8 Straight Bowl Games

[ULofR1]

And to be more fair, we beat them “in their house” when the only fans in attendance were the bands

[anon19438194]

aight…..…ReLaX

[Clutch0364]

Oversized conferences allow for crazy results.

[anon19438194]

What exactly was the tie breaker that put them in over the U?

[zeppelincajun]

Academics

[anon19438194]

Is either school R1?

[Jacob81]

This season can be considered disappointing or unsuccessful. I agree that it has been. But we’re talking about celebrating 8 years of bowling. If we won 6 games 8 years in a row to go bowling that should still be celebrated. Only 10 teams have done it out of 136. So apparently it ain’t so easy..

[ULofR1]

Right on cue here comes the official Cajuns Football facebook account to pat themselves on the back about the “elite company" they’re in with 8 straight bowl games..

[Cajun4life]

@NattyDaddy

Now you see why I preach that SBC Championships are far more important to this program than bowl games. Not only do we accept being average, we celebrate and even reward it.

To achieve more, you must first demand more.

Bingo! I was lambasted for saying the same things.

Annual goals for having a successful season.

1. Win the SBC West.
2. Win the SBC Title Game.
3. Compete for the G5 CFP slot.

Making a “Bowl Game” is a consolation prize.

As a university, we need to completely flip our approach to football. As we’ve seen under Hudspeth, Cajun Field can be “THE PLACE TO BE” on 6 Saturdays in the fall.

We need to approach each home game like it’s one huge festival, that happens to have a football game at the end of it. Develop an entertainment district around the athletic complex. Let Cajuns be Cajuns and the party will start to build, if it’s encouraged and allowed to do so. Quit over charging, you’re trying to build an atmosphere that makes gameday special. I could go on, but it will always fall on deaf ears.

Back to the main point, 6-6 is shit. Especially with our schedules. It is time we demand more and raise our expectations. 8-4 is the floor, if you don’t reach that you are failing. We want a winner, with a winners attitude.

[Cajun4life]

@RedTails

The SBCW is the up there as one of the weakest and poorest divisions in CFB. In that context, winning our division should be the barometer. If we cannot fund our FB program at an amount that has us atop the SBCW, then we should not have expectations to win the west yearly.

We do fund our program well enough to be the clear favorite in the SBC West. We should be the team every program marks on their calendar to beat. We are the barometer.

Unfortunately that barometer will soon be parked in Ruston.

[Cajun4life]

@Jacob81

Considering where we rank as a program in athletic budget and NIL money I’d say 8 straight bowls should be celebrated. We all want to win 10 games every year. But when that happens we get gutted by the portal and don’t have resources to back fill with the same talent.

We can complain about coaching decisions and lack of talent evaluation. But every school in the country deals with those problems as well.

College is just a worse example of MLB now. One roster costs 300mil competing against rosters with 30mil.

We have had a 10 win roster in all but 1 year in the last 8 years. We have had a 10 win coaching staff with Napier, that’s it.

[cjr3888]

You say that like it’s a bad thing to post an accomplishment that puts you in the same group as Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, & Notre Dame. I know some of you will never be happy with anything the program/administration does but you sound silly with that one.

[Cajun4life]

@Jacob81

This season can be considered disappointing or unsuccessful. I agree that it has been. But we’re talking about celebrating 8 years of bowling. If we won 6 games 8 years in a row to go bowling that should still be celebrated. Only 10 teams have done it out of 136. So apparently it ain’t so easy..

And win we get handled in the bowl game, Desormeaux’s record will be a losing one. That’s with a 10-4 season included.

To be absolutely clear, I WANT THE MAN TO WIN! I want him to improve and figure it out because he could be here forever and finally build the permanent foundation of a highly successful foundation. But he has not shown the IN GAME COACHING ability to do so. Des has shown the recruiting prowess to maintain the talent level that we saw under Napier. He needs to change, hire an OC who has his trust allowed to control the call sheet.

I’d love to see Sunshine from UCLA as our OC, but that’s a pipe dream.

[Cajun4life]

@cjr3888

You say that like it’s a bad thing to post an accomplishment that puts you in the same group as Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, & Notre Dame. I know some of you will never be happy with anything the program/administration does but you sound silly with that one.

Come on man, everyone in their right mind knows that we aren’t even deserving to be grouped with them.

Last 8 Years:

1. Ohio State is 92-11
2. Bama is 93-13
3. UGA is 95-13
4. Notre Dame is 87-18
5. Louisiana is 65-36

That doesn’t look quite the same does it?

[cjr3888]

@Cajun4life

Come on man, everyone in their right mind knows that we aren’t even deserving to be grouped with them.

Last 8 Years:

1. Ohio State is 92-11
2. Bama is 93-13
3. UGA is 95-13
4. Notre Dame is 87-18
5. Louisiana is 65-36

That doesn’t look quite the same does it?

Your opinion on if the program deserves to be in the group is a non-factor. The real FACT is that we ARE in the group. How many non power schools are on the list?

[CajunGrad16]

Half of those seasons we finished with a 6-6 regular season record. That shouldn’t be our standard anymore. That should be the floor.

[cjr3888]

Nobody is saying it’s the standard. No coaches, no plays, nobody in the administration. Only Cajun fans would shit on an accomplishment that puts the program in the same category as those programs.

[NattyDaddy]

I agree with 100% of your post. Winning the West is GOAL #1.

In response to the ‘8 straight bowl games’:
Is that an impressive feat? Yes. But it’s far less impressive when you realize we went 6-6 three of the last 4 years. 6-6 should be the FLOOR of this program, and 8 wins should be our standard.

Am I proud of how this team finished the season on a 4 game win streak? Absolutely! Not all 6-6 teams are created equal. Some go 6-2 and lose 4 straight… We did the opposite, and treated every game like a playoff game. We overcame key injuries and suspensions. That’s a credit to both player leadership and the coaching staff.

But once again… We cannot continue to couple Napier’s resume with Desomeaux’s. Half of this thread talks about Napier’s teams and the success they had. Hell, some of this thread talks about Hud’s teams. Living off past success will not improve the future of this program.

Anyway, whatever bowl we go to, let’s go win the damn thing, and put an exclamation point on the 2025 season.

[Cajun4life]

@cjr3888

Nobody is saying it’s the standard. No coaches, no plays, nobody in the administration. Only Cajun fans would shit on an accomplishment that puts the program in the same category as those programs.

Their accomplishments and ours are not the same. Hell 5 of the 8 seasons were mediocre.

We are sleeping on the floor of what this program is capable of. Fine, we made 8 straight bowl games. I think we are something like 12 bowls in the last 15 years.

SBC West and SBC Titles is what matters to this program. It’s past time we ascend the ladder and become who we should be. Champions, not almost champions, not good enough champions. Perennial Champions!

[Localyokel]

And now consider opponents