On paper, it appeared UL’s method of attacking Troy’s defense would be through the air.
After all, the Trojans’ defense gave up 391 yards through the air in last week’s win over Southern Miss. Moreover, Troy came in ranked fourth in the Sun Belt in run defense and ninth in pass defense.
Only coach Michael Desormeaux’s Ragin’ Cajuns had other ideas in delivering a 33-6 blowout win over the Trojans.
They weren’t happy after letting one slip away in Ruston last week. The way to get that frustration out of their system was playing a physical game against a physical team and winning that battle.
“All we heard about for the last week was we didn’t run the ball and we needed to,” Desormeaux said. “We didn’t run the ball. We needed to. I mean, these guys, they have social media too. So they hear the crap all the time.
“It’s fun when you have a group of kids that take it personally and went out there and played a certain type of way. So I’m really pleased with the way we ran the football. We needed it.”
The Cajuns kept pounding the ball right at Troy, finishing with 243 rushing yards and 14 rushing first downs.
“We’re at our best when we have a chip on our shoulder,” Desormeaux said. “It’s who I am a little bit; it’s who we are. I think after last week, we were … we were pissed off. It’s the way it is. We lost a game we felt like we should have won.”
Quarterback Lunch Winfield’s redemption didn’t come from passing for more yards and more touchdowns than he did in the loss.
It came from gutting it out with a team-high 15 carries for 65 yards.
Right behind him was redshirt freshman JJ Garner with 62 yards and a touchdown on 10 carries.
“That was the game plan going all week,” Garner said. “Run the ball … just play physical, our game plan for four quarters straight, 60 minutes. They’ve got to get the whole 60.”
The other side of that coin was the Cajuns’ rushing defense. Entering the game, Troy had the Sun Belt’s top rushing attack at 236 yards a game, but the Cajuns gave up only 100 rushing yards a game, leading the league.
On this night, the angry team got it done, limiting Troy to 126 yards on the ground — one week after rushing for 437 against Southern Miss.
“To be honest with you, I don’t worry about averages,” redshirt senior defensive tackle Fitzgerald West said. “I worry about the film I’m watching. I’m seeing what they’re trying to get to and how they’re trying to get to it.
“As long as we know what’s coming, they can’t surprise you with anything.
“As long as we’re not surprised, we’re all on it.”
While the rushing defense was excellent, so was the pass defense. The Cajuns limited Troy to 141 yards on 14-of-26 passing.
“It was something so simple,” West said. “I feel like we got our play calls in and everybody was on the same page. That’s the truth.”
Essentially, Louisiana Tech’s hurry-up passing attack caused issues the Cajuns’ defense had to learn from and adjust.
“We can’t be surprised,” West added. “It’s hard to sneak one on us if we’re all on the same page.
“So we came up with a better plan of getting the calls in more efficiently.”
Desormeaux appreciated the improvement in pass defense.
“We had some things that we put on tape that got exposed a little bit,” he said. “I know we have some guys that are out, but I still feel like we have plenty of talent on the back end to be able to play tight coverage. I think our defensive staff put together a great plan this week.
“Our players went out there and executed really well. We tackled better and we were tighter in coverage. We used really good technique. There were times I thought the last couple of weeks when we were kind of guessing a little bit and getting outside of our framework.”
Altogether, it was a collective effort for a much-needed victory.
Now, the Cajuns must continue to improve in the quest to run the table in Sun Belt play.
“What a heck of a job by this group of young men to flip this thing from 2-5 to 5-2 in one year,” Desormeaux said. “It says a lot about the people in this building. I’m going to tell you right now, this team, we were not very good in spring football. I thought we had a chance to be, and I still think we have a chance to be.
“I still don’t believe that we scratched the surface of our best football, and that’s exciting. And that’s what we’re chasing with everything we got right now, is trying to get to our best.”
#Cajuns #ran #ball #stopped #run #blowout #Troy #Ragin #Cajuns
Source link
