The Book: 2004 FOOTBALL

[RaginFan2]

"It'll be a Wildcat win, but there's no indication that things are back to the good old says of the easy blowout. However, this is still UL Lafayette we're talking about."

It's all about the respect! This isn't the same old UL-Lafayette, this the the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns! Smack 'em in the nose, Cajuns! Smack 'em hard & often!

[Turbine]

Kansas St. still smarting from blowout loss to Fresno St.

MANHATTAN, Kansas — Two teams stung by difficult losses meet at 1:10 p.m. today when UL Lafayette and Kansas State tangle at 50,000-seat KSU Stadium.

Coach Rickey Bustle’s Ragin’ Cajuns are nagged by the feeling that they let one get away when they ran out of time in a 24-20 loss at Louisiana Tech last weekend.

The picture is different for the Wildcats of coach Bill Snyder, who were shocked 45-21 at home by Fresno State and tumbled out of the Top 25.

Both squads need to get back on track in a hurry with conference openers next week, the Cajuns hosting Middle Tennessee and KSU headed to Texas A&M.

“That one hurt,” Cajun defensive coordinator Brent Pry said of the loss at Tech. “It took a couple of days to get over it.”

“We came back on Monday and corrected a few mistakes we made on Saturday,” offensive coordinator Rob Christophel said. “We put last week behind us on Tuesday and started getting ready for one of the top Big 12 programs the last few years.”

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

David Rose has worked his way into the starting lineup with a combination of speed and smarts.

MANHATTAN - Outside the intensity of a game or practice, Kansas State defensive coordinator Bob Elliott is the friendly, approachable sort. But when it comes to dealing with senior cornerback David Rose, Elliott can be especially jovial.

Hey, he never knows when he'll need a job.

"And I mean that," Elliott said. "In 15 or 20 years, David Rose is going to be a CEO for some Fortune 500 company or something. We might all end up working for him."

For now, though, Rose is fine taking orders from Elliott. Actually, he's downright thrilled because he's finally a starter.

The Wildcats had other options for the corner opposite Cedrick Williams. At 6-foot, Louis Lavender is two inches taller than Rose and started six games last season. Junior-college transfer Maurice Porter is 6-1, athletic and made the depth chart after just one spring session.

But when K-State hosts Louisiana-Lafayette today, Rose should make his third straight start, the only three starts of his career.

How has the undersized Rose done it?

"It's a hunger," he said. "This is my fourth year here, and I spent most of it sitting on the bench. That fueled my fire."

The rest of the story

BY JEFFREY PARSON

The Wichita Eagle

[Pirogue]

Z if you like K-sTATE I CAN GET YOU 31

[NewsCopy]

MANHATTAN, Ks. — Senior wide receiver B.J. Crist has been waiting a long time to contribute to University of Louisiana’s offense.

But that’s nothing like the eternity he waited for Jerry Babb’s pass to reach him so he could finish off a 39-yard touchdown against Kansas State here on Saturday.

“It was sitting up there a year in the air,” said Crist, whose first career score drew the visitors within 13-7 of the Big 12 champion Wildcats.

“It’s one of those things where you just want the ball to get down before the defender gets near you.”

“It was a bootleg,” said Babb, who rushed for 101 yards and threw for 128 in the 40-20 defeat.

“The cornerback bit up on the out route by Bill (Sampy) and they didn’t go with B.J.”

The tricky part was a 20-25 crosswind that never seemed to be coming from the same direction two plays in a row.

“With the wind, I wanted to make sure I wasn’t going to overthrow him,” Babb said. “So, I just laid it up there so he could get it. Early, the wind wasn’t blowing that hard, but it kept shifting. My receivers made some good catches.”

Crist just wanted the ball to get there.

“The easier catches are the ones that are the hardest,” Crist said. “Everybody is focused on you, waiting for you to make a big play.”

The slender senior was set back by leg and abdomen injuries in preseason, but has proven his worth on a receiving corps eager to fill in the big catches made last year by Fred Stamps.

“I was really looking forward to my senior year,” Crist said. “I wanted to be part of the team and make it happen. It has worked out so far, but I’m not done. I’m looking forward to making bigger plays.

“I want to help us win the Sun Belt Conference and go to the New Orleans Bowl. That’s our ultimate goal.”

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

---

INDIVIDUAL STATS

[NewsCopy]

Crucial fumble, dropped pass hurt UL’s chances at upset

MANHATTAN, Ks. — Two critical plays helped separate University of Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns and the Kansas State Wildcats here Saturday.

The final score was 40-20, KSU, but the Cajuns were within range of the Big 12 Conference champions before a pair of first-half miscues turned the tide.

Jerry Babb’s 39-yard touchdown pass to B.J. Crist had drawn the Cajuns to within 13-7 and the visitors forced the first punt of the game for Kansas State early in the second period.

Abdule Levier gained 11 yards on first down to the UL 44-yard line, and it looked like the Cajuns were in position to drive for the lead.

But Levier fumbled on his next carry and KSU took over on the UL 44-yard line.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Darren Sproles rushed for a team-record 292 yards on 38 carries Saturday, leading Kansas State past Louisiana 40-20.

Running around and through a defense ranked No. 106 against the run, Sproles broke the Kansas State record of 273 yards he set against Missouri last year on 43 carries.

Held to just 31 yards the week before in a 45-21 loss to then-unranked Fresno State, Sproles shredded the Ragin’ Cajuns for 195 yards on 23 carries as the Wildcats (2-1) took a 20-7 halftime lead.

Then the 5-foot-7 senior ripped off runs of 16, 11, 9 and 9 yards in an 80-yard TD drive on Kansas State’s first possession of the third quarter.

The Ragin’ Cajuns (1-2) gave up 257 yards rushing to Louisiana Tech’s Ryan Moats in a 24-20 loss last week.

Sproles, who led the nation last year with 1,986 yards on 306 carries, had 221 yards in the opener against Western Kentucky. With eight games to go in the regular season, he is 1,078 yards short of the Big 12 record of 5,289 career yards held by Texas’ Ricky Williams.

The rest of the story

The Associated Press

[NewsCopy]

Sproles’ dominating rushing effort keeps UL from an upset

MANHATTAN, Kan. — This was one time when the experts were totally off base.

UL was a 31-point underdog to Big 12 Conference champion Kansas State here on Saturday, the kind of figure that opens eyes around the country and indicates a total mismatch.

But with 10 minutes to play, the 47,914 purple-and-white clad Wildcats faithful were a bit concerned. Certainly, the experts were vexed.

Coach Rickey Bustle’s Ragin’ Cajuns had just scored on a one-yard plunge by Chester Johnson to close to within 30-20 of KSU.

The score came two plays after UL sophomore quarterback Jerry Babb rambled 80 yards to the Wildcats’ 1-yard line. And, although Babb’s two-point conversion pass fell incomplete, the visitors were within range.

This despite a school-record 292 yards rushing on 38 attempts by Heisman Trophy candidate Darren Sproles, who broke his own mark of 273 yards set last year against Missouri.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[manizzle]

How many people do you all think are going to show up to the game on saturday? People who closely follow UL football know that although we are 1-2, we have a lot of potential this season. However, I fear that this insight may be lost to those who don't follow the squad that closely. Do you all think that a 1-2 record will keep attendance under 20,000 for this game?

[RedBug58]

Remember, Northwestern brought several thousand for the first game. MT will only bring a handful. With good weather we'll be in the 20,000 range.

[BabbForHeisman]

i agree, i'm hoping for about 20,000. the weather forcast is for partly cloudy with only a 10-30% chance of rain, but its probably still a bit early to tell.

[RaginFan2]

Yeah, I think the weather, as always, will have an impact on attendance. If the weather is good, I think we'll top 20,000 - maybe 22,000. If the weather is threatening, maybe 18-19K. If it really rains, who knows? (less than 15K?) Here's to a pleasant day for Saturday!