Football: Artigue handling the pressure as UL’s freshman kicker

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, September 21, 2015

 

UL Ragin’ Cajuns place kicker Stevie Artigue (36) kicks the ball during warmups of an NCAA football game against the Northwestern State Demons at Cajun Field Saturday, Sept. 12, 2015.(Photo: Paul Kieu, The Advertiser)

 

 

Coming out of spring drills earlier this year, walk-on Dylan Scheurich was expected to battle incoming true freshman Stevie Artigue for UL’s starting kicking job – with senior Carlos Alvarez also in the mix.

Scheurich had strained back muscles when preseason camp opened in early August, however, so he never really competed.

Artigue won the job, and the scholarship kicker from Lafayette High debuted as a Ragin’ Cajun by going 2-of-2 on PATs and making his only field goal attempt – a 31-yarder – in a season-opening loss at Kentucky.

He followed that up by going 5-of-6 on extra-point attempts and hitting only field goal try, a 26-yarder, in UL’s home-opening win over Northwestern State on Sept. 12.

Cajuns head coach Mark Hudspeth has expressed full faith in the freshman’s work.

Scheurich, however, returned to practice last Thursday.

Hudspeth said that day that the Haynes Academy product from Metarie remains about two weeks away from actually being ready to play, but he liked what he saw from the redshirt freshman.

“He had a good kickoff,” Hudspeth said.

“I’m glad to have him back,” he added, “because he was kicking the ball really well in the spring.”

Asked if it was too late for Scheurich to play sometime this season, Hudspeth indicated it was not.

Yet, he also endorsed Artigue, who is known for his strong leg.

“It’s still early,” Hudspeth said. “We’ll see how (Scheurich) does.

“But right now Stevie (Artigue) is our No. 1 kicker. … He’s perfect on his field goals. I think he’s doing an excellent job.

“But Dylan (Scheurich) will get an opportunity to show what he can do in practice,” he added. “And they’re all a little bit sore … so you never know. You’ve got to keep somebody ready.”

Hudspeth suggested he was naturally nervous to see how Artigue would fare at Kentucky, but his jitters didn’t last long.

“Absolutely, in front of (62,933),” he said. “But I thought he handled it well. … He’s a freshman, and I think he’s handled it really well.”

   LONG WEEKEND

The Cajuns, idle Saturday, return to work Sunday night as they prepare for this coming Saturday’s home game against Akron.

Because of the bye week, Hudspeth gave his players Friday and Saturday off. After last Thursday’s practice, he dismissed with wishes for a good weekend – and plenty of warnings.

“You worry about them, just like they’re your kids, just like any parent (whose) kids get to go off for the weekend somewhere,” Hudspeth said. “You’re always worried about them, hoping they’re safe and hoping they’re making good decisions.

“But you know what? … You don’t ever expect that from a group that (has) had hardly any issues. So I expect they’ll come back really in renewed spirit and ready to go.”

   NIXON’S STATUS

Usual No. 3 quarterback Jordan Davis worked with the backups Thursday so backup Jalen Nixon could further rest an injured throwing shoulder that kept him out of the NSU game.

“He probably could throw, but we’ve got the long weekend coming back,” Hudspeth said, “so we just really wanted it to give a chance to heal up without getting it sore again. So, we’re hoping by Tuesday that he will be about 100 percent.”

   MOVING DAY

Moving day for Cajuns players getting into their locker room in UL’s new athletic performance center was pushed back from late last week to Sunday, Hudspeth said, because a few things were unfished and “I really wanted to give them the wow factor when they walked in.”