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Cajuns defense more competitive in 2019

Forced five turnovers in first scrimmage
Posted at 4:39 PM, Aug 12, 2019
and last updated 2019-08-12 20:13:08-04

LAFAYETTE — Like week one for the NFL preseason, it's a dangerous game to get too excited about a fall camp scrimmage, still Billy Napier was pleased with the secondary's progress after forcing four interceptions Saturday in the team's first scrimmage.

"The thing I'm most pleased with is there are legitimate plays and competitive plays out there," he said Monday.

Apparently, practicing competitively wasn't quite the case a season ago as Napier and defensive coordinator Ron Roberts installed their new system.

"This time last year we might walk off the field thinking we were going to be great on offense. But in reality it wasn't a clean football play," Napier added.

In 2018 Louisiana football surrendered more than 34-points-per-game. A sub-average performance both stopping the run, and the pass. The team statistically finished sixth in the Sun Belt in most major passing defensive categories.

This year Louisiana returns a wealth of experience in its secondary, six players played in ten or more games a season ago.