptical there but if they can improve, this Defense will be highly underrated. We have the best cover corner tandem in the league and the best overall defensive secondary. Our linebackers are certainly on par with the most productive in the league and the DL has the potential to make this defense the sleeper of the conference. _

Mega Dittos. Considering everything that has been said here, I'll over simplify with this..

Keys to the Season:
1 - Defensive line plays well = we shut down most of the belt.
2 - Brad McGuire under center.
3 - WE HAVE TO STAY HEALTHY

A few X factors: If Blaine Gauthier is allowed to play, he needs to have a role in the offense. Also, we need to treat Ladarius Green like Phil Jackson treated Shaq, and run our entire offense THROUGH him. We have a huge advantage there, and we need to exploit it. Get the defense collapsing on him in the middle, then use our speed outside..

[RPCajun]

Gautier will be back...

[zephyr]

_ Mega Dittos. Considering everything that has been said here, I'll over simplify with this..

Keys to the Season:
1 - Defensive line plays well = we shut down most of the belt.
2 - Brad McGuire under center.
3 - WE HAVE TO STAY HEALTHY

A few X factors: If Blaine Gauthier is allowed to play, he needs to have a role in the offense. Also, we need to treat Ladarius Green like Phil Jackson treated Shaq, and run our entire offense THROUGH him. We have a huge advantage there, and we need to exploit it. Get the defense collapsing on him in the middle, then use our speed outside.. _

I have to say, as much as I like McGuire, I'm just not sold on him under center. I think Masson did a very nice job last year but I think both guys have their faults in this particular system. i think that McGuire is mobile and a great leader but he just doesn't seem to have the capabilities to stretch defenses with his arm. Masson is the opposite. Gautier may just be our best dual threat QB and may be the best option, in this particular offense. I think that McGuire needs to be on the field though as his leadership and willingness to play anywhere is contagious and I think he adds a lot to any team. I think the team will definitely feature Green as they tried to last year when he was healthy. I think they are committed to playing him both at SE and TE and he needs to get about 5+ catches per game. If he can stay healthy, he will put up some great numbers. This offense though, is a very balanced offense and never seems to feature any one receiver as we rotate guys in every series. Think about this. Our offense was statistically better than average last year and that was without any type of running threat. This year, we obviously have 3 guys entering that should easily improve the running game and our passing game should only improve.

[zephyr]

_ Gautier will be back... _

You are correct.

[IHateLaState]

_ This is, of course, why these types of rankings mean nothing. _

When I saw the thread title I made a mental bet that there would already be a "These things mean nothing" post..... Well maybe not... Maybe we will be #95 or maybe # 105.... but the point is after 7 years this program remains bottom of the barrel..... Now before you trash me... and you will... i will for the 34th straight year (and 4 before that paid through my student fees) have season tickets and will be at every game... Just mark me as a guy who is frustrated at where this program is this deep into Coach Bustle's reign

[CajunNation]

If our ground game is struggling in camp, McGuire either has to be QB or RB.

Otherwise, we will be Coach shopping next winter.

[HoustonCajun]

_ When I saw the thread title I made a mental bet that there would already be a "These things mean nothing" post..... Well maybe not... Maybe we will be #95 or maybe # 105.... but the point is after 7 years this program remains bottom of the barrel..... Now before you trash me... and you will... i will for the 34th straight year (and 4 before that paid through my student fees) have season tickets and will be at every game... Just mark me as a guy who is frustrated at where this program is this deep into Coach Bustle's reign _

I'm with you on this. Everyone says these polls are meaningless. It is meaningless because we are rated so low. I suspect if we were rated #50, it would be a very big deal, at least to me it would. It would certainly say a lot about our program. Unfortunately, #103 also says a lot about our program, particularly the overall perception of our program. We are still rated among the worse programs in the country and one of the worse programs within the worse conference in the country. This has got to be a make it or break it year for us and certainly for this coaching staff, although Bustle just got a 2 year extension. The magazine rankings that appear to mean the most, however, are Phil Steele and Athlon College Football, so I'm curious as to where they will rank us. Phil Steel's magazine comes out on June 8. However, that said, if we are ranked in the middle of the pack of the worse conference in the country, where else can we be ranked but in the bottom 100. I think Troy and MT, given their recent success and bowl appearances, will likely make it into the 70s, which is where we need to strive for.

[Just1More]

I think the ranking has one meaning... when you are in the over #80 crowd... they don't spend much time analyzing you. No offense to Hall Davis, but they took his draft and translated that into a hurt for the UL defense. (Not a valid observation) We rallied our own troops last year around a strong offensive line (made up of two seniors with national accolodes)... to offset the wussy crowd's worry loss of MD, Chery and Fenroy. So, in many respects, we are to blame for sportswriters using simple information to assess our strengths/weaknesses. Other than that, when you are ranked above 75, the only takeaway is that you need to seriously get to work.

As for QB... I can't tell you who should be the #1. I would prefer UL get a solid passing attack, and I don't really care who does it. I want us to key on the pass to set up the run. That does not seem to be popular with others on here. I do agree... it is all up to the capabilities of our personnel. But, we got hooked on a mobile Babb and MD, and that opened up the rest of our running attack. Last year, we brought Marlin Miller into the backfield to give us some speed... it was cool at times... but we are not getting over the hump with a run first mentality. Bustle needs to go aerial and either succeed or go down in flames. 50/50 isn't getting it done and will be a staff killer at the end of this season.

As stated, health is always a bigger must with the Cajuns... especially since we usually, across the board, lack true depth (comparable skill and experience). Our defense and special teams are what have to step up. We cannot go to a bowl without a spectacular defense and special teams. We have to win the field position battle and stop giving everyone a short field and our offense a long field. The only stat that matters is the W/L stat. This is not a building year... this is a command performance year.

[Parrott]

Bustle got a one-year extension through the 2011 season. Looking at it right now.


igeaux.mobi