The Book: 2007 Football

[shof]

Let's hope so. And I'm not talking about the Saints; but there are certain parallels that can be drawn.

Shof


http://blog.nola.com/saintsbeat/2007..._greatnes.html

Maybe it's false bravado. Maybe it's twisted logic. Or perhaps, it's just the kind of confidence and leadership the Saints need from their All-Pro quarterback.

Whatever the reason, Drew Brees came to work Monday morning dripping with optimism, determined to spin the Saints' horrifying 0-2 start into some sort of rite of passage that all great teams must survive.

"I've been thinking about it a lot," Brees said on the day after the Saints' stunning 31-14 loss at Tampa Bay. "A lot on the plane ride home, a lot last night, and then this morning as you're lifting weights and running and trying to come up with some answers. And you know, I feel more confident than ever right now.

"That may sound kind of crazy after the last two weeks and the results of these games. But I feel like this is happening to us for a reason. It's only going to make us stronger and bring us together as a team. And sometimes you need something like this to happen to provoke that kind of thing."

[Doyle]

I agree with you TOTALLY Kingfish... Here's something to get your blood boiling. I was sitting in the first level seats in Section A, and as I ALWAYS do when attending a game, I stand up the ENTIRE TIME. Only sitting down between quarters and halftime. About 5 minutes into the game, a woman sitting behind me asked me to sit down. I calmly told her that I DO NOT sit down while watching the game. She quietly got up and went get a U.P. officer who came down and asked me to Please sit down. I was dumb founded and in shock that I was being told to SIT at a football game. I told the UP that I was going to continue to stand for the remainder of the game. He quickly shut that down by telling me to walk with him up to the concession area. I put up an argument for as long as I could before realizing that this was no reason to get arrested over... So I walked up to the top thinking that I would be able to go back down i a few but I was dead wrong. They asked me to watch the game from the concession area. I was so DISGUSTED AND FURIOUS that I left and went back to the tailgate. But for the Life of me I could not understand how someone could be forced to leave there section/seat (which I paid $25 for) for standing while watching a game.... UNBELIVABLE! I've never heard of or seen that before... But that is why I am SO FED UP WITH THIS PROGRAM AND THIS UNIVERSITY.... Absolutely no sense....

[ShowDog]

_ You're right that if we run this type of offense then Desmo is the man for the QB job. However, my complaint/issue is, if you have a guy like Hundley (or whomever it may happen to be) who is a pure drop back QB, and you knew that when you recruited him, then wouldn't you want an OC who could run not just one type of offense, but mulitiple types so that when one part of the machine is not working you could stick in another part and adjust to fit that particular style. That's all I'm saying. It was obvious that what we were doing was not working, so change it up.

It is going to be very interesting to see what we do this Saturday with Fenroy more than likely out. Will we throw more? We should. We should be using the tight ends more, but for some reason we don't. We shall see. _

You're making the point that a lot of us agree with. When something isn't working, quit beating your head against the bricks and try something else.

Hundley may have also seen this from a fan's viewpoint besides from a team member perspective and has grown tired of these types of non decisions. It's been going on forever.

[IHateLaState]

Well I for one thought the atmosphere was great... In case you didnt notice we got our $#$'s handed to us by a 1-AA team... You know it is very easy to have an "Atmosphere" like you describe when your team is in the mix and the game is on the line.. Believe me there were 34,000 people, 25,000 of them Cajun fans, wanting to get excited....

Nothing chaps me more than to see 11 guys on defense jumping up and down to get the crowd yelling, then proceeding to miss tackles and let the opposition get a cheap first down...Hey guys... make a tackle, a sack maybe?? and watch the crowd then...

I have been to the vaunted Tiger Stadium during the Curely Hallman era and it was like a tombstone in there.... All we need is something.. anything.. to yell about and we will...

The atmosphere was there.. pre-game tailgaiting... good natured ribbing with the opposition... a full stadium...... had the team responded the crowd would have been raucous.... No need to criticise the fans.....

[CrazyCajun]

_ You're right that if we run this type of offense then Desmo is the man for the QB job. However, my complaint/issue is, if you have a guy like Hundley (or whomever it may happen to be) who is a pure drop back QB, and you knew that when you recruited him, then wouldn't you want an OC who could run not just one type of offense, but mulitiple types so that when one part of the machine is not working you could stick in another part and adjust to fit that particular style. That's all I'm saying. It was obvious that what we were doing was not working, so change it up.

It is going to be very interesting to see what we do this Saturday with Fenroy more than likely out. Will we throw more? We should. We should be using the tight ends more, but for some reason we don't. We shall see. _

an offensive scheme is not a set of batteries that you can just change in and out at anytime. They have been installing these schemes for months and we are still struggling to get them. How in the world is an oc going to just change his offense in the middle of a game. make adjustments is what maybe your thinking of but when you hire an OC you hire him b/c of the offense he runs. I know everyone is ____ed about what happened saturday and i'm not saying hundley should not have a gotten a chance b/c we had nothing going at that point. But i don't think people understand the time and prepartion it takes to install an offense, and a gameplan. You can't just totally change evrything in the middle of a game b/c it is not working. Now if we were running our offense correctly and we were just getting stopped thats a problem. But when a team is not executing their offense it does not matter what you do its not going to work.

[AstroCajun]

Nothing chaps me more than to see 11 guys on defense jumping up and down to get the crowd yelling, then proceeding to miss tackles and let the opposition get a cheap first down...Hey guys... make a tackle, a sack maybe?? and watch the crowd then...

BINGO. I said that last week. The D should focus on 3rd and long.

If they do their part, I promise you, we'll do ours.

[LaGrid]

LATech video http://youtube.com/watch?v=kjvODj6O3dM

[srevere51]

_ LATech video http://youtube.com/watch?v=kjvODj6O3dM _

I think it would require a lot of slapping for sure, but you have to do what you have to do.

[gridiron]

It's like listening to nails on a chalk board but I agree. You have to develop relationships in your own backyard. Show the kids some attention even if you can't get them to sign. Devin Figaro is being recruited by McNeese but not by UL can someone tell me why not?

[Chris V.]

Hope this helps.

In '99, McNeese had Troy State @ home. McNeese was 4 - 5. Troy, I believe, was undefeated and ranked in the top 5 (m/b even no. 1) in the D1AA polls.

McNeese won that game and the next week to keep its string of consecutive winning seasons going. Troy State didn't win another game (including a first round playoff loss) that year.

So, the outlook may not be as positive for the Cajuns going into this game as it was, say, after each team played its first game. If the Cajuns are the team hoped for prior to the beginning of the season, and boosted follwing the SC game, then this is the perfect stage to get it going. The Cajuns have the chance to place the league favorite in a tie-breaker disadvantage. Anything is possible because the game hasn't been played yet.

This McNeese fan wishes the best of luck to the Cajuns Sat. It's going to be difficult, especially w/ the key injuries, but it isn't impossible.