Monroe heads to town beaten down, beaten up

BOB HOLT
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- Louisiana-Monroe will have no Chance in Saturday night's game against Arkansas.
Indians Coach Bobby Keasler said that sophomore quarterback Andy Chance -- who has started 16 consecutive games -- won't play for at least the next two weeks after he suffered a concussion in the fourth quarter of Louisiana-Monroe's 27-7 loss to Southwest Texas last Saturday.
"Andy got knocked a little cuckoo in the Southwest Texas game, but he's been beat up all year," Keasler said. "It all started when we played Minnesota on the carpet [artificial turf] up there and he took a lot of tough shots.
"That boy is just beat up, and it's time for him to get some rest before we really hurt him. I'm not going to let that happen to any kid."
Chance, who leads the Indians (1-4) in total offense, averaging 207.2 yards per game, will be replaced by redshirt freshman quarterback Ryan Corcoran against Arkansas.
Corcoran has played off the bench in three games and completed 11 of 21 passes for 96 yards.
"I don't know if Ryan's arm is as strong as Andy's and he's not as fast, but he's about as tough as Andy," Keasler said. "He's going to have to step up and take some snaps now, and. we've got to find some things we can do with him with the rest of the offense.
"We're going to miss Andy, but this is the direction we're taking in at this point because of the injuries."
Louisiana-Monroe lost at Tennessee 70-3 on Sept. 23, a week after the Vols had lost to Florida 27-23 on a disputed, last-second touchdown pass. Now the Indians are playing at Arkansas a week after the Razorbacks were routed 38-7 by Georgia to end their 16-game home winning streak.
"I imagine Arkansas is pretty well upset about that," Keasler said. "And, of course, being Arkansas, they should be.
"But heck, we've got to go play. As I look down the schedule, I see that Arkansas is next. We can't call it a forfeit."
Keasler said he would prefer Corcoran not have to make his first start against a Razorbacks' defense sure to be riled up.
"Shoot, I don't think you can find any tougher situation to go into, especially the stage that our football program is in at this point," Keasler said. "But I think there's brighter things down the road for us, and we've just got to be patient enough to be able to get there."
Corcoran is one of seven redshirt or true freshman starters listed on Louisiana-Monroe's depth chart, including the punter and placekicker. The 44-man two-deep for offense and defense includes 15 freshmen.
The Indians dressed out 31 freshmen among their 64 players against Southwest Texas.
"There were no players left here when we got here," said Keasler, a former Louisiana-Monroe player and assistant coach who returned to his alma mater last year after having a 78-34-2 record in nine seasons at McNeese State. "We just had to weed out some of these guys.
"It's amazing, the guys we recruited the last two years are better than what was here already. ... We've got some good young players. We're just not old enough to play right now."
The Indians' freshman class this year includes wide receiver Kamal Broadway from North Little Rock, defensive back Chris Harris from Little Rock Fair and defensive back Jaron James from Little Rock Hall. Keasler said the plan is for the three to redshirt.
"They're all going to be good players for us," Keasler said. "I can't wait to see them in spring ball."
It's been a rough fall for the Indians as has been the case since the program moved up to Division I status in 1994.
After going 19-6 in its final two seasons as a I-AA powerhouse, Louisiana-Monroe is headed for its seventh consecutive losing season with an overall 26-46 record in that span.
The Indians will be the homecoming foe for Arkansas as they were for Tennesse. They have been outscored 193-47 this season, with their lone victory over Nicholls State, 27-21.
Louisiana-Monroe ranks 111th nationally in scoring defense (38.6 points per game), 90th in rushing defense (183.6 yards), 112th in rushing offense (51.2 yards) and 98th in total offense (270.8 yards) and scoring offense (9.4 points).
"You just hate to see your kids go up against people like we've been playing when you're fighting with a short stic," Keasler said.
Louisiana-Monroe has been forced to play a series of "money" road games as an independent struggling for survival on the I-A level. Its guarantee for playing at Arkansas is $315,000.
"Of course, we don't like to line up against people like Arkansas, who's been established for 100 years," Keasler said. "But we've got a direction here now and with some teams we can compete with."
Next season Louisiana-Monroe will be a football-playing member of the Sun Belt Conference along with Arkansas State, Idaho, Louisiana-Lafayette, Middle Tennessee State, New Mexico State and North Texas.
"It's real big for us to go into the Sun Belt," Keasler said. "Now our kids will have something to play for, something positive to look down the road for -- playing for a championship and being all-conference."
Against Arkansas, Keasler said Louisiana-Monroe -- which has suffered 14 turnovers and four blocked punts -- will be playing for improvement.
"Our approach will be, 'Let's go out and see if we can get better as a team and cut down on mistakes and quit hurting ourselves,' "he said. "I just hope we can feel good about ourselves when it's over."
LOUISIANA-MONROE (1-4)
DATE OPPONENT
Sept. 2 at Minnesota, L 47-10
Sept. 9 at Memphis, L 28-0
Sept. 16 Nicholls State, W 27-21
Sept. 23 at Tennessee, L 70-3
Sept. 30 Southwest Texas, L 27-7
Oct. 7 at Arkansas
Oct. 14 at Middle Tennessee State
Oct. 21 at Central Florida
Nov. 4 Louisiana-Lafayette
Nov. 11 Louisiana Tech
Nov. 18 Wofford

This article was published on Tuesday, October 3, 2000

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