UL opens conference play tonight against Florida Atlantic
Teams can only stomach so many character-building losses.
At some point, it's just win, baby.
Both Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns and Florida Atlantic's Owls are at that point.
The Cajuns (1-3) open Sun Belt Conference play at 7:05 p.m. tonight at Cajun Field (ESPN Regional/Cox Sports cable channel 27 locally) against the 0-5 Owls, and play nothing but league games the rest of the season.
"We told our kids right after the game Saturday that the preseason's over," said UL coach Rickey Bustle. "It's a whole new season now. When it's all said and done, you shoot for the conference championship."
The Cajun squad had its final non-conference character builder Saturday, falling to Central Florida 24-21 on a last-second field goal after rallying from a 21-0 deficit. That followed a 49-28 win over Northwestern State, and in both of those contests the hosts controlled play except for one shaky stretch.
"For the first time in four years I saw a team really rally," Bustle said. "We came back and played a heck of a football game."
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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com
Booker Jenkins on his way to a TD vs UCF
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