Football: Cajuns likely locked out of bowl picture

Joshua Parrott • jparrott@theadvertiser.com • November 30, 2009

Wondering what the future holds for UL football after a 48-31 loss to Troy on Saturday night at Cajun Field. Here are some thoughts and observations looking back on the loss.

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Barring a miracle, it appears that UL’s bowl drought will continue.

The Cajuns (6-6, 4-4 Sun Belt) are one of 71 bowl-eligible teams for 68 postseason openings.

Joining UL in the pool of 6-6 at-large teams are Notre Dame, UCLA and UL Monroe. (A win by Army over Navy on Dec. 12 would send the Black Knights to the EagleBank Bowl and bump 6-6 Marshall into that group. Hawaii would go to the Hawaii Bowl with a win next weekend over Wisconsin.)

If that number stays at 71, most signs point toward Notre Dame or UCLA filling the empty ACC slot in the GMAC Bowl in Mobile, Ala. Unless something crazy happens, the Cajuns will have to wait until next year to snap a bowl-less streak dating back to 1970.

UL won six games for the fourth time in five years, but the likelihood of no postseason has the fan base fired up. There’s frustration that the Cajuns came up one victory short of seven wins for the first time since 1993, with losses to lowly Florida Atlantic and Florida International serving as major disappointments. Some are ready for a change at the top.

Head coach Rickey Bustle is set to meet with athletic director David Walker and president Joseph Savoie this week, something that happens for every coach at the end of their respective season.

For those interested, Bustle’s current contract expires following the 2010 season. (He would have earned a one-year extension with a winning record this season.)

While the frustration is understandable, it’s important to recognize that the program is in better shape than when Bustle took over eight years ago. That cannot be ignored.

The current administration has some tough questions to ask and answer. Now we play the waiting game to see what the program’s future holds.

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Using an aggressive approach, UL’s offense put together one of its top outings in recent memory against a seasoned Troy squad that was second in the Sun Belt in total defense, rushing defense and points allowed in conference games.

The Cajuns racked up a season-high 563 yards – their most since gaining 590 last year in a blowout win over North Texas. It was the most yardage allowed by Troy this season in Sun Belt play.

Most of that damage came in the air as UL threw for a season-high 415 yards and four touchdowns, with three different quarterbacks throwing for 100 yards and one score.

Starter Chris Masson was 16-of-25 passing for 187 yards, one touchdown and one interception before leaving in the third quarter with a back injury. The sophomore finished this season with 222 pass completions, falling just short of the single-season school record of 224 set by Jon Van Cleave in 2001.

Brad McGuire, who spent the last half of the season as a run-first threat, connected on 5-of-8 passes for 109 yards and one score. That included an incredible 91-yard touchdown pass – the third-longest pass play in school history – to tight end Ladarius Green after getting hit as he released the ball. McGuire, who also ran for his team-leading seventh score, left in the fourth quarter with a concussion.

Redshirt freshman Blaine Gautier went 9-of-17 passing for 119 yards and one touchdown and ran twice for 15 yards on UL’s final two drives.

Green made five receptions for 119 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Luke Aubrey set career highs with seven catches for 130 yards, including a 57-yard scoring reception from Masson.

They became UL’s first pair of 100-yard receivers in the same game since Fred Stamps (198 yards) and Bill Sampy (102) surpassed that mark against ULM on Oct. 11, 2003.

Having McGuire and Green back healthy for the second consecutive week was a big factor. It also gave us a glimpse at what the Cajuns could have been with their offensive weapons in good condition and on the field.

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The play of Gautier and McGuire showed that Masson will be challenged for the starting job during spring drills.

Even if the two-headed system is used again next fall, one of those guys will be on the bench. Guess that means there will be another intense competition in the spring.

Senior linebacker Antwyne Zanders made five tackles against Troy to finish with 103 in the regular season.

Zanders recorded with the most tackles by a Cajun in a season since Damon Mason (135) and Kelcy Dotson (112) in 1996.

The Kentwood native is fifth alltime in school history with 308 tackles. Only Steve Spinella (386), Orlando Thomas (347), Chris Jacobs (326) and Dale Thomas (311) had more tackles as a Cajun.

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The Cajuns definitely could have used senior tailback Undrea Sails in the lineup for the last half of the season.

Sails, lost for the year with a fractured leg in the second quarter against Western Kentucky on Oct. 17, finished as the team’s leading rusher with 432 yards and two touchdowns on 97 carries.

His rushing yardage is in the top 10 in the conference despite missing half the season.

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UL kicker Tyler Albrecht went into Saturday a perfect 29-of-29 on extra points this season but missed two of his three attempts in the loss.

The junior was obviously frustrated with his misses, spending the final few minutes of the fourth quarter attempting kicks on the sideline.

He later lined up and made a kick on the field as the media did interviews after the game.

That’s the type of resilience that could result in the Cajuns taking another step forward and possibly winning that elusive seventh game next season.