The Book: 2004 FOOTBALL

[gorcajun]

It import without any problems into MS Outlook and my wife has also Hot-Sync with her palm pilot. Thanks a lot, Turbine

[ULexcite]

I downloaded the football schedule into my iPAQ 5450 and it works great. I look forward to being notified automatically. Thanks to all involved, I hope you do the same for baseball and tennis.

[Doyle]

Cajuns win by the score of 31-17. Defense is huge in stopping NSU's 2A high school-type offense. We will look a little sluggish in the get go, but after a half of looking horrible against the purple ladies, we will get it together and start our season off right...........winners, its time for a change. Also, look out La Tech this year is not the year of the bull dog.............. see you cajun fans at the "bourbon bowl". later "Twomp-five"

[Doyle]

NSU is never good. They take all 45 guys that go to that "dry county" of a town and tell them that if they play football the school will buy there books and pay half of their tuition which calculates to about $75 after you carry the 1. We have bigger, better athletes on our volleyball team. I feel confident that we win by approx. 3 touchdowns, and feel great heading into our game at Ruston college. The bus trip will be one to remember, "if possible", but I will definitely not forget the WIN!!!!!!! "twomp-five"

[NewsCopy]

UL Monroe Nov. 20 (at Monroe)

You need a bit of bad luck to be 1-11 bad, and UL Monroe had more than its share. Granted, the team brought on it's own problems not being able to come through with any big plays in crunch time, but to lose six games by a touchdown or less is just plain unfair. A fortunate bounce one way or the other or a big play or two late, and the Indians could have 8-4.

That might be oversimplifying things since any team that loses to two D-IAA teams is going to have major issues, but that doesn't mean the Indians can't turn things around quickly. After all, this is the Sun Belt and not the SEC they're trying to improve in.

There needs to be far more consistency from the lines and the secondary has to learn how to stop someone from throwing the ball. There are as many good playmakers to work around as any Sun Belt team outside of North Texas, so it will be up to many of the young and inexperienced prospects to shine right away. The faster that happens, the fast ULM can become a relevant team in the league race.

The Schedule: Four road games among the first five might seem daunting, but at Wyoming and at Idaho aren't killers. There's no reason for ULM not to go at least 4-1 at home, while missing New Mexico State will be a big help in conference play. It's nice to get rival UL Lafayette at home to close out.

Best Offensive Player: Sophomore RB Kevin Payne. One of the Sun Belt's best all-around backs, Payne put up 1,462 total yards as ULM's workhorse. He'll have help carrying the offensive load, but he needs to once again be a big performer for the offense to improve.

Best Defensive Player: Senior LB John Winchester. The NFL scouts will be checking out the 6-3, 240-pound tackling machine as he has great range and a good nose for the football. He'll have to be the star of the front seven with long-time defensive star Maurice Sonnier gone.

Key player to a successful season: The secondary seemed to try and give up big plays last year. It gave up a below average 232 yards per game through the air, bit was 114th in the nation in pass efficiency defense. The safeties should be strong, so Mikkal Henry and Cash Mouton have to be much tighter on the corners for there to be much improvement.

The season will be a success if ... ULM wins six games. If just a few of last year's close losses turn into wins, this shouldn't be a problem. This is Charlie Weatherbie's second season as the head coach, so now is where the improvement has to begin.

Key game: Nov. 20th vs. UL Lafayette. As the saying goes, if you're going to win one game, make sure it's against your arch-rival. ULM has been able to do that the last two years and made the saying true with its one victory last year coming against UL Lafayette. The Indians want to close out the season on a high note and if all goes well, this could be the win needed for a winning

The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana Tech, September 11 (Ruston)

Bulldogs Head coach: Jack Bicknell III 6th year: 27-32 Returning O Lettermen: 22 Returning D Lettermen: 32 Returning ST Lettermen: 0 Lettermen Lost: 19 Ten Best Players 1. RB Ryan Moats, Jr. 2. OG Aaron Lips, Jr. 3. OT Adrian Gonzalez, Sr. 4. LB Byron Santiago, Sr. 5. CB Corey Brazil, Sr. 6. NT Chris Van Hoy, Sr. 7. TE Aaron Capps, Sr. 8. WR Tramissian Davis, Sr. 9. SS Michael Johnson, Sr. 10. OT Lester Brown, Sr. 2004 Schedule 9/6 Nevada 9/11 UL Lafayette 9/18 at Miami 9/25 at Tennessee 10/2 Fresno State 10/9 at Auburn 10/16 at SMU 10/23 UTEP 11/6 at Hawaii 11/13 Tulsa 11/20 at Boise State 11/27 at Rice

Louisiana Tech seems to be one of those programs that just can't put it all together lately. The defense came up with a great performance against Fresno State, but the offense didn't show up in a 16.6 loss. The offense exploded on Hawaii and Nevada, but the defense didn't show up. Things are starting to change around Louisiana Tech and if there isn't a ton of improvement this year, there will be even bigger changes. Head coach Jack Bicknell has created a solid program that won the WAC a few years ago, but now things have slipped. The conference has gotten a little bit better and the offense hasn't been as potent as it used to be. The defense was the worst in America allowing more than 505 yards per game. The potential is there for a huge turnaround as the offense should be able to run the ball with ease with Ryan Moats working behind one of the WAC's best lines. The defense can't be any worse, and it will be more aggressive in the new 3-4 style. There are still major holes to be filled (quarterback, proven receiver and pass rush), but enough pieces are in place to demand a winning season. Anything less could mean a very different look next year at this time. The Schedule: Two words: cha-ching. Louisiana Tech likes the big payday that comes from playing the big name teams, and they'd love nothing more than a Michigan State-like road win over Tennessee, Auburn and/or Miami. The end is a killer with three tough road games and Tulsa in the final four contests. Best Offensive Player: Junior RB Ryan Moats. One of the most productive players in the WAC, Moats ran for 1,300 yards while also showing great hands in the passing game. There's no reason to think he can't have another All-WAC season with all five starters returning to the line.

The rest of the story

[NewsCopy]

Cajuns picked fourth
Defending champ North Texas expected to win again

NEW ORLEANS — It’s hard to imagine a more exciting end to a football season than a 57-51, quadruple overtime victory on the road.

That’s what UL Lafayette executed last year at Middle Tennessee, a feat amplified by the fact that it gave the Ragin’ Cajuns a fourth win in their last five games of 2003.

“That definitely gave us a little pep in our step in the spring,” said sophomore quarterback Jerry Babb, who engineered that wild finish and was one of the featured players at Sun Belt Conference media day activities on Monday.

But, while it did provide a spark for offseason training that carried over into spring drills, Monday’s release of the preseason Sun Belt poll showed that the Cajuns still have work to do.

The Cajuns and Middle Tennessee tied for second in the 2003 SBC race with 4-3 records, yet UL is picked to finish fourth this season and MT fifth.

“It really doesn’t matter where we are in the polls,” Babb said. “It’s going to be decided on the field.”

Three-time champion North Texas is once again the favorite, with newcomer Troy State No. 2 and New Mexico State at No. 3.

“The Sun Belt is really up for grabs,” Babb said. “There’s not a lot of difference between first and fourth place.”

The rest of the story

Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com

[BrilesBall]

Just wanted to come back and say hello... I changed computers and finally got back to raginpagin!...

Can't wait for another great football season and I'm gonna pay close attention to the Cajuns!... excited to see what some of those Texas and Juco kids can do for you guys!...

I noticed in most publications ULL is getting the nod for #2 in the Sunbelt behind UNT... I don't care much for UNT so you guys go ahead and take 1st w/ the NO bowl...

ULL and UH will get their game back soon in the coming years... we play Miami and OU this year..

Just wanted to say what's up to the Cajun Faithful!

[BrilesBall]

What do you guys think of the additions of Troy State, FIU and FAU?...

Should be fun to see how they do...

[El Sidonio]

Sup Briles.

Some lovely comments about UL (not ULL). Y'all played a hell of a game last season, good job. We've got our work cut out for us too. Every game is a big game, and we've got our work cut out for us too. We play Northwestern State for our first game, and we gotta worry about them, cuz they're a hot D I-AA program. The other two are UNT, and of course K-State. Good luck for UH this upcoming season.

God Bless.

[BrilesBall]

Sorry about the ULL stuff... i was unaware

Lousiana has some solid D1-AA programs headlined by McNeese State if i'm not mistaken.

I know this is asking a lot but i'd love to see a small depth chart of guys who some of you feel will have good years for the Cajuns.

I know Babb at QB but who's replacing the stud WR?

[Zeebart21]

Briles, thanks for visiting. Louisiana does have some serious 1AA programs....McNeese and NWST are 2 of the best. Nicholls St has been solid recently also.

Cany help you with a depth chart right now.

We have a redshirt freshman reciever named Jordan Jackson, he was a rivals 3 star recruit coming out of highschool. Green, but talented. We also have 2 starters returning from last year at WR....

We believe we can be above 500 this year. Its been a slow process.

We are making headway though.

best of luck,

Z.