University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Fall Football Camp Report - Final Week
8/26/2009 12:00:00 AM | Football
Day 16 - Final Report
The Ragin' Cajuns hit the field on Tuesday in full pads following two days away from practice. The 12-period workout was physical and intense with the players working a middle drill, team varsity session and a pair of two-minute drills.
"We got after each other today," head coach Rickey Bustle stated. "Middle drill was live and the guys really had to work hard."
The Cajuns offense moved the ball well in both two-minute drills, but was unable to put any points on the board.
Their first drive stalled at the defense's 41-yard line, just shy of field goal range. Quarterback Brad McGuire was forced to throw a hail mary pass in the end zone as time expired.
Chris Masson directed the second drive to the defense's 13-yard line, but a 30-yard field goal attempt by Tyler Albrecht on fourth down was wide right with 14 seconds remaining.
Tuesday's practice was very physical and caused Coach Bustle to cancel his scrimmage originally scheduled for Wednesday. The team intends to have a full practice on Wednesday in shorts and shoulder pads, working on game-like situations the entire practice.
"We won't scrimmage on Wednesday," Bustled explained. "Instead we will have a full-day of team varsity periods.
"To be honest, what usually happens (during the last scrimmage of the fall), is that we get halfway through and I stop the scrimmage so that nobody gets hurt."
The Cajuns are expected to cover first down, third down, play-action, blitz, red zone and goal line situations, in addition to many special teams plays. The drills will be run at full speed, but tackling will not be allowed. Bustle stated that he expects to run about 85 plays, much more than he normally gets out of the final fall scrimmage.
Wednesday's practice will be closed to the public (including all media). Coach Bustle has rarely closed practice in his eight years guiding the Cajuns, but does so with good intentions.
"We might sneak a few plays in here and there that we don't want anybody to know about," Bustle added. "I just feel like we need to do that privately (on Wednesday)."
Fall camp officially ends with practice on Wednesday. Mid-week practice and injury reports will continue during the regular season every Wednesday during a game week on ragincajuns.com.
Day 15 - Scrimmage #2
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns held their second fall scrimmage on Saturday morning. The team covered 129 plays during the two hour practice.
The defense, who was beaten soundly during Wednesday's abbreviated scrimmage, regained their swagger on Saturday thanks to a plethora of turnovers.
The defense collected four interceptions and three fumble recoveries. Cajuns quarterbacks were also sacked seven times.
"It was great to see the defense come out and play from the first play through to the end," head coach Rickey Bustle said.
"I've seen the defense come out and perform well for a half and then lose intensity. But today, they were strong for the full two hours.
"The defense showed the potential they have. They now have to realize that they can't accept anything less. It shouldn't be a one-day thing.
"I believe our defense has a lot of talent and speed and the difference in our team this season will be the defense."
The scrimmage started with the team's new kickoff specialist putting the ball to the goal line. Former wide receiver turned safety Lance Kelley has been taking reps with the kickers all week and looked solid in his first live kickoff.
With redshirt freshman kicker Brett Baer sidelined with an injury, junior Tyler Albrecht attempted all the field goals. He finished 2-of-5, hitting from 37 and 50 yards. Albrecht hit the right upright from 30 yards, was wide from 43 yards and had his 36-yard attempt blocked by Jordan Topp. The blocked kick was scooped by Maurice Rolle, Jr. and returned 66 yards down to the five-yard line.
Quarterback Chris Masson was intercepted by Dwight Bentley on the first play for the offense. The pick was the first of two on the day by Bentley. The sophomore cornerback had a third INT late in the scrimmage, but the play was already ruled dead before the pass because of a sack.
"I felt that the defense came out with an attitude and the offense didn't bring their attitude," Bustle stated. "After the first play, when a pass was intercepted, it went downhill for a while, but they've got to learn to overcome those types of plays.
Phillip Nevels and Orkeys Auriene also had interceptions, while Nevels, Derreck Dean and Chris Lanaux recovered fumbles for the defense. Sharrick Moore and Antwyne Zanders led the team with two sacks apiece.
As good as the defense was, the Cajuns offense looked sharp at the end of the first half in several goal line series.
Brad McGuire found Dusty Mack with a 14-yard touchdown pass to start the scoring. He then hit Vernon Wolfe with a four-yard scoring strike.
Running back Undrea Sails made his way into the end zone three times. He scored on runs of three and four yards on a pair of first-and-goal attempts and he ended the scrimmage with a one-yard touchdown run on third-and-goal. Sails finished the scrimmage with 38 rushing yards on 16 attempts.
Fullback Matt Desormeaux capped the first half scoring with a four-yard plunge on first-and-goal.
McGuire, who also scored on a two-yard scamper on fourth-and-goal, tossed a 34-yard touchdown to Louis Lee in the second half.
McGuire finished 11-of-21 passing for 133 yards with three touchdowns and one interception.
"I was disappointed with the number of opportunities that we didn't take advantage of (offensively)," Bustle added. "However, there were some positive plays.
"The first four or five times the offense had the ball all they came away with was a field goal (attempt). They did keep fighting through and once we got into goal line situations they picked up the intensity."
The offense did commit 12 penalties, to just four by the defense.
The team has just two more practices remaining in fall camp. The Cajuns will not practice on Sunday, instead they will enjoy Fall Sports Fan Day at Cajun Field. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and Fan Day activities take place from 6-7 p.m.
Monday is an off day as the players will hit the books with the first day of class. Practice will be held on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Camp comes to a close with a scrimmage on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
Day 14
The Ragin' Cajuns returned to practice on Friday after a brief one-day hiatus. The team prepped for Saturday's scrimmage with a light session in shorts and helmets which lasted less than 90 minutes.
The Cajuns will scrimmage at 8:45 a.m. on Saturday morning at Cajun Field (weather permitting).
"We polished things up today," head coach Rickey Bustle stated. "We made sure everyone was on the same page so we can have a good scrimmage (on Saturday)."
The focus of Saturday's scrimmage will be the first team offense against the first team defense and the second team offense against the second team defense.
"I want to see improvement," Bustle said. "I thought last week's scrimmage was good, especially being the first one.
"I didn't think our Wednesday scrimmage was very good at all, especially defensively."
The script for the scrimmage will not limit any drives by the offense to a certain number of plays. The ball will be spotted at the offense's 25-yard line on the first series and will gradually move closer until the offense is awarded a first-and-goal from the 4-yard line.
"I want to see both sides come back strong and get after each other a little bit. Everybody is fighting for starting jobs, there is nothing locked in yet."
The team has just two more practices remaining in fall camp after Saturday's scrimmage. The Cajuns will not practice on Sunday, instead they will enjoy Fall Sports Fan Day at Cajun Field. Gates open at 5:30 p.m. and Fan Day activities take place from 6-7 p.m.
Monday is an off day as the players will hit the books with the first day of class. Practice will be held on Tuesday at 3:30 p.m. Camp comes to a close with a scrimmage on Wednesday at 3:30 p.m.
