Football: UL’s high achievers rewarded on trip

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, November 7, 2014

 

LAS CRUCES, N.M – . One group of Ragin’ Cajuns flew in style Friday.

They were in first class on UL’s charter flight to El Paso, Texas, where the Ragin’ Cajuns stayed Friday night before bussing up Saturday to visit New Mexico State.

Which group was it?

It was whichever was the winner of this week’s Champions Team competition, which is designed to reward hard workers with the likes of a fast pass to avoid having to stand in line to have ankles taped, front-of-the-line spots at the chow table and extra-roomy seats on the team plane.

For the uninitiated, UL head coach Mark Hudspeth this week ran down details of just how in-program "game" works.

"Every team has a captain. Every team has a coach that monitors the team," he said. "At the start of the new, in January, we do a draft.

"We give a list to every captain of the discipline file, of strength records in the weight room, protect-the-house (stadium steps running) times. So they decide who to draft. They don’t want to draft somebody who’s always in trouble, because they’re gonna lose points.

"They want to draft somebody like maybe (senior punter Daniel) Cadona, who is Player of the Game all the time, who wins protect-the-house, who never misses anything," he added. "Then we post where you were picked, so the whole team sees what the rest of the team thinks about them."

Each week, points are counted – factoring in everything from positive accomplishments to negatives like being late for class or being late for medical treatment."

"It’s a deal to hold each other accountable," Hudspeth said.

Quarterback Terrance Broadway’s team seems to frequently win, but there’s someone else to whom it may mean even more.

"It’s Coach Rodrigue (offensive line coach Mitch Rodrigue)," Hudspeth said with a laugh. "Coach Rod – he wants to sit up front, so he drives his guys hard. … He makes them get all these points so he can sit up front. Don’t let him fool you."

WON’T HAPPEN

Playing as hot as it is right now, some suggest UL would love another crack at nationally ranked Ole Miss. The Rebels beat the 5-3 Cajuns, who currently are on a four-game win streak, 56-15 back in September.

Not gonna happen.

"Everyone in football knows second chances don’t come around like that," UL defensive end Chris Prater said. "But it would be nice to have another shot."

BETTER CHOICE

It sounds as if New Mexico State coach Doug Martin thinks the Aggies’ schedule makers might not have picked wisely this week.

"This is not the Homecoming opponent that you want," Martin said, according to the Las Cruces Sun newspaper.

"In my opinion," Martin added, "this (UL) is the most talented team the Sun Belt has to offer. They have tremendous team speed and they have a lot of seniors."

At 4-0 in conference play, UL is second in the Sun Belt behind only SBC newcomer Georgia Southern (6-0).

Georgia Southern, incidentally, has a date today at Texas State, which the Cajuns beat 34-10.

STAT OF THE DAY

How’s this for telling?

UL is averaging 35.5 points and 274.5 rushing yards during its current four-game win streak, which includes wins over Georgia State, Texas State, Arkansas State and South Alabama. It averaged 14.7 points and 146 rushing yards, however, during its preceding three-game losing streak, which included defeats at the hands of Louisiana Tech, Ole Miss and Boise State.