Cajuns renew spicy Louisiana rivalry with No. 8 LSU

By Mike Medina  |   Friday, September 01, 2006  |  Comments( 0 )

Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns
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BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) -Louisiana native Jerry Babb has two challenges ahead of him as he prepares to lead Louisiana-Lafayette's Ragin' Cajuns into Tiger Stadium on Saturday night - and only one has to do with moving the football against No. 8 LSU.

The other concerns the type of abstinence that doesn't come easily to people from a place where food is fine art and indulgence seems innate.

"My family has a big tailgate thing and I always want to sneak by before the game," the quarterback says. "They make anything and everything."

The football-loving foodies from Lafayette, the de facto capital of Cajun country, can easily make the hour's drive to Baton Rouge, where LSU fans are renowned for their own elaborate all-day feasts of Louisiana fare leading up to night games in Death Valley. Even if the game between these two teams turns out to be a mismatch, the convergence of their fans should make for an epic tailgating scene to celebrate the kickoff of what most people in this state regard as the best time of the year.

"There'll be jambalaya, gumbo, etouffee - probably shrimp etouffee since crawfish season is over, although you can always get frozen crawfish - barbecue, adult beverages," Babb predicted excitedly. "I'm almost positive someone out there will have alligator and frog."

Now if only the Ragin' Cajuns can avoid being feasted upon by the Tigers, who bring back a solid nucleus of players from last year's 11-2 squad that overcame the distractions of two devastating hurricanes and finished by devouring the Miami Hurricanes in the Peach Bowl.

Second-year LSU coach Les Miles talks confidently about the prospects for the 2006 team, which returns players like quarterback JaMarcus Russell, senior running backs Justin Vincent and Alley Broussard and receivers Dwayne Bowe and Early Doucet, not to mention several defensive leaders like safeties LaRon Landry and Jesse Daniels.

"I can tell you that playing for a championship is what we all strive for," Miles said this week.

Still, he's hoping to keep his players hungry against Louisiana-Lafayette - a team that would be easy to overlook with games against Arizona and Auburn the following two weeks.

"There's always a problem with an opener - not seeing what they might bring to the table," Miles said.

He was referring to the Ragin' Cajuns' play-calling, not their pregame spread.

Louisiana-Lafayette plays in the Sun Belt Conference, a weak league that gets regularly roughed up by the SEC, which LSU has been at the top of in recent seasons. The last time these teams met in 2002, LSU led 41-0 at halftime and won 48-0.

But this year, the Ragin' Cajuns are expected to be the best team in their conference and perhaps more than a pushover for the Tigers.

ULL returns 40 letter winners and in Babb has a quarterback who is known for good play fakes, passing and running - something that has the attention of LSU defenders.

"The quarterback - he's going to fake you on the run or the pass if you let him," Landry said. "They really do kind of a hard play-action, and if we don't read our keys it could be a big bust in the secondary. If we think it's a run and come up too hard, he can get us over the top."

The Cajuns also have a solid ground attack led by sophomore Tyrell Fenroy, who gained over 1,000 yards in his freshman year.

And the intensity should be turned up. Teams from these schools in other sports, namely baseball, do not like each other. There have been fights on the field. Those loyal to Louisiana-Lafayette do little to hide their resentment of living in LSU's giant shadow.

"A lot of true fans of ULL absolutely hate LSU and that's been a lot of the talk over the summer heading into this first game," Babb said. "Everyone we talk to in class - the teachers are interested and the classmates are interested and we definitely feel it. We're all excited and ready to go."

AP NEWS
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