New Orleans Bowl 2011, UL-Lafayette Vs. SDSU: Cajuns Win First-Ever Bowl, 32-30

(Behind only this one, of course.)

↵New Orleans, man:

55: Ronnie Hillman rushing yards. The Ragin’ Cajuns focused virtually all of their defense on stopping Hillman, and it worked. Hillman averaged just 2.3 yards per carry, his worst average of the season and second-worst of his career. ULL’s rushing success cane at the expense of pass defense, of course -- Lindley consistently burned them through the air (and to his credit, Hillman had four receptions for 49 yards, meaning he still produced over 100 yards from scrimmage), but the Cajuns showed some serious effort and pursuit in taking the Aztecs out of their gameplan in the first half.

(No, the kick probably would not have been good without the five-yard illegal substitution penalty committed by San Diego State directly before the kick. We’re focusing on the positive here.)

Everyone heard it, but nobody had a clue what the referee said on the second-to-last play in the New Orleans Bowl. As Louisiana-Lafayette lined up for a 55-yard field goal to win the game, there was movement on both sides before the snap. The referee signaled the infraction was on the defense, making a similar motion to that of an illegal procedure, but the confusion began when he tried to explain.

Simply put, the defense lurched towards the line of scrimmage first, and the officials determined the movement caused the offense to false start. The call from the head referee sounded like “illegal spinning,” but he later clarified the call was illegal stemming. The rule is meant to prevent a defense from inducing a false start by feigning movement before the snap.

In one game, UL-Lafayette’s special teams has returned a punt for a touchdown, missed an extra point, had an extra point blocked, had a field goal nullified, and downed two straight punts at the one-yard line. And 20 minutes remain. All over the place.

They say bowl games are decided by effort. To get to a bowl, you have to be at least an OK team or UCLA, but so many bowls pit teams with nothing much to play for against teams with reasons to care. Louisiana-Lafayette has reason to care, playing in its first I-A bowl ever in front of a wildly stacked crowd, and the halftime score reflects that: it’s 13-3, Ragin’ Cajuns.

via 30fps.mocksession.com

Just after that, footage from pregame showed Cajuns players AND COACHES engaging in a spirited Oklahoma drill on the sideline, risking actual injury all over the place. Perhaps this was how one coach ended up bleeding from his head. Louisiana-Lafayette everyone’s my new favorite team ever.

In a stadium filled with rowdy Ragin’ Cajuns fans, UL-Lafayette strength coach Rusty Whitt is perhaps the most rowdy and ragin’ of all:

↵

Some punts were fired back and forth, Mark Hudspeth yelled at a ref for a very long time, and R+L Carriers explained to us that they are a trucking company. On we go.

Game date, time: 9 p.m. ET, Saturday, December 17, 2011

Location: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, Louisiana

NOTE: Confused? See the quick glossary at the bottom.

Even the most cold-hearted, playoff-or-bust fan has to admit: it’s pretty cool seeing this. You don’t have to watch the New Orleans Bowl if you don’t want to, but why would you want to take this moment away from Louisiana-Lafayette fans? They get to celebrate a good season, they get to truly matter for one day, and you don’t have to watch if you don’t want to. Geaux Cajuns, indeed.

In order to win their first bowl game in 41-years, Hillman has to be stopped. “They’ve got one of the most talented backs that we’ll face this year,” Louisiana-Lafayette coach Mark Hudspeth said. “Our goal is to stop the run first. That to me is what they do the best. ... We’ll have to play well up front and be physical because he’s a guy that has hurt a lot of teams so far.” The Cajuns defense is giving up nearly 30 points per game and nearly 400 yards per game, so slowing down the Aztecs offense will be a big point of emphasis.

Game date, time: 9:00 pm ET, Saturday, December 17

As always, we are here to clarify the matter. All games listed below are on December 17th, also known as Bowlmas. Like most of the gifts you open first on Christmas morning, you will forget you ever saw them.

GILDAN NEW MEXICO BOWL: WYOMING VS. TEMPLE (2:00 p.m., ESPN)

You may be less aware of Louisiana-Lafayette football than you are of that other Louisiana school’s team, but let there be no mistake that the state’s second biggest university is every bit as Bayou State:

↵↵They’re gonna do it again Friday night, too.