University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Big D Early, but Offense Takes Scrimmage
3/20/2011 11:00:00 PM | Football
The Ragin' Cajuns had a lively first scrimmage on Sunday afternoon under new head coach Mark Hudspeth.
There were highlights on both sides of the ball, as the Cajuns worked in scripted scenarios of down and distance rather than a traditional series scrimmage.
The defense owned the first 37 plays of the scrimmage, gathering an interception, fumble recovery and two sacks, while holding the offense to 3 yards or less on 28-of-37 snaps.
The lone bright spot for the offense early was a 32-yard touchdown run by Blaine Gautier.
"I thought the defense came out early and set the tone," Hudspeth stated. "The defense created some turnovers using their speed. They had them right where they wanted heading into a difficult situation and should have buried the offense, but they relaxed and gave up some big plays to let the offense gain the momentum."
The offense took back the momentum in a big way, despite facing a tough scenario. The first and second team offense each took five snaps from inside their five-yard line. The defense nearly had a safety on the first snap, but then the offense posted six big plays to take control.
Quarterback Chris Masson started with a 20-yard completion to All-American Ladarius Green. Following a nice six-yard run by Yobes Walker from the three-yard line, Rob Walker exploded for runs of 16 and 30 yards.
Gautier completed a nine-yard pass to Darryl Surgent from the four-yard line before the play of the day. From the five-yard line, Gautier faked a handoff to Rob Walker that fooled the defense, as Walker was crushed by multiple defenders. By the time the defense identified the ball, all anyone would see was the back of Gautier's jersey. The junior signal caller ran 95 yards untouched for the score.
"Blaine created some big plays," Hudspeth said. "He had some great runs for big yards.
"I liked the intensity from the very beginning. I like the way everyone was flying around. Our intensity level was high, we kept fighting and kept competing.
"Our goal is to be the hardest playing team in the country. We took some steps toward that today."
The offense continued to pile it on as the scenario shifted the ball to the red zone. Aaron Spikes scored on a six-yard run after Brett Baer hit a 35-yard field goal to start. Rob Walker ended the goal line portion with a 10-yard scoring run.
The defense didn't quit, getting three sacks during the third team's 11-play work.
Switching to third down snaps, Derreck Dean posted an interception on the first play. After allowing third down conversions on five of the next six plays, the defense posted a third down stop on 12 of the next 13 plays. Lionel Stokes had an interception, while Cordian Haggans collected a sack during the 13-play stretch in which the offense gained only 10 total yards. Under Coach Hudspeth's scoring system, the defense actually pulled back in front of the offense by a 65-60 margin.
The offense, however, had the last laugh. On third-and-seven, Terrance Broadway connected with Surgent for a 40-yard touchdown. Two plays later, Brady Thomas hit Jacob Maxwell with another 40-yard score.
In the goal line work, Masson found Green in the back of the end zone on fourth-and-goal from the two-yard line. Two plays later, fullback Fred Okoye bulldozed into the end zone on second-and-goal from the two-yard line. Okoye's score gave the offense four touchdowns over the final 10 plays of the scrimmage.
"We are trying to develop toughness both mentally and physically in every one of our players," Hudspeth added. "Some guys stepped-up today, we'll go back and evaluate the film and see where we are at."
The Cajuns will play continue their Wednesday, Friday, Sunday practice routine. Practices begin at 3 p.m. and are open to the media, RCAF members, current UL students and former football lettermen. If rain or lightning forces the team inside the Leon Moncla Indoor Practice Facility, then practice will be closed to everyone except the media.
