The Book: 2004 FOOTBALL

[DaddyCajun]

11) BECAUSE WE ARE LOUISIANA, AND WE ARE LOUD AND PROUD!!!!!

[NewsCopy]

Indians in hunt for title

LOUISIANA La. — The Arkansas State Indians have weathered the storm, and suddenly they have as good a shot at winning the Sun Belt Conference as anyone.

The Indians, who invade Cajun Field on Saturday for UL Lafayette’s homecoming, endured a brutal non-conference schedule of Missouri, LSU, Memphis and Ole Miss that contributed mightily to their 2-5 overall record.

But there were signs in those games that ASU was improving.

While the games at Missouri (20-52) and LSU (3-53) weren’t pretty, the Indians battled evenly with both Memphis (35-47) at home and Mississippi (21-28) before falling short.

That kind of effort has served ASU well in league play, and last Saturday the Indians moved to 2-1 in the Sun Belt with a solid 13-9 victory over Troy.

Senior safety Alex Peoples was named the Sun Belt’s Defensive Player of the Week after forcing two fumbles, recovering one of those at a key point late in the game, picking off a pass and recording 7 tackles.

Also honored was junior place kicker Eric Neihouse, who nailed two fourth-quarter field goals for the win and was Special Teams Player of the Week.

“Alex has certainly played well all year,” ASU coach Steve Roberts said. “He’s been involved in a lot of plays and has had a lot of production (54 tackles). He had a hand in all the big plays in the game. To get those turnovers on defense was a key aspect of the game.

“Eric made a couple of very key kicks. Both of them were right down the pipe. That second one gave us the big 4-point lead late.”

To defeat Troy, a team penciled in by many as the chief threat to North Texas’s reign atop the Sun Belt, was a big lift after the Indians’ early grind.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana-Lafayette can score. The problem is, so can its opponents.

Two consecutive Sun Belt Conference losses have all but eliminated the Rajun Cajuns from the conference race. With its New Orleans Bowl hopes on life support, Louisiana-Lafayette (3-2, 1-2) will simply try to perform as a complete football team when it hosts Arkansas State (2-5, 2-1) Saturday. "I think you do have to refocus your goals," Coach Ricky Bustle said. "We haven’t had a winning season here since 1995 and we’ve got a chance to do that if we can play well enough and win games. If something happens to pop up where somebody gets an unexpected loss, we’re playing the teams that are leading."

Louisiana-Lafayette will be watching this week’s New Mexico State-North Texas game closely. North Texas is 2-0 in the Sun Belt and New Mexico State 2-1, including a victory over the Cajuns.

In its next two games Lousiana-Lafayette has Arkansas State — 2-1 in the Sun Belt and tied for second after Saturday’s 13-9 victory over Troy — and North Texas. "I think it’s tough in any conference to win a conference with two losses, but it can happen if things just happen to fall right," Bustle said. "Obviously we’re playing teams in our conference that, if we can win, then that presents a loss and all it takes is one other one to pop up."

For the long-shot scenario to work, the Cajuns have to win.

The Cajuns have averaged more than 30 points a game since the beginning of October, with mixed results. They beat future Sun Belt member Florida International 43-34 but lost at New Mexico State 35-32 and last week at Idaho 38-25.

The rest of the story

Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
BY TODD TRAUB

[NewsCopy]

LOUISIANA La — Kemmie Lewis knew exactly where he was on the field, and also knew where Idaho’s defenders would be.

So when he caught Jerry Babb’s pass over the middle, he knew he had a chance to score.

“It was designed as a dig route across the middle,” Lewis said. “The quarterback was pressured, and the flow went that way. I knew that, so I knew I could go the other way and there wouldn’t be anybody there.”

The senior University of Louisiana wide receiver promptly outraced the Vandals defense to complete a 39-yard touchdown to draw the Ragin’ Cajuns within 24-19 of Idaho in the Kibbie Dome.

“Getting into the end zone felt really good,” Lewis said. “I needed that.”

The Cajuns eventually lost 38-25, but Lewis’s play capped a 7-catch, 125-yard effort. In the last two weeks, he has 12 receptions for 220 yards — more than one-third of the 612 yards he has gained on 50 catches in two years with the program.

“I’ve been working real hard,” Lewis said. “I’ve had so many reps in practice that I’m focused and ready to do it in a game.”

“To some extent, it’s an opportunity kind of thing for him,” receivers coach Brian Crist said. “Early on, B.J. (Crist) had opportunities, then Bill (Sampy). Now Kemmie’s getting his turn.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[asuinmemphis]

12) because you get to watch as we destroy you

[El Sidonio]

Dear Mr. Asuinmemphis,

I'm not making any guarantees, but you've got a big mouth that doesn't deserve to be open that wide, and needs to be shut. You've held your own against teams like Memphis, we've held our own against teams like Kansas St. You are not perfect in SunBelt, neither are we. You got blown out by more than one team, including LSU, we've not got blown out a single time this season. Again, with our program rebuilding, I can't make guarantees, but then again, you can't either.

God bless.

[El Sidonio]

OH yeah, I forgot, we're ranked #111 (according to FoxSports) and you're ranked a whopping #100. Don't pat yourself on the back to hard.

God Bless.

[El Sidonio]

"to hard" should be "too hard"

[Corndog308]

#13 Watching us destroy ASSU . I figure Bustle put his size whatever shoe up the defense's you know where, and we'll have an exciting game.

[Corndog308]

Do you think Brent Pry is going to be released after this season? Something HAS to be done about our defense.

[Oldman]

NO! WHY! no discussion, nonsense

[Turbine]

Originally posted by Corndog308
Do you think Brent Pry is going to be released after this season? Something HAS to be done about our defense.

I sure hope not.

It is no secret that from the standpoint of tackling experience the defense was decimated going into this season.

Counting the UNEXPECTED loss of Prater UL lost its #1, #3, #4, #5, #6, and #10 tacklers from last season.

Pry is not the problem in my view he will prove to be glue to this unit.