Ragin' Cajuns stun Blue Raiders

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - Booker Jenkins and the University of Louisiana defense were the unlikeliest of heroes. Jenkins had rushed for all of 51 yards this season and had touched the football three times in the Ragin' Cajuns' last three games. The UL defense had given up 420 or more yards in five of six games this year and was shredded in the fourth quarter in its last two outings. But those two entities came up in a big way before a shocked Floyd Stadium crowd, and because of that the Cajuns pulled off a shocking 13-10 victory over favored Middle Tennessee to stay alive in the Sun Belt Conference race. Jenkins, a senior from Houston, took a pitchout from redshirt freshman Michael Desormeaux and swept in from six yards out with 1:04 left for the game-winning touchdown that gave the Cajuns (2-5, 1-2) their first road win in over a year. The defensive unit, last in the league and ranked 108th nationally in total defense, spotted Middle Tennessee (2-4, 1-2) 10 points in the game's first 11 minutes and then pitched a shutout the rest of the way. "That's as good a defense as we've played in a long time," said Cajun head coach Rickey Bustle, who won for the first time in his career when trailing on the road at halftime. "We got a lot of pressure on the quarterback, and that's a pretty good offense we were going up against. We just felt like we had to stop them after those first two drives." Middle, which had five rushing touchdowns and ran for 263 yards in a 35-14 humbling of Florida Atlantic last weekend, had only 45 rushing yards with a net of one yard in the second half. Much of that minuscule number was courtesy of a school-record nine sacks recorded by a suddenly-stiff Cajun defense. "They hit us with some quick stuff early," said senior end Eugene Kwarteng, who had six solo tackles, three for losses and two of those sacks. "But once we settled down, we could see what they were doing more clearly and read our keys. We got a good rhythm going." "We had to come back and put our foot down," said linebacker Mark Risher. "We hadn't done it all year, but this is a turning point in our year." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

[JMV JustMyView]

Nice win maybe this will get us on track for the rest of the season..

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. -- Few sites have been kind to Louisiana-Lafayette as of late, but count Middle Tennessee as a bit more hospitable. The Ragin' Cajuns defeated the Blue Raiders 13-10 Saturday, standing as UL's third road win under coach Rickey Bustle, but the second at Middle Tennessee's Floyd Stadium in as many trips. The Cajuns won 57-51 in four overtimes at Middle Tennessee in 2003. "This win is a testament to this team never giving up," said Bustle, who improved to 3-21 on the road with the Cajuns. "It has been tough on everybody and this really was a turning point for us. We talked a lot about making each day and each game count and the team did that (Saturday night)." The Cajuns (2-5, 1-2) were less than impressive on offense behind quarterback Michael Desormeaux, but they were effective. UL had only two drives of more than 50 yards in the game, but each ended in touchdowns. The last drive delivered a knockout blow to the Sun Belt's top-rated defense amid a crowd of 17,806. The Cajuns marched 71 yards on 11 plays late in the fourth quarter, with Desormeaux making a timely option pitch to fullback Booker Jenkins for the game-winning score -- a 6-yard run. "At first I thought I might have a chance to score, but then I decided to pitch it. But that's why the pitch was so wide," said Desormeaux, who filled in for injured starter Jerry Babb for the third straight game. The rest of the story By ADAM SPARKS Special to The Advocate