Football: Best years may be ahead for Cajun Field

August 29, 2010

Can it be 40 years now?
It can’t be. If it is, then age is no longer my ally.
I was a UL freshman in 1971 and was on hand when Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns hosted Santa Clara in the first football game at Cajun Field.
Coach Russ Faulkinberry’s program was coming off a 26-25 loss to Tennessee State in the 1970 Grantland Rice Bowl, and the Cajuns were moving into a new 31,000-seat facility. It seemed like a fitting way to follow up a bowl.
The game went well enough, a 21-0 UL triumph, but the same number of people who used to show up for games on campus at McNaspy Stadium looked pretty sparse in the sparkling new facility. But, at least there was room to grow.
Now, as the Cajuns enter their 40th campaign at Cajun Field, they play on a spiffy surface called Pro Grass Synthetic Turf System and annually think in terms of a possible bowl bid as a member of the Sun Belt Conference.
In many ways, the program has grown from that September night against Santa Clara.
But you can still count on one hand the number of times Cajun Field has been filled past capacity.
Last season’s historic matchup against Southern University brought a record 41,357 fans of both schools to watch UL pull away 42-19.
Of course, the previous benchmark of 38,783 was set in 1996 when Jake Delhomme and an opportunistic defense stunned Texas A&M 29-22 in the only win over a Top 25 program in school history.
A&M coach R.C. Slocum should have consulted with former Alabama coach Gene Stallings, who warily brought his Crimson Tide to town in 1990 and drew 36,133. Bama won 25-6 and two years later was a national champion, but Stallings was not fond of the visit.
And 2007’s renewal of the old rivalry with McNeese State drew 33,828 (MSU won 38-17).
That’s about it, though. Face it. The place is rarely full. Maybe that’s one reason the Cajuns’ all-time record at Cajun Field is a modest 113-94-2.
UL has posted three unbeaten home seasons at Cajun Field, 7-0 in 1976 under coach Augie Tammariello, 5-0 in Sam Robertson’s first year of 1980, and 5-0 in 1987 under Nelson Stokley. Three times out of 39 is too infrequent for such a standard.
Oh, there are people. Judging from the tailgating outside, a UL football game is a popular event. When it’s time for the kickoff, though, many remain by the smoked delights and stimulating beverages.
Admittedly, there have been years when the smoker generated more heat than the Cajuns. But the only way to create homefield advantage is to transform Cajun Field into an intimidating, menacing pit for visitors.
The Swamp can become that kind of pit with a little help.
Those who have ventured inside have seen some highlights over the years.
The A&M game remains atop most lists of top moments, but there are others.
The 1976 Cajuns trailed Louisiana Tech 26-10 at halftime but rallied behind Roy Henry for a 31-26 triumph.
For homecoming 1982, UL Monroe zoomed ahead of the Cajuns 26-0 in the first half. But Dwight Prudhomme’s surprise, 60-yard quarterback sneak touchdown ignited a barrage of points in a 40-26 victory.
Thomas Jackson proved to be quite a mudder in 1983, carrying UL past Tech 13-9 in a monsoon with a school-record 35 carries for 175 yards.
The 1986 season opener remains a classic as Stokley’s first game saw UL jump ahead of Oklahoma State 20-9. But Bobby Riley’s 95-yard kickoff return and a late touchdown pass to Hart Lee Dykes enabled OSU to escape 21-20.
Brian Mitchell ran for 271 yards and passed for 205 to lift the Cajuns past Colorado State 35-28 in 1987. In Mitchell’s career finale in 1989, he led a 29-28 comeback over Arkansas State, twice converting the game-winning two-point conversion to his high school teammate Corey Williams when a penalty wiped out one successful PAT.
Sadly, there were plenty of seats available that day as arguably the program’s greatest player bowed out.
The 1992 season was largely forgettable, but the finale was not. Arkansas State won 20-7 in a game called with 7 1/2 minutes left when a tornadic thunderstorm roared through The Swamp.
Stokley’s 1993 and 1994 Cajuns won the Big West Conference, going 8-2 at home those two years.
Since Rickey Bustle took over the program in 2002, he has only had one sub-.500 season at home and has gone 8-3 at Cajun Field the last two years. That includes last year’s 17-15 thriller over Big 12 member Kansas State.
Players like Tyrell Fenroy and Michael Desormeaux ranked with the best to ever wear the Vermilion and White, and players wait in the wings every year to add their name to the highlight list.
It’s been a good ride. It can be better.