Spring Football Part Two

The Ragin’Cajun defense showed signs of improvement during the spring football session. But Saturday’s annual red-white spring game provided Cajun fans with several reminders of last season’s defense.

Going into the final week of the spring session, the defense had shown consistent signs of improvement during the earlier scrimmages. The coaching staff has expanded the defensive packages and was hoping to see the improvement continue during the annual red-white spring game. What the coaching staff received in performance from the defense Saturday was a mix bag of good run defense and poor execution of pass coverage at times.

The defense allowed 355 yards of total offense during the scrimmage, including 287 through the air on 25-of-45 passing with zero interceptions. At times the secondary made mental mistakes that allowed several big plays down the field reminiscent of last season’s performance.

On Michael Desormeaux’s 33-yard td strike to Lance Kelley, CB Justin Branden seem to give up on the route, allowing Kelly’s over the shoulder catch to go undefended. And if that deep pass reception over a Cajun defensive back wasn’t enough to give fans flashbacks from last season, Desormeaux would hit a wide open Jason Chery with a 60 yards strike on the next offensive series. Chery slipped past CB Orkeys Auriene while he paused a second to peak back at Desormeaux in the backfield and that was all Chery needed to create distance to gather in the pass down field.

While the defensive secondary had some poor moments on the field, there were some bright spots as well. CB’s Junior Jean and Dwight Bentley both turned in solid performances during the scrimmage. Jean finished the scrimmage with 6 tackles, including one for a 2-yard loss. Bentley showed why he was a very good prospect coming out of high school breaking up two completions, including one that should have been a interception for a touchdown.

Derik Keyes, Franz Accime and Phillip Nevels all played well at times at safety as well. Derik Keys was once again the bright spot at safety, coming up with big hits several times during the scrimmage.

The secondary was short handed this spring with Scooter Rogers and Gerren Blount sitting out for academics and Maurice Rolle with a shoulder injury.

The defensive front seven had their moments as well during the scrimmage as LB’s Antwyn Zanders, Grant Fleming and Daylong McCoy show quickness making plays on the field. Sanders finished the scrimmage with 8 tackles, 3 for -9 yards, with Fleming and McCoy with 4 each.

Up front on the line, Laquincy Williams, Terrell Richardson, Seth Adams and Jeremy Cook all played well at times. Cook finished the game with 7 tackles, 4 TFL -15 yards and 2 sacks on the day. Adams finished the game with 4 tackles, Williams with 3 tackles, .5 TFL and .5 sacks and Richardson with 2 tackles, 1 TFL -3 yards.

Overall, the defense during the spring session has been very aggressive and improved. It is clear that the defense is not without talent in every position, but how deep is the talent? Can the defense grasp the changes to a more aggressive scheme and execute without the mental errors that occur at times? There is no question that this defense has more talent then last season, but there are some questions that remain.

The Cajuns will need to find one more DL to add depth at the inside position. The return of Lanier Coleman in the fall will help some inside, but without signee Ryan Glazer the position needs one more athlete. The return of Scooter Rogers, Gerren Blount and Maurice Rolle will add depth to the secondary, but the group needs to work together more cohesively. And Jeremy Cook, Hall Davis, Terrell Richardson and Chris Lanaux all need to step up play at DE this season to help put pressure on opposing QB’s.