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New Orleans VooDoo game notes

March 29, 2005 - Arena Football League (1987-2008) (AFL I)
New Orleans VooDoo News Release


QUICK FACTS
New Orleans VooDoo (6-3) at Austin Wranglers (3-6)
Site: Frank Erwin Center (14,866)
Television: FOX Sports Net Southwest
Play-by-Play: Kevin Eschenfelder Analyst: Gary Reasons
Radio: WSMB (1350-AM)
Play-by-Play: Chris Kenyon Analyst: James Allen
Coaches: NO: Mike Neu (2nd Season in New Orleans, 3rd season overall, 23-16, regular season; 1-3 playoffs);
AUS: Skip Foster (2nd season in Austin and overall, 11-14 record)
Series Record: New Orleans leads 2-0
Last Meeting: New Orleans 38, Austin 21, 4/1/05

VooDoo TO BATTLE GEORGIA IN SOUTHERN DIVISION MATCHUP

The New Orleans VooDoo will play their second straight Southern Division contest when they travel to the Frank Erwin Center to face the Austin Wranglers on Friday, April 1st at 7:30 p.m. The 6-3 VooDoo will be looking to keep pace in the Southern Division as they are currently in a tied with the Orlando Predators for second place. They will also be aiming to enter their upcoming bye weekend on a winning note. The VooDoo will meet a familiar face in Austin QB John Fitzgerald, who started every game for New Orleans in who started every game for New Orleans in their inaugural season in 2004.

A VooDoo WIN WOULD

* Improve New Orleans' overall record to 7-3.
* Give New Orleans a 4-1 road record in 2005.
* Give New Orleans an all-time 8-5 road record.
* Give New Orleans a 4-0 all-time record when playing a team from Texas (Austin Wranglers and Dallas Desperados)
* Give New Orleans a 3-0 all-time record against the Wranglers.

NEXT WEEK

Following this week's game, the VooDoo will enjoy their bye weekend. The team will return to action when they host the Columbus Destroyers on Saturday, April 16 at 7 p.m. The Wranglers will travel to face the Georgia Force on Friday, April 8 at the Philips Arena.

www.GoVooDoo.com

For updated news, press releases, statistics, rosters, players, coach and front office biographies, ticket information, merchandise, photo galleries and New Orleans VooDoo Dolls information, go to the official website of the New Orleans VooDoo, www.GoVooDoo.com. Updated daily, www.GoVooDoo.com has the most extensive information on the VooDoo and the Arena Football League.

THE COACHES

Mike Neu: The first coach of the New Orleans VooDoo, Mike Neu is a six-year Arena Football coaching veteran.

Since being named coach of the VooDoo on June 17, 2003, Neu worked has worked tirelessly to make New Orleans a winning team. In his first season at the helm, he successfully molded a 24-man roster comprised of a mix of AFL veterans and rookies, allowing the VooDoo to get off to a 7-1 start, one of the fastest starts for a first-year AFL entry. Neu led the VooDoo to an 11-5 record, making them the only team in league history to win 11 games in their first season.

The VooDoo's Southern Division title marked only the fourth time in AFL history that an expansion franchise has won their division in their first year of play. Following the season, Neu was named the AFL Coach of the Year.

For his professional career, Neu has posted a 23-16 regular season record as an AFL head coach and has reached the playoffs every season as both a coach and a player in the Arena Football League.

Neu came to New Orleans after serving as head coach of the Carolina Cobras. In 2002, Neu guided the Cobras to a 5-2 record on the road and their second-straight playoff berth. Carolina posted the first playoff victory in club history in 2002 as the club featured the AFL's fourth-ranked defense. As offensive coordinator with the Cobras in 2001, before being promoted to head coach prior to the team's first round playoff game, the Cobras averaged over 56 points a game (fifth in the league) and finished 7-7 (improving from a 3-13 record the year before).

Prior to coming to Carolina, Neu served as head coach and director of football operations for the Augusta Stallions of af2 in 2000. In his only season, Neu led Augusta to a 14-4 record, the American Conference title and was named the league's Coach of the Year. Augusta finished in the top four in every major offensive and defensive category. Neu started his Arena Football League coaching career with Nashville in 1998, when he served as quarterbacks coach for the Kats and handled all play-calling responsibilities for the offense. The next year he was promoted to offensive coordinator and the Kats achieved their third consecutive playoff berth. The team also set franchise highs in six offensive categories, including scoring and total offense. Current New Orleans QB Andy Kelly, one of top quarterbacks in Arena Football League history, enjoyed a career-high passer rating of 116.4 under Neu's tutelage in 1999. Neu began his coaching career in 1994 as a graduate assistant at his alma mater, Ball State.

Neu's professional playing career started with a stint with the Canadian Football League's Calgary Stampeders in 1995 before joining the Arena Football League's Orlando Predators in 1996 and moving on to the Nashville Kats in 1997. The 1997 Nashville squad which Neu played on won an expansion record 10 games, a record which was broken by this VooDoo in 2004.

Neu played four seasons at Ball State, where he was named the MAC Most Valuable Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year as a senior in 1993. A four-year starter, Neu guided Ball State to the conference championship his final year and holds school career passing records in passing yardage, passing attempts, completions and touchdown passes. He was recently voted to the school's Athletic Hall of Fame. Neu and his wife, Charmin, have a daughter, Graycen and a son, Carson.

Skip Foster: Head Coach Skip Foster is entering his second AFL season with the Austin Wranglers.

Foster, deemed the second most winning coach in arenafootball2 history with a 44-10 record will again act as the Wranglers offensive coordinator in addition to carrying the head coaching duties. After finishing the team's 2004 debut season with a commendable 8-8 record, Foster has built a 2005 team that will take the Wranglers to an ArenaBowl championship.

In the team's inaugural season performance, Foster's offense scored 104 touchdowns, averaged 47.8 points per game, led the Arena Football League in total offense for five weeks and remained one of the League's top total three offenses for a total of fifteen weeks in 2004. The Wranglers offensive unit gained more than 300 yards in five different performances and had two 200+ receiving yards games for AFL All-Rookie Tacoma Fontaine. Quarterback John Kaleo posted career-highs in attempts with 565 and completions with 352. Kaleo passed for more than 4,000 yards for his second consecutive season bringing his career total to 26,077 passing yards. Fontaine and veteran WR/DB Charlie Davidson led the Wranglers receivers combining for 1,959 of the team's 4,045 yards receiving and 37 of the team's 82 receiving touchdowns.

Prior to joining the Wranglers, Foster served as the head coach for the 2003 af2 champion Tulsa Talons. Foster led the team to a 13-3 regular season record while accumulating 3,995 yards in total offense, 3,679 yards passing and 316 yards rushing. This offensive effort also concluded with Tulsa outscoring their opponents 832-690 in regular season play. The Talons totaled 745 yards in offense and outscored their postseason opponents 179-130 on their way to winning the 2003 ArenaCup. Foster was the only af2 coach to go undefeated at home over three consecutive seasons.

Before moving to arena football, Foster compiled a record of 82-39-2 at Coffeyville Community College in Kansas and led the Red Ravens to six conference championships during his 12 seasons as the head coach. In 1990, Foster led Coffeyville to a national championship and an undefeated season. He was selected as Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference Coach of the Year in both 1990 and 1991.

Foster is a graduate of Missouri Western State College.

2005 AWARD WINNERS

Andy Kelly.....AFL Offensive Player of the Week (Week 2)
AFL Offensive Player of the Week (Week 3)
AFL Offensive Player of the Month (Feb.)
AFLWA Offensive Player of the Mid-Season
All AFLWA Mid-Season team
B.J. Cohen.....AFLWA Lineman of the Mid-Season
All-AFLWA Mid-Season team

QUICK START

Through their first 25 regular season games, the VooDoo are tied for the second-best 25-game start in AFL history with the Nashville Kats and St. Louis Stampede. Entering Week 10, the VooDoo are 6-3 record and 17-8 in their first 25 regular season games. The team posted an 11-5 mark in their in 2004. The former Detroit Drive franchise compiled a 19-6 record from their inaugural season in 1988 through the first week of the 1991 season. Nashville had a 17-8 record from 1997-98. VooDoo QB Andy Kelly was the Kats starter during that period and coach Mike Neu served his backup in 1997 and as the team's quarterbacks coach in 1998.

THE VooDoo's RECORD WHEN?

3-2 at home
3-1 on the road
Scoring Allowing
0-9 points 0-0 0-0
10-19 points 0-0 0-0
20-29 points 0-0 0-0
30-39 points 0-0 1-0
40-49 points 2-2 3-2
50-59 points 2-1 1-0
60-69 points 2-0 1-1
70-79 points 0-0 0-0
80+ points 0-0 0-0
2-0 vs. Central Division
2-0 vs. Eastern Division
1-3 vs. Southern Division
1-0 vs. Western Division
0-0 on Thursdays
2-0 on Fridays
1-1 on Saturdays
3-2 on Sundays
0-1 in January
4-0 in February
2-2 in March
0-0 in April
0-0 in May
3-0 in games televised on NBC
2-2 in games televised on Cox Sports Television
1-0 in games televised on Fox Sports Net
0-1 in games not televised
3-1 when leading after the first quarter
3-0 when tied after the first quarter
0-2 when trailing after the first quarter
5-0 when leading at the half
1-0 when tied at the half
0-3 when trailing at the half
2-0 when leading after three quarters
1-0 when tied after three quarters
3-3 when trailing after three quarters
4-2 outcome 7 points or less
2-2 outcome 3 points or less
2-0 overtime games
4-1 when the VooDoo scores first
2-2 when the opponent scores first
5-3 when the VooDoo has more total offense
1-0 when the VooDoo's opponent has more total offense
5-3 when the VooDoo has more yards passing than opp.
1-0 when the VooDoo has less yards passing than opp.
0-0 when the VooDoo has same passing yards as opp.
1-1 when the VooDoo has more yards rushing than opp.
5-2 when the opp. has more yards rushing than VooDoo

2005 WEEKLY AWARD WINNERS

A listing of the weekly game award winners for 2005 VooDoo games

Offensive Player of the Game
Week 1: (at GEO): Troy Bergeron (GEO)
Week 2: (at NASH): Andy Kelly (NO)
Week 3: (SJS): Andy Kelly (NO)
Week 4: (PHI): Andy Kelly (NO)
Week 5: (TB): Jaques Rumph (NO)
Week 6: (at DAL): Jason Shelley (DAL)
Week 7: (ORL): Joe Hamilton (ORL)
Week 8: (at CHI): Carl Bond (NO)
Week 9: (GEO): Troy Bergeron (GEO)

ADT Defensive Player of the Game
Week 1: (at GEO): Dialleo Burks (GEO)
Week 2: (at NASH): B.J. Cohen (NO)
Week 3: (SJS): B.J. Cohen (NO)
Week 4: (PHI): Monty Montgomery (NO)
Week 5: (TB): Chris Pointer (NO)
Week 6: (at DAL): Alvin Porter (NO)
Week 7: (ORL): Kenny McEntyre (ORL)
Week 8: (at CHI): Jeroid Johnson (CHI)
Week 9: (GEO): Kevin Gaines (GEO)

U.S. Army Ironman of the Game
Week 1: (at GEO): Robert Thomas (GEO)
Week 2: (at NASH): Thabiti Davis (NO)
Week 3: (SJS): Thabiti Davis (NO)
Week 4: (PHI): Lamont Moore (NO)
Week 5: (TB): B.J. Cohen (NO)
Week 6: (at DAL): Bobby Perry (DAL)
Week 7: (ORL): Cory Fleming (ORL)
Week 8: (at CHI): Bob McMillen (CHI)
Week 9: (GEO): Derek Lee (GEO)

TOPS AT HOME

A contributing factor for the VooDoo's early success is their cumulative 10-3 regular season record at the New Orleans Arena. After finishing tied for first in the league with a 7-1 home record in 2004, The VooDoo have kept pace this current season, compiling a 3-2 record at "The Graveyard".

WHAT A CROWD

Through the regular season in 2004, the VooDoo attracted an average of 15,240 fans per game to the Graveyard. New Orleans' average crowd ranked third in the Arena Football League, led attendance figures for teams in the Southern Division and was above the league average of 12,019. This season, the VooDoo's attendance has once again remained third in the AFL, above the league average of 13,135 and possessed the highest figures in the Southern Division, fueled by three consecutive sellout crowds. Below are the league's top average attendance figures.

Team Average Attendance
1. Columbus Destroyers 16,427
2. Philadelphia Soul 16,157
3. New Orleans VooDoo 15,244
4. Colorado Crush 15,106
5. Chicago Rush 14,914
6. San Jose SaberCats 14,127
7. Tampa Bay Storm 13,874
8. Nashville Kats 13,672
9. Georgia Force 13,238
10. Orlando Predators 13,228

GETTING DEFENSIVE

An important reason for the VooDoo's 11-5 inaugural season was the team's ability to keep the opposition out of the end zone on the defensive end. Through 16 regular season games, New Orleans surrendered an average of only 45.1 points per game, putting them in second place in the Arena Football League in scoring defense. The New Orleans defense has kept a similar pace in 2005, surrending an average of only 47.4 points per game, putting them in fourth place in the league in scoring defense. After surrending 257.1 yards per game in 2004, the 6-3 VooDoo have bettered that mark in 2005, giving up 256 yards per game for the fifth ranked defense in the league.

RECEIVING OPTION

New Orleans WR/LB Thabiti Davis was signed from Detroit to fill the void of a tall receiver in the VooDoo offense and improve the team's red zone production. After enjoying career-highs in 2004 and finishing among league leaders with 127 receptions for 1557 yards and 26 touchdowns, Davis has aided the the offense, recording 73 receptions for 616 yards and 11 touchdowns. Currently, Davis is ranked third in the AFL in receptions, 17th in receiving yardage and total yards from scrimmage, 16th in first downs (35) and tied for sixth in third down receptions (9). He has also been a steady defender at "Jill" linebacker, recording 16.5 tackles, one half sack and one pass defense and is ranked fourth in the AFL with nine special teams tackles.

IMPACT PLAYER

New Orleans VooDoo OS Aaron Bailey has been an important part of the VooDoo offense and one of the AFL's leading receivers since signing with the team prior to their inaugural season. In 2004, Bailey recorded 91 receptions for 1364 yards with 32 touchdowns and finished among league leaders in all major receiving categories, while setting career-highs. This season, Bailey is once again ranked among AFL leaders with 80 receptions for 970 yards and 18 touchdown catches, while returning 15 kickoffs for 238 yards with one touchdown. Bailey is currently tied for seventh in the AFL in scoring among nonkickers (120) and touchdown receptions, ranked first in receptions, third in receiving yardage and total yards from scrimmage (971), seventh in all-purpose yards (1213), second in first downs (61) and tied for third in third down receptions (11).

ANDY KELLY

QB Andy Kelly, one of the AFL's premier quarterbacks and all-time passing leaders, was signed by the VooDoo in the team's objective to improve their passing offense. He currently holds the AFL career passing records for completions (3156), attempts (5063) and passing yards (34, 717) and is second all-time in touchdown passes (672). Kelly helped engineer squads in Nashville, Dallas and Detroit to playoff berths in seven consecutive seasons from 1997-2003 and helped lead the Kats to consecutive ArenaBowl berths from 2000-01. Kelly has started 127 consecutive games, the alltime record for consecutive starts by a QB. Kelly currently trails New York's Aaron Garcia (679) for the league's all-time lead in touchdown passes by seven scores, as he is currently one of the top ranked quarterbacks in the Arena Football League in 2005 and is at or near the top of the league leaders in most categories, completing 275-of-410 passes for 2684 yards with 52 touchdown passes and six interceptions. The 12-year AFL veteran is currently leading the league in attempts, completions, passing yardage, is ranked second in touchdown passes and is ranked fifth in completion percentage (67.1).

B.J. COHEN

OL/DL B.J. Cohen's presence on the line has played a key role for the VooDoo. Starting 16 games in 2004, Cohen recorded 26 tackles, four sacks and finished third in the AFL with a career-high four forced fumbles. In 2005, Cohen is currently among the AFL's defensive leaders with 12.5 tackles, five sacks, one interception and a career-high five passes defensed. He is tied for third in the AFL in sacks and fifth in combined tackles for a loss.

VooDoo ON THE AIRWAVES

VooDoo fans will have plenty of chances to catch them live and on various radio and TV programs throughout 2005.

Every VooDoo game will be heard on WWL-AM 870 or WSMB-AM 1350. Chris Kenyon will handle play-by-play, selected Saints players and coaches and local media personalities will serve as guest color analysts and Kenny Wilkerson will handle sideline duties for home games. New Orleans Saints linebacker James Allen will serve as guest color analyst for the Austin game. This week's game will be broadcast on WSMB. WWL will also broadcast a weekly coaches show with Mike Neu on Tuesdays from 7-8 p.m., with Wilkerson and Kenyon as the show's hosts. This week's show will be held from 7-8 p.m. on-site at Veteran's Ford due to a prior scheduling conflict.

Four of the VooDoo's regular season games are scheduled to be broadcast by NBC and will be seen locally on WDSU Channel 6. Cox Sports Television is scheduled to broadcast six games and Fox Sports Net will broadcast two. This week's game will be broadcast live on Fox Sports Net Southwest. Saints players and coaches will serve as guest color analysts throughout the season on Cox Sports Television broadcasts. Cox Sports TV will air "Inside VooDoo with Mike Neu" on a weekly basis, featuring a review of the last week's game, preview of the upcoming game and player and coach features. The half-hour show can be seen on Friday, April 1 from 6:00-6:30 p.m. Kenyon will serve as the host.

VooDoo- AUSTIN CONNECTIONS

New Orleans Saints and VooDoo Owner Tom Benson has numerous automotive and banking interests in the San Antonio area...Owner / Executive Rita Benson LeBlanc is a graduate of Texas A&M University...Austin QB John Fitzgerald served as New Orleans' starting quarterback in the team's inaugural season in 2004, starting every game for the VooDoo. Head Coach Mike Neu served as Fitzgerald's coach in Carolina in 2002, where Fitzgerald played with VooDoo OS Aaron Bailey, WR/DB Carl Bond and K Brian Schmitz...Austin OS Ira Gooch went to training camp with the New Orleans Saints in 2003 and played for the VooDoo in 2004...Special teams coordinator Ken Matous succeeded Austin head coach Skip Foster as head coach of the af2 Tulsa Talons in 2004...Strength and Conditioning Coach Adam Bailey served as a graduate assistant at the University of Texas...OL/DL Aaron Hamilton prepped at Westwood High School in Austin and played defensive end at Tarleton (Texas) State. Hamilton played for Austin defensive coordinator/line coach Jon Norris in Dallas in 2002. Hamilton and QB Andy Kelly were teammates with Austin OL/DL Tom Briggs in Dallas in 2002...Austin WR/DB Charlie Davidson played at Mississippi State. Neu, Davidson and Austin DS Cedrick Walker were teammates in Orlando in 1996. Kelly and Walker were teammates in Charlotte in 1996. Neu and Kelly played with Davidson in Nashville in 1997. FB/LB Sunungura Rusungunuko, FB/LB Leroy Thompson and Walker were teammates in Indiana in 2001. QB Billy Dicken and Walker were teammates in Chicago from 2001- 03. Hamilton and Davidson were teammates in Colorado in 2003. Kelly played with Austin DS Brent Browner and OL/DL Angel Rubio in Detroit in 2003...OL/DL B.J. Cohen, WR/DB Lamont Moore and Rubio were teammates in Orlando from 2001-02. Cohen and Austin OL/DL Eric Thomas were teammates in Tampa Bay in 2003.

Coach Neu Says

Excerpts from VooDoo coach Mike Neu's comments about the team's game against the Georgia Force and and the matchup with Friday's upcoming opponent, the Austin Wranglers at his weekly press conference.

(on the disappointment of losing to Georgia despite numerous opportunities) "We did a nice job of getting the stop back in the red zone. That's all you can ask for. We're down three with an opportunity to win and we didn't get it done."

(on Andy Kelly's throw to Aaron Bailey on the last series) "From the angle I can tell, I think the throw was there on the one and it went off of Aaron's fingertips. Georgia was a better team tonight and they got the job done and we didn't."

(on if the team had realized the importance of this game) "No question. We were playing against home. We were playing against Georgia trying to avenge the loss that we had to them in week one. We started the second half of the season tonight and we needed to get a win at home. Obviously we have an uphill battle ahead of us in the Southern Division. The only guarantee to make the playoffs is to win the Southern Division and right now we got an uphill battle as far as that goes."

(on him stressing to his team that they needed to give a good effort in the fourth quarter) "I told the guys at the start of the fourth quarter that this has to be the best quarter of VooDoo football that we have played effortwise. We needed to scrap and fight. We had dug ourselves in a hole and we needed to get out of it. Unfortunately, when we had the opportunity at the end, we did not take advantage of it."

(on if they are good enough to compete for the league championship) "My answer to that question is yes. I like our football team. Obviously a lot of it has to do with down the stretch if we are able to stay healthy. But, I love this team. We find different ways to win. We've got great character, good chemistry, all these guys like each other, like going to war with one another. I think if we continue to make strides every week, we can compete with anybody."

(on Monty Montgomery saying that he did not touch the official that ejected him and that it is an official that had thrown him out of a game before) "The judge told me in the second half that he gave Monty a chance to walk away. He didn't. Again, you're going to get two different stories depending on who you talk to, but the bottom line is that we need to keep our cool. We need to stay away from the officials, not even get near them, because obviously they have the final say on the outcome."

(on if he feels a sense of urgency at 6-3) "We still got seven to play. Austin is where our focus is right now. we got Austin. We got to get a win at Austin going into the bye week at 7-3 and we got to heal our bumps and bruises and come out strong out of the bye week.."

(on if they shot themselves in the foot with a holding penalty in their final third quarter drive) "Yes, at the most inopportune time, it seems like we had a penalty in all three phases, whether it was offense, defense or it was special teams on a return. You can't do that. We pride ourselves on playing fundamentally sound football. We're one of the least penalized teams in the league. The performance tonight and the penalties tonight were not indicative of the type of team that we have been all year. We've been disciplined. We've been doing smart things for the most part and tonight, we had some things that cost us severely."

(on if it is tough missing Tim Martin and Abdul-Salam Noah) "No question, anytime you lose experience veteran linemen like that who have played against this team a number of times before. It certainly hurts to not have that experience."

(on what he told his team) "I talked to them that night after the game. I gave everybody off and told them to have a nice Easter, spend time with their family and just know the mistakes we had during that game is not indicative of the kind of football that we play around here. we can's commit 11 penalties and expect to go out and win, especially against a good football team the caliber of Georgia. I talked to our team this morning in our meeting this morning and I told them, you're approach as a player cannot be that you had only one penalty. Because, if each guy in this room says that, then we're staring at 20 penalties in the course of a game and you can't have that mindset. You got to expect perfection. You got to demand perfection out of yourself, so when you watch this film, make sure you understand that the mistakes you make are all technique type of mistakes. We can't have that. Five personal foul penalties, I've never been a part of that in my life, as a player and as a coach. We don't tolerate that. We had mistakes...Any mistake is critical, especially in a game of that magnitude, but we had mistakes at the most inopportune times in that game. We stop them on second down, and we're staring at a third and ten, we get a silly personal foul call, where a guy shoves a ball in another guy's chest. Why? That's not what we coach. We don't talk about that. Those are the things that need to be eliminated. We convert on third and 10 and get a holding call that takes us back inside our own five yard line and then we don't convert on that drive. We had mistakes that happened in all three phases, special teams, offense, defense, that were critical. They happened in the most inopportune times in the game. When I finished speaking to this team, I said, when you come back tommorrow to prepare for Austin, I want all the leisure and that stuff put to the side. We got two days of a business like approach, where we're going to take care of business, we're going to be mentally prepared. When we leave town on Thursday, our mindset is we're going to Austin and we're going to come back from that trip 7-3 and we're going to enjoy our bye week, heal up bumps and bruises and make our plans coming out of the bye week."

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