Trojans aim to tame Ragin’ Cajuns

Published 12:51 am Saturday, October 8, 2011

With two consecutive home victories under their belt the Trojans (2-2; 1-0) now look to take their progress to Lafayette, Louisiana in their first Sun Belt conference road test of the season.

With the Ragin’ Cajuns at 4-1 in their overall record and 2-0 in the conference already this season, the matchup is setting up to be more than just a difficult road game for the Trojans. Saturday’s game could determine who will take home this season’s Sun Belt conference title.

The Ragin’ Cajuns have already knocked off two non-conference opponents Kent State 20-12 and Nicholls State 38-21 as well as taken down tough conference foes Florida Atlantic 37-34 and Sun Belt favorite Florida International 36-31.

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“I would say they will be plenty motivated and they are plenty good too,” said head coach Larry Blakeney. “Their personnel has always been very good and they look like they are on a roll themselves. They have beaten FIU and FAU, one on the road and one at home. I know that we will have our work cut out for us. This will not be easy. We are going to have to mature a little bit to be able to go in there and take one from these guys. I am hopeful that we will play some error free football. If we can do that and play hard, and play with that emotion then we will have a chance.”

Louisiana-Lafayette has not only proven themselves to be difficult opponent this season, but have been known in the past as one of the more difficult teams in the conference; especially at home. The Ragin Cajuns have averaged one of the largest crowds at home games in the conference at around 28,000 fans in their 31,000 capacity ‘Cajun Field.’

The Trojans will enter Lafayette looking to improve on two narrow victories against Middle Tennessee and UAB. The Trojans hope that being back at complete health will add in their favor to secure another conference win.

Quarterback Corey Robinson was able to play through a shoulder injury in last week’s win over UAB as he broke 5,000 career passing yards but still failed to throw a touchdown pass for the first time in his career.

“I feel a lot better than I did last week,” said Robinson. “I am about 85 percent right now. It doesn’t bother me that I wasn’t able to throw a touchdown. We got the win, and I don’t care how we get it. It doesn’t matter to me if we run for 300 yards or throw for 300 yards, or having any passing touchdowns. D.J. Taylor had a great game for us, with three rushing touchdowns, and that was enough for us to come out on top and that is all that matters to me.”

Troy has defeated Louisiana-Lafayette the past consecutive meetings but are not taking the Ragin Cajuns lightly.

“I would say they will be plenty motivated and they are plenty good too,” Blakeney said. “Their personnel has always been very good and they look like they are on a roll themselves. They have beaten FIU and FAU, one on the road and one at home. I know that we will have our work cut out for us. This will not be easy. We are going to have to mature a little bit to be able to go in there and take one from these guys. I am hopeful that we will play some error free football. If we can do that and play hard, and play with that emotion that I talked about, then we will have a chance.”

Despite two conference losses against Louisiana Monroe and Florida International last season the Trojans were able to secure their fifth straight Sun Belt conference title with a 31-24 victory over the Ragin’ Cajuns. However a single loss to the Ragin Cajuns this season could prove detrimental to securing their sixth title.

The top two Sun Belt teams kickoff against each other in Lafayette, Louisiana on Saturday at 6 pm. The game can be seen on ESPN3.com.