The Book: 2004 FOOTBALL

[NewsCopy]

Two tough losses have Cajuns 'circling wagons'

LOUISIANA La. - Two weeks ago, following back-to-back victories, Rickey Bustle and his University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns appeared primed to make a serious run at the Sun Belt Conference championship.

Today, talk at the ULL athletic complex isn't so much about championships as it is survival.

A 35-32 loss at New Mexico State on Oct. 9 and a shocking 38-25 loss to Idaho on Saturday have all but quashed ULL's title hopes and, now, the Cajuns (3-4) find themselves having to win three of their final four games just to clinch a winning season.

"The thing we've got to do now is we've kind of got to circle the wagons," Bustle said Monday at his weekly news conference. "Our conference championship hopes certainly are much dimmer.

"It's tough for anybody in any league to win a conference with two losses, but, mathematically, it can be done. We've got to win games to make that happen."

It certainly won't be easy.

Saturday, the Cajuns host Arkansas State, a team that defeated giant-killer Troy last weekend, 13-9. Then, following an open week on Oct. 30, the Cajuns host defending champion North Texas and Troy before ending the season at Louisiana-Monroe. The latter defeated Idaho 16-14 a week before the Cajuns fell to the Vandals.

"The good thing is that we're playing the teams who are ahead of us (in SBC standings)," said Bustle. "So anything can happen in this league and we'll keep our hopes up."

The rest of the story

By GLENN QUEBEDEAUX
Special to The Advocate

[RaginFan]

15) Cause, I'm gonna cook me a pig! We are gonna start friday night and slow cook an 80lb pig in a coonass microwave. I can't wait!

[Hardcore]

Corndog,
Brent Pry is not going anywhere!

[NCAA]

I AGREE WITH DIGGLER 110% AND ANY ONE WHO DOESNT THINK THE SAME DOESNT KNOW WHAT THEY ARE TALKING ABOUT. ITS SOMETHING THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN SEEN A LONG TIME AGO NOT AFTER THE LOSSES

[asuinmemphis]

i jest, guys. play along. it will be a good game. all the respect in the world for the U of L.

[El Sidonio]

We jest too. Hope y'all have a safe trip down.

God bless.

[gorcajun]

# 16 Cause, the Krewe de Chew has invested a lot of time to show the rest of the Cajun faithful how to really tailgate.

Right, Charlie

The menu includes Cochon de lait, Chicken and Beef Roast, cracklins and boudin, shrimp/eggplant dressing,
rice dressing, the best candied sweet potato, and of course a UL RAGIN CAJUN cake and desserts to die for.

These are just some of the items that will be displayed

Right now, with a south wind, I can smell the aroma.


Go Cajuns

[1stTake]

KeeYaw gorcajun you could make a top ten with that list alone.

#17) The Ragin Jazz

[NewsCopy]

Bustle hopes Cajun Field will provide a tonic to club


LAFAYETTE — It’s not how often you fall, it’s how quickly you bounce back up.

The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns have taken it on the chin the last two weeks, losing a typically close battle with New Mexico State 35-32 and then falling 38-25 at Idaho when four defensive starters were knocked out of action in the first 11 minutes.

The defeats left coach Rickey Bustle’s squad 3-4 on the year and a damaging 1-2 in Sun Belt Conference play, effectively ending the quest to win the league.

This is nothing compared to 2003, however. At this point a year ago the Cajuns were 0-7 and looking for reasons to believe they were on the right track. They regrouped to win four of their last five games.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

LAFAYETTE — Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns had endured a brutal three-game road swing totalling 8,800 miles, and they had lost two of those three contests.

If ever there was a team that needed homecoming, they qualified.

So, when 23,121 red-clad UL fans showed up for Saturday’s homecoming at Cajun Field, it meant the world to coach Rickey Bustle’s squad.

“It’s heaven,” running back Josh Harrison said. “I can’t stand to be on a plane. And when we finally came home to our fans here, I felt the love.”

Reminded that UL’s 27-24 victory over Arkansas State was UL’s sixth straight win at home, Harrison wasn’t surprised.

“I believe it’s our fans, really,” he said. “They give us that extra boost, that 12th man.”

“It was a great, great crowd,” Bustle said. “It was loud. We had a great student section. I really think it’s an advantage in the Sun Belt Conference to play at home.

“They hung right there with us to the end, and I appreciate them hanging in when we had hit a couple of bumps on the road.”

“It’s exhausting to be on the road,” said cornerback Michael Adams, whose blocked field goal and Terryl Fenton’s resulting 80-yard touchdown runback got the Cajuns off and running.

“I’m so happy to be back home, and to be able to play in front of our Cajun fans.”

“It’s great, man,” said wide receiver Bill Sampy, who caught a 45-yard touchdown from Jerry Babb and a critical 42-yarder from Luke Sniewski in a nervous fourth quarter. “It’s great to be back home.

“We really get a boost in confidence from our fans. It’s a loud stadium. Our fans definitely make a difference and helped us win sixth straight at home.”

The Cajuns opened the season before 22,117 fans at Cajun Field against Northwestern State and won 14-7. They then beat Middle Tennessee 24-17 in front of 25,083. Saturday’s 23,121 brings UL’s home attendance to 70,321, an average of 23,440 per game.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Adams, Harrison, Sampy stand out for Louisiana

LAFAYETTE — Michael Adams and Josh Harrison, two of the smallest players on the University of Louisiana roster, made two of the biggest plays in Saturday’s 27-24 homecoming victory over Arkansas State.

Another pair of big ones were turned in by senior receiver Bill Sampy, who looks like he could make big plays any time he touches the ball.

Adams dashed in to block an Eric Neihouse field goal attempt on ASU’s first drive, and Terryl Fenton returned the carom 80 yards for a touchdown and a 7-0 UL lead.

It was the third blocked field goal of Adams’ Cajun career, and the second time one has been returned for a score. Patrick Lamy turned the trick at South Carolina in the 2003 opener.

“That’s my specialty,” said Adams. “I had been watching film all week, and saw they were short on the edge. I knew I could get a block.

“I’ve got a quick get-off. I’m a small man who makes big plays.

“We take a lot of pride in our special teams. It’s something coach (Rickey) Bustle really harps on.”

Big plays actually began on UL’s second snap of the game, when diminutive tailback Harrison broke free for a 40-yard run to the Indians’ 26-yard line. The march ended with a missed Sean Comiskey field goal, but Harrison was on his way to a solid 65-yard day.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Cajuns jump out 24-0, then survive

LAFAYETTE — At times, it looked like the University of Louisiana was going to turn Saturday’s homecoming game with Arkansas State into a blowout.

At times it looked like the visiting Indians would stage one of the most improbable comebacks in the annals of college football.

In the end, though, the Ragin’ Cajuns held on for a thrilling 27-24 victory that kept many of the 23,121 fans in Cajun Field until time expired.

It wasn’t over until Arkansas State’s Chuck Walker was tackled at the Ragin’ Cajun 29-yard line by Jarrett Jones and C.C. Brown, finally giving coach Rickey Bustle a chance to breathe.

“It’s about all I can do to walk up here and just shake my head,” Bustle said in the postgame interview. “It was a hard-fought win.”

“We just like to give the fans their money’s worth,” joked running back Josh Harrison, who got a rare start and provided 65 of UL’s 188 rushing yards on the evening.

The Cajuns, weary from an 8,800-mile, three-game road trip, mounted a 24-0 lead in the first half and were ahead 27-7 with 4:28 remaining in the third period after a mammoth 88-yard, 17-play march to Sean Comiskey’s 22-yard field goal.

The 24-0 lead was built on an 80-yard blocked field goal return by Terryl Fenton, scooping up a deflection by Michael Adams, a 27-yard Comiskey field goal, Jerry Babb’s blitz-beating 45-yard touchdown strike to Bill Sampy and Dwight Lindon’s 1-yard run.

“At halftime (ahead 24-7), I told the players that if I saw anyone looking at the scoreboard I was going to have my hands around their neck,” Bustle said. “We needed to treat it like it was 0-0 and take one play at a time.

“But there’s no question that there was not the same kind of intensity.”

Indeed, that’s when the rout turned slowly into a nailbiter.

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com