ULL builds confidence despite another loss

• By GLENN QUEBEDEAUX
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Sep 30, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:40 a.m.

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LAFAYETTE — The fact that the University of Louisiana at Lafayette football team is 1-3 through its first four games is no big surprise given the Ragin’ Cajuns’ strength of schedule in September.

What is a surprise is how well the Ragin’ Cajuns have performed, especially in the last three games.

After a forgettable 51-21 loss to Southern Mississippi in the season opener, the Cajuns have bounced back to not only play well, but to play No. 24 Illinois and Big 12 member Kansas State to the final gun and handily defeat a respectable Kent State team.

The Cajuns lost at Illinois, 20-17 and, most recently, at Kansas State 45-37. Both of those games were on the road.

Not surprisingly, those performances have sparked confidence among the Cajuns and they have also triggered a heightened expectation among ULL fans starving for success.

Coach Rickey Bustle said he is well aware that his Cajuns’ inspired play has given hope to ULL fans, and he has made his players very much aware of that fact as they prepare to open Sun Belt Conference play Saturday at Louisiana-Monroe.

A victory over ULM would get the Cajuns off on the right foot in what is expected to be a highly-competitive league race.

“This is what I told our team last night,” Bustle said Monday, addressing the subject at his weekly press conference. “I told them that ‘you have raised the expectations and you have raised the bar on the way we ought to play. If we don’t play that way, then it’s on you.’ ”

Bustle said his players now, more than ever, “know what they expect” from themselves and from each other.

The Cajuns, led by running back Tyrell Fenroy and quarterback Michael Desormeaux, rallied from a 25-point deficit at Kansas State to pull within five points of the Wildcats midway through the final quarter. A 26-yard field goal with 1:37 left in the game accounted for the final score.

The Cajuns topped the 500-yard mark for total offense for the second straight game with Fenroy gaining 183 yards and Desormeaux 98. Over the last three games, the Cajuns are averaging 485 yards.

“I hated to look into that locker room after the game the other day,” Bustle said. “There were some guys in there that were upset. Not that they weren’t upset at Illinois, but this one was different. We felt like something had been taken away and it just hurt.”