Inside The Birdcage - Almost Bowling
The Voice of the Ragin' Cajuns digs deep into football history
Jay Walker, Special to RaginCajuns.com
Fans of the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns know that when the football program played in the 2011 New Orleans Bowl, it was the first bowl appearance since a 1970 game in the Grantland Rice Bowl.
It is safe to say, over the years, if there were as many bowl games back in the 1980s and 1990s, and even in the early 2000s, as there are today, there would not have been such a long drought. Of course, part of the issue for the Ragin' Cajuns was they played from 1982-92 as in independent.
That changed in 1993.
The Big West Conference was in a state of flux. The league had lost Fresno State, which moved to another league, and Cal State Fullerton dropped football, as did Long Beach State, leaving just six schools, Utah State, New Mexico State, San Jose State, UNLV, Nevada and Pacific as football-playing schools. The league decided to add four auxiliary members for football-only. They reached out to the Cajuns, Arkansas State, Louisiana Tech and Northern Illinois to create a 10-team conference. It was decided the teams would play six conference games, which meant not all the teams would play one another. And, for the first time, there was a pot of gold at the end of the football rainbow as the league champion would get a berth in the Las Vegas Bowl.
The Cajuns were coming off two miserable seasons, winning just four games combined in 1991 and 1992. And, the squad would have to open the season with a conference game against preseason favorite Utah State. The Aggies featured quarterback Anthony Calvillo, who went on to have a record-breaking career in the Canadian Football League.
Coaches later said they believed their best option at quarterback was a freshman by the name of Jake Delhomme. A local product from Teurilngs Catholic, Delhomme had great size at 6-3. But the coaches really wanted to redshirt Delhomme, as he weighed in at just 175 pounds. Nelson Stokley elected to start junior college transfer Jason Sanborn in the opener. But Sanborn threw three interceptions and the Cajuns offense went nowhere as Utah State built an insurmountable lead at halftime. A frustrated Stokley said as he left the field, “we have some decisions to make.”
In the locker room at halftime, offensive coordinator Lewis Cook went to Stokley and said “Number 12 (Delhomme) is our quarterback. Stokley responded that if that were the case, it meant the Cajuns were committing to the young freshman not just for game one. Cook responded “Number 12 is our quarterback.”
Delhomme performed admirably, but the Utah State lead was too much to overcome. The Cajuns would lose the following week at Miami (Ohio) before reeling off three-straight wins against Memphis, Southern Miss and Tulane. Then, back in conference play, the Cajuns ran their winning streak to six with Big West wins over Arkansas State, San Jose State and Northern Illinois.
Meanwhile, Nevada handed Utah State a conference loss to take possession of first place in the league, only to fall in an upset against Northern Illinois. There was now a three-way tie for first place. The Ragin' Cajuns’ winning streak came to an end at the hands of Steve Spurrier’s Florida Gators. The 6-3 Cajuns had two games left, at UNLV and at home against Louisiana Tech. Since the Cajuns did not have Nevada on the schedule, a three-way tie would be broken by the number of Division 1-A wins for each team. It was a tie-breaker the Cajuns were going to win easily. All they had to do was win their last two games and have Nevada beat lowly Arkansas State in their conference finale, or have Utah State lose at New Mexico State.
The Cajuns were having their way with UNLV in Las Vegas, and we were getting word on the Nevada-Arkansas State game. The Indians, as they were then known, jumped out to an early lead, but the Wolf Pack came back and scored with under a minute to go to take a 21-17 lead. It looked as though the Ragin' Cajuns were going to play in their first bowl game since 1970. They would be favored in their season finale against Louisiana Tech. They simply needed Nevada to hold on.
Arkansas State came into the game against Nevada with a record of 1-7-1. They had averaged only 11.0 points per game. They were mostly inept throwing the football with a freshman quarterback. But the Indians did something in the final 40 seconds they had not done all year.
They completed three-straight passes. The last one, on the final play of the game, went for a touchdown and Nevada left the field stunned, 23-21. Utah State came from behind to beat New Mexico State.
The Las Vegas Bowl was off the table.
The Cajuns won their final game against Louisiana Tech to win a share of the Big West title. But, at 8-3 they sat at home as 6-5 Utah State defeated Ball State in Las Vegas.
It would be another eighteen years before the Ragin' Cajuns would play in a bowl game.
