Expectations for the UL Ragin’ Cajuns football team aren’t very high this year for people from outside the program.

Witness the predicted sixth-place finish for the Cajuns in a poll of the Sun Belt Conference’s nine head football coaches.

Maybe that’s to be expected of a team that finished 6-6 last season and missed out on a bowl appearance when the Independence Bowl passed them over in favor of Northern Illinois.

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Louisiana-Lafayette, after all, lost its all-time leading rusher, Tyrell Fenroy, one of only seven players in NCAA history with four consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

Gone, too, is quarterback Michael Desormeaux, the Catholic High graduate from New Iberia who was a four-time All Sun Belt Conference pick and the 2008 SBC Offensive Player of the Year after becoming the first quarterback in school history with consecutive 1,000-yard rushing seasons.

Leading receiver Jason Chery also finished his eligibility.

But talk to the players and coaches, and you’ll see a team that is confident that it can not only win, but win the conference championship.

“Our main goal is to win the conference and go to a bowl game,” said fullback Matt Desormeaux, a junior from New Iberia.

High hopes? Maybe. But talented sophomores Brad McGuire and Chris Masson are fighting for the starting quarterback spot, Undrea Sails looks to be a solid runner and the receiving corps looks deep, according to offensive coordinator Ron Hudson.

And all five starters are back on the offensive line, led by senior All-Conference selections Chris Fisher and Brad Bustle.

“The strength of our offense is the offensive line,” said Hudson, who also coaches that position. “It’s comforting. I’ve been around those guys for a while.”

On the other side of the ball, a defense that was sapped by injuries last year, particularly at the linebacker position, developed a lot of depth when younger players were thrown into action.

So whether it’s a league foe, or a BCS-conference team like Kansas State, LSU or Nebraska on the schedule, the Cajuns feel good about themselves.

“As coaches we feel like it doesn’t matter who we play, we match up,” said defensive coordinator Kevin Fouquier, a Franklin native. “We just have to have a game plan to fits our kids and puts them in position to be successful.”

It won’t be a surprise here if the Cajuns are, indeed, more successful than many expect.

CHRIS LANDRY is the sports editor of The Daily Iberian.