Game week begins {i-camera}
LOUISIANA La. — Rickey Bustle can’t wait for Saturday’s football season opener against the Northwestern State Demons.
At the same time, he’s glad he has a few more days to get his Univrsity of Louisiana squad ready.
“We’re looking forward to getting game week started,” Bustle said. “We’re tired of looking at each other, tired of beating on each other.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns are hoping that a fast start can help make the 2004 season a special one. They were 0-7 in 2003 before winning four of their final five games, and don’t want to dig that kind of hole again.
And the prospect of a positive beginning is better than last season, when UL opened at SEC member South Carolina. But Bustle also knows that NSU’s Demons will provide a stern test.
“We started (working) on Northwestern last week,” Bustle said, “and they have a heck of a team. Any time you have 16 starters back, that’s awesome. I can’t wait until I have 16 starters back.
“They’ve been picked in the top 20 of some Division 1-AA polls, and some have picked them to win their conference.
“They’ve got two All-Americans on defense. That defense puts a lot of pressure on you, and not just with the defensive line. They’ll bring blitzes — run blitzes and pass blitzes — from every whichaway.”
Bustle’s 2003 team lost 14-7 at South Carolina in its opener, then fell flat the next week against Louisiana Tech at Cajun Field. He knows the value of victories in attracting fans.
“I think it’s very important to start with a win,” Bustle said. “We’ve always said that every game is very important to us.
“I think we all know how important this game is, and I think if we’ve learned how to focus we’ll do all right.”
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Bruce Brown
bbrown@theadvertiser.com
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