Fall Practice Days 1-15

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Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns underwent their first official scrimmage of the fall on Wednesday afternoon. The scrimmage was scheduled for 104 total plays with the first and second team offense and defense slotted for 35 plays each. The third team was scheduled to run 14 plays with the special teams running 20 drills.

Due to the extreme temperatures, some of the sessions were cut a little short.

"I think there was good effort out there," stated head coach Rickey Bustle. "I think they fought through [the heat]. I saw a couple of guys get tired out there and we had some guys get dinged up, but I thought they fought through it well. We ended up with about a hundred snaps, and I thought it was a good first scrimmage."

Fullback Dwight Lindon was notable catching the ball out of the backfield. Freshman tailback Tyrell Fenroy also made some impressive plays running and catching the ball for the offense.

Junior quarterback Jerry Babb showed poise both running and throwing the football. Babb scrambled for some good yardage when pressured by the defense. Throwing the ball, the Lafayette native was right on target, but defensive break ups and dropped balls stifled his completion totals. Babb was limited in his reps to give the coaches a look at some younger players.

"We know where Jerry is," commented Bustle. "He got some snaps, but we wanted to get Michael [Desormeaux] in there and see what he could do."

Redshirt freshman Michael Desormeaux showed marked improvement running the offense as he was able to run the first and second team. The second year quarterback threw the ball well and was able to scramble affectively against the defense.

"I thought [Desormeaux] did a nice job," Bustle said of his young backup quarterback. "I thought he made a couple of nice throws that didn't get caught. He had a guy open in the middle that he didn't make a good throw on, but again that goes back to consistency."

The offensive units as a whole exhibited potential, but were stopped by dropped balls and penalties.

"I have got to be patient," Bustle said of his receiving corp. "They are young, but there was an older guy that dropped one too. You have to have a lot of focus on that football to catch it and I think the heat affected some of those young ones because they got themselves open. We have just got to make catches."

The defense did a good job of keeping the offense honest, but some big plays by the offense spotlighted some consistency issues.

"Defensively I thought we were pretty good for the most part," commented Bustle. "We kept giving up that one long run or that long pass play. We just have to get where we are consistent."

Senior defensive end Eugene Kwarteng had two tackles for loss on consecutive plays. Linebacker Mark Risher was equally impressive during the scrimmage. The sophomore had a tackle for loss and then nearly intercepted a pass.

"This was our first live [scrimmage] and overall I was pleased with the efforts on both sides."

The Ragin' Cajuns will practice on Thursday and twice Friday before their second scrimmage on Saturday. The scrimmage is scheduled for 1:30 p.m. at Cajun Field.

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Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns football team moved indoors for Thursday’s practice. Forecasts called for threatening weather near the start of practice, so the Cajuns ventured to the Cajundome Convention Center.

Unfortunately, only mild rains fell and the weather cleared midway through practice.

“Forecasting the weather is really tough,” said safeties coach Tim Rebowe.

“We made a decision to move up Wednesday’s scrimmage because the forecast called for bad weather – and it ended up being a beautiful day.”

Once a decision is made to move indoors and practice begins, it’s rarely changed. Too much time would be wasted moving practice equipment and auxiliary personnel. In addition, all 105 players would have to move back across the street into the locker room to change from indoor shoes to cleats. The entire process would waste valuable practice time.

“It too difficult to move back outside,” Rebowe added. “Some of us coaches) noticed the weather clearing up, but the guys were intense and focused and I don’t believe too many took note.”

One day after a physically demanding scrimmage, many players secretly welcome the break an indoor practice provides.

“Being indoors gives the guys a bit of a break from the tough grind of practice,” Rebowe stated. “The pace is slower (inside), we move quickly outside. We do more walking and talking inside.

“The players were very focused inside. Doing our correction work (today) helped them a lot.”

Nearly half of Thursday’s practice was devoted to team correction and individual correction periods.

“A big part of practice was scrimmage corrections,” Rebowe explained. “We made some mistakes in the scrimmage but I liked the fact that they guys (on defense) went after the ball and went full speed.

“When the guys are focused, we are able to teach more indoors and they learn a lot. Our team pays attention and wants to learn. Because of that we are further along now than we were at this point last year.”

The Cajuns will practice twice on Friday in preparation of Saturday’s scrimmage.

The team will workout in full pads in the morning with a full slate scheduled. The afternoon should be a little slower because it will be prep work for the scrimmage.

The scrimmage, held at Cajun Field, has been moved up to 8:15am on Saturday.

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Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns enjoyed their final two-a-day practice session on Friday. The Cajuns worked a morning session in full pads in the heat at the Cajuns practice fields. The afternoon session saw the team move inside the Cajundome Convention Center to work in shoulder pads.

The morning featured a middle drill, two pass skel periods, a run-play-action team period and a pass-under-pressure team period.

"The morning started out very well," said Cajuns tight ends coach Troy Wingerter. "Middle drill was intense; we had a lot of guys running around making plays."

The morning heat started to take its toll on the weary Cajuns just past the midway point of practice following middle drill.

"The guys get fired up for middle drill, but then things started to lag," Wingerter commented. "It was very warm out there."

UL moved inside for the afternoon after heavy rain showers saturated the practice field.

"We still have some live-action things that we need to get in," Wingerter said. "We've made the most of the time and place where we've been able to practice. The varsity periods were still good and we got a lot out of them."

The Cajuns will have their second fall scrimmage on Saturday at 8:15am at Cajun Field. The scrimmage was moved to the morning after the intense heat during the first scrimmage on Wednesday.

"We have a number of players dinged up," Wingerter explained. "We're at the end of two-a-days and this is how things go. It helps a lot of the young guys get valuable experience."

Four players will not participate in Saturday's scrimmage. Joe Bradley (hamstring), Mike Canon (back), Brandon Cox (knee) and Justin Taylor (knee) are definitely out. David Lewis (foot) is doubtful, while a quintet of players are questionable, including Eddie Brown (heat), Will Chance (knee), Travis Ferguson (shoulder), Ryan Finney (quad) and Kale Wildbur (calf).

On a positive note, Chancellor Roberson (head), Kevin Robbins (foot) and Deon Wallace (neck) all return to action after missing the first scrimmage.

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Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns had their second Scrimmage of the fall on Saturday morning. The 8am start still found hot and humid temperatures rising near 90 degrees with a heat index close to 100.

The scrimmage was scripted for 110 plays, but was considerably shorter. All 14 scripted special teams plays were completed, while only 72 of the 96 offensive plays were completed.

"It's win lose out there," head coach Rickey Bustle said. "Its good to see some plays being made on the field. The intensity was higher than our last scrimmage."

The Cajuns first team offense moved the ball well under the direction of quarterback Jerry Babb. Babb finished the day 5-of-8 for 82 yards and touchdown. Two of Babb's three incompletions were dropped balls.

Kevin Robbins hauled in a pair of receptions, including a 26-yard scoring strike from Babb. Jordan Jackson had an outstanding 20-yard reception from Babb. The 6-foot-6 sophomore made a leaping catch on first down with the offense backed-up on their own 10 yard-line.

Nine different running backs had touches, producing four rushing touchdowns. Chester Johnson opened the scoring for the offense with a one-yard plunge. He was followed by a two-yard scamper from Tyrell Fenroy. Abdule Levier produced a four-yard score, while Deon Wallace added a six-yard touchdown. The running backs, including true freshmen Fenroy and Wallace, did a good job at times making the defense miss.

Levier led all backs with 10 carries for 29 yards.

All four rushing touchdowns came after the offense started their drive six yards from the end zone.

"We started off a little slow offensively, but we came around during the goal line," Bustle added.

The defense did a good job stopping the offense away from the red zone. The defense recorded eight tackles for loss, four stops for no gain, two interceptions and a fumble recovery.

"I was pleased with the defensive effort," Bustle stated. "The two interceptions were nice to see and the defense really bottled the offense at times."

Michael Adams had three highlight reel plays on defense. A fumble recovery by Jarrett Jones was returned 15 yards before a lateral by Jones to Mark Risher. Risher moved the ball forward seven more yards before he pitched the ball to Adams. Adams made a quick spin move to shake his pursuers before racing 60 yards for a touchdown. Adams also had a 50-yard kick-off return and an interception with a 15-yard return.

"(The defensive touchdown) was a great play by the defense to keep the interception alive," Bustle commented.

Derek Morel had the Cajuns other interception which he returned 20 yards.

The Cajuns will begin their in-season work week starting on Sunday with a 7:30pm practice. The team will have Monday off during the season and will use this coming Monday (the first day of school) as an off day to allow players to have academic meetings.

UL will have their final scrimmage of the fall on Wednesday afternoon.

Notes: Cajuns starting left tackle Jesse Newman was carted off with an apparent knee injury. Newman was injured on the fourth to last play of the scrimmage after a pile of defenders converged on the ball carrier during a goal line drill. The initial diagnosis by team doctors is a sprained knee. Newman will be re-evaluated on Monday.

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Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns had the first of a season long Sunday Night Lights practice at Cajun Field.

The Cajuns practiced on Sunday from 7:30-9:15pm under the lights at Cajun Field. Head coach Rickey Bustle has elected to practice on Sunday during the season rather than Monday. For the past three seasons, the Cajuns had Sunday off and practiced on Monday.

There is no practice on Monday, the first day of school, as the student-athletes turn their attention to class.

"We had a big scrimmage on Saturday," Bustle said. "We're now going to follow our normal Sunday routine with meetings and an evening practice.

"This is the way we are going to do things during the season, so we might as well start it a week early to get everyone acclimated. Having tomorrow off is very important so that our guys can get focused on their academics."

Sunday's nine period workout was identical to Bustle's in-season Sunday practice.

"This is our regular Sunday workout," Bustle continued. "We go over corrections and then a lot of base stuff."

The weather cooperated for the Cajuns, as temperatures peaked in the upper 70's with a light breeze. The cool work, coupled with a 33-hour layoff since Saturday's scrimmage brought fresh legs to the field.

"It's all a plan," Bustle added. "I feel that we will come back with a great practice on Tuesday before our final scrimmage."

Sunday's light work and Monday off allows the team even more rest in an effort to finish camp strong.

UL will practice on Tuesday at 3:30pm and hold their final fall scrimmage on Wednesday at Cajun Field at 3:30pm. Fall camp concludes with practice on Thursday and Friday.

Coach Bustle will hold his annual "Script Scrimmage" on Saturday before officially beginning game preparations for No. 2 Texas on Sunday.

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Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns practiced on Tuesday in preparation for the final scrimmage of the fall. UL worked over 12 periods and then added a short conditioning session. The Cajuns practiced in full pads following Monday’s day off.

The final fall scrimmage is slated for 3:45pm on Wednesday at Cajun Field.

Tuesday’s practice featured three lively team periods of middle drill, run-play-action and two-minute drill. The two minute drill was the first live work of the fall for the Cajuns in that particular area.

The work is the first for the Cajuns since school began on Monday.

“I thought we were a little lackadaisical today,” said Cajuns offensive coordinator Rob Christophel. “It’s typical with the first practice after classes begin.”

Despite the lack of mental acuteness, the Cajuns were physically up to the challenge of practice.

“The guys were still bouncing around,” Christophel added. “The effort was there, the guys just didn’t do some things mentally that they are capable of doing.

“Middle drill went very well for the offense which is a good sign.”

Wednesday’s scrimmage will not be scripted like the past two have been. The Cajuns previous two scrimmages have held the offense to just seven plays. The final scrimmage will allow the offense to move the ball as if in a normal game situation.

“It’s tough to score in those scrimmages when you start on your 30 and only have seven plays,” Christophel explained. “You have to get a big play, and the problem is that we are still not making big plays.

“We moved the ball well when we started in the redzone, so it’s just a matter of getting into a rhythm and knowing drives can continue after picking up a few first downs.”

Following Wednesday’s scrimmage, the Cajuns will practice on Thursday and Friday at 3:45pm to conclude fall camp.

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