The Book: 2007 Football

[ShowDog]

_ yeah they are pretty good, but a little heart and desire to win changes that. Look at Tulane. _

Yeah look. LSU woke up and it was all over. Tulane was the same Tulane. LSU beat the crap out of them. If LSU had wanted to, they could have made the "spread" on the game.

Not saying Tulane didn't try hard but 34-9 isn't exactly a barn burner. It's a 60 minute game.

[ShowDog]

_ _

Getting tired of the cliches.. If we had scored td's instead of field goals we'd feel a lot better about everything. Naw, you meand 14 points are better than 6. No wonder he's leading this team.

We wanted to win the second half, we just didn't win by enough. Good arithmetic Bustle.

[RaginCajun77]

WOW, so we're to be excited if we beat one of the worst teams in the nation(next to us)? Great we'll be 1-5.

Look at UCF. They beat us on a field goal two years ago. Which team has improved since that time. That's what I'm looking for.

We are not getting the quality athletes. You can't make a Div. I-A team out of Div. II or NAIA type of athletes. Until that changes, we will never be any more than what we are.

In my opinion, Fenroy is the only quality player we have. Des is a great athlete but he's not a qb.

Defensively, noone stands out in comparison to players from teams beating our behinds.

Fenroy is a solid mid-major back. Desormeaux should be playing either WR or on defense. Think about this, the last two quality players we had on defense were Charles Tillman and Ike Taylor. Who recruited those guys? We need to do a lot better recruiting guys on defense.

[ShowDog]

_ Thanks for the well wishes. I expect to see you guys as the Conference USA champs this year. TOO BAD you guys aren't playing LSU this year. Give'em a run for their overrated money. _

It amazes me how LSU ends up in some conversations that don't remotely have anything to do with them. After watching TX yesterday, I see why UCF gave them a close game.

LSU would "demolish" them.

We need to wonder why a team who beat us by a field goal two years ago, whipped us as bad as they did last night, instead of worrying about LSU or anyone else. Take care of our own business which we don't seem to be able to do.

[RaginCajun77]

As we head into week six of the season I'd like to know how you grade this Cajun team so far. Please provide your grade and an explanation if you'd like:

QB

RB

WR

OL

TE

DL

LB

CB

FS/SS

K

P

[DaddyCajun]

I know there are a whole lot of disappointed Cajun Fans here and I am one of them.
I know we have 4 new coaches two of which are coordinators and the other two are D-back and receiver coaches.
We sent 40+ players to USC out of 60 which were playing their first D1A game!
Our offense is driving for more than 100 yards more per game than last year, but they are not punching it in like they did last year.
Defense is starting to come around, but is still not where we need them to be.
Special teams are average at best in some areas and both better and worst in others.
The training areas are much better now and the Indoor Facility is being used so that we are not missing practices like prior years, and it is high time we start seeing some of these benefits on the field.

I just want to Win, Baby!

[BrudaCajun]

We win in Baseball/Softball, is it not good enough? Jus messin wit ya T.

[NewsCopy]

Despite the 0-5 record and the absence of two-time 1,000-yard rusher Tyrell Fenroy the last two weekends, UL goes into next weekend's Sun Belt Conference contest against North Texas ranked ninth nationally in team rushing with 238.0 rush yards per game. That figure also leads the Sun Belt. Quarterback Michael Desormeaux ranks 33rd nationally in rushing despite having a streak of three 100-yard rushing games snapped at Central Florida. His 92 rush yards gives him 514 for the season and a 102.8 average per game, good enough to rank him second in the Sun Belt in rushing behind UL Monroe's Calvin Dawson (139.0). The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

UL's football team has blocked 30 kicks over the last six seasons. Cajun opponents aren't close to that total, but Central Florida got a big one Saturday and turned it into the pivotal play in the Knights' 37-19 win that dropped UL to 0-5. After a time out with only seconds left in the first half, UCF's Augustus Ashley stormed in to block Spencer Ortego's punt and then returned it himself 19 yards for a touchdown that gave the Knights a 30-6 halftime lead. That score eventually allowed UCF to keep the Cajuns at bay and rendered moot UL's two second-half touchdowns, providing enough of a margin to allow the hosts to coast through the second half and give the visitors another dose of what could have been. "We have to play on offense, defense and on special teams," said junior receiver Derrick Smith, who caught a 28-yard pass from Michael Desormeaux for UL's last score and set up the other second-half tally with an 86-yard kickoff return. "We've got to do what we're supposed to do in all three areas, and we didn't do that." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[Crowley Cajun]

I don't know what the answer is as to how to fix things because I think that there are alot of factors, not just one. I'm sure money is probably the top if not one of the top things. I see alot of posts as to firing Bustle. Fine. Where will the money for his buyout come from? And, we want a better coach. Who? Crowten from LSU? That wouldn't be bad. But where is the money going to come from?

I don't know why we haven't progressed as far as I thought that we should have. When Bustle came in, I saw the attitude of the players change, even with Baldwin players. Now, with his players, the same positive attitude is there, but the team hasn't seem to progressed as far. We've seem to level out. Why? I don't know. Is it the coaching? The talent level? I don't know. One thing that I'll never question is the heart and soul of this team. They fight. But they are missing something. The "X" factor. What that is, is beyond me. I know that we've been told to be patient. I understand that. It just hurts like salt on a wound when you're constantly being told that and then on the east coast, a university that didn't even have a football program 11 years ago is now ranked #6 or #9 in the nation, depending which poll you look at. I know that it has more students, money, bigger budget. But it still hurts.

[DestinCajun]

_ Might be a mistake.

They have him as a Sophomore, which would make him a freshman last year. Except I can't find a single UL football reference for Rob Campbell.

2006 signees: Not listed
2006 walkons: Not listed

He might have been enrolled at UL, hoping to walkon at some point in time _

They do have transfer Hargrove or Hargroder (whatever) from Lafayette.

[DestinCajun]

But what, Fun? Don't leave us hanging! The suspense is killing me!!! _

He was going to say the bottom line is we should be a "football factory"......

[DestinCajun]

I opened up the Saturday edition of the Orlando Sentinel to the sports section and found a great front page article on Florida State vs Alabama outlining the personality differences between Bobby Bowden and Nick Saban and also a smaller article on South Florida's Friday night win over West Virginia.

After flipping all the way to page D6 I found a write up on UL vs. Central Florida.

Talk about support for the Orlando home team from the local newspaper!!!
NOOOOOOOOOTTTTT

LOL!!

[Essency]

En route to my parking spot Saturday I saw a large red tent nestled up against UCF's baseball field and a "Bubbalou's Bodacious BBQ" van parked beside it. I knew I had found the UL fans.

I visited the y'all briefly before the game and you seemed to be a great bunch of folks. I wish I could have stayed longer.

I wish y'all the best the rest of the season. Hopefully you can get things turned around for the UNT game and the remaining conference slate.

Geaux Cajuns and GO KNIGHTS!!!

[HoustonCajun]

_ The answer is many fold. For one, the Lafayette and SW Louisiana community is not behind Cajun athletics as a whole.

Too many 4 years schools in LA. All competing for the same athletes.

LSU is only 55 miles down the road. Ain't no way they'll lose an athlete to us that they really want.

We don't pay enough to land a good coach with a name.

We have a terrible tradition in football-forever! emphasis on "tradition" we have none except as a rent-a-win for major universities. _

I don't totally disagree with you, but let's look at Troy.

Troy is in a state with 2 NATIONAL POWERS, not just one, in Alabama and Auburn. There is also UAB, so that is 4 1A schools. They are in a tiny town about the size of Abbeville. Yet, look at what they are doing, the money they are raising, their improved facilities, wins over BCS schools, etc., etc. And, all of this in just a few years of 1A football.

There is absolutely no excuse for where UL is now in athletics, particularly football and basketball. And, basketball has dropped to being almost as bad as football. We are picked by Street & Smith as the second to worse team (behind Denver) in the SBC for 2007.

If we don't beat UNT Saturday night at home, we won't win another game, maybe FIU being the exception. And, we will not likely have 14,000 in attendance. The worse thing is people are starting to NOT CARE.