Let's look at it 2 ways
Here is the same article I used earlier, except this time it is the full article. Try to pretend you are from Montana or somewhere and have never heard of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. See which one would lead you to think a school from Louisiana was playing a school from Alabama this Saturday in football.
Today in the Advertiser
UAB looks familiar: Blazers'' offense similar to Cajuns entering Saturday''s battle
Dan McDonald / Staff Writer
Posted on September 18, 2002
LAFAYETTE - UL Lafayette and Alabama-Birmingham don't need a lot of scouting reports or videotape to prepare for their Saturday contest at Cajun Field.
All they need is a mirror.
If Ragin' Cajun coach Rickey Bustle and UAB boss Watson Brown wanted to drown their sorrows, they wouldn't need the bartender to listen to tales of woe. They'd have each other.
The same problems that have plagued the Cajuns through their first three games - inconsistency on offense and a defense that played well up until losing focus over the past weekend - have also manifested themselves in Blazer uniforms.
"Even the game we won, we didn't play very good in," said Brown, whose team dropped a 26-20 home decision to Pittsburgh last Saturday after leading 20-17 late in the third quarter. "This week is very important for us, because we need to generate some momentum and develop some confidence going into conference play."
The Cajuns and the Blazers meet Saturday at 6 p.m. in an ESPN Regional contest that will feature the Nos. 112 and 113 offenses (out of 117) in the country. The two squads are averaging only 464 total yards a game combined, and 12 teams in the country are hitting that mark by themselves.
UAB (1-2) didn't score an offensive touchdown against Pitt last weekend, but that's not surprising. So far this year, the Blazers have scored two offensive touchdowns and three on defense or special teams.
Still, Brown was happier with his team's performance, even though the loss followed a 27-26 victory over Troy State the previous week.
"We played our best game of the year," he said. "It's still not near what we're capable of being, but it's the best of the three games we've played. We played probably at 75 percent of our potential, so I'm still excited about it because there's room for improvement. We're playing hard enough that we'll keep improving."
Brown sees the same from the Cajuns, and he should be familiar with them. UAB has played UL Lafayette more times (five) than any other team in its young football history, and all of the five meetings have come since Brown took over the Blazer program in 1995.
"They're really playing hard, and anytime a team's playing as hard as that one is, it's a concern," he said. "One thing that's hurt them is that their defense has played so many snaps that in the fourth quarter they're worn down, but we're doing the same thing. We haven't had a lot of consistent long drives, so that's a problem."
The Blazers have already snapped the ball 68 fewer times than their opponents through three games (the Cajuns have 50 fewer plays). UAB was outgained 424-232 by Pitt.
The saving grace has been a UAB defense which has performed better than the numbers would indicate, mostly due to the sputtering offense.
The Blazers, who ranked number one nationally in rush defense last year but lost their top six tacklers from that group, have allowed almost 500 yards per game and have been hurt by the pass in all three outings.
"We scored three of the first four times we had the ball," Brown said of the Pitt game, "but the problem was we didn't have it that much. We can't get the ball away from people."
Starting linebacker Gaylon Black went down with a season-ending knee injury against Pitt, joining two starting offensive linemen on the sidelines after injuries the previous two weeks.
"We've lost three players in three games to ACL injuries," Brown said. "It's got to stop. We're not going to have a football team if this keeps up.We've never had hurt defensive players here, but they're very young so that may be part of it."
The Cajuns will be missing hurt defensive starters of their own, with linebacker Ross Brupbacher out with a fractured ankle and defensive end Justin Venable doubtful with a sore knee, but that's no consolation to the UAB mentor.
"We've got some major areas of concern," Brown said, "and the only time we've been on the road this year we didn't play well (at Florida). That makes this game very important since you have to get as many wins as you can going into conference if you're going to have any kind of bowl aspiration."
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