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News Articles - ULL

News Articles - ULL

From the Lafayette, La., Daily Advertiser:

Article published Oct 18, 2006

Cajuns enter prime time
UL goes for revenge in Sun Belt opener on ESPN2

Dan McDonald
[email protected]

6:30 p.m., today, Lockhart Stadium, Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

WEATHER: High in the low 80s with a 30 percent chance of rain.

TICKETS: Available at Lockhart Stadium two hours prior to game.

RADIO: The UL broadcast airs at 6 p.m. on KPEL-AM (1420) and KRKA-FM (107.9) beginning at 3:30 p.m. with Jay Walker and Steve Peloquin. The broadcast is available online at www.ragincajuns.com.

TV: ESPN2 (channel 36 on Lafayette cable) at 6:30 p.m.

LINE: UL by 9.

LAST TIME: UL beat Houston 31-28 on Oct. 7 in Houston. FAU beat Southern Utah 32-7at home on Oct. 12.

COACHES: Louisiana, Rickey Bustle, fifth season, 19-31 at UL. Florida Atlantic, Howard Schnellenberger, sixth season, 30-34 at FAU.

LAST MEETING: FAU won 28-10 last year at Cajun Field in the first-ever meeting and in FAU's first-ever Sun Belt game.

INJURIES: UL - LB Mark Risher (ankle), out; C Chris Fisher (knee), questionable; WR Derrick Smith (ankle), questionable. FAU - LB Ed Bradwell, out; RB Felix Collazo, out; DB Erik McIntosh, out; C Nick Paris, doubtful; FB Willie Rose, questionable; WR Cortez Gent, questionable; WR Frantz Simeon, questionable.

LAGNIAPPE: UL is the last team in the Sun Belt to open its league season … FAU didn't play a home game until last Thursday's 32-7 victory over Southern Utah, making the Owls the last Division I-A team to play a home game this season. The only Division I team overall that has yet to play at home is Grambling State … The Cajuns play their Homecoming contest in their next outing, hosting Middle Tennessee in a 4 p.m. game on Oct. 28.
The memories are still fresh in their minds, those numbers on the Cajun Field scoreboard.

Florida Atlantic 28, UL 10.

The visiting Owls, the new kids on the Sun Belt Conference block, had their first-ever league win last year on Oct. 6. The Cajuns were out of the league race before it even began.

And when the Cajuns' five-game year-ending win streak were in the books, that league-opening loss denied UL a first-ever New Orleans Bowl berth.

"We didn't finish last year," UL defensive tackle Marshall Delesdernier said of FAU's three-touchdown fourth quarter. "We would have gone to a bowl game. We have to right the wrongs this time."

"We were coming off a tough loss and we didn't have any momentum," defensive end Tony Hills said. "We've got that this year, and we've got confidence."

It, indeed, is a very different Cajun team that will open Sun Belt play against FAU for the second straight season tonight. This time, the 6:30 p.m. (CDT) contest is at FAU's Lockhart Stadium and it's in front of a national television audience (ESPN2).

Last year, UL was 1-3 and coming off a last-second loss to Central Florida. This time, the Cajuns are 3-2, coming off a stunning 31-28 win over heavily-favored Houston. And they are generally considered the team to beat in the Sun Belt.

"They have improved a great deal since our game last year," FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger said, "and since the beginning of the year. Any team that can beat Houston is one to be reckoned with."

The Owls were winless at 0-5 entering last season's game and were coming off a 61-10 spanking administered by Louisville - a program resurrected in part by Schnellenberger. This year, FAU is 2-4 and boasts a two-game win streak for the first time since 2004.

One of those wins was a 21-19 road victory at UL Monroe, meaning the Owls are ahead of the Cajuns in the conference standings for now.

"That's exactly what I told our team," Cajuns coach Rickey Bustle said. "They've got a conference win. Last year they ran right at us and we didn't tackle well, and I expect them to do the same thing this year. They're very physical."

The numbers don't totally bear that out. FAU is 90th nationally in rushing offense and 109th in rushing defense - which will match up with UL's top-10 rush offense.

Those numbers, though, may be skewed by the Owls' September schedule. FAU met Clemson, Kansas State, Oklahoma State and South Carolina in order, and paid a 192-20 price while earning $1.8 million in guarantees.

"It was a crash course in advanced football," Schnellenberger said. "We weren't jubilant about the fact that we played and lost those four games, but we carried out our mission. Getting the two wins in a row kind of validated that."

The Cajuns figure to have an advantage if their offense is on the field. A bigger key may be how well UL's defense adjusts to the Owl attack, after the Cajuns faced and had success against two straight wide-open, spread-formation teams in Eastern Michigan and Houston.

"They throw it as well as they run," Bustle said. "They try to keep you off balance, and they do a great job with the play-action pass because they run so well. Our linebackers and our secondary can't get caught by the play-action. They'll give it to the tailback deep and let him find a crease, and we haven't seen that since A&M."
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From the Lafayette, La., Daily Advertiser:

Article published Oct 19, 2006

Cajuns deny comeback
UL's Adams swats FAU's pass for win

Dan McDonald
[email protected]

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Michael Adams almost had a game-winning play early in the fourth quarter here Wednesday night. But maybe the University of Louisiana's senior defensive back had a flair for the dramatic.

With a national television audience watching, Adams came up with the biggest defensive play in a game loaded with Cajun defensive highlights - all of which they needed to take a win in their Sun Belt Conference opener.

Adams knocked away quarterback Rusty Smith's over-the-middle pass in the end zone at the final horn, preserving the Cajuns' 6-0 victory over Florida Atlantic.

That play, one in which FAU wide receiver Frantz Simeon appeared to be open before Adams came from the side and batted the ball away, earned Adams a big hug and a one-on-one word from UL coach Rickey Bustle after the game.

"He told me I saved his butt," Adams said, "and that he loved me. I told him I loved him, too."

Bustle loved his defense all night, especially after that unit recorded three fumbles after halftime and kept the Owls away from the Cajun goal line the entire game until a final-second drive.

"They played big-time defense all night," Bustle said. "They got turnovers and they got big plays. I put a lot on them at the end on that last drive, but I had a lot of confidence in them."

That was a good thing, because the Cajuns' offense never mounted anything consistent against the Owls (2-5, 1-1). The Cajuns finished with only 228 total offensive yards, and the only scoring production came on a pair of Drew Edmiston field goals in the second and third quarters.

FAU didn't fare much better, getting only 237 yards against the Cajuns (4-2, 1-0 Sun Belt) and suffering five turnovers.

"I'm disappointed we didn't move it better," said FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger. "We were all discombobulated. We've got to produce better offensively."

Edmiston hit field goals of 44 and 43 yards at the end of short drives, but his only miss of the night looked like it might come back to haunt the league's preseason favorite. He hooked a 31-yarder with 9:02 left, and it seemed to give FAU momentum before Greg Hathorn stripped Smith during a pass attempt and made his own recovery at the Owl 39 with 2:59 left.

Once again, though, the Cajuns couldn't move the ball and came up short on a fourth-and-three with 1:10 left, and FAU completed five passes in a drive that finally took it to the Cajun 8 with the two seconds left.

"We just played them man-to-man, what we had been playing," Adams said. "You just have to win the one-on-one battles, and when it comes to the fourth quarter you've got to get a stop on defense."

Adams appeared to have negated the need for a late stop with 13:20 left when he gathered in a punt at midfield and sped up the middle 50 yards for an apparent score. But a holding penalty brought it back.

"I saw the penalty," Adams said. "I knew it was coming back."

UL's offense only managed one third-down conversion in the game, and that came on their second possession. Of course, that drive started at its own two-yard-line after FAU punter Mike O'Neill pinned the Cajuns deep.

UL managed to reach as far as the FAU 39 before punting at the end of an 8:02 drive, but the change of field position was indirectly responsible for Edmiston's first field goal. That, and the Cajuns' first interception of the season.

FAU took over at its own 6 after a Brit Framel punt, and five plays later Owl quarterback Sean Clayton had a third-down pass bounce off the hands of senior wide receiver Casey McGahee. Cornerback Gerren Blount dove at the ball and made a shoestring interception - the first such play for the UL secondary and the UL defense overall this season - at the FAU 32.

Two runs netted only five yards and an incompletion on third down brought on Edmiston, and the sophomore nailed a 44-yard field goal with plenty to spare with 11:40 left before halftime.

The field position game also came into play early in the second half when UL forced another punt and took over at its own 39. A 15-yard strike from Babb to Fenroy and a 15-yard penalty for a late hit out of bounds moved the ball to the Owl 27, but once again the offense bogged down.

Edmiston continued his success streak, coming on to hit a 43-yarder with 11:18 left in the third period. That gave him eight successful field goals in nine attempts with his only miss a 50-yarder, and that conversion came up big minutes later when FAU kicker Worley Leroy's 41-yard try was blocked by Korey Raymond with 4:56 left in the third period.
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Here is the Bustle hug …

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From the Lafayatte, La., Daily Advertiser:

Article published Oct 20, 2006

UL defense has effective night against FAU
Cajuns post first shutout since 2002 with 6-0 victory over Owls

Dan McDonald
[email protected]

UL's defensive football team picked a good time for one of its best efforts since joining the Sun Belt Conference Wednesday night.

The Cajuns survived its nationally-televised 6-0 victory over Florida Atlantic thanks to a defense that forced five turnovers in the final three quarters, allowed FAU an average of less than 14 yards per drive until a final-minute march and gave up only seven first downs before that final march.

Because of those numbers, UL posted its first shutout since a 34-0 home win over UAB in 2002, its first win under head coach Rickey Bustle. More impressively, the Cajuns shut out an opponent on the road for the first time in 34 years, since a 10-0 win at McNeese State in the 1972 season finale.

"They did what we needed them to do all night," Bustle said of the defense after his team's first-ever road blanking of a Division I-A foe. "They got turnovers, and we were able to keep them (FAU) on their end of the field pretty much the whole game."

FAU's average starting field position was its own 29, and the Owls finished only four of their 14 possessions in UL territory. The last of those, however, was almost a gut-wrencher with the Owls ending the game at the Cajun 8 after a 55-yard best-of-the-night drive.

Senior cornerback Michael Adams dove to break up a pass in the end zone on the game's final play.

"I got tired with all the special teams play," Adams said, "but we get so much conditioning that I think our guys were still fresh. I feel like we're the best conditioned team in the Sun Belt."

Wes Simon, Chris Lanaux and Greg Hathorn each had fumble recoveries in the second half, Hathorn's coming with 2:05 left when he knocked the ball away from FAU quarterback Rusty White and caught the ball in mid-air.

That put UL within one first down of securing the win, but the Cajuns came up short on a fourth-down play and gave the ball back to FAU at its own 37 with 1:20 left.

"We thought we had the right play," Bustle said, "but give Florida Atlantic's defense credit. They had a great plan and played physical all night."

THIRD TRIVIA: The Cajuns converted their second third-down situation of the game, that during a 54-yard march, and then missed on their last 12 third-down tries.

Apparently, that's an overblown statistic for this UL team. In their 33-14 win over Eastern Michigan in the second of the current four-game win streak, the Cajuns finished 0-for-11 on third downs.

EVERYTHING'S JAKE: Former Cajun and Carolina Panthers quarterback Jake Delhomme was a part of Wednesday's ESPN2 broadcast, doing a second-quarter phone interview.

"It's a rare treat," Delhomme said. "I don't get to see them (UL) much. I watched the Arkansas State game last year, so I'm happy ESPN's showing them tonight."

Delhomme was UL's starter in 43 straight games from 1993-96, and said it was that experience that helped him prepare for the NFL.

"I was able to play four straight years," he said, "and any time a quarterback can get on the field and play it helps, whether its' college ball, NFL Europe. You can't beat experience."

Delhomme was asked about Cajun quarterback Jerry Babb, who's going to wind up in the top two or three in most of the UL career passing and total offense lists that Delhomme leads.

"Without a doubt, he can play (NFL)," he said. "He's a big, strong guy that can throw. He always could run, but you can tell he's really developed into a good college passer. You've got to be able to move around and he can do that."

PRACTICE: The Cajuns were originally scheduled to hold a 4:15 p.m. Thursday practice, but Bustle canceled the workout after a nightmarish return trip from Fort Lauderdale. The team's charter flight could not land in Lafayette following the game and was diverted to Houston, and UL did not arrive back in Lafayette until after 10 a.m. Thursday after scrambling to secure buses from Houston.

The squad will take off today and Saturday and return to practice Sunday night as part of its regular work week in preparation for the Oct. 28 Middle Tennessee Homecoming game.
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