LAFAYETTE, La. - The Cajuns were up to the first challenge of the preseason camp given to them by head coach Mark Hudspeth.
After having a good day of practice spoiled on Wednesday by a lackluster finish, Hudspeth spoke with the team at a meeting on Wednesday night and challenged them to come out on Thursday and finish the way the Ragin' Cajuns are finished.
"I told them that in the fourth quarter of games that both teams are going to be tired and the team that is able to execute tired will win the game," Hudspeth said.
The Cajuns responded to the challenge by putting together their best practice effort of the short preseason.
"Today was a good day, they are starting to settle in," Hudspeth said.
"It was easy for them to fly around the first couple of days, but now that they are in full uniform, it is easy to evaluate them. The pads tell us the whole story and show us what we can expect on Saturday's," Hudspeth added.
Hudspeth was happy with the progress of the secondary, which was an area of concern coming out of spring practice.
"The secondary is making good progress," Hudspeth said. "A couple of the new players have stepped things up a bit, especially the tranfers (Corey Trimm & Cedric Tillman), and some of the old faces have elevated their play as well.
"We may have more competition going on in the secondary than we've had at any position over the last three years. We've got great depth. Our new guys are still learning the system, but they are coming together as a group," Hudspeth added.
Hudspeth singled out the effort of two the Cajuns two new specialists, junior punter Daniel Cadona and sophomore kicker Stephen Brauchle.
"Cadona had some monster punts today," Hudspeth said. "His leg is one of the strongest that I have ever seen before and he is way more consistent now.
"Stephen didn't have a very good first practice, but he has really improved over the last three days. His kicks have all looked good. He has good height on his kickoffs and he has shown a lot of confidence in his field goal attempts. I like a kicker with confidence," Hudspeth added.
Thursday's practice featured a strong turnout by the NFL scouts. With the Miami Dolphins being the only team in attendance on Wednesday, scouts from Seattle, Houston, Tampa Bay and New Orleans stopped by to check out the Cajuns players and begin to get an idea of which players have the ability to play in the NFL next year.
TICKET UPDATE: The Cajundome ticket office reported on Thursday morning that it had received Louisiana's allotment for the season-opening game at Arkansas on August 31. The tickets, which are located in Sect. 112, will go on sale on Monday morning (Aug. 12) at 10:00 a.m. and will cost $47.50 each.