First in a four-part series previewing Arkansas’ nonconference football opponents.
FAYETTEVILLE - Louisiana-Lafayette had No. 7 Florida on the ropes last year at The Swamp.
A failed third-and-4 on offense late in the game and a blocked punt returned for a touchdown with two seconds left derailed its upset bid in a 27-20 loss.
That marked the Ragin’ Cajuns’ only loss in their last six games, including a 43-34 victory over East Carolina in the New Orleans Bowl for a second postseason victory in two years.
Expect Louisiana-Lafayette to be a popular pick to upset Arkansas in their season opener Aug. 31 at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
“We’re going to be pretty good, but our best team is two years away,” said Mark Hudspeth, in his third year as Louisiana-Lafayette’s coach. “We’re loaded with sophomores and juniors.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns (9-4 in 2012) is one of eight schools with nine or more victories along with a bowl victory in each of the past two seasons, and it sees itself as a program on the rise.
The school will break ground Aug. 1 on a football operations building that will encompass 70,000 square feet, and an expansion is in the works that will bring capacity at Cajun Field up to 50,000. Louisiana-Lafayette already has a 120-yard indoor football practice field that sets it apart from almost all of the other mid-major programs in the country.
“Our university is trying to position itself, bringing our stadium to 50,000 then investing this type of money in our facilities, to be the most attractive to any conference that may look our way,” Hudspeth said. “There’s a lot of resources here that have not been tapped into before that we’re tapping into.
“It’s giving us the financial resources to do, I think, some incredible things.”
The Sun Belt has made headlines in recent seasons with Arkansas State’s success, Louisiana-Lafayette’s back-to-back bowl victories and Louisiana-Monroe’s startling upset of Arkansas last season.
The Ragin’ Cajuns will be aiming to add to the Sun Belt’s accomplishments when they bring an experienced team into Fayetteville. Hudspeth said he expects a vastly different Arkansas team from the one that struggled to a 4-8 record last season.
“That was, to me, a train wreck,” Hudspeth said. “They’ve got a good football team. It was just a very tough situation.
“We by no means are looking at how they did last year. I know that staff will right that ship really fast, and I’m sure they’re already at that point where you start working with team discipline and getting your team in great shape. They’ve got great players, and I think they’ll do well in the SEC right away.”
Louisiana-Lafayette runs a hurry-up Spread offense with junior quarterback Terrance Broadway at the controls. A transfer from the University of Houston, Broadway completed 206 of 315 passes (65.4 percent) for 2,842 yards, with 17 touchdowns, 9 interceptions and a 153.28 efficiency rating last year.
Broadway (6-2, 205) did not start until Week 5, after Blaine Gautier broke two bones in his hand during a 48-20 rout of Florida International. Broadway rushed for nine touchdowns in the last 10 games and helped the Ragin’ Cajuns convert 55 of 58 red zone scoring chances.
“He’s a true dual-threat kid that throws better than the average dual-threat quarterback,” Hudspeth said. “He’s an exceptional passer, and I think he’s a very good runner.”
Arkansas defensive coordinator Chris Ash would concur.
“I’ve watched way too much tape on him so far,” Ash said earlier this summer. “He’s a threat, no doubt about it. They’ve got several good players on the offensive side of the ball, but he is the guy that makes that thing go.”
Broadway excels on zone read runs and quarterback draws, plays that gave Arkansas fits last season.
“He’s very impressive on film,” Arkansas Coach Bret Bielema said. “He has the ability to hurt you in many ways. He’s very poised. When you have a kid who’s played as much as he has, you know the coaches have a lot of confidence in what he can do at the line of scrimmage, as well as just playing the game.
“He’s a very, very unique challenge and something we have to be well prepared for.”
The Ragin’ Cajuns’ version of the Spread gives big back Alonzo Harris, 6-1, 220, room to run. Harris, the Sun Belt freshman of the year in 2011, rushed for 881 yards and 10 touchdowns last season.
Jamal Robinson projects as Broadway’s go-to receiver in 2013, with Jared Johnson and James Butler also expected to play big roles.
The Cajuns took a hit with big losses in their secondary, though safety Rodney Gillis is expected to be granted a sixth-year of eligibility by the NCAA, but their defensive front, led by Brandon McCray, Christian Ringo and Justin Hamilton, projects as a major asset.
Hudspeth still draws motivation from the Cajuns’ near miss loss at Florida.
“If we get a first down on the drive before the punt was blocked [when Louisiana-Lafayette led 20-13], if we convert a third-and-4, the game is over,” he said. “It doesn’t even come to the blocked punt.
“That was one of those games where you leave the stadium just kicking yourselves all the way home because you felt like you outplayed them. That’s why you call it a 60-minute game, and we only played 59.”
Hudspeth, who said his three seasons at Central Arkansas in two stints (1992-93 as a graduate assistant, 1998 as defensive backs coach) were some of the most productive of his career, has made a point of studying Wisconsin’s schemes of recent seasons in preparation for the Razorbacks.
“What you do know is they were very successful when they were at Wisconsin,” he said. “I expect they will obviously try to run the football right down your throats, try to be very physical at the point of attack. Once you try to get too many people in the box to stop that run game they’re going to be so successful with, you’ve got to be ready for, I’m sure, a great play-action game.
“We expect a very physical team, a very tough football team, and a team that is going to try to line up and beat you physically up front at the point of attack.”
2013 schedule
Aug. 31 at Arkansas, TBA (SEC Network) Sept. 7 at Kansas State, 5:30 p.m.
Sept. 14 Nicholls State Sept. 21 at Akron Oct. 5 Texas State+ Oct. 15 at W. Kentucky+, TBA (ESPN) Oct. 22 at Arkansas State+, TBA (ESPN) Nov. 2 New Mexico State Nov. 7 Troy+, TBA (ESPNU) Nov. 16 at Georgia State+, 1 p.m.
Nov. 30 Louisiana-Monroe+ Dec. 7 at South Alabama+ + Sun Belt Conference game
La.-Lafayette glance
NICKNAME Ragin Cajuns 2012 RECORD 9-4, 6-2 (tie for 2nd in Sun Belt) COACH Mark Hudspeth (18-8 in two seasons at ULL) RETURNING STARTERS Offense 7;
defense 7 NOTEWORTHY The Cajuns scored on 55 of 58 red-zone chances last season, with 44 touchdowns. … Louisiana-Lafayette quarterbacks were sacked just 13 times in 2012 for 69 lost yards. … Louisiana-Lafayette is in a select group of eight programs - along with Alabama, Boise State, Cincinnati, Florida State, Ohio, Oregon and South Carolina - that have won nine or more games, including a bowl, each of the past two years.
Sports, Pages 17 on 07/10/2013