What was even more impressive in the victory Saturday night is we were without 3 very substantial defensive players in the game.
D-LO--Devan Lewis Buchanan missed the game with a seperated knee cap suffered in practice before the game. Really feel sorry for this kid, he has been a great player for his entire career and to think he missed the biggest game of his career because of a freak accident sucks. Good luck D-Lo, you will be missed. 12 games played this year with 12 starts.
L-Gib--Lemarcus has been a starter for most of his time with the Cajuns and has come off the bench in some games as well. Regardless he is a big time talent that was missing Saturday due to an injury late in the season. It seems as though he will likely get his senior season back and we need him. 11 games played, 11 starts.
Coop--Cooper Gerami, Not sure what happened here, but this sometime starter and very solid Safety was not dressed out for the game. I am not sure if it was injury or something else, but Cooper has been a solid player for us. He played in 8 games this year and was a solid contributor.
Between these 3 players we were missing:
31 games played
135 tackles
12 TFL for 35 yards
1.5 sacks for 10 yards
1 int for 55 yards
1 blocked kick
10 breakups in the D-Backfield
To think that we played with a patchwork LB core in this game and still played solid D for most of the game is really impressive. Can't wait for 2012.
My take on the game
Rushing game--Solid, not great but we ran the ball when we needed to and Alonzo showed flashes of what he is going to do in the future--Grade B-
Passing game--WOW!, the best of the year, Blaine was fantastic and kudos to McGuire for completing the one pass he had to make--Grade A+
O-Line--Did not give up 1 sack, and running lanes were open occasionally and we did this having to replace Leonardo Bates late in the game. B+
D-Line--Only got 1 sack, but we were all over Hillman and put pressure on the QB--Grade B+
LB--Solid in Run D, gave up some plays in passing--B
DB's--Gave up too many 3rd downs, but overall they played well, you could tell we were missing the before mentioned players at LB. Grade--C+
Punt and Punt coverage--Enough said A+
Kickoffs and Kick coverage, overall the coverage was good, minus a play or two but the kickoffs were short like all season--Grade B-
Placekicking--Extra points F, FG A+, overall grade was a B.
Coaching--Except for going for it on 4th down, Hud outcoached Long. A
Overall--Loved it from beginning to end , Cajuns grade was a A-, could have been better, but couldn't ask for a better way to end a special season.
Geaux Cajuns.