Oct. 5, 2001

Upon their first look at Arizona State's 2001 football schedule, a substantial number of Sun Devil fans likely asked themselves the same questions.

Louisiana--Lafayette? How? Why? Who?

How and why are the Devils playing a team from the heart of Louisiana Cajun country? And who are these guys, anyway?

To answer the last question first, they are the Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette, a school formerly known as the University of Southwestern Louisiana. It is a school that has produced its fair share of pro football stars, including Baltimore Ravens wide receiver Brandon Stokley (who scored the first touchdown of last January's Super Bowl XXV), Arizona Cardinals offensive lineman Anthony Clement, and, most notable of all, ex-Washington Redskin and current Philadelphia Eagle Brian Mitchell, arguably the finest kick return specialist in NFL history. As recently as 1993-94, USL won back-to-back championships in the Big West Conference. However, in recent years, the Ragin' Cajuns have fallen upon hard times, losing 42 of their last 49 games, dating back to the 1996 season. So far this year, Louisiana-Lafayette is 1-3 under third-year head coach Jerry Baldwin, a one-time assistant coach at LSU.

As for the "how" and "why" questions raised above, I know that ASU has taken some potshots this week from indignant critics who claim Arizona State has no business scheduling a school like Louisiana-Lafayette. However, a careful review of the facts reveals that the criticism is, in my opinion, unfounded.

Originally, the Dirk Koetter era of ASU football was to have started on Saturday, Sept. 1, with the Sun Devils visiting Norman, Ok., to take on the defending national champion Oklahoma Sooners. OU was then scheduled to reciprocate by visiting Sun Devil Stadium next season. However, according to ASU athletic department officials, Oklahoma coach Bob Stoops looked at his team's tentative 2002 list of opponents and apparently felt the Sooners had "over-scheduled," a catch phrase that basically means "too many potentially difficult non-conference games." OU decided it wanted out of the 2002 matchup at Arizona State. ASU's response: if you guys aren't coming here next year, we're not going there this year! Consequently, the two-game series was scrapped this past winter, leaving ASU officials with precious little time to come up with an 11th game for the 2001 season. Since most major colleges schedule non-conference football games years (even a decade or more) into the future, it was virtually impossible to find another Division 1-A school with an opening in its 2001 slate. Scheduling a Division 1-AA school (like, for instance, Northern Arizona University) didn't make much sense, since a victory over such an institution would not ordinarily count toward the six wins needed to become bowl-eligible (a sidebar note: ASU opens next season against Eastern Washington, which is a Division 1-AA school. However, once every four years, Division 1-A schools are permitted to count a victory over a Division 1-AA opponent toward bowl eligibility). After making inquiries around the country, the Sun Devils finally were able to land Division 1-A Louisiana-Lafayette as an opponent, and moved the game to October 6, which originally was to have been a "bye" week, because the Ragin' Cajuns already had a contest scheduled for September 1. That basically is the "how" and "why" of the story. Granted, it would be nice to see a big-name opponent in this spot on the Devils' schedule, and indeed, the coming years will see ASU playing schools like North Carolina, Iowa, Northwestern, Boston College, Colorado and Notre Dame. But, on such short notice, you're simply not going to find upper-echelon opponents with available open dates on their schedules. It seems to me the Sun Devils did the best they could in securing Louisiana-Lafayette as this weekend's rival.

Which leads to my next thought (which comes under the heading of: "before you take these guys too lightly")...

After five difficult years as a Division 1-A independent, the Ragin' Cajuns are in their first year as a member of the new Sun Belt Conference football league. The last time a current Sun Belt Conference member played Arizona State in Tempe was 1999. The opponent on that September night? New Mexico State. No ASU fan who bleeds maroon will ever forget the 35--7 humiliation the Aggies from Las Cruces inflicted upon the Devils that evening. I know that painful memory is indelibly etched in the minds of current Sun Devil players who absorbed that defeat. "It hasn't left me," says running back Delvon Flowers. "I always think about how they came in and dogged us....a mediocre team that we should've beaten, with the talent we had. Coach Koeter, with his attitude, how he wants us to win...I don't think that should happen again. Our attitude should change. We're more focused on what we have to do."

Indeed, one of the more impressive characteristics I've noticed thus far about the 2001 Devils is their ability to TCB (take care of business) against foes you figure they should beat, having overwhelmed San Diego State and San Jose State by a combined score of 91--22, and doing so without really playing their absolute best football. This Saturday's game with Louisiana-Lafayette provides ASU with another opportunity to tend to business, and it's one the Sun Devils need to capitalize on, with Pac-10 play set to resume next week.

Whereas last week's opponent, San Jose State, was one of the nation's lowest-ranking teams on defense, the Ragin' Cajuns have struggled offensively in 2001, averaging just 63 rushing yards (109th in the nation), 234 total yards (110th) and 13 points (102nd) per game. However, Louisiana-Lafayette does employ a multitude of four and five-wide receiver sets (similar to Washington State) and has some good athletes among its receiver corps. Names to remember: Marcus Wilridge, who is sixth all time at Louisiana-Lafayette with 88 career receptions, and Nick Dugas (pronounced: doo-GAH), the Cajuns' top pass-catcher this year with 19. They should provide a worthy challenge for the Sun Devils' youthful secondary, a group which, all in all, has performed more than adequately this season. Though their team rushing average is poor, the Cajuns' top running back is a good one, 232-pound junior Jerome Coleman, who so far has gained 274 yards (4.2 average) and rushed for three touchdowns. It should also be interesting to watch Louisiana-Lafayette's quarterback, sophomore Jon Van Cleave, who stands 6'4" and tips the scales at 248 pounds! If he doesn't like being the quarterback, he's probably big enough to start rushing the quarterback!

The strength of Louisiana-Lafayette's team is their pass defense, which is rated fourth in the nation, allowing an average of just 132 passing yards a game. Frequently, when a team defends the pass well, it's partly because opponents have great success running the ball and, as a result, don't need to throw. That could be the case here, since the Ragin' Cajuns allow an average of 195 rushing yards per game. But, as coach Koetter noted this week, Louisiana-Lafayette has some legitimately good athletes in the secondary. Junior cornerback Charles Tillman was ninth in the nation last year with six interceptions, while senior safety Kyries Hebert is the school's number three all-time tackler. It figures to be strength versus strength Saturday night: Louisiana-Lafayette's highly-rated pass defense versus the Jeff Krohn-led Arizona State offense that ranks sixth in the country with an average of 306 passing yards per game.

Since this is the Devils' final "dress rehearsal" before Pac--10 productions resume next week, the fellows don't want to blow their lines now. So far, they've been well-prepared, adequately focused, and properly motivated for their non-conference matchups with San Diego State and San Jose State. There's no reason to believe the Sun Devils won't turn in a similar performance this weekend against Louisiana-Lafayette.

Tim Healey is the radio play-by-play voice of ASU football for the Sun Devil Sports Network. Tim can be reached by e-mail at: TIMJHEALEY@aol.com.