Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns 2010 Review

2010 Record: 3-9 (3-5), Tied 6th Sun Belt
2010 Bowl Game: None
2010 Schedule/Results: @ Georgia, L 55-7, Arkansas State, W 31-24, Middle Tennessee, L 34-14, @ North Texas, W 28-27, Oklahoma State, L 54-28, @ Troy, L 31-24, Western Kentucky, L 54-21, @ Ohio, L 38-31, @ Ole Miss, L 43-21, @ FAU, L 24-23, FIU, L 38-17, @ UL-Monroe, W 23-22

REVIEW

     The days of the Bustle Hustle are over. Ricky has left the building, and really it came about 3 years later than it should have happened. ULL still has not seen a bowl game since the beginning of time, and BUstle had a whole lot of chances and seasons to put together some kind of run, and it never happened. Now we move on to Mark Hudspeth, and these should be interesting times, as the former North Alabama head man gets his shot to run a program in the FBS to new heights.
      Chris Masson only lasted for 9 games for the Cajuns, but he was good enough during those games to move the offense in the right direction. Masson passed for 1842 yards and 11 TDs to just 6 picks. Don't blame him. He did his job reasonably well. The only drawback to him was his low completion rate of 52.7% on the season. He will be back in 2011, but will compete for the job in all likelihood.
     There was basically no rushing game to speak of for the Cajuns. Aaron Spikes only rushed for 28.25 yards per game, and QB Blaine Gauttier, the backup QB that is, was second on the team in rushing with only 280 yards. The Cajuns barely managed to rush for 100 yards per game as a team.
     The bright spot on the offense las TE Ladarius Green, who was named as our All-Bilo FBS TE of the Year. Green caught 44 passes for 794 yards and 7 scores on the season, and was promptly named All Bilo TE, and was also obviously All Bilo 1st Team Sun Belt. No other receiver on the team got close to Green in talent or production.
      Defensively, ULL was a mess. The schedule was no help as the Cajuns had to take on Oklahoma State and Georgia, both routed losses. ULL gave up 30 points or more 9 times, and they were overmatched almost weekly. Daylon McCoy was the team leader in tackles with just 68, while Devon Lewis-Buchannon was the only other player with over 60 tackles (63). Very bad.
     Nobody got close to double figure TFLs, and therefore, there was no excitement wacthing this defense getting victimized one week after another. Emeka Onyenekwu led the team with a horrible 4.5 sacks in a 12 game schedule. No opposing backfield ever faced real pressure from the Cajuns at any time.
     Orkeys Auriene did a solid job in the secondary, as he defended 8 passes to lead the team, and to make our All-Bilo 1st Team Sun Belt list. Auriene tied with Lionel Stokes for the pick lead with 3.
     Brett Baer was solid as he conected on all 7 of his FG attempts in 2010. Tyler Albrecht gave it a shot as well, but hit only one of his 6. Spencer Ortego was solid, as he averaged 40.07 yards per punt on 72 punts in 2010. Needless to say, he was a busy guy. He also won't be back in 2011, leaving another huge void.

FINAL NOTES

Bustle had too many chances to make it work at ULL. It never did and now he is deservedly gone. Expect a more focused group in 2011, but the talent won;t be in place yet, outside of Green at TE. Green is the only star player that ULL has coming back in 2011, and with a new era coming on, maybe that's not the worst thing. It's just time to start over in Lafayette, as nothing has worked for a very long time now.