2 weeks Ago
UL cornerback Keyon Martin (21), shown here celebrating a sack of Southern Miss quarterback Tate Rodemaker, won't be available Saturday. The goal now is for Martin to return for the South Alabama game on Nov. 16.
Facebook Twitter WhatsApp SMS Email Print Copy article link Save UL senior cornerback Keyon Martin won’t be available for Saturday’s 4 p.m. homecoming game against Arkansas State.
Martin’s condition was on the mind of many Ragin’ Cajuns fans after he didn’t get up after aiding on a tackle with 52 seconds left in the second quarter of UL’s 23-17 road win over Texas State last Tuesday. “Keyon’s good,” UL coach Michael Desormeaux said. “He’ll be out this week naturally, but he’s good.
He’s in good spirits.” Desormeaux explained Martin has a concussion and in protocol, but he’s “still really sore and banged up.” The hope is Martin will return to action for the following game against South Alabama at 6 p.
m. on Saturday, Nov. 16.
“You don’t rush these types of things,” Desormeaux said. “It’ll be on a time line where he can get healthy and get back and play at 100% without any kind of risk of injury.” Other cornerback news is better for Saturday’s game.
Caleb Anderson, who has three starts on the season, has missed the last three games with a leg injury. “Caleb is at least questionable, if not probable,” Desormeaux said. “We’re pushing to try to get him back this week.
He’s getting really close. “I thought we didn’t a pretty good job of getting guys back for Texas State and came out of that one really in good shape. (Defensive end) Antoine Baylis ended up being fine at the end of that one and all of that stuff ended up being good.
” Clark’s versatility Martin missing the second half of the Texas State game, as well as being declared out for Saturday impacts more than just the cornerback spot on UL’s depth chart. Because of his knowledge of the game and athleticism, Martin was playing in the star position when necessary in certain matchups. Once Courtline Flowers was suspended for the remainder of the season, a heavy burden fell on senior Amir McDaniel to man that spot.
With Martin out, the coaches have turned to safety Jalen Clark to help out in that area. “He’s splitting time at star and at safety,” Desormeaux said. That burden may not be as great against Arkansas State this week.
“This game, they play a little more ‘12’ (1 RB, 2 TEs) than the other teams that we’ve played the last couple of weeks have. That helps too, where Amir gets a break whenever we can get some different personnel in there.” In the bigger picture, Desormeaux is hoping Clark can finish the season strong, like he did last season.
“Last year, Jalen didn’t play a whole lot until right about this time of the year,” Desormeaux said. “So I talked to him during the extra couple days we had that there’s no reason this year can’t be just like that, where he comes on strong for us when we really need him. “He’s really talented, physically he’s very gifted.
It’s not always easy to split time between star and free and boundary safety, but he’s an older veteran player now. He needs to be able to step up and do that for us and he has.” Running QB During last season’s 37-17 road loss to Arkansas State, the biggest issue UL’s defense had was corralling then-freshman quarterback Jaylen Raynor.
So far this season, Raynor has thrown for 1,867 yards with seven touchdowns and six interceptions at a 60.9% completion rate. “He is a similar player (as Texas State’s Jordan McCloud),” Desormeaux said.
“This guy doesn’t throw the ball in jeopardy, though. He takes care of the football and makes really good decisions. I think he’s a good passer.
“A lot of teams you play, they throw it, but they’re better runners. I think he’s a passer first. Last year, he killed us.
We got back there four, five, six times with opportunities to get sacks and we didn’t finish.” As a runner, Raynor has 250 yards and two scores on 80 carries. In last year’s win over UL, Raynor threw for 194 yards and ran for another 53 yards with two scores.
“We’ve done a better job in the last couple of weeks of keeping our rush-lane integrity and staying in our spokes,” Desormeaux said. “You have to do that with Raynor or he’ll get out ..
. he’ll kill you down the field. He’s a really talented runner.
”.
