Offense Edges Defense In First Spring Football Scrimmage

Contact: Brian McCann

LAFAYETTE, La. – Sophomore Alonzo Harris scored on a three-yard run on the final play of the day to give the Ragin' Cajuns offense a 61-50 win over the defense in the first scrimmage of the spring practice season.

Using a scoring system that rewarded the defense for forcing turnovers, quarterback sacks and stopping drives without a first down, the offense went into the final series with a five-point lead. The defense would have won the scrimmage by one point had they stopped Harris on the final play.

“I thought we had some guys who showed up ready to play today,” head coach Mark Hudspeth said. “To have the day come down to the final play shows the intensity level that we are approaching spring ball with. We have a lot of positions that are open right now so this was the first opportunity for our guys to line up and try to claim playing time.

“One of our points that we are emphasizing on offense this spring is to take better care of the ball and it showed today as we did not turn the ball over once in 150 plays. That's a great start.

“I wasn't happy with the performance of our wide receivers because they didn't make the plays today that they normally would have. The throws were there, but they had too many drops.”

Hudspeth also singled out the efforts of the Ragin' Cajuns tight ends and the running backs.

“I'll tell you who had a good day, it was Montrell Carter,” Hudspeth said. “We moved him back to running back this spring and he has shown us what he is capable of. He has unbelievable speed and has a knack for finding the gaps when we zone block. I think we have found another back for the rotation.”

Included in Carter's performance was a 65-yard touchdown run during the first series of the day.

With eight starters gone from last year's New Orleans Bowl champions, the UL defense has the most questions needing to be answered this spring with the picture of what the Cajuns will look like this fall becoming clearer today.

“I thought the defense showed some effort today, but we need to do a much better job of tackling. We need to finish off plays,” Hudspeth said.

“I thought that Justin Hamilton, Christian Ringo and Cordian Hagans made some plays today on the defensive line. They were solid. Now we need the rest of the unit to step up and continue to show improvement so that we can improve our depth.”

The scrimmage marked the end of the second week of spring practice. The Ragin' Cajuns have two more weeks of practice ahead before concluding spring drills with the annual spring game on Saturday, March 31 beginning at 1:00 p.m. in Cajun Field. Admission will be free to the public.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

Offense Edges Defense In First Spring Football Scrimmage

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