Shof

Well, I suspect they pretty much overlooked the Cajuns last year as well; but it didn't seem to matter any. They were just to big and too fast for us. One thing in your favor though will be that there is no Vince Young. He was just too much for the smaller Cajuns to handle. Still had a blast at the game; but it was definitely a "money game". Good luck. I think you'll keep it closer than we did and closer than your last trip to Austin too.

"CONFERENCE USA Technically, they had two teams on the list but surely the NCAA would not fault Tulane, since they didn't really have a true home field. They still missed by less than 800, with their student body scattered hither and yon. Rice could be another matter. They have a new coach so I would assume that the administration will support the program another two or three years, even if they have to give away season tickets. If they haven't gained the support in that time, then they may pull the plug." First, Tulane will not be penalized due to the devestation of the hurricanes. But, to state that they only missed the mark by 800 is an out and out lie. They reported over 15K for the game in Lafayette, and there weren't even 10K there. Ditto for games in Ruston. The only way these numbers are even close is if they counted "paid attendance".

Or #11 depending on the poll Lady Cajuns look to have a pretty strong team again this season. Wish we could have played Tennessee in our last tournament but the weather did not cooperate. That would have been our first "real" test. Did spank Florida St 14-0 and Iowa (#24) 6-0 before the rain. Good luck to your ladies this season. Shof

Cajuns were in the Big West for 3 years. Tied for the conference title 2 of the 3 years; but lost the tiebreaker for the bowl both times. I was fortunate enough to be stationed in Las Vegas (Nellis AFB) during that time, so got to see my alma mater beat up on UNLV one year.

FYI only, Bird of Paradise is the voice of the Cajuns for the radio broadcasts; so he's seen a lot of BB this year. Yesterday he only had east teams posted, so guess I'll have to revisit the belt board.

I think we as fans put too much stock into sites like Rivals and Scout, etc. Good example is our Cajuns recruiting class last year. We landed the 3-star running back out of Houston (Wallace) and got another nobody had heard about (read: not rated by rivals/scout, etc) -- a kid named Fenroy. Well, folks know about him now. If these kids aren't found early (junior yr), or if some big time school isn't after them they fall through the cracks by the rating services. I think in the end we will both have fine recruiting classes; we just won't know it for a couple years in most cases.

Also interesting that they got 3 ranked QBs on that list. Looks like ASU plucked a pretty good OG from the Dallas area (Carrolton?).

Thanks!

He is one local idiot! Most do not feel the same. Sure, we're disappointed we didn't get in; but that was OUR fault. I think you will see decent local support; especially if the weather holds. Shof

Do any of you have a link to the Houston or Dallas area Top 100 lists? I had tried to google it for the Houston Top-100; but no luck. Thanks, Shof

One major difference regarding the UL (insert name) change. The state mandated that at least two teams agree to change names, essentially making it impossible (improbable?) that any one school would become "UL". When then USL changed its name to UL in 1984 there was no such provision. Then the state forced a reversal back to USL (even though the name change was done according to standard practices used for LaTech and UNO). Anyway, when it was done the 2nd time, NLU was our "partner" in the name change. To my knowledge no other UL system school was interested; hence today's ULL and ULM delimma. Got to love Louisiana politics. Fortunetly for Texas State, the state of Texas wasn't so darn petty, at least in the end.

I would be really shocked if we didn't. You'd see a lot more of the "casual fans" come out for such a game that otherwise would find something else to do on gameday. Plus, its the only game in town; so we don't have to compete with the local LSU fans. I really think you see an overflow crowd if it happened. But, all this is speculation unless we can finish off the season with 2 wins. So, without getting the cart in front of the horse, we need to focus on FIU and continue to win one at a time. Shof P.S. Any excuse for cajun tailgating is a good excuse

Thanks. We still need a little help though; but if we can win the final two games most cajun fans will be thrilled. If its a 3-way tie I think we'll have the inside track; but if its just us and ASU, they own the tiebreaker. Guess who I'll be rooting for when you guys play them! Cheers, Shof

Rick, Thanks for the class post. It was a terrific game. Even when we were up early I knew it would get close late. Seems to be our MO. Glad to see the young guys we have finally learning how to win some close ones. PC had a huge night for you guys. We couldn't seem to get to him on the corners, so your receivers and tackles must have been doing a good job sealing off the interior linemen and LBs. Just thrilled we got a break on the final kickoff. I don't think my nerves could have handled watching much more of Cobb left, Cobb right! Good luck the rest of the way. Shof

Guys, save some of that stuff you're drinking for the tailgating Shof

The drive back is usually 7 hours from Lafayette to San Antonio; so I'm used to it

I believe it was a 3 percent cut across the board. The 140K represented the athletic fund cut. So, ULM, LaTech, etc, will all be cut similarly. I think the Cajuns and LaTech have very similar budgets, while ULM is just below that. I've also heard that it is the "first" cut; so no telling how bad it gets. These past two hurricanes have really put a hurt on state finances across the board. Shof

I think you misunderstood my comment regarding "off the wall". It was in reference to the post on raginpagin; and that is the only place I've seen it. I just don't see why your AD would be interested in this type of move. Heck, we can't even hire an AD right now with the current freeze on money! And lord knows you guys have a better financial situation than we do right now. As for the Tulane part; certainly they must look into the viability of their athletic programs given the loss of money/students/faculty/etc this fall. I hope Tulane can keep their program going but it will be difficult to say the least. I'm sure there is a lot of information floating around in "official" circles just as there is on forums such as this one and our's. Any school with interest should definitely be posturing for an opportunity.........you snooze, you lose.....so to speak. Now for the important stuff. Cajuns 24, Mean Green 17. I won't be able to make it up to Denton this time. Hope to in the future. Did get to Lafayette for homecoming. I thought we controlled Troy for 3 quarters; but let it slip late to get into overtime. Slowly but surely it seems we are learning how to win. Not going to get any easier this year; but the future looks good. Just like you guys, we are hoping to run the table and see if the bowl is in our future as well. Cheers.

I thought that was a pretty "off-the-wall" comment as well regarding RV. Couldn't see him being interested in such a lateral move. That is unless he knows something none of us know Right now, I'd have you guys and LaTech ahead of my Cajuns should an opening come up; but the interesting point for me would be "would either school take a football-only spot"? All-sports, sure! But football only?

Dude, that's just wrong. I like it; but wrong.

While that could very well be the "title game" I think it will come down to the UL@M game; and it pains this Cajun fan to say that! Shof

Not being in Lafayette, its hard for me to say. Most of my info comes from interacting with guys on-line. There is certainly a lot of folks that are saying "this is his 4th year - he was supposed to be winning this year". I'm not ready to write him off yet; but if he can't get it turned around next season its going to get real hot in South Louisiana; and I'm not talking about the weather. Hopefully supporters will realize he's trying to rebuild a program that was really down 4 years ago. We've got some good young talent at the skill positions; but seem to lack the "big boys" we need, especially on defense. Next year he gets the indoor practice facility and the money coming in has been decent, so patience will wear thin. As for 4th quarters, I made the comment last night during the game that maybe we could convince teams to just play 3 quarters against us. Several of the guys responded that we'd just take the 3rd qtr off vs the 4th. Just frustrating right now, and lots of folks are already looking forward to basketball season.

Yes, I think we did. With the way we've been finishing games lately (or not finishing!), I think the guys are "hoping" to hang on for a win vs. having the confidence to just do it. Some of its youth, but mostly its a confidence factor.

An all too familiar scene for us. Young team that just hasn't learned how to close out games and get the win. Couple of dumb errors and a turnover and they start pressing. We seem to have the talent, especially on offense; but can't seem to stop anyone down the stretch. But give ASU some credit too; they have a very good offense as well.

And it showed. We became very one-dimensional. With no passing game they were able to stack the line and take our running game away. That led to time of possession issues and a worn out defense in the 4th qtr. Not many happy campers in Cajun land right now. Kind of like tuesday night if you get my drift.