Texas game (Articles & Assessment)

[Clutch0364]

Well I would like to be real positive about this game but it was a complete beat down. I did come away impressed with our team in many areas...

Desormeaux is the real deal, he impressed me more than anyone else on the team. He is real smooth in everything he does and he was patient in the pocket. The big run he broke that was called back for holding had me more excited than I have been in a while for a UL play. I really like Babb but he will be watching his back with a talent like that behind him.

I was also very impressed with our freshmen...Smith, Cherry, and Fenroy. The future and the present looks bright for these guys.

Michael Adams was every where. He was makin tackles and everytime a tackle was being made he was somewhere in the picture and that got me excited about him. His pic was also a great play and I expect him to be the player to watch on the defense.

With the good come the bad and I was umimpressed with our o-line only because I couldn't see their full potential because of all the injuries. I will wait a few weeks before I say to much about this position.

The defense was in all the right places on almost every play but they were not wrapping up and making the play. If they wrap up and get to the ball like they did tonight I think that our defense will be very strong this year. If they don't start wrapping up though we will suffer through the same problems we did last year on defense.

[NewsCopy]

The Cajuns were able to play most of their travel roster, including back-up quarterback Michael Desormeaux, who spelled starter Jerry Babb in the second and fourth quarter.

Desormeaux's first career pass attempt went through the hands of fullback Booker Jenkins and was intercepted at the Cajuns 20 yard-line. The Longhorns scored on the next play as quarterback Vince Young found tight end David Thomas in the end zone to give UT a 32-3 lead.

The Longhorns went ahead 39-3 at the half when Vince Young connected again with Thomas for a touchdown with 38 seconds remaining in the first half.


Despite the lopsided score, there were several positives for Louisiana.

The Cajuns blocked a pair of extra points, one by Marshall Delesdernier and one by Michael Adams.

Adams had a strong game, in addition to his blocked kick, he added a pair of kick returns totaling 50 yards and grabbed his 2nd career interception.

Wide receivers Derrick Smith and Corey Fredrick recorded their first career catches, with Smith leading the team with six receptions for 78 yards.

Desormeaux responded following his interception, completing 7 of his next 14 passes for 57 yards.

The Cajuns dodged a bullet on UT's first possession. The Longhorns moved 64 yards in seven plays, but a fumble by Selvin Young gave the Cajuns the ball deep in their own territory. The fumble was forced by Lamar Morgan and recovered by Adams.

UL was not as fortunate on UT's second offensive possession. A 17-yard punt return put the Longhorns in Cajuns territory. UT needed six plays to travel 35 yards, scoring on a nine yard touchdown run by Selvin Young. Richmond McGee missed the extra point attempt.

The Cajuns also put some points on the board in their second drive. Adams returned the kickoff 31 yards to give UL much better field position than on their opening possession. The Cajuns crossed midfield with the help of a 30-yard pass from Babb to Smith. An eight-yard screen pass by Babb to Tyrell Fenroy put the Cajuns into field goal range. UL got on the board thanks to a 47-yard field goal by Sean Comiskey.

UT went up 13-3 thanks to a seven-play, 65-yard drive which came all on the ground. Jamaal Charles ended the drive with a 14-yard scoring run.

LOUISIANA SI

[NewsCopy]

AUSTIN, Texas - The fans in Darrell Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium booed lustily when Texas kicker Richmond McGee missed three extra point tries in the first half Saturday night. Two of them were blocked and a third was forced wide by a heavy rush. The points didn't matter since UT rolled to an easy 60-3 win over Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns, but the booing fans didn't know about the Cajuns' tradition for blocked kicks. Since Rickey Bustle became the Cajuns' head coach in 2002, the Cajuns had blocked 16 kicks in three seasons before Saturday's game. UL added to that total early in the second quarter when Marshall Delesdernier stormed the middle and got his first career block. One series later, it was Michael Adams who came in from the corner to block McGee's next effort, giving the junior cornerback four blocked kicks in his career. He had field goal blocks against South Carolina and FIU in 2003 and a field goal block against Arkansas State last year. Adams almost had a second block, since it was his pressure that forced McGee's first PAT to sail wide right. "We take a lot of pride in that," Adams said of the PAT blocks. "We do that every day in practice. I was just trying to come off the end, turn by shoulders so they can't get an inside hand on me and just go after it." Adams may be the early front-runner for Sun Belt Conference defensive player of the week, despite the Cajuns' lopsided loss. In addition to his block and near-block, he had a fumble recovery deep in UL territory and an interception at the goal line early in the second half that thwarted Texas drives. He finished with seven tackles, all solos. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

AUSTIN, Texas - It wasn't Katrina-ugly. No game could be that ugly. But at times Saturday night, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns probably were thinking they were in the eye of another hurricane. Make that the eye of Texas, which more than justified its No. 2 national ranking in its 60-3 spanking of a physically-whipped Cajun squad. It was easily the worst loss since Rickey Bustle took over as Cajun head coach for the 2002 season. "They're number two in the country for a reason," said Cajun quarterback Jerry Babb, who managed to hit 9-of-18 passes for 109 yards despite non-stop pressure. "They're very basic, they just line up and say let's go. Their defensive backs reacted well and made a lot of plays when we were close to getting some completions." Texas has its first true test next weekend when the Longhorns travel to Ohio State, and Bustle said the 'Horns kept things basic against the Cajuns and let their athletic ability set the tone. "I don't think they wanted to show Ohio State a lot," Bustle said. "They've got a lot more tricks up their sleeve." It would be hard to imagine a more dominant performance, but Bustle said he saw a lot of positives from his team despite the lopsided loss. "We had a lot of young kids who went out there and played hard," he said. "Derrick Smith had several catches (6 for 67 yards), (Tyrell) Fenroy ran the ball well. We played a lot of guys, some young guys, and they made some mistakes. But you expect that." What you don't expect is the distractions the Cajun squad had during the week. Monday's rampage by Hurricane Katrina through southeast Louisiana put much of the team in turmoil, especially the 16 members of the travel squad that are from the New Orleans metro area. "It really had an effect on us," said freshman linebacker Jonathon Vance, who was seeing his first game action since his senior year at New Orleans-West Jefferson High. "Just getting up every morning and seeing what was going on. I didn't hear from some of my family for four or five days. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[NewsCopy]

AUSTIN, Texas - Texas made believers of the Ragin' Cajuns here Saturday. So did Vince Young. The Longhorn quarterback led an offensive surge, the Texas defense was dominant, and it added up to a 60-3 victory over an outmanned Louisiana squad in the season opener for both teams. "I don't think there's any doubt, they're the best all-around football team we've played in our four years," said Cajun head coach Rickey Bustle. "And we've played some good teams. They're just solid everywhere." "Lafayette had the No. 1 offensive team in their league last year," said Texas coach Mack Brown, "and I think they'll do that again this year. We just have better players." There wasn't a truer statement all Saturday night. The second-ranked Longhorns scored on nine of 10 possessions after fumbling away a chance on their first drive, and Young was the man most responsible for that. The junior hit on 13-of-17 passes for 173 yards and three scores and also ran for 49 yards and another touchdown. "He's just an athlete," said Cajun quarterback Jerry Babb. "That's why he's a Heisman Trophy candidate. He makes good throws and can break some good runs." Young had the advantage of an offensive line that was dominant, helping UT (1-0) roll up 591 yards in total offense and 30 first downs. Babb, meanwhile, was under duress most of the evening, and probably felt many of the 82,519 in attendance were chasing him instead of just 11 Texas defenders. "He's a good athlete," Brown said of Babb, who was sacked only once despite being pressured often. "But our depth wore them down a lot." "Their offensive line may be the best in the country," Bustle said. "We couldn't get off them. They get on you, and they're so big and strong. We were probably afraid to pressure the quarterback some because we didn't want him running all over the place, but we've gotta do a better job of getting hands up in his face." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[Clutch0364]

One other postive I forgot to post in my original post was that framel did a good job punting.

[cajunlove]

It was all put into perspective when the announcer said that the every player on the starting Texas O-Line was projected to go in the first or second round of the NFL draft. I assume that several defensive lineman from Texas have simialr NFL potential. The line (both offensive and defensive) is where the game is won.

I think that the Cajuns showed grit in playing hard even when the game was well out of reach. The only dissapointing part was all of the unnecessary roughness penalties. Otherwise, I am proud of the Cajuns...all things considered. There is a bright future with this very young team!

[ATXCajun]

Well I would like to be real positive about this game but it was a complete beat down. I did come away impressed with our team in many areas...

Desormeaux is the real deal, he impressed me more than anyone else on the team. He is real smooth in everything he does and he was patient in the pocket. The big run he broke that was called back for holding had me more excited than I have been in a while for a UL play. I really like Babb but he will be watching his back with a talent like that behind him.

I was also very impressed with our freshmen...Smith, Cherry, and Fenroy. The future and the present looks bright for these guys.

Michael Adams was every where. He was makin tackles and everytime a tackle was being made he was somewhere in the picture and that got me excited about him. His pic was also a great play and I expect him to be the player to watch on the defense.

With the good come the bad and I was umimpressed with our o-line only because I couldn't see their full potential because of all the injuries. I will wait a few weeks before I say to much about this position.

The defense was in all the right places on almost every play but they were not wrapping up and making the play. If they wrap up and get to the ball like they did tonight I think that our defense will be very strong this year. If they don't start wrapping up though we will suffer through the same problems we did last year on defense.

I felt like Desormeaux showed some raw ability. He also looked like a guy that only has about 1/4 of the playbook and the game hasn't slowed down for him...yet. Excited about him going forward, but Babb is still our guy.

I thought the busted up O-line actually created a little space in the middle from time to time against a really good defensive front.

RBs looked good. I thought Rubin, Fenroy, and Levier all brought something different and did a good job of hanging on to the ball.

Defensive line and linebackers. Major speed difference between our defensive front and UT's skill players. Even their fullback was faster. I hope they can contain lesser competition.

DBs were pretty good. Adams was everywhere. There were some wide open receivers. Not sure if that was blown assignments or just the lack of pressure on the QB.

Punting is much improved. Return yardage was impressive. I think we'll break a kick return or two for a TD this year. Comiskey looked good.

All in all we were outmanned. I didn't see a lot of stupid mistakes. Can't afford the dropped balls and tipped balls.

[Clutch0364]

It was all put into perspective when the announcer said that the every player on the starting Texas O-Line was projected to go in the first or second round of the NFL draft. I assume that several defensive lineman from Texas have simialr NFL potential. The line (both offensive and defensive) is where the game is won.

I think that the Cajuns showed grit in playing hard even when the game was well out of reach. The only dissapointing part was all of the unnecessary roughness penalties. Otherwise, I am proud of the Cajuns...all things considered. There is a bright future with this very young team!

The difference between schools like LSU, Texas, and USC compared to everyone else in the country isn't as much the skill positions as it is the lines. Everyone has pretty good skill players but the thing that seperates everyone is great line play.

[El Sidonio]

I'd have to say that although I was cringing sometimes at teh score, I thought our team played well and was impressed with what I saw. Like many of y'all, I think the difference came down to size. Plain and simple, UT was bigger than we were on O-line and D-line. But like I said, I was very impressed, and I think the rest of teh sunbelt will also be impressed come conference play time. Another positive, we lost by less points than did UNT last year against UT. I was also impressed with the relatively close margins that some of our sunbelt brethren had against the big boys on Saturday.

God Bless

[CAJUNJUDO]

I agree with you there Sid....

FAU and FIU did pretty well.....
I was impressed with Danny Embick (QB) 20-28, 299 yds 3 TDs (2 touchdowns were for 66yds each)

[RaginEsquire06]

Well I would like to be real positive about this game but it was a complete beat down. I did come away impressed with our team in many areas...

Desormeaux is the real deal, he impressed me more than anyone else on the team. He is real smooth in everything he does and he was patient in the pocket. The big run he broke that was called back for holding had me more excited than I have been in a while for a UL play. I really like Babb but he will be watching his back with a talent like that behind him.

I was also very impressed with our freshmen...Smith, Cherry, and Fenroy. The future and the present looks bright for these guys.

Michael Adams was every where. He was makin tackles and everytime a tackle was being made he was somewhere in the picture and that got me excited about him. His pic was also a great play and I expect him to be the player to watch on the defense.

With the good come the bad and I was umimpressed with our o-line only because I couldn't see their full potential because of all the injuries. I will wait a few weeks before I say to much about this position.

The defense was in all the right places on almost every play but they were not wrapping up and making the play. If they wrap up and get to the ball like they did tonight I think that our defense will be very strong this year. If they don't start wrapping up though we will suffer through the same problems we did last year on defense.

Couldn't state it any better! I was impressed with our ability to be competitive in the first half...as we were clearly out manned, regarding depth, it should have been expected that UT would get the easy touch downs in the second half of the game...However...still alot to be proud of, if we play at the same level against other teams more of our equal..we should see success!