The Book: 2007 Football

[RaginFan2]

When is it time for UL to win some of those games against some of those lower teams in those BCS conferences?

BTW one of the teams in the "even worse" conference lost to a 1-AA team as well!

It is past time for that to happen! We've had too many near-misses against South Carolina, Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Oklahoma State, etc. over the years. It is waaaay past time to pick up a win in one of those games.

[ATXCajun]

That sums up my assessment as well, except that I probably would have also said that the calls on defense seemed pretty vanilla and are not representative of a the aggressive style that was promised by the coaching staff at the beginning of the season.

[ATXCajun]

_ So are you saying you like going to the upper echelon schools and getting our butts waxed to just get a payday? Hope you enjoy the Tennessee game this year. _

Based on the lack of pride demonstrated on facebook by some of the players that was pointed out in another thread, they should play 12 money games next year.

[DaddyCajun]

_ 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. _

Many reasons as to why we are 1A... and Jaybird said it best...on KPEL the other day. We get a whole lot more for a game with a Florida than 1aa does. Gerald who used to coach at USL went to McNeese for a while and stated on 1420 several years ago that they only got a few hundred thousand when they played the likes of Miami, where as UL would get over 6-8 hundred thousand. Being apart of one of Ten 1a conferences has also helped with TV games and this is exposure for ALL our sports. The bigger monies we get from guarantees and our State helps us to get better facilities and Spring sports. We also have gotten into some postseason softball/basketball inpart of being in apart of a D1A conference(from the commissioner).

Keep the faith Fans go to the games, if Bustle and Company do not turn it around, they won't be around.

The money is there to buy out any contract we are under. Remember it does not have to come from one source, MANY businesses made a BUNCH of money from the McNeese game(gas, food, clothes, gifts, etc) and they got a taste of what it could be like in Lafayette every weekend UL has a football game, so they will do what it takes to see that the PROGRAM moves in the direction WE want it to, one way(support) or another(buyout)!!!

DaddyCajun

[DaddyCajun]

_ Thank you, thank you, thank you. I said that before the season started and heard it from all sides. He is a marvelous athlete but will not get the job done at QB. _

Hundley's cannon arm gets the ball to Jason Cherry that was intercepted and you may have a totally different game!!!

I say if Hundley is still on the team, give him a shot at Troy, something they have not seen, BUT our O-Line better decide to block for 4 quarters and focus so as to not create the yellow flag toss syndrome again!!

DaddyCajun

[DaddyCajun]

Sometimes the BEST logic, comes from sources outside the box of reason. As Cajun fans we MUST stay the course, and use this a lesson to learn from and grow from it. We true Cajun fans are hurting, but lick your wounds and come back out next Saturday and back our Coaches and young men!!! At the end of the year if change is needed then so be it, but you would not want Fans quiting on you when your down so don't be fairweather and SUPPORT UL!!!!!!!!!!!

[DaddyCajun]

Bottom line is how many of you UL fans ever played any sport where you were favored greatly? Cowboy up said it right those young men for McNeese just came to Cajun Field and BROUGHT IT!!!!!!!! UL was flat footed and jaw dropped and then got POPPED!!!!

This was a game, a great game atmosphere that gave a well prepared(2wks) well rested McNeese team, who had many things to prove the right setting to prove it in!!! AND PROVE IT THEY DID, McNeese was much the aggressor, much the better prepared, and the team that was going to NOT be denied the chance to prove to the many that they can play with the bigger programs!

One Game does not make or break a program, one season does not either. But one player that quits trying or Fan that stops supporting because of some really bad halves of Football are NOT TRUE TO THEIR TEAMS.

If you were in War(and I was) and a couple of battles just do not go right, you must ADAPT AND OVERCOME, NOT QUIT!!!!!!!

Same thing Fans, don't give up on these coaches, players or OUR LOUISIANA!!!!

DaddyCajun

I WILL BE AT THE REMAINDER OF THE GAMES, I PAID FOR THEM AND I SUPPORT THE PROGRAM, AND I KNOW THINGS WILL GET BETTER, ONE WAY OR ANOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[geo_cajun]

Its hard to be a fairweather fan when it feels like it is always storming. But I agree, let's all go to the game and cheer on the team. It is going to take a few days to not feel so negative, but that post from KAjuRaider was of great help to my objectivity. I will be at the next game, and the one after that and so on. This isn't just a team I like, it is my University and I am proud of it. Next week is Troy, See yall there.

[Cajunbander]

Kinda off topic but it kinda applies.

I'm so glad that we're the type of school, and in the type of conference where we compete, but still get along. Thanks KAjunRaider, you've always been classy, and I appreciate that. I'm glad we're not in the "toughest conference in the country". We don't belong there, we're not buttholes, for the most part. (My apologies to those classy teams in the SEC, but realize were we're coming from.)

I'm glad that instead of cursing and flicking off our opponents, we invite them to participate in our tailgating, and let them sit down and have a beer with us. Im glad that I feel good with my little 7 y.o. brother and 5 y.o. sister running around tailgating, knowing they're going to be ok.

Win or loose, I'll be there if I can. Unfortunately, I don't have the option of taking off for the game. Im too much of a poor college student. Next Saturday, I'll be out tailgating before noon.

[NewsCopy]

  UL sophomore quarterback John Hundley, the listed backup to junior starter Michael Desormeaux, quit the Cajun squad Sunday.

Hundley was not at UL's Sunday evening practice, and Cajun coach Rickey Bustle said that Hundley had informed him of his decision earlier in the day.

"I think he was frustrated with not playing," Bustle said.

Hundley, a Lafayette native and product of St. Thomas More, did not see action in UL's first three games this season. He played in two games as the Cajuns' backup quarterback as a redshirt freshman in 2006, playing 11 snaps against North Carolina A&T and 12 against Eastern Michigan. He had redshirted in the 2005 season.

Hundley's departure leaves senior Connor Morel as Desormeaux's backup. Morel transferred from Northwestern State prior to the 2005 season, sitting out the year as a transfer, and has played in all 15 games over the last two seasons on special teams.

"He (Hundley) and Connor had kind of been going neck-and-neck in practice," Bustle said.

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

  UL's football team has struggled in the second half in three straight games. Now, the Cajuns will see if they fare any better in another second half - this one, the "second season."

It didn't take long for the Cajun players to try to put Saturday's 38-17 loss to McNeese State out of mind and begin aiming for Sun Belt Conference play, but those will be tough tasks - both the forgetting and the Sun Belt challenge.

Six days from now, UL will host a Troy team that won last year's New Orleans Bowl, was the consensus pick to win the Sun Belt title and is coming off a dominating 41-23 victory over Oklahoma State.

Losing to the I-AA Cowboys wasn't what head coach Rickey Bustle had in mind to get his team mentally ready for league play.

The rest of the story

Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

Back in the old days, Ernie Duplechin used to motivate his McNeese State troops during the week of the Louisiana-Lafayette game by telling them how the Cajuns coaches didn't think the Cowboys players were good enough to play for the Cajuns. That was a genius motivation tactic and it's no wonder the Cowboys were 3-0 against their hated rival. The old tactic still works. "All week, the coaches were telling us this is the school that passed us up," said Cowboys linebacker Allen Nelson after Saturday's 38-17 win over ULL at Cajun field in the first meeting between the two teams in 21 years. "We weren't good enough to play for them. They still don't think we are good enough to play for them." And so, like the old days, McNeese was the more inspired team this season and it showed, especially in the second half. If the McNeese players weren't feeling slighted, at the very least they were feeling a sense of relief about the decision they made after high school. "I made the right choice," said Cowboys quarterback Derrick Fourroux, who was recruited by both McNeese and ULL while he was at Erath High School. "I'm glad I made the decision I made." That sentiment shows why McNeese is a dominant program in the championship subdivision of Division I football and why ULL has been languishing for more than 30 years playing at the game's highest level. Look at the postseason record of the two programs if you don't believe it. McNeese played in three bowl games after it moved up from the college division in the mid 1970s. Since it moved to the championship subdivision in 1982, the Cowboys have been in the postseason 12 times, including two trips to the division's championship game. That's 15 postseason appearances. The rest of the story By GARY LANEY AMERICAN PRESS