Cajuns Are Buying-In
BOBBY ARDOIN
Editor/Consulting Writer
It began in January with a belief that is an 8-1 reality.
A core group of veteran Louisiana players on the current roster apparently recognized the possibilities ahead of them by remaining in Lafayette for at least another year.
The large number of seniors, many of them with college diplomas, could have easily transferred to play elsewhere or moved on with their lives, says Cajuns’ head football coach Mike Desormeaux.
Ultimately that wasn’t the case and in real time Louisiana is the only team without a defeat in five Sun Belt Conference games after dismantling division opponent Arkansas State 55-19 Saturday night at Cajun Field.
With three SBC games remaining against South Alabama, Troy and UL-Monroe, Louisiana is in position to participate in the league championship game next month.
At this point last year the Louisiana football program began a three-game conference losing streak starting with a humiliating 37-17 loss to ASU in Jonesboro.
Then came a 34-31 New Orleans bowl defeat to Jacksonville State on Dec. 16.
So for many Cajuns players, it might have been time to say simply, “Do I stay or should I go?”
Trusting there was success ahead if they remained, many of the Cajuns made the decision to play another season.
“How they felt then has everything to do with it. They felt if they stayed together, they could be part of something special. They’d been to hell and back, but that was about not being mature and handling mistakes. There were opportunities for all of them to go somewhere else, but I knew that if we stayed together, we could have a good team,” Desormeaux added.
Some probably questioned the elevation of Desormeaux to head coach in 2021 without any college head coaching experience.
Desormeaux, who handled aspects of the Louisiana offense as an assistant, is 21-15 as the Cajuns’ head coach.
Most of the roster contains players he recruited. Eight-four of them are from the state.
“Everyone in here believed that we could be where we are. It doesn’t matter what is said outside of the building. It takes belief first before you want to be in this position and I am glad of where we are,” Desormeaux said.
Game Story
Desormeaux acknowledged that the players were motivated to play ASU (5-4, 3-2).
That attitude was noticeable in preparations last week, said Desormeaux,
“They have been looking forward to the game for a year now. Last year we didn’t play one of our best games and we wanted to come out and play physically. We prepared to play to the level we wanted to perform. I am just proud of our guys and happy of the way that we performed,” Desormeaux said.
Wide receiver Robert Williams said the Cajuns’ players kept reminding themselves about last year.
“We wanted to make sure that we didn’t make the same mistakes,” said Williams, who caught four passes for 55 yards.
Cajuns’ defensive lineman Jordan Lawson said remembering their performance last year against the Red Wolves was the motivating factor.
“You’ve got a lot of guys on this team from last year, so you have some of them that had chips on their shoulders. All three of the phases came out and you say a lot better than last year,” Lawson pointed out.
