Tough stretch continues for UL-Lafayette

• By GLENN QUEBEDEAUX
• Special to The Advocate
• Published: Nov 18, 2008 - UPDATED: 6:43 a.m.

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LAFAYETTE — Rickey Bustle cautioned his players and fans just a few weeks ago that the final four games of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette’s regular season were going to be difficult.

“Tough and tougher,” is how he described the stretch.

Those words are proving to be prophetic these days and what once seemed likely — a Sun Belt Conference title and a bowl berth — isn’t so certain in the wake of the Cajuns’ 40-29 loss to Florida Atlantic on Saturday. It was the Cajuns’ second straight defeat, dropping them to 5-5 overall and 4-1 in the Sun Belt Conference.

The Cajuns now face the task of winning their final two games in order to win their first outright league championship since 1970 or one of two to, at the least, become bowl eligible and avoid a losing season.

Making matters more difficult, ULL faces SBC co-leader Troy this Saturday, a team which led LSU 31-3 before the Tigers rallied in the final quarter for a 40-31 victory.

“I said this two weeks ago, that this thing was going to get tough. I knew what we had down the road,” Bustle reminded members of the media Monday at his weekly news conference. “The great thing is that we’re still in it; we still have control of our destiny.”

Against FAU, the Cajuns quickly fell behind (26-7 at half) and never recovered.

“As far as the FAU game, I haven’t changed my opinion. I was very disappointed in the way we played and the way we came out to start the game,” said Bustle. “Yeah, I was glad that we played better in the second half and scored some points, but you let a game like that get away and you do things … too late and too little.

“I was extremely frustrated with the way we played defense and offense from the standpoint of production.”

The Cajuns, for the second straight game, had four turnovers and were riddled by a passing attack which was particularly effective throwing to its tight ends. The Cajuns gave up more than 290 passing yards for the second week in a row and now have yielded nine passing touchdowns in the last eight quarters.

“We didn’t have a good defensive game,” Bustle said. “I thought we were somewhat cautious in some areas. I know we played a couple of young linebackers who were involved in some communications and we’ve got to keep working to get that better.”

“And, offensively, we moved the ball at times, but we didn’t put it in the end zone. That’s what you have to do. You’ve got to come out of the gate ready to play and I’m not saying we weren’t ready to play — we just didn’t play very smart. I think we played a little cautious.”

Bustle said he hopes the Cajuns didn’t get caught up in the magnitude of the game.