September Arrives, the Inaugural Season Begins - JDRAKE349's Blog

JDRAKE349's Blog

September Arrives, the Inaugural Season Begins

Posted on May 14, 2016 at 01:22 PM.

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Spring and summer have come and gone in Lafayette, Louisiana and the Ragin' Cajuns are gearing up for kickoff. New recruits are now freshman in college, adjusting to their new lifestyle. Position battles have been fought and decided and the new playbooks have been implemented. It's time to go to work.

The position everyone had their eye on through spring practice and summer camps was quarterback. With a new sheriff in town and two seniors with similar skill sets vying for the job, it was going to come down to the wire. Brooks Haack, a 6'1", 217 lbs redshirt senior from Katy, TX is the incumbent. Though he was the starter, his numbers were dismal, giving him no right to the job in 2014. The challenger is Jalen Nixon, a 6'2" 218 lbs redshirt senior straight out of Carencro High, just down the road in Lafayette.

With no clear winner following the spring game, the battle raged on throughout the summer. Each quarterback took turns running with the 1s, making his case for the starting job. Finally, in the dog days of August, coach Drake decided enough was enough. By the end of the day, ULL was going to have its field general. Each quarterback was going to take the first team through 20 plays (10 passes, 10 option runs) and whoever had the most success (yardage, TDs) would be the winner. It was a little unorthodox, but Drake was looking to make his statement. He told the two men, "If you want it, go and get it."

First up was the hometown kid, Nixon. He put on a good show, making solid decisions in the option game and dropped a dime deep down the middle for a score, but was hurt by a few balls slightly off target that caused drops. Haack then took the reins and never looked back. He looked like a natural out there, moving from play to play with poise and precision while Nixon showed some nerves. By the end of the contest, it was clear that Brooks Haack would give the Ragin' Cajuns their best shot in 2014 and they began to gear for kickoff against FCS Southeast in Week 1.

Schedule:
Week 1: vs FCS Southeast
Week 2: vs Louisiana Tech (RIVALRY, Non-con)
Week 3: BYE
Week 4: @ Kentucky (Non-con)
Week 5: BYE
Week 6: vs UTSA (Non-Con)
Week 7: BYE
Week 8: @ Old Dominion
Week 9: @ UAB
Week 10: vs New Mexico State
Week 11: vs Western Kentucky
Week 12: @ Troy
Week 13: vs South Alabama
Week 14: vs Arkansas State

Louisiana Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns Depth Chart - 2014
Regular Offense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
WR	JR Gabe Fuselier (79)	RSSR Jared Johnson (74)
TE	SO Carlos Robinson (72)	RSJR Nick Byrne (68)
LT	RSJR D'Aquin Withrow (79)
LG	RSJR Ian Bjuro (70)
C	RSSR Ethan Rosenbalm (77)
RG	RSSO Jesse Freeman (69)
RT	RSJR Grant Horst (74)
WR	SR Al Riles (81)	SR CJ Bates (76)
QB	RSSR Brooks Haack (81)	RSSR Jalen Nixon (77)
FB	RSJR Nick Byrne (46)
HB	SR Elijah McGuire (92)	RSFR Jordan Wright (72)	FR Jeff Haynes (68)
Base 4-2-5 Defense
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
LDE	RSSR Kevin Fouquier (83)	RSJR Blain Winston (70)
LDT	RSJR Jacoby Briscoe (79)	RSSR Karmichael Dunbar (74)
RDT	RSJR Rodrick Stephens (75)	JR Derrick Wilson (53)
RDE	JR Taboris Lee (77)	RSSR Remaine Douglas (75)
SLB	RSSR Tre'Maine Lightfoot (80)	JR TJ Posey (77)
WLB	RSSR Tyren Alexander (75)	RSSR Trey Granier (72)
CB	RSSR Dominick Jones (78)	RSSO Reginald Miles (72)
SS	RSJR Tracy Walker (80)	RSJR Simeon Thomas (69)
FS	JR Travis Crawford (77)	RSSO Corey Turner (72)
SS	SR Savion Brown (78)	RSSO Stephon Lofton (66)
CB	JR Troy McCollum (76)	RSFR Kamar Greenhouse (69)
Special Teams
	STARTER	2ND	3RD	4TH
K	FR Jerome Lundy (62)
P	SO Steven Coutts (78)
PR	SR Elijah McGuire (95)
KR	SR Elijah McGuire (95)	JR Troy McCollum (90)	SR Al Riles (92)