Game 3 Preview: Akron

LAFAYETTE - After an open date last week, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team will return to action on Saturday, Sept. 26, when it faces Mid-American Conference member Akron in a 6 p.m. CDT contest at Cajun Field.

The game will be televised on ESPN3 with Drew Fellios (pbp) and Forrest Conoly (color) calling the action. The game will also be aired live on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Radio Network with Jay Walker (pbp), former Ragin' Cajuns wide receiver Richie Falgout (color) and Travis Webb (sideline) providing the commentary.

Louisiana (1-1) returns to the gridiron after earning a 44-17 victory over in-state opponent Northwestern State on Sept. 12 at Cajun Field. The Ragin' Cajuns built a 27-7 lead at halftime behind four touchdowns by Elijah McGuire.

McGuire rushed for 162 yards on 14 carries while tying the single-game school record with five rushing touchdowns. McGuire scored on runs of 7, 88, 3, 24 and 1 yard as he tied the school record set by Brian Mitchell (vs. Lamar, 1989) and Alonzo Harris (vs. New Mexico State, 2013).

McGuire has rushed for 248 yards in his first two games of the season to rank second in the Sun Belt Conference in yards per game (124.0). The junior leads the SBC, and is 21st among FBS players, in all-purpose yards (155.0).

Louisiana enters the second-ever meeting against Akron (1-2) ranked No. 9 nationally in rushing yards per game (303.5), No. 22 among FBS schools in total offense (513.0) and No. 31 in scoring offense (38.5).

Akron scored 45 unanswered points to rally from a second-quarter deficit and earn a 52-9 over FCS member Savannah State on Sept. 19. Cody Grice rushed for three first-half TDs for the Zips with Conor Hundley adding 127 yards rushing with a TD.

GAME INFORMATION
-/- LOUISIANA RAGIN' CAJUNS (1-1, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Head Coach: Mark Hudspeth (Delta State, 1992)
Record at Louisiana: 37-17 (5th season), Career Record: 103-38 (12th year)

-/- AKRON ZIPS (1-2, 0-0 Mid-American)
Head Coach: Terry Bowden (West Virginia, 1978)
Record at UA: 12-27 (4th season), Career Record: 152-89-2 (22nd year)

* - Rankings listed at Amway Coaches' Poll/AP Poll

September 26, 2015 • 6:04 p.m. CDT • Lafayette, La. • Cajun Field (41,426)
Series History: Louisiana leads, 1-0 ... the Ragin' Cajuns earned 35-30 victory in the previous meeting between schools on Sept. 21, 2013 in Akron, Ohio.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
Television/Online
ESPN3: Drew Fellios, PxP • Forrest Conoly, Analyst

Radio
Ragin' Cajuns Radio Network: Jay Walker, PxP • Richie Falgout, Analyst • Travis Webb, Sideline
In Lafayette: KPEL 1420-AM (Flagship); KHXT 107.9-FM
Affiliates: KTUX 98.9-FM (Shreveport); WGSO 990-AM (New Orleans); KJEF 1290-AM (Jennings); KLCL 1470-AM (Lake Charles); KRJO 1680-AM (Monroe); KTIB 640-AM (Thibodaux)

Live Stats: RaginCajuns.com
Twitter Updates: @ULRaginCajuns; Facebook: RaginCajunsAthletics;
YouTube: IAm4RaginCajuns; Instagram: ULRaginCajuns

DID YOU KNEAUX?
1 - Louisiana is one of two schools in the country (Oregon) to win nine games plus a bowl game in the past four years.
2 - Louisiana's 37 wins since the hiring of Mark Hudspeth in 2011 are tied for the fifth-most among schools currently in the Group of 5.
3 - Senior Mykhael Quave will start in his 42nd consecutive game for the Ragin' Cajuns.
4 - Elijah McGuire is third nationally among FBS players in scoring average (17.0) and 21st in all-purpose yards (155.0).
5 - Louisiana is 32-3 under Mark Hudspeth when scoring 30 points or more in a game.

THE LAST MEETING
Louisiana 35, Akron 30
September 21, 2013 at Akron, Ohio

• Terrance Broadway was responsible for all five Louisiana touchdowns, including a pair in the fourth quarter, as the Ragin' Cajuns rallied from a 24-21 deficit to claim a 35-30 victory over Akron in InfoCision Stadium.
• Louisiana fell behind, 24-21, just 69 seconds into the fourth quarter when Kyle Pohl hooked up with Fransohn Bickley on a 37-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-3 play.
• Broadway, who accounted for a season-high 373 yards of total offense, answered by scoring his second touchdown of the night on a 13-yard run that put Louisiana ahead for good, 28-24.
• On the ensuing kickoff, Hunter Stover dribbled an onside kick and recovered it to give Louisiana the ball back. Five plays later, Broadway connected with Darryl Surgent on a 14-yard touchdown play to push the Cajuns lead to 35-24 with 6:19 left.
• Akron missed fourth quarter field goals from 46 and 48 yards before Bickley grabbed a 28-yard scoring pass from Pohl with 29 seconds remaining to make it a 35-30 final.
• Louisiana scored first on a 9-yard pass from Broadway to Robinson, a score set up by a Rodney Gillis interception that was returned to the Akron 13.
• The Cajuns made it 14-0 at the 9:51 mark of the second quarter when Broadway scored on a 15-yard run.
• Akron came right back as Pohl found Zach D'orazio open down the middle for a 77-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-7 with 9:03 left. Jawon Chisholm tied the game at 14-14 on a 22-yard run with 5:36 left in the half.

NEXT UP
• Louisiana will close out its non-conference schedule on Saturday, Oct. 3 when it travels north to Ruston to face Louisiana Tech in a 6 p.m. contest at Joe Aillet Stadium. The game will be televised on the American Sports Network with coverage in the Lafayette area available on several outlets, including Cox Cable, Charter Cable, LUS Fiber, Dish TV, DirecTV and AT&T U-verse.

NOTES FROM THE NORTHWESTERN STATE GAME
• Elijah McGuire's 88-yard touchdown run on the Ragin' Cajuns second possession of the game was the third-longest run in school history behind a 90-yard run by Reggie Dupre (vs. Southeastern Louisiana, 1971) and an 89-yard touchdown run by Tyrell Fenroy (vs. ULM, 2008).
• McGuire's five rushing TDs matched the record established by Brian Mitchell (vs. Lamar, 1989) and reached by Alonzo Harris (vs. New Mexico State, 2013). The junior running back accumulated 162 rushing yards on 14 carries for his 10th 100-yard game of his career.
• McGuire increased his career-rushing total to 2,375 yards, which moves him into sixth place on the Cajuns' career chart surpassing Kenyon Cotton (2,311 yards from 1993-96). He also moved past Cotton (25 TDs) into fourth place in career rushing touchdowns upping his total to 27.
• The announced attendance of 26,824 was the 18th-largest crowd in Cajun Field history. Eight of the top 15 crowds to watch at game at Cajun Field, and 10 of the top 20, have been recorded since Mark Hudspeth was named head coach for the 2011 season.
• The Ragin' Cajuns 360 yards on the ground ranked as the 14th-best total by an FBS team during the first two weeks of the 2015 season.
• Louisiana won its home opener for the fifth straight season under Mark Hudspeth and eighth straight season overall dating back to 2008-15.

SEASON NOTES ON THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
• Elijah McGuire's 88-yard TD run against Northwestern State (Sept. 12) is currently ranked as the fifth-longest run by an FBS player this season.
• Dominique Tovell's 5.0 tackles for loss in the season-opener at Kentucky (9/5) is tied for the second-most in an FBS game in 2015.
• The Ragin' Cajuns will honor the victims of the July 23rd tragedy at Lafayette's Grand Theater by wearing a special "Lafayette Strong" helmet sticker. The team will also enter the field with a designated player carrying a "Lafayette Strong" flag.

CONTINUTY ON THE LINE
• Louisiana entered the 2015 season with three returning starters - left guard Mykhael Quave, right guard Donovan Williams and right tackle Octravian Anderson - who had a combined 78 starts under their belt.
• In the past three years under offensive line coach Mitch Rodrigue, the Ragin' Cajuns starting offensive line unit in the season-opener has been the same for the entire season.
• Quave, the Ragin' Cajuns left tackle in 2013-14, has started 41 consecutive games with Anderson, a two-year starter, extending his streak to 28 games. Williams, who moved over to right guard replacing 52-game starter Daniel Quave, has started in 15 straight games after playing every game last season at left guard.
• New starters Grant Horst (left tackle) and Eddie Gordon (center) made their first career starts in the season-opener at Kentucky.

THE BOOK OF ELI
• Junior running back Elijah McGuire entered the 2015 season as one of the most decorated players to wear a Ragin' Cajuns uniform and after two games, has continued his assault on the record book.
• In his third season in a Ragin' Cajuns uniform, McGuire has rushed for 2,375 yards, ranking sixth on the school's all-time list. McGuire became the fourth player in school history (joining Tyrell Fenroy and former quarterbacks Brian Mitchell and Michael Desormeaux) to rush for over 1,000 yard in a season when he gained 1,264 yards in 2014.
• McGuire, the 2015 Preseason Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Year, was the 2013 SBC Freshman of the Year and the 2014 Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year and Offensive Player of the Year.
• This season, McGuire is a candidate for the Doak Walker Award, the Maxwell Award, the Paul Hornung Award and the Walter Camp Player of the Year.

SETTING A STANDARD
• In addition to four consecutive seasons of appearing in a bowl game, Mark Hudspeth has helped Louisiana tie the school record for wins in a season with nine.
• Prior to consecutive 9-4 records from 2011-14, the Cajuns set the school record for wins with a 9-2 record in both 1921 and 1976.
• The 37 wins in Hudspeth's first four years are the most in in school history.

CAJUNS HAVE ENJOYED BOWLING IN PAST FOUR SEASONS
• Louisiana is one of five schools nationally to have won a bowl/postseason game in each of the past four seasons.
• The Cajuns, with four victories in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, are part of a list that includes Michigan State (Outback, Buffalo Wild Wings, Rose, Cotton), Oregon (Rose, Fiesta, Alamo, Rose), South Carolina (Capitol One, Outback, Capitol One, Independence) and Texas A&M (Meinke Car Care, Cotton, Chick-Fil-A, Music City).
• With a 16-3 win over Nevada in the 2014 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, Louisiana became the first school in NCAA history to win the same bowl game four consecutive years.

NEW DEFENSIVE STAFF
• A new defensive staff, led by defensive coordinator Melvin Smith, made its debut against Kentucky on Sept. 5. Smith, who serves as defensive backs coach, spent the past two years at Auburn.
• Smith is joined by former Auburn assistants Charlie Harbison (co-defensive coordinator/outside linebackers) and Levorn Harbin (defensive line) along with former Southeastern Louisiana head coach and veteran defensive coordinator Mike Lucas (inside linebackers).
• They replace former defensive coordinator James Willis (Asst. LB coach, New Orleans Saints), Tim Rebowe (head coach, Nicholls State), Matt Wallerstedt (DC, Charlotte) and Tim Edwards (DL, Buffalo).

"NEW KICKS" IMPRESSIVE IN RAGIN' CAJUNS DEBUT
• After losing both Hunter Stover and Daniel Cadona to graduation, the Ragin' Cajuns introduced a new kicking combo of true freshmen Stevie Artigue and Steven Coutts.
• Artigue, a four-time all-district and three-time Class 5A All-State selection at nearby Lafayette High School, has converted on seven of eight extra point attempts for the Ragin' Cajuns while going 2-for-2 in field goals.
• Coutts, the second Australian to sign with the Ragin' Cajuns in the past three years after following in the footsteps of Cadona, is third in the Sun Belt Conference in punting with a 44.2 average.

MR. ROBINSON IS BACK IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD
• After being limited to four games last season due to knee and foot injuries, senior Jamal Robinson has made a successful return to the lineup, catching eight passes for 129 yards. His 58-yard reception against Northwestern State was the third-longest of his career, following grabs of 86 yards (vs. Lamar) and 81 (at ULM) in 2012.
• The 2014 Biletnikoff Watch List candidate caught 15 passes with four touchdowns in four games last season before being sidelined for the remainder of the season with a foot injury at Texas State.
• The 2015 Preseason Second-Team All-Sun Belt Conference candidate ranks ninth in school history with 110 receptions and is eighth overall in receiving yards (1,958). With 10 yards receiving, Robinson would pass Willie Culpepper (1,967 yards from 1985-88) for seventh place and is 31 yards shy of passing Bill Sampy (1,988 yards from 2002-05) for sixth.

NEW FACILITIES FOR RAGIN' CAJUNS FOOTBALL
• The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team officially moved into its new 100,000-square foot Student-Athlete Performance Center on September 13-14. The new building, which is part of the University's $115 million Athletics Facilities Master Plan that was unveiled in March of 2013, will house new offices and locker rooms for the Ragin' Cajuns football team, as well as a state-of-the-art Athletic Training Room, new weight room, new equipment room and 150-seat auditorium that will benefit all Ragin' Cajuns student-athletes.
• Ground was broken on the project in August of 2014 and is part of Tier 1 projects that included the expansion of Cajun Field. Upgrades at Cajun Field, which were completed prior to the 2014 season included the addition of seats in the South End Zone, raising capacity to 41,426, plus a new concession stands and restrooms in the South End Zone facility.
• Also included in Tier 1 were upgrades to the Ragin' Cajuns Soccer/Track Facility, that includes new locker rooms and coaches' offices for both the soccer and track and field programs, a new pressbox, restrooms, a concession stand and retail area.

NEW VOICES IN THE BOOTH
• New voices in the booth and on the sideline are just some of the changes fans will notice when they tune in to radio broadcasts of the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns this fall, announced by rights-holder Townsquare Media of Lafayette.
• Former Ragin' Cajuns wide receiver Richie Falgout will join play by play voice Jay Walker (in his 24th year on the network) in the broadcast booth as color analyst, while KATC-TV sports anchor Travis Webb will serve as the radio network's sideline reporter.
• Steve Peloquin and Gerald Broussard will continue to be part of the broadcasts as they will serve as co-hosts of the two hour pre-game show, one hour of which will be broadcast on the eight-station Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Radio Network.
• Falgout, who was a wide receiver for the Cajuns from 2007-2010, begins his first year as part of the network broadcast team. Webb is in his eighth year at the local ABC affiliate. He also hosts the "Ragin' Cajuns All-Access" television show during the athletic year on KATC's CW affiliate Wednesday's at 9 p.m.
• Peloquin (13th season) and Broussard (fourth season) will go on the air with local pregame two hours before kickoff.

RAGIN' CAJUNS REPEAT AS SUN BELT ACADEMIC CHAMPS
• The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team earned the best cumulative grade point average among Sun Belt Conference schools for the second consecutive year as the league announced its Team GPA Awards for the 2014-15 academic year.
• Louisiana posted a 2.81 team GPA during the 2014-15 academic year to lead all football schools competing in the Sun Belt.
• During the Fall 2014 semester, the Ragin' Cajuns recorded their highest GPA in team history (2.923) and posted its sixth consecutive semester of 2.6 or higher. Fifty-two percent of the student-athletes on the roster earned a 3.0 GPA or higher during the fall with six players earning a 4.0, and 11 receiving their degree during Fall Commencement ceremonies.

CAJUNS PICKED SECOND IN SUN BELT
• In voting by the league's head coaches, Louisiana was picked to finish second in the Sun Belt Conference. The Ragin' Cajuns received three first-place votes and garnered 108 points, finishing behind defending champion Georgia Southern.

1. Georgia Southern (6) - 110 pts
2. Louisiana (3) - 108 pts
3. Arkansas State (1) - 96 pts
4. Appalachian State - 82 pts
5. Texas State - 78 pts
6. South Alabama (1) - 68 pts
7. ULM - 59 pts
8. Troy - 39 pts
9. Georgia State - 32 pts
10. New Mexico State - 30 pts
11. Idaho - 24 pts

CAJUNS AGAINST THE MID-AMERICAN CONFERENCE
• When the Ragin' Cajuns face Akron, it will be the 22nd meeting against a current member of the Mid-American Conference. Louisiana holds a 12-9 lead against current MAC schools, playing each of the current members except Ball State, Bowling Green, Buffalo and Toledo.
• In games played when the opponent was a member of the MAC, Louisiana is 6-6 overall with all nine games against Northern Illinois coming when the Huskies were a Division I-A independent (1988-92, 1996), and when both schools were members of the Big West Conference (1993-95).

School	First Meeting	Last Meeting	Record
Akron	2013	2013	UL leads, 1-0
Ball State	Never met	Never met	Never met
Bowling Green	Never met	Never met	Never met
Buffalo	Never met	Never met	Never met
Central Michigan	1989	1991	Tied, 1-1
Eastern Michigan	2005	2006	Tied, 1-1
Kent State	2008	2011	UL leads, 2-0
Miami (Ohio)	1991	1993	Miami leads, 2-0
Northern Illinois	1988	1996	UL leads, 6-3
Ohio	2007	2010	Ohio leads, 2-0
Toledo	Never met	Never met	Never met
Western Michigan	1994	1994	UL leads, 1-0
OVERALL RECORD			12-9

SUPPORTING COACH TO CURE MD
• The Louisiana and Akron coaching staffs will be wearing Coach to Cure MD patches during tonight's game to raise awareness and funding for Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy research.
• Fans are encouraged to donate online at www.CoachtoCureMD.org or donate $5 by texting CURE to 90999.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Octravian Anderson

Stevie Artigue

Terrance Broadway

Daniel Cadona

Steven Coutts

Eddie Gordon

Alonzo Harris

Grant Horst

Elijah McGuire

Daniel Quave

Mykhael Quave

Jamal Robinson

Hunter Stover

Dominique Tovell

Donovan Williams

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