I Love being a Ragin Cajun! (5-1 3-0 in SunBelt)

View of the Student Section

This is such a great time to be a Ragin Cajun fan right now and if you would like to jump on that bandwagon, we got plenty of room. So far UL is leading the SunBelt conference in attendance for football with about 27,000+ fans per game. For all the LSU goons who don't know anything other than the LSU Tigers that might sound like barely anything. But the max capacity for Cajun Field is listed at 31,000 (not counting the grass hills of course). Coach Mark Hudspeth is doing something the past 2 coaches couldn't do over the past 12-15 years, and that is waking up the monster of UL that has been sleeping for far too long. and he has a strong following that believes in everything he is selling, promoting, and teaching. I hope you stay with us for a long time (at least long enough to allow the person to take over your system) and continue to build a franchise. I would love to see us as the next TCU or Boise State. The state of Louisiana needs a competitor for LSU and definitely needs to end the politics involved around it as well.

Saturday was a huge game. The almighty Troy Trojans were coming to the Swamp and this is a must win if the Cajuns wanted to have a chance to win the Sun Belt Championship this year. It is also a goal that Hudspeth wanted to accomplish (win every home game...which is a very possible feat and even much so after this weekend). Troy is always talented and have competed with some big name schools in the past. They beat Oklahoma St. in 2007, Almost beat LSU in 2008 after giving up a 3 score lead in the 4th quarter have been consistently the Sun Belt champs of 2007-2010 and the only time UL beat Troy was in 2005 so yea talk about a key game. What best for me to represent then be my moniker as Waldo. They had 29,755 to watch this game, but only 1 Waldo, I even convinced my sister to be Carmen Sandiego and she turned out looking awesome and represented the character well. So well not many people noticed who she was, but the ones that did were even more excited when they realized they found both of us in the same day! haha.

Carmen Sandiego and Waldo Representing that UL Love!

Javone Lawson with a great TD catch to go along with his 136 yd performance.

As the Cajuns ran out on the field the crowd was electric and yelling on top of their lungs. I think this pumped up the players because they marched down the field and quickly scored to get a 7-0 lead on the Trojans. Next thing you know, Brett the Baer attack was setting up his kick after the score and the crowd was still going wild. Then, Hudspeth pulls a play out of the Sean Payton book. Baer dabbles an onside kick that NO ONE but I think the Cajuns were expecting and We recovered again!! everyone was going crazy and I honestly felt like I was in the Louisiana Superdome. It was ridiculously loud and I could barely hear the person sitting next to me. It is the types of games I love to be at. I just couldn't believe this was coming from our Ragin Cajuns. I always knew what they were capable of, but the fact that it was actually happening was so great to see. It was even better to see that so many people were finally behind them.

I remember how loud we were when there were only 15,000 AT MOST for that freezing cold rainy Kansas St. game that a game winning field goal was kicked to win the game 17-15. You can hear it for yourself on this youtube clip how ecstatic our lowly Cajuns crowd was. I still get chills watching it.

Now amplify that by 5-10x for the whole Troy game this year and you can have your experience. But that is just the first few plays of the game. The Cajuns have a 14-3 lead and there is only :25 seconds left of the half but the Trojans are driving. Then Troy's QB throws it directly to Melvin White who dodges, bobs and weaves for 87 yards to get the 5th and NCAA Leading Interception for Touchdown. This also gives all four of the starting Secondary atleast one Pick 6 which is an amazing feat in itself (Bill Bentley #5 has 2). As I was watching White scamper, looking from left when he caught it to the middle as he broke a tackle and jumped over another, all the way down to the endzone as he did his leap onto the grassy hill I saw beers flying in the air like fireworks, Hands high fiving, people yelling and smiling and knew that this was the night the Ragin Cajuns made their statement. That they will no longer be walked on, talked down on, and can now make a name for themselves. They can now say we are THE University of Louisiana Ragin Cajuns and there is more where this came from so join the bandwagon or get out of the way because we are going to run over anyone who tries to stop us. The fact that this team has 15 Freshman that get an great amount of playing time and next year only 4 starters will be gone on offense and 3 on defense is what makes it so great.

At half time the Lafayette Little League team that was showcased as the Cardiac Cajuns and also the Special Little Leaguers were commemorated and there was an awesome fireworks display to congratulate them on their success throughout the year. Both teams won their regions and had championships of their own.

There was also some idiot who decided it was cool to wear an LSU Tiger purple shirt into the UL student section they call the REDZONE. This poor guy made the mistake of going to the restroom during half time as everyone was sitting down all you hear are boos from the bottom of the feild. As he passed each section more boos would cry out all the way until he left the area and I had the biggest grin on my face. There was University of Louisiana (at Lafayette for you haters) vs. Troy Trojans, He was clearly lost and didn't realize that Tiger Stadium had already destroyed Florida (Congrats to them btw) about 50 miles northeast up I-10 so our loyal student section were pleased to boo him out of the stadium and into that direction. There were no spit, no drinks or food were thrown at him, no curse words to degrade him or his family, just some good fun and ridicule for this guys idiotic decision.

Next thing you know, one of the Green guys were being kicked out because he had put on his mask. How dare you cover your face in a costume. He and the University Police that were escourting him out stopped and everyone started chanting "LET HIM GO!!" The UP got uncomfortable after about 3 minutes of being chanted at and finally told him to go, another round of boos lit the air. It was the most entertaining Half time I have ever experienced haha.

The game got started and the crowd stayed loud. Last week almost a third of the crowd left in the 3rd quarter and it turned out to be a great game until the end. With that known and a special magic in the air (or Maybe it was the fireworks and the 24-3 lead at the half on the reigning SunBelt champs) a majority of the fans stayed and accounted for atleast 3 or 4 false starts by the Troy offensive line due to crowd noise. With next week being Homecoming vs. North Texas, I really hope we can master to sell out and have an even louder crowd vs. the Mean Green (who beat Indiana Hoosiers earlier this year) They are talking trash just like Troy did before Saturday so I guess they will just have to learn the hard way as well. I am on call this week so have to work, wont be able to tail gate as long as I would like but I am definitely not missing this game (a win would make us bowl eligible for the 5th time in 7 years and the first time ANY Sun Belt conference team starts 6-1 for the season) This Season has all kinds of history in the making and I want to be a part of it as much as possible. BTW this 5-1 start is the first time since 1970...that is 41 years...

The Cajuns continued to pound the football and Troy fought back and were able to get a couple scores on the boards but there was no way they could answer the storm in the Swamp that the Cajuns rained down upon them. This team reminds me so much of how the Saints started their climb and like I have said before even down to the Head Coaches is what it resembles. Jerry Baldwin of the Cajuns reminded me of the years with Mike Ditka for the saints. Rickey Bustle of the Cajuns reminded me of Jim Haslett of the Saints (getting us out of the rut and making us a respectable program but still alot of room to improve. With Mark Hudspeth I see him as Sean Payton as he has constructed a great coaching staff, capable of encouraging and maturing his players, rallying the hearts of Acadiana citizens, and giving the success the die hard fans knew what the Cajuns were capable of but just had to figure out how to get it. This is a great Time to be a Cajun and the University itself has so much potential to be a great Institution Athletically and Academically. The Final Score was 31-17 and If you missed it, don't worry, you can watch the replay of the game (The whole game) and hear the crowd and see the atmosphere for yourself. Here's the Link but don't miss next week because it will be just as fun as last! UL Ragin Cajuns vs. Troy Trojans


Matt Stroud