Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns enjoyed their second fall scrimmage on Saturday morning at Cajun Field. Overcast skies and rain initially moved the scrimmage over to the Leon Moncla Indoor Practice Facility, but the rain stopped and the skies cleared to move things back to Cajun Field. The team finished stretching inside before relocating to the game field to begin the scrimmage.

The offense was hot early, but eventually the defense turned the corner and had a good outing.

“We did everything as far as the script was concerned,” head coach Rickey Bustle explained. “We got good work. I thought our offense came out early and made some big plays. The defense was kind of down and we gave up a big run and a big throw.

The defense stuffed the offense on the first two series, but the offense rallied to get the early momentum. Michael Desormeaux hit speedster Jason Chery with a 64-yard deep pass that sailed over the defense for an easy score.

Desormeaux finished 12-of-18 passing for 192 yards and one score. Back-up Chris Masson completed his first pass for 34 yards, but then misfired on his next six attempts. He finished 2-of-8 for 43 yards. Freshman Brady Thomas accounted for the Cajuns other passing score, a four-yard touchdown to fellow frosh Ladarius Green.

Freshman quarterback Blaine Gauthier was 6-of-6 passing for 90 yards and ran six times for 53 yards, including a two-yard rushing score.

Chery and Green led all receivers with three receptions apiece. Chery had a team-high 83 yards.

Tyrell Fenroy kept the offense rolling as he rumbled 43 yards for a touchdown on his second carry of the day. Fenroy was limited to just three carries, earning 55 yards. Back-up Yobes Walker had a team-high 12 rushing attempts for 47 yards. Matt Dupre led three other running backs with eight carries, finishing with 35 yards and a pair of four-yard scoring runs.

The offense continued to drive the ball over the next three series until an errant snap led to a fumble recovery by linebacker Daylon McCoy. McCoy’s recovery pushed the momentum toward the defense that would carry over for the remainder of the scrimmage.

The next series saw a three-and-out by the offense thanks to consecutive sacks by the defense.

“All of a sudden the momentum changed,” Bustle stated. “Our defense stepped up and started playing with more emotion. We made a mistake there on a snap where we had a drive and we lost the football. We were down there with the number one unit on the goal line and turned it over. We’ve got to straighten those things out.

Masson was the favorite target of the Cajuns defense, as he was sacked eight times, including six times in the first half. The defense finished with nine sacks.

Freshman Emeka Onyenekwu recovered another fumble for the defense to keep the offense under wraps.

“The defense started out a little bit slow,” Bustle said. “They picked it up and I think the momentum just switched like it does in the game some times.

“One of the things we’re harping on is getting those turnovers. I saw stripped balls today, which is good for the defense and bad for the offense, but that is something that we want to create defensively.

“It’s something we are emphasizing, and I think you get what you emphasize. We’re emphasizing five turnovers a day in practice.

“You take the good things and you build on them, and you correct the bad things. And sometimes on film things aren’t ever as good or bad as they seem, so the obvious things we can correct hopefully, and just keep building on them.”

The Cajuns will practice on Monday and Tuesday afternoon before holding their final fall scrimmage on Wednesday. Wednesday will mark the conclusion of fall camp, as the team will start their game week preparations a few days early.