Game 2 Preview: Northwestern State

LAFAYETTE - After a near upset at SEC member Kentucky in the 2015 season-opener, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team open its home slate on Saturday (Sept. 12) when it faces in-state opponent Northwestern State in the 15th annual Herbert Heymann Classic at Cajun Field.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be aired on ESPN3 with Kevin Brown (pxp) and Brian Kinchen (color) handling the call. The game will also be broadcast on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Radio Network with Jay Walker (pxp), Richie Falgout (color) and Travis Webb (sideline) providing commentary.

Louisiana (0-1) erased a 23-point deficit in the second half against Kentucky as Torrey Pierce rushed for a pair of second-half touchdowns while Jalen Nixon's 23-yard TD run and two-point conversion by Elijah McGuire with 7:36 remaining knotted the game at 33-33.

The Ragin' Cajuns outgained UK in total offense, 479-435, and held a 247-178 advantage on the ground. Pierce, who missed the team's final seven games of the 2014 season with an ankle injury, rushed for a career-high 110 yards while McGuire gained 86 yards on a career-high 27 carries.

Brooks Haack, in his second career start at quarterback, went 22-for-37 through the air for 194 yards and added a 4-yard TD run to halt a 21-0 run by Kentucky. Nixon rushed for 37 yards and a TD while completing all four passes he tossed for 38 yards.

Freshman Gary Haynes caught a game-high eight passes in his collegiate debut for Louisiana while Gabe Fuselier caught a career-best seven passes.

The game also saw the return of fifth-year senior Jamal Robinson, who missed a total of nine games last season due to knee and foot injuries. The Slidell, La., native caught six passes for 61 yards.

Defensively, Dominique Tovell registered seven tackles, including a school-record tying five stops for loss. Tovell added a pair of sacks for the Ragin' Cajuns and helped lead a defensive unit that held Kentucky to 103 yards of total offense in the second half.

The game against Northwestern State (0-1) marks the 74th meeting between the two schools, with the series ranking as the second-oldest in Ragin' Cajuns history behind their rivalry with Louisiana Tech (86 games).

The Demons opened their season on Sept. 3 with a 34-20 loss at home to No. 19 Southeastern Louisiana in the Southland Conference opener for both teams.

Game No. 2
-/- LOUISIANA RAGIN' CAJUNS (0-1, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Head Coach: Mark Hudspeth (Delta State, 1992)
Record at Louisiana: 36-17 (5th season), Career Record: 102-38 (12th year)

-/- NORTHWESTERN STATE DEMONS (0-1, 0-1 Southland)
Head Coach: Jay Thomas (Southern Miss, 1988)
Record at NSU: 12-13 (3rd season), Career Record: 39-48 (9th year)

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

GAME INFORMATION
September 12, 2015 • 6:05 p.m. CDT • Lafayette, La. • Cajun Field (41,426)
Series History: The 74th meeting between the schools ... the Northwestern State series is the second-oldest in Ragin' Cajuns history ... Louisiana leads series, 36-35-2 ... UL leads in games played in Lafayette, 21-17-1 ... the Cajuns have won four of last six meetings dating back to 1978.

TV/RADIO/SOCIAL MEDIA INFORMATION
ESPNU: Kevin Brown, PxP • Brian Kinchen, Analyst
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

GAMEDAY STORYLINES
• Louisiana is 517-530-34 against all opponents dating back to 1901.
• Louisiana is 65-37-5 in home openers (107 games).
• Under head coach Mark Hudspeth, Louisiana is 8-2 against in-state opponents.
• In his career, Hudspeth is 7-1 against current members of the Southland Conference (4-1 vs. Central Arkansas, 2-0 vs. Nicholls State, 1-0 vs. Lamar).
• Louisiana is 35-18-1 against schools in the Football Championship Subdivision dating back to 1982. The Ragin' Cajuns have won 10 consecutive games against FCS schools since 2001.
• Current ILB coach Mike Lucas served as defensive coordinator at Northwestern State in 2014.

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 36 wins since the hiring of Mark Hudspeth in 2011 are the fifth-most among current schools in the Group of 5.
3 - Senior Mykhael Quave will start in his 41st consecutive game for the Ragin' Cajuns.
4 - Elijah McGuire needs 99 yards to move into sixth place on the school's all-time rushing list.
5 - Louisiana's 33 points at Kentucky were the most scored in a non-conference road game since 2013 (35, at Akron).

NEXT UP
• Louisiana will have a open date on Sept. 19 before returning to action on Sept. 26 against Mid-American Conference opponent Akron on Sept. 26 at Cajun Field. Kickoff will be at 6 p.m.

NOTES FROM THE KENTUCKY GAME
• Dominique Tovell's five tackles for loss tied a school-record that was previously set last season by Christian Ringo (at ULM) and in 1993 by Jeff Mitchell (at Northern Illinois).
• Twelve players, including true freshmen Stevie Artigue, Keenan Barnes, Steven Coutts, Gary Haynes and Mario Osborne, made their debut for the Ragin' Cajuns. Others making their Louisiana debut were: Jeryl Brazil, Savion Brown, Chris Collins, Adrian Goodacre, Christian Goodlett, Chaiziere Malbrue and Otha Peters.
• Seven players (Gabe Fuselier, Grant Horst, Eddie Gordon, Karmichael Dunbar, Otha Peters, Zach DeGrange and Savion Brown) recorded their first career start for the Ragin' Cajuns.
• Sherard Johnson's tackle on the final Kentucky drive of the third quarter was the first of his career.
• Elijah McGuire set a single-game, career-high with 27 carries.
• The 33 points scored by Louisiana was the most allowed by Kentucky in a home opener since 2003 (40, vs. Louisville).
• The loss was the second by the Ragin' Cajuns to a SEC school in the final minute (2012, at Florida) and was the third loss in 34 games under Mark Hudspeth when scoring 30 or more points [2011, at Oklahoma State (34); 2011, at Arizona (36)].

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 40 consecutive games with Anderson, a two-year starter, extending his streak to 27 games. Williams, who moved over to right guard replacing 52-game starter Daniel Quave, has started in 14 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 enters his third season as one of the most decorated players to wear a Ragin' Cajuns uniform.
• In his third season in a Ragin' Cajuns uniform, McGuire has rushed for 2,213 yards, ranking seventh 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 36 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
• The Ragin' Cajuns season opener at Kentucky saw a successful debut for both freshmen specialists Stevie Artigue and Steven Coutts.
• Artigue, a four-time all-district and three-time Class 5A All-State selection at nearby Lafayette High School, was successful on both of his extra point attempts, converted a 31-yard field goal on his first-ever collegiate attempt, and had one touchback on six kickoff attempts.
• Coutts, the second Australian to sign with the Ragin' Cajuns in the past three years after following in the footsteps of Daniel Cadona, averaged 43.4 yards on five attempts against UK, with a long of 51. He had a 36-yard attempt in the first quarter that was downed inside the UK 1.

MR. ROBINSON IS BACK IN HIS NEIGHBORHOOD
• After being limited to four games last season due to knee and foot injuries, senior Jamal Robinson returned to the lineup in the Ragin' Cajuns season-opener at Kentucky, catching six passes for 61 yards.
• 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 108 receptions and is eighth overall in receiving yards (1,890). With 78 yards receiving, Robinson would pass Willie Culpepper (1,967 yards from 1985-88) for seventh place and is 99 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 will officially move 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 the football coaches offices and will include new locker rooms, an Athletic Training Room, a new weight room, a new equipment room and a 150-seat auditorium.
• 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.

SUN BELT BOWL TIE-INS
• Louisiana and the Sun Belt Conference will have four bowl tie-ins for the 2015 season beginning with the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (New Orleans - Dec. 19), the Raycom Camellia Bowl (Montgomery, Ala. - Dec. 19), the AutoNation Cure Bowl (Orlando, Fla. - Dec. 19) and the GoDaddy Bowl (Mobile, Ala. - Dec. 23).

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 SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE
• A member of the Southland Conference from 1971-81, Louisiana is 125-92-9 all-time against current members of the SLC. Four schools (Northwestern State, Southeastern Louisiana, McNeese State and Lamar) are among the 10 most-common opponents for the Ragin' Cajuns in school history (see Most Common Opponents on p. 19).

Abilene Christian	1-2-0
Lamar	23-11-0
McNeese State	15-20-2
Nicholls State	4-0-0
Northwestern State	36-35-2
Sam Houston State	9-6-1
Southeastern Louisiana	19-17-3
Stephen F. Austin	18-1-1
TOTAL	125-92-9

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Players Mentioned

Octravian Anderson

Stevie Artigue

Keenan Barnes

Jeryl Brazil

Savion Brown

Daniel Cadona

Chris Collins

Steven Coutts

Karmichael Dunbar

Gabe Fuselier

Adrian Goodacre

Christian Goodlett

Eddie Gordon

Brooks Haack

Gary Haynes

Grant Horst

Sherard Johnson

Chaiziere Malbrue

Elijah McGuire

Jalen Nixon

Mario Osborne

Otha Peters

Torrey Pierce

Daniel Quave

Mykhael Quave

Christian Ringo

Jamal Robinson

Dominique Tovell

Donovan Williams

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