Ragin' Cajuns Midweek Practice Report

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Another fourth quarter meltdown cost the Cajuns for the third consecutive week. After leading Arkansas State 29-14 heading into the final quarter, the Cajuns watched a last-second field goal beat them for the second time this year. Louisiana returned to its normal practice schedule for the first time in three weeks. The team worked Sunday at 7:30pm, Monday at 3:35pm and Tuesday at 3:35pm. UL now must hit the road again; returning to Murfreesboro, Tenn., where the last visit saw one of the most thrilling games in school history. The Cajuns topped Middle Tennessee 57-51 in four overtimes to claim head coach Rickey Bustle’s first road victory. Five Questions with defensive line coach Shawn Quinn… The week of practice… “Sunday was a really good practice. The guys have been pretty resilient for the situations we’ve been in. The way the players have come back each week with the right attitude is the reason we think it’s going to turn around. Tuesday was an average practice, but Wednesday’s work was one of the best Wednesday’s we’ve had in recent weeks.” Playing better on defense… “We’ve played really good defense at times, but then other times we’ve been our own worst enemy whether it be penalties, missed assignments or missed tackles. We’ve been stopping the run pretty well in the last few weeks, but Arkansas State did a good job against us. The whole defensive line finally came back to practice on Tuesday and was able to go full speed on Wednesday – having some consistency up front will help.” Fourth quarter letdowns.… “It is not fatigue. It’s just a matter of not making the plays to win. We’ve been waiting for someone else to make the play. Good football teams don’t wait for somebody else to make a play, they find a way to get it done themselves. We have to do a better job of seizing the momentum back. We’ve gone into the fourth quarter with some momentum, but then after we lose it, we can’t get it back.” Middle Tennessee’s strengths… “Their biggest strength is the number of veteran players they have back. They are good up front on both sides of the ball and their defense is playing well.” Player confidence… “The biggest reason we have confidence is because our players still believe in themselves and each other. We haven’t come out at any point this season thinking we didn’t have a chance to win.” Ragin’ Cajuns Official Injury Report… Mike Adams, knee (probable) Jerry Babb, shoulder (questionable – upgraded from out) Eddie Brown, shoulder (out) Tony Cash, knee (probable) Hall Davis, ankle (out for season) Travis Ferguson, ankle (probable) Greg Hodges, ankle (probable) Booker Jenkins, shoulder (probable) Jarrett Jones, knee (probable – upgraded from questionable) Mike Moore, ankle (probable) Wes Simon, head (out) Caleb Rubin, hamstring (probable). LOUISIANA SI

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LOUISIANA La. - University of Louisiana quarterback Jerry Babb was wearing a gold jersey at Wednesday's practice, a sign of continued improvement from his shoulder injury of three weeks ago. But the difference in gold and black isn't much, according to head coach Rickey Bustle. "We don't hit either one of them," Bustle said Wednesday following the Cajuns' two-hour practice. "But Jerry's been throwing since Sunday, and he did a little more today." The UL quarterbacks normally wear gold jerseys, but Babb's been in black (no contact) since suffering a slight separation on the fifth play of the Oct. 1 24-21 loss to Central Florida. He's missed the last 11 quarters. The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com