The Book 2008 Football

[NewsCopy]

  UL – It was business as usual for Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns head football coach Rickey Bustle with game week beginning on Monday.

Bustle and the Cajuns are coming off last week’s open date and are in the midst of preparing for Saturday’s Homecoming game with Florida International. The game will be televised by Cox 4 with a 4:05 p.m., kickoff.

Bustle’s morning began with the taping of “The Rickey Bustle Show” which airs on Monday nights at 9:30 p.m., on MyKLAF (cable channel 13 in Lafayette). CST (cable channel 37) re-airs the show on Wednesdays at 5 p.m., while Cox 4 (cable channel 4) re-airs the show on Wednesdays at 6 p.m., and Saturdays at 2:30 p.m.

After his weekly Sun Belt Conference teleconference call at 10:50 a.m., Bustle traveled to City Club in River Ranch for his usual game week meeting with the UL Quarterback Club at 12 Noon.

After meeting with local fans at the Quarterback Club, Bustle made his way back to the Cox Communications Athletic Center for his press luncheon to visit with local media and field questions about Saturday’s contest.

RaginCajuns.com

[NewsCopy]

  UL's second open week of the football season gave the Ragin' Cajuns a chance to take a much-needed break.

With his wife out of town and no UL game last Saturday, coach Rickey Bustle used the down time to relax and watch football at home.

"I watched other coaches worry about their games," Bustle said. "I had my son come over, and I fired up the grill. I tailgated from my La-Z-Boy to that grill."

Quarterback Mike Desormeaux (sprained right knee), strong safety Derik Keyes (deep thigh bruise) and offensive linemen Chris Fisher (knee), Ian Burks (back) and Brad Bustle (knee) used the time off to get healthy.

A young group of linebackers, including only one senior on the two-deep depth chart in Antwyne Zanders because of injuries, got important reps on the practice field and in the film room.

The rest of the story

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • October 28, 2008

[NewsCopy]

  Coach Rickey Bustle’s comments on the Arkansas State game and bye week:
Rickey Bustle- “About the Arkansas State game, I was proud of how the kids played especially on defense. We had a young quarterback leading our offense and you saw him grow up out there. We had another solid day on special teams as well. We knew that with Michael (Desormeaux) being out that everybody had to step up their game. The players did just that.

“I was very impressed with Brad (McGuire) and how he handled the interception (mid-fourth quarter). A lot of people left after he made that throw, but I told him that we were going to get back in the game. I continued to tell him that he would have a chance to make some plays at the end of the game. You saw him make some great throws at the end of the game.

“As for the bye week, we worked on fundamentals the first couple days. We started game planning toward the end of the week. I wanted to work the guys pretty hard. It was probably harder than they thought it was going to be for the off week, but I wanted to challenge them. It will help us keep our edge and stay focused on the business at hand. It gave us a chance to rest some guys as well.

“Right now (Michael) Desormeaux is probable and we will continue to look at him today.”

On the chemistry of the offensive line:
RB- “They are a great group of guys. Your offensive line is the backbone of the team and they are the closest group on the team. It is exciting because there are no seniors on the team and they have had a chance to play with each other a lot. They hang out off the field as well, which helps.”

On leading the conference in third down conversions:
RB- “It is an example of execution; we are executing better on first and second down. This year we are doing a better job getting in to manageable third downs.”

On the bye week helping the linebacking corps:
RB- “Anytime you can get more reps in practice it helps you learn more about the position you play. I am not big on bye weeks, but I think our two this year have come at perfect times. The first one after the Southern Miss and then again this week; they came a perfect time.”

On avoiding a let down:
RB- “We need to continue to emphasize getting better each day. It is why we practiced them hard this past week. Teams tend to be lackadaisical when playing well and we practiced the way we did this week to make sure that doesn’t happen. What they have done this far has put us in a great situation.”

On Brad McGuire:
RB- “Brad had a chance to watch film of himself this week. He saw the mistakes he made and he now has a better understanding of how to correct it. He made a bad mistake at the end of the game, but that was his first real action at full speed. No matter how many reps you take in practice you can’t simulate a game.”

On FIU offense:
RB- “I have seen their quarterback be very consistent. He threw the ball very well at Troy. They are averaging 32 points per game against Sun Belt opponents; they are plus-three in turnovers, we are minus-five. They also do a great job not committing penalties. They are a much improved team and are doing things in order to win football games.”

On the defense having a repeat performance similar to the Arkansas State game:
RB- “I expect them to. Whether they do or not, will be seen Saturday. It was the best defensive four quarters I have seen our defense play since I have been here. They are the ones setting the standard this year.”

On keeping the players focused:
RB- “We have talked about it since day one – ignoring the factors that are outside our control. We need to stay focused on getting better each day.”

On what Tyrell Fenroy has meant to the program:
RB- “Tyrell Fenroy has been a class act since day one. He deserves the opportunity to be among the elite names in the NCAA. He will be the first one to give his offensive line and team credit and that is rightly so, but I am happy for him that the accomplishment (four 1,000-yard seasons) will be his. No one talks about it, but he knows and so do the linemen. The linemen and the receivers want to help him reach it. They want to tell their kids one day that they helped block for Fenroy. It is a great honor and feat for the Ragin’ Cajuns. Everyone who will be at the game will be able to say they saw history made.”

On what makes Tyrell Fenroy tick:
RB- “His passion and heart. He is not a guy that will voluntarily come and talk in front of the camera, however if he is asked to do so he will. He doesn’t promote himself; the other players love that in a teammate. He is a dedicated worker and that is all he does.”

On the subplots of the game:
RB- “I know the players will hear about that stuff, but we don’t talk about it.”

On running the table:
RB- “We will continue to take it one game at a time. I told the team Sunday night to remember what got them here. They need to think about all the hard work they put in, the team work and chemistry. I think that if they keep that in mind this will be positive. I can’t predict how things will come out, but if you dwell on the bad that is when the bad things come out.”

On the senior class:
RB- “I am extremely proud of them and no matter how it comes out in the end they are one of the best groups I have been around.”

On keeping the team focused:
RB- “You have to get them focused on what we do. Nothing matters if we don’t take care of our business. People can say whatever they want, but we need to stay focused on us and what we do. They are learning how to deal with success right now.“

On the team coming together:
RB- “I think it starts with the chemistry of our team because of our seniors. They started to take over the team last year after the season was over. They took ownership of the team.”

On the Individual awards:
RB- “We are glad for those who won awards. We used to announce them at team meetings, but this year we are not. We haven’t announced them one time. The kids know about it and read it. It is the same with having names on the back of the jersey - the kids know who is doing well and being productive.”

On the team’s confidence if Michael Desormeaux went down again:
RB- “I think the Arkansas State game gave the team even more confidence in Brad McGuire. They saw him grow up and perform,
which gives the team even more confidence.”

RaginCajuns.com

[CajunFun]

New article up... converting to this new platform is time-consuming, it's hard to turn out articles at the same time.

Also, Halloween Concert tonight. For those of you who have little ones, or who just want to go see a fun concert, don't miss it.

As always, more information available at:

[Cajun Express]

Nice job CF.

[Zeebart21]

_ New article up... converting to this new platform is time-consuming, it's hard to turn out articles at the same time.

Also, Halloween Concert tonight. For those of you who have little ones, or who just want to go see a fun concert, don't miss it.

As always, more information available at:

_

Thanks Fun.

Z

[CajunFun]

Thanks Fun.

Z

Thanks, guys.

BTW, notice the little shout-out Wingerter made for Pirogue's blog...

[DestinCajun]

Thank you from a couple of Cajun fans in BR. We appreciate the news.

[Zeebart21]

_ Thank you from a couple of Cajun fans in BR. We appreciate the news. _

Wait, you mean that no one from the BR Advocate was covering this event?

Seriously?

Z

[wcd35]

Excellent article CF. This is one of my favorite ones that you have posted. I especially enjoyed the interview with Coach Wingerter. The part about building tradition and some of the team building and unity that we have going on. Great stuff!

The recruiting is good insight that we dont get to see in normal newspaper articles too. Just a question, I dont remember why, but whats the reason for having only 15 scholarships? Stuff just kinda melts together in my mind and I cant remember