The Book: 2007 Football

[Just1More]

... hidden in my gumbo, but not obvious to the guests. As Tatoo used to say, "da pain, da pain"... or something like that. Man that hurt last night. The Cajun crowd was there in force and the team scratched on every shot.

I am in shock at how bad we looked. McNeese may be good, but man, we looked terrible. I was worried about a close game where they nipped us in the end, but not that display of bad coaching, poor emotional effort (not individually, but as a team). Something is deadly wrong on that coaching staff that cannot have these young men up for a home game in front of a bigger home crowd than they will likely ever see in Cajun Field again in their college careers.

I cannot tell if it is lack of emotion or such a thin shell of a heart that it gets broken right after the first setback. I've heard what I thought was crap about not having a "winning attitude". I saw it last night. And again, not every player... but as a team. I hate getting down on individual players. That team has a mental issue and I am not sure if Bustle has it in his toolbox to turn that around.

I'm completely puzzled. Maybe one of the new coordinators wants to maintain a football coaching career and will step up and take a leadership role. Maybe the OC and DC need to find real team captains, and find out if there are players on this team who have what it takes to lead a group of young men. Something was very wrong last night.

[ULBaby!]

OK - before anybody gets PO with what I am about to ask, let me make it clear that I am not trying to bait anybody here. I like being a Cajun fan and I generally appreciate football at all levels. Here's my honest to God question: Why are we 1A? I have heard money, but how do we make more money being 1A? I kinda understand the prestige thing, but I'm not so sure that is applicable unless we beat somebody. I am really asking for an answer here. It was really cool to be in a crowded stadium last night. How do we make that happen consistently (I know, by winning, but how do we win at this level?)? Forgive my ignorance but do answer - I want to know why I support us staying at 1A and how I can defend that decision to people who ask me why we do it.

[IHateLaState]

Ok so I slept on it..... and nothing in my mind has changed... First the positives....

1. What a wonderful night and atmosphere... thanks to our friends from Lake Charles for coming over in such large numbers and bringing back memories fro 20+ years ago..... Unfortunately the memories are hauntinginly similar but it was still great to feel something about a game for a change.... How much better than NC A&T...............

2. To the powers that be.... Get them back on the schedule.... Every year.. let's go back to Lake Charles and play them.... maybe the better competition will make us better... Because make no mistake.. when it comes to football McNeese is light years ahead of us..

Now the hard part...

1. As a 1-AA aor whatever that division is, McNeese has 65 scholarships to our 80...

2. They don't have the facilities nor the potential fan base that we have...

3. Yet clearly they are getting better players than we are.... Last night was not a fluke... The better team put a whipping on an inferior opponnet..

Something is wrong in football... We have a coach who is in his 6th year... Look at where we are...

1. We lost to a 1-AA team decisively...

2. Our confernce is improving.... Troy... wow.. great job guys.... Fla Atlantic... represented well.... Ark State last week didnt back down.... We are picked middle of the pack when we have the facilities and fan base that I referenced above that most of the conference would die for....

3. We have a "behind the scenes guy" as our AD... aguy who didnt want the job to begin with............

4. We have a coach that seems clueless.... I see a regression rather than progression under the new co-ordinators...

The media... Wow...

1. A frequent visitor to this site who is THE prominant voice in the media regarding this program would rather challenge the messangers that call his show than speak what is abundantly clear (see above)... Why??? Ask him

2. His co-hort comes on the radio after the game and tries to act as if he knows more than we do.... "if you give up on the team the players will give up"... Who the $#$ is giving up sir?? All we are doing is voicing the obvious... Get off your high horse.... YOU dont know more than those of us that have been supporting this team for 30+ years....And again you have to ask yourself why.... And again ask him...

The answers are probably self evident...

A change is needed... and probably wont happen.... The standard reply is money... We dont have the $$$ to buy out the contract.. perhaps valid... That does not change the fact that we as fans need to stand up and say the emperior has no clothes... This thing is broken... Dont deny it because to do so makes you look foolish...

I'm not giving up #2.... I still and always will have Season Tickets to every sport.... I'll be there next Saturday (OMG...........) But there wont be many with me... Factor in those lost $$$'s when you talk about what it would take to make a change....

We need some forward thinkers.... The long term impact of last night on ticket sales... The POSITIVE impact that would happen if this community saw forward thinkers saying "this is not acceptable... A change is being made and we are going to find someone to come in here and try again...but this time we are going to be aggressive"... Think about the support that migt happen if this community saw something being done........Who will do this???

1. A lame duck president.... nope

2. A "behind the scenes.. i didnt want this job" AD...nope....

3. The media... Give me a break...

Things are not good this morning in Cajun land............

[SlappyCajun]

Here me out on this. I saw it personally at the Ohio game and heard about it over the phone this game. We have zero vertical passing game. Zero. Therefore, when we are down big, like we were last night, do you think it would be worth it to stick Morrell or Hundely in the game, and use Desormeaux somewhere else on the field.

I think he is a hell of a player, and he and Babb or as good as guys we've had in a while, but he cannot lead a quick comeback, because our offense with him in the game is not designed to score fast.

[Sonsissymia]

so spot-on. a incredibly incisive post.

[RaisingCajun08]

_ Here me out on this. I saw it personally at the Ohio game and heard about it over the phone this game. We have zero vertical passing game. Zero. Therefore, when we are down big, like we were last night, do you think it would be worth it to stick Morrell or Hundely in the game, and use Desormeaux somewhere else on the field.

I think he is a hell of a player, and he and Babb or as good as guys we've had in a while, but he cannot lead a quick comeback, because our offense with him in the game is not designed to score fast. _

I am with you. I was thinking about putting Morel in the game in the 2nd quarter. Obviously things were not working. Personally, I think Morel would be a better QB.

With that said, Desormeaux is the best athelete we have on the team. We still would need to find ways to put the ball in his hands. He is a playmaker. I really like the way he was used last year. WR, RB, DB, special teams, etc.

[srevere51]

_ I am with you. I was thinking about putting Morel in the game in the 2nd quarter. Obviously things were not working. Personally, I think Morel would be a better QB.

With that said, Desormeaux is the best athelete we have on the team. We still would need to find ways to put the ball in his hands. He is a playmaker. I really like the way he was used last year. WR, RB, DB, special teams, etc. _

Also, if Desormeaux should get injured we cant run that same offense... Morel isnt much of a tuck and run QB he looks more like a pocket passer. I would prefer to see Morel play, and run Desormeaux in a Slot, RB or WR spot.

[Just1More]

_ Here me out on this. I saw it personally at the Ohio game and heard about it over the phone this game. We have zero vertical passing game. Zero. Therefore, when we are down big, like we were last night, do you think it would be worth it to stick Morrell or Hundely in the game, and use Desormeaux somewhere else on the field.

I think he is a hell of a player, and he and Babb or as good as guys we've had in a while, but he cannot lead a quick comeback, because our offense with him in the game is not designed to score fast. _

I'll bite on that one. MD has already accomplished some quick strike touchdowns. Conner and John would not have had time to throw a decent pass either if the OL can't block. If you can't open up a single hole for a Fenroy or Wallace, you can't pull a QB savior routine and attempt to pull it out down the stretch.

And lastly, if you have absolutey no defense, except an occasional stop for a 5 yard gain... and jump up and act like you succeeded... you have no hope. I cannot for the life of me watch the McNeese DL, and the Troy DL the other night against OK St and figure out how they jump off the snap and almost get the QB on every play. Our DL never does anything but dance with the partner across from them. They have no instinctive or learned moves to get out of the block and penetrate. Our LBs are nothing but run stop LBs. They cannot pass rush and cannot drop back into zone pass coverage without getting beat every time. Our Corners and Safeties apparently have no man on man capability, regardless of who we play. They attempt to spread out in deep zone pass coverage, leaving the middle wide open. Even with a wide open middle, every opponent's wide out bursts down the field, in a straight line and if the pass is there (and the QB has plenty of time to see his route runners) they catch it.

I just have to ask... how is Conner or John going to overcome those deficiencies by being "more vertical"? I didn't even give an assessment of special teams. All I can say is that against Ohio and McNeese, our special teams give up 20 yards of field to our offense in both directions, on every drive start. That too is not MD's fault.

I wouldn't mind having a little talk with our coaching staff. They would not like it. I would start by explaining my long list of no credentials in coaching... and then proceed to show them what they obviously do not know about football.

Bitter... yes, I'm there.

[RaginFan2]

Great job of overlooking this game there taco boy. Care to come up with another genius post again for next week. Heck, if I were McNeese St., the ONLY way I'd play the cajuns again is if it were in Lake Charles and Lake Charles only. If I were the cajuns, I'd say..................uuuuuuhhhhhhhh we'd better wait another 20 + years just so we can build a team that can compete with the SLC!

Man, nothing like a good _____-slapping to bring all of the vermin out on this site. You guys enjoy this week and then crawl back under whatever rock you were under before.

[Mineshaft]

BOP challenging his callers? Never would he do that. He has too much class for that. yea right.......