There’s no underselling how significant the 4 p.m. Saturday showdown against Troy is for the UL Ragin’ Cajuns at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.
The Cajuns are 4-2 overall and 1-1 in league play. A second Sun Belt loss would relegate UL’s chances of playing in the Sun Belt championship game to long-shot territory.
Plus, there’s a really bad taste in the mouth of every UL coach and player after last week’s 32-31 loss at Louisiana Tech.
“We’ve got to prepare like our backs are against the wall, because they are,” UL coach Michael Desormeaux said. “There’s no more room for error. Our goal is to get the conference championship. That’s our goal.
“We’ve got to get on a roll, but you can’t start a streak without the first one. These next two games are huge before we get to the bye week.”
Redshirt junior defensive tackle Chase Edwards said the team “has flushed” last week’s loss in Ruston.
“We just have to be more vocal on defense when things get tight,” he said. “The lights can’t be too bright. We just have to make plays. We all know that.”
Motivation is at an all-time high.
“We are just angry with ourselves for not finishing the job,” running back Anthony Reagan said. “We know we lost a game we shouldn’t have lost, so this week, you know you’ve got to go hard. There can’t be any lack of focus this week.”
Troy comes to town 3-2 overall and 1-0 in league play after dismantling Southern Miss 55-34 last week.
The Trojans are ranked fourth in total offense in the Sun Belt at 429.8 yards per game, led by veteran quarterback Goose Crowder, who has thrown for 1,047 yards with nine touchdowns and four interceptions. He’s also run for 219 yards and two scores.
“He’s got a lot of arm talent,” Desormeaux said. “He can make all the throws. You add his ability to run, and it’s a scary thing because he can get out and hurt you with his legs.”
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this matchup is Troy leads the Sun Belt in rushing yards (236.2 per game) while UL leads the league in rushing defense (100.7).
Like UL, the Troy backfield is balanced with Gavin Griffin (69-337, 1 TD), Jaheim Merriweather (50-281, 4 TDs) and Jordan Lovett (44-254, 1 TD).
“I think they do a really good job up front covering it all up,” Desormeaux said. “Their O-line plays really vertical. They kind of shut down the movement a little bit, which we’ve been moving our front quite a bit. They do a good job of shutting it down. I think their backs are really patient. They’ve got really good play strength.”
The recent return of defensive tackle Brodrick Stewart is a boon for the Cajuns.
“He’s playing better and better every week, man,” Desormeaux said of Stewart. “He’s getting in the right spots. Brodrick, I’m really pleased with his progress right now.”
Much of UL’s formula for victory falls on the shoulders of quarterback Lunch Winfield, who is coming off a disappointing game with a fumble and two interceptions.
“We’ve got to move on,” offensive coordinator Tim Leger said. “He’s a great leader. He’s a natural competitor. I just hope he doesn’t try to press himself into playing to make up for it all at one time.
“I know he wants (to bounce back), and he will. He’ll play good. He’ll be the reason we win a bunch of games going forward.”
Most of UL’s nine fumbles this season have been by the running backs, so it remains a high priority for that unit.
“We do ball-security drills every single day in practice,” Reagan said. “We just have to make sure as a group that we tell each other to do a better job of holding on to the ball. This is our program. The ball is our program.
“We’re always in traffic, so it’s got to be two hands and locking the ball.”
The other big question mark entering the game is the UL pass defense, which has struggled since the injury to safety Collin Jacob.
“We didn’t cover great (at Tech),” Desormeaux said. “In man coverage, we had too many times where we were way too loose in coverage. That’s something we haven’t been doing. We played tight coverage and made people earn it.
“In zone, I think they hit some really tight windows. There were some where we were, we’re not in the right landmarks, and we’re not in the right spots, you’re leaving somebody open. We’ve just got to tighten up.”
#sun #belt #showdown #break #uls #season #Ragin #Cajuns
Source link
