'Means Everything to Me': Tyree Skipper's Emotional Return for UL's Bowl Game after Suspension
Abdul Abusada • December 12, 2025
Amidst preparation for their eighth consecutive bowl game, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team earlier this week received special news that came rather unexpectedly: redshirt senior safety Tyree Skipper would be reinstated by the Sun Belt Conference for the 68 Ventures Bowl. And in today's media availability, head coach Michael Desormeaux and defensive coordinator Jim Salgado expressed their gratitude and emotions about being able to have him for one last game.
"I'm incredibly grateful for [Sun Belt] Commissioner [Keith] Gill for reconsidering his suspension," Coach Des said. He later mentioned that ever since the suspension and prior to the reinstatement, Skipper had not missed a single team function or been late for anything, focusing on schoolwork and practicing with the team all while knowing he would not be able to play in any of the final three games. He was even voted scout team player of the week last week and has almost unanimously been voted the team captain by the team. "Skip has taken full responsibility. He's been a model teammate leader...He's done everything the way that you want a guy to do."
Defensive coordinator Jim Salgado also expressed his gratitude about Tyree Skipper, emphasizing how special it is to be able to have one last game together. "I FaceTimed [Skipper], and...he said, we're going to be able to do this one more time together. And, you know, that's special. I'm just glad he gets a chance to do that...He's done a lot for this place, so it's big."
A few weeks ago, following UL's 42-39 victory over Texas State, a post-game altercation between the two teams led to suspensions on both sides by the Sun Belt Conference. Six Texas State players were suspended, while Louisiana had seven players given suspensions. 11 of the 13 players were to serve one-game suspensions, and TXST's Tymere Jackson, who supposedly started the entire altercation, was suspended for two games. But one player received the biggest of all the suspensions, and that was star safety Tyree Skipper, who was given a suspension for the remainder of the season including any potential bowl game. This conclusion was made after it was determined that Skipper swung a helmet at another player during the brawl. With this year being Skipper's redshirt senior year, that basically meant his collegiate career was over.
Following the suspensions announcement, Skipper wrote a heartfelt and well-written apology on X, which included, "I understand that as a leader, I have to hold myself to a higher standard. That moment doesn't define who I am or the values I stand for." That public apology was eventually received by Sun Belt Commissioner Keith Gill, which prompted his reconsideration on Skipper's suspension going into the bowl game. According to the Sun Belt Conference, the reinstatement decision was made with support of both UL and TXST administrations.
Tyree Skipper himself was at media availability today as well and emphasized how much it meant to him that he would be able to finish his collegiate career off on a positive note. "It was the greatest news I got all year...Finishing one more with the guys, man that means everything to me. This is the game you'll remember for the rest of your life, the last game of your collegiate career...I even shedded some tears."
Skipper, a redshirt senior, has been on the team all six years of his collegiate career. Earning All-Sun Belt Conference 2nd team honors last year and Preseason All-Sun Belt Conference 1st team this year, the New Orleans has been the leader of this secondary all season. Leading the safeties room in tackles, Skipper has recorded a sack and an interception this season prior to his suspension. With him returning for one final game, he looks to mimic those stats against Delaware and even more, as the Cajuns set to face the Blue Hens in the 68 Ventures Bowl game on Wednesday at 7:30pm in Mobile, Alabama.
This article written by Abdul Abusada of Cajuns Insider and Cajun Sports Talk. Don't forget to tune into Cajuns Insider podcast shows on all The Kneaux socials every week during the football season! Our next episode is this upcoming Monday at 6pm. Also don't forget to tune into The Cajun Sports Talk Podcast Show on @CajunSportsTalk on YouTube every Tuesday evening!
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New Orleans Saints 17 - 19 Atlanta Falcons The Saints' season is officially over. As sad as it is to say that, this season ended on a much more positive note than I expected, and has me actually looking forward to the offseason, not dreading it. The defense finished on a positive note, Tyler Shough is definitely the guy for at least the next few seasons, and Kellen Moore improved over the second half of the year. If the season finished how we expected prior to Shough saving the team, this offseason would be much more bleak in appearance. This is supposed to be a week 18 recap, but why recap a game no one really had any expectations for or cared about? No one, not even us Saints fans or analysts, really expected Shough to be able to do much with this offensive group, and he couldn’t really. Sure, he made a few really good plays, but you could tell Kellen Moore was struggling to find plays that he felt confident running with the receivers, and I don’t view that as a negative, just a bad scenario for everyone. Because of this, I am not going to write this really as a week 18 recap, but more as a short preview of this offseason. Chase Young Chase Young has made it clear that he is the best young player on this Saints team. Maybe you could swap him out with Chris Olave, but I struggle to overlook his incredible performances and constant clutch play in big moments to close out the year. He finished this game with one and a half sacks and three tackles for losses, but should have even had one more sack and a forced fumble on his stat sheet. Mickey Loomis seemingly has gotten away with the deal of a lifetime, sorry Loomis haters, by signing Young to a three-year deal for only $17 million per year on average. That is more than $10 million less than what the top 10 defensive end salaries are on a per-year basis, and Young has 10 sacks in 12 games played. While watching this one, I texted my buddies and said that Young is a top 10 EDGE in the league at this point, but they disagree. Although he may not be right now, Chase Young is quickly improving and becoming what everyone expected him to be when he came into the league. If he continues down this path, it would be extremely reasonable for him to try and get a pay raise after next season. Going into this offseason, the Saints must add at least one other piece to the defensive end rotation, so teams are forced to take their focus off of Young and open up the opportunity for even more plays by him. Tyler Shough Tyler Shough did not by any means have a perfect game; he finished 23 of 39 for 259 yards and a touchdown and an interception. However, as I said earlier, I don’t think anyone expected him to with the weapons at his disposal. He led the team down the field multiple times, and a Charlie Smyth missed field goal, and Dante Pettis offensive pass interference made this game appear worse offensively than it was. He made some throws and plays out of scheme that once again added to the current mindset that he is the team’s future, so I am not worried about the interception that came late in the fourth quarter on the tenth or so double slant pattern of the game. However, I will say that Shough’s ability to make things work at times with this battered of a weapon room is impressive in itself, and means that if the team decides to go and get him weapons in the draft or free agency, he can be even more successful. I’d really like the Saints to leave the draft with one of the following: Jeremiyah Love, Jordyn Tyson, Makai Lemon, or Elijah Sarratt. If they do that, I think this offense alongside Shough would be extremely fun to watch next season. The Defense The Saints' defense finished the season without allowing a fourth-quarter touchdown since Week 11 against the Falcons. Yes, week 11. Although I felt the defense started off pretty rough, the second half of the season was a true testament to Brandon Staley’s abilities as a defensive coordinator. The Saints' defense improved this season in both total scoring and yardage allowed in comparison to last season, at 17th and 9th, respectively, before this game. They played another great game here with what should have been two turnovers if it weren’t for a bad call by the refs on the Chase Young strip-sack. Quincy Riley and Jonas Sanker both have been massive additions to this side of the ball, and Danny Stutsman appears to have the potential to be good whenever Werner or Davis leave. If the Saints decide to run it back with this same defense and bring back the vets, it would not be the worst thing in the world, but I would still like to see them bring in more young talent. Closing Time This season was my first writing for the team, and I really enjoyed recapping all of the highs and lows of the season and trying to let you guys know exactly how I felt about the team week in, week out. As much as I hate this team missing the playoffs and the season ending today, I’m happy I had this opportunity and look forward to doing the same next season. I may write a few offseason articles, but if not, I will definitely have a few Saints-focused episodes on my YouTube channel, Jenks Island. Until next time, Who Dat!! Offensive MVP: Tyler Shough Defensive MVP: Chase Young Special Teams MVP: NONE (Please fire Phil Galiano)
The final game of the season is here!