Ragin' Cajun defense sacks Blue Raiders

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MURFREESBORO, Tenn. - The Louisiana Ragin' Cajun defense has just gone sack-happy. The Cajun unit didn't have a sack in its first three games of the year, not even in a 49-28 victory over Northwestern State which was the only win before Saturday's pulsating 13-10 victory over Middle Tennessee. But UL recorded 10 sacks in its last three games, and nearly equaled that number Saturday with a school-record nine sacks. Eugene Kwarteng, Curtis Isaac and Brenton Burkhalter each recorded two sacks, and Joe Bradley, Rodney Hardeway and Anthony Hills each had one. "I'll take the blame for some of the sacks, maybe holding the ball too long," said MT quarterback Clint Marks, who was 19-of-24 for 218 yards when he was able to get passes off. "They did a good job in the secondary and got some coverage sacks. Their defense played well, you have to give them credit." ERIK'S BIG PLAY: Tight end Erik Jones had a pivotal reception and 16-yard gain in the Cajuns' late TD drive. His only catch of the game put the ball at the MT 6 and the winning score came one play later. What most didn't know is that Jones did it all with a badly injured ankle. "He'd been struggling with that (ankle) for a while, but he sucked it up and played hard," said quarterback Michael Desormeaux. "He turned it up and got some big yards." The rest of the story Dan McDonald dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com

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All year I was thinking, we should pressure the quarterback more. Nice to see they read my mind.