The UL Ragin’ Cajuns got a week of moderate work and some rest.
As coach Micheal Desormeaux was quick to distinguish last Monday, the Cajuns didn’t have an open date last week in that they practiced three times.’
They enjoyed a bye week, meaning they didn’t play a game on the weekend.
At 4 p.m. Saturday against South Alabama, we’ll start to figure out how productive both the practices and the time off was for his Cajuns.
“We didn’t play to the standard that our team has set for themselves,” Desormeaux said of the 35-31 road loss to Southern Miss. “When that happens in this league and in the way that this thing works, anytime you play under your standard, you leave some things to chance.
“So, this week has been about, hey, how can we consistently do that and uh, and go have a really strong finish to this year?”
The first big step in that direction could be Desormeaux leaving open the possibility of senior safety Collin Jacob returning for Saturday’s game. Jacob suffered an injury in the Oct. 3 home win over Arkansas State and was projected to be out 4-6 weeks.
In UL’s road loss to Louisiana Tech, Jacob’s absence was noticed in the pass defense. In the loss at Southern Miss, the run defense was very lacking, giving up 286 yards.
“Collin Jacob right now has a real chance for this week, which for us is obviously huge news,” Desormeaux said. “He was a starter for a reason and played really well for us. Since he’s been out, I think defensively, we’ve been a little bit inconsistent there.
“I’m not saying it’s all because he’s been out, but certainly having, if we can get him back, that would be, uh, I think that’d be huge for our defense.”
The Cajuns return to Sun Belt play with a West Division even more balanced than it appeared after the game in Hattiesburg.
Yes, Louisiana Tech is clearly on top at 6-2 and 4-0. After the Bulldogs, though, there’s a five-way tie for second place between UL (5-3, 2-2), Arkansas State (4-4, 2-2), Troy (4-4, 2-2), Southern Miss (3-5, 2-2) and South Alabama (4-4, 2-2).
Yes, Southern Miss proved the upset of UL wasn’t a fluke, defeating ULM 35-21. And yes, that Troy team the Cajuns beat 33-6 and lost at home to ULM won at James Madison 24-21 on Thursday.
Of course, the team UL fans are the most concerned with at the moment is South Alabama. The Jaguars’ offense struggled in a 20-13 road loss at Marshall the week before, but then outplayed Louisiana Tech in many areas in Saturday’s 35-20 loss.
The Jags won in first downs 24-16, total yards 397-315 and in time of possession 33:23-26:37. A minus-2 in turnovers and 12 flags for 100 yards spoiled most of that good play.
“South Alabama started fast on offense,” said Desormeaux, who said South Alabama’s offensive line has the best unit of any of the Cajuns’ Sun Belt foes so far. “They went down and scored on three of their first four drives.
“On defense, Louisiana Tech had a tough time running the ball with any type of consistency. Um, you know, they created some yardage through the throw game, created some explosives in the throw game, but they didn’t run it overly efficiently.”
Desormeaux is hoping – perhaps even counting on – the remedy to the Cajuns getting outhustled in Hattiesburg was the bye week.
“It wasn’t like we loafing all over, but I didn’t think we’d played with the same speed and intensity,” Desormeaux said. “I don’t know, when you’re the head coach, you question everything. Should I have gone to tier 3 maybe earlier, or maybe it was a week too soon? Should I have just kept it status quo and not changed it before you had a bye week?”
Desormeaux is referring to the approach of giving his players more rest in practice late in the season.
“I just don’t think that we played with the same intensity, play speed,” he said. “it just wasn’t the same.”
The goal for this week is the kind of energy level and motivation teams have going into the opener.
“You need the week one excitement, right?” Desormeaux added. “When you get to week one, that Lamar game, you sit in the team room, and everybody is on the edge of their seat because they’re so excited about finally getting to the season. You need that excitement back.
“But you got to have week 9 execution and confidence and experience and all the things that you’ve done and that you’ve gained confidence throughout the year doing. So that’s what you hope you get out of the bye week.”
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