LOUISIANA La. - A national television audience, the preseason No. 2 team and a crowd exceeding 80,000 await linebacker Mark Risher and an inexperienced University of Louisiana at Lafayette defense on Saturday. Throw in a possible Heisman Trophy candidate to defend and you get the picture.

However, for those who want to listen, there's another side to the pregame story, Risher said.

It's about turning challenge into opportunity for the Ragin' Cajuns in their season opener against the University of Texas at Darrell K. Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, said Risher, a sophomore starter at middle linebacker.

"This is going to be the biggest game in (ULL's) football history," Risher said. "We're playing the highest-ranked team this school has ever played and we're looking at this as a chance to show what we can do against another Division I school and one which has a national reputation."

Risher is one of seven ULL defenders who start their first college football game against a team ranked second in the preseason Associated Press poll and quarterback Vince Young, a 6-foot-5 junior, who has compiled 5,081 total yards in his Longhorns' career.

The game is also scheduled to be telecast on the Fox Sports Network, marking the second time in as many seasons that ULL competes before a national audience.

Risher said the defense has watched enough tape on Young over the summer to acknowledge his attributes.

The rest of the story

By BOBBY ARDOIN
Special to The Advocate