Louisiana football keeps winning, but concerns grow before SBC play
· Yahoo Sports
Ugly wins are becoming a trend for Louisiana football following its Week 4 showing against Charlotte on the road.
Despite coming away with a 34-7 victory, its hard for fifth-year head coach Michael Desormeaux, his staff and his team to be completely over the moon with the win.
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"It wasn't a great game but as a team we're always striving for perfection," UL football defensive lineman Fitzgerald West Jr. said. "Yea we got this win but, we're always looking to improve."
While UL's defense carried its weight, offensively, the Ragin’ Cajuns have allowed three different defenses to score. It started against Lamar then against the University of Alabama at Birmingham and now against Charlotte.
All three scores were result of fumbles and scoop and scores to follow. Outside of the ball security issue, the rushing attack hasn’t found a healthy balance yet. With this win over the 49ers, much is still left to be desired for the Cajuns as Sun Belt Conference play approaches.
Louisiana football’s ball security issues
In the first half alone, UL fumbled the ball three times including the one Charlotte’s Jaylon Johnson recovered and took 54 yards for a touchdown. Luckily, the Cajuns were able to recover the other two in the second half.
"Its embarssing," Desormeaux said on UL's ball security issues. "Thankfully our defense is playing at an extremely high level. Ball security is something that's got to get corrected immediately . Those are things that are just inexcusable."
Along with the Cajuns ball carriers needing to be more cautious, their offensive line has got to give them more protection. On some plays the 49ers were bulldozing their way through the offensive line, sacking quarterback Lunch Winfield three times. As a team, Charlotte finished with nine tackles for loss for 34 yards.
UL will need more from the big bodies in the trenches to get past SBC defensive lines with more size than Charlotte.
Who’s going to step up in Louisiana’s backfield?
Heading into the game, Winfield was leading the Cajuns’ rushing attack and that continued in Week 4. He rushed for his sixth touchdown of the season against Charlotte on a nine-yard quarterback keeper. Outside of Winfield, the Cajuns running back room has still been searching for a true one-two punch.
Freshman Darrell Smith and sophomore Steven Blanco have been solid so far this season as the starting backs but didn’t do much against the 49ers. Smith finished with a team-high 43 rushing yards but no touchdowns, while Blanco was held to just four yards.
"These guys [Charlotte] were airtight in the run fits and we got to do some things better as a staff," Desormeaux said. "There were a couple decisions in there on the reads that we missed a couple runs that we had a chance to bend back and get more yardage. Tonight wasn't our best showing yardage-wise or our average and all that, but we're going to keep getting working on it."
On the bright side, UL does have depth in the running back room behind Smith and Blanco. Freshman JJ Garner and Howard transfer Anthony Reagan Jr. combined for 40 rushing yards and two touchdowns in the win against Charlotte.
Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana football keeps winning, but concerns grow before SBC play