Game 5 Preview: at New Mexico State

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football looks to improve to 2-0 in Sun Belt Conference play for the second time in three years when it travels west to face New Mexico State on Saturday at Aggie Memorial Stadium.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:04 p.m. CT and can be seen on ESPN3. The game is also available statewide on the Ragin' Cajuns Radio Network.

Louisiana (2-2, 1-0 SBC) stepped out of conference play last week and dropped a disappointing 41-39 contest in four overtimes at Tulane. The Ragin' Cajuns opened league play two weeks ago with a solid 28-23 win over South Alabama, behind a 223-yard performance from Elijah McGuire.

McGuire, who is second in school history in rushing (3,682), all-purpose yards (5,163) and scoring (288), enters the game against New Mexico State (1-3, 0-1 SBC) needing 69 yards to pass Tyrell Fenroy in all-purpose yards and a touchdown in scoring.

GAME 5
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (2-2, 1-0 SBC) at New Mexico State Aggies (1-3, 0-1 SBC)
Oct. 1, 2016 • 7:04 p.m. CT • Las Cruces, N.M. • Aggie Memorial Stadium (30,343)

RADIO/TV
ESPN3 • Drew Fellios (PXP) • Forrest Conoly (Analyst)
KPEL 1420 AM • Jay Walker (PXP) • Richie Falgout (Analyst) • Travis Webb (Sideline)

THE SERIES
Series History: Tied, 4-4*
In Lafayette: UL leads 4-2* | In Las Cruces: NM State leads, 2-0* | Hudspeth vs. NM State: 0-1*
First Meeting: Sept. 27, 1975 at Lafayette • Louisiana, 31-7
Last Meeting: Nov. 21, 2015 at Lafayette • New Mexico State, 37-34

THE COACHES
Louisiana
Head Coach: Mark Hudspeth (Delta State, 1992) • @ULCoachHud
Record at UL: 20-26* (sixth season), Career Record: 86-47* (13th season)

New Mexico State
Head Coach: Doug Martin (Kentucky, 1985)
Record at NM State: 8-32 (4th season), Career Record: 37-85 (11th season)

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Elijah McGuire enters tonight's game needing 69 all-purpose yards to pass Tyrell Fenroy (5,231) as the Ragin' Cajuns all-time leader.
With 5,163 all-purpose yards in his career, McGuire is one of four active FBS players with 5,000 all-purpose yards.
McGuire enters tonight's contest six points shy (288) of tying Fenroy as the school's all-time leader.
Tonight's game is the first for the Ragin' Cajuns outside of the state of Louisiana since Nov. 28, 2015 at Appalachian State.
Louisiana enters the game ranked 26th among FBS programs in 3rd-down defense (18-for-59, .305).

GAME NOTES
THE SERIES
• Tonight's contest is the 11th meeting between the schools with Louisiana holding a 6-4 lead. The Ragin' Cajuns have won five of seven meetings at Cajun Field and are 1-2 against the Aggies in Las Cruces.
• The series is officially tied at 4-4 after UL wins in 2013 (Lafayette) and 2014 (Las Cruces) were vacated due to NCAA sanctions.
• NM State has officially claimed the last two meetings in the series, including a come-from-behind 37-34 win in Lafayette last season.

THE LAST MEETING – New Mexico State 37, Louisiana 34 (Nov. 21, 2015 • Lafayette, La.)
• New Mexico State (3-7, 3-3 Sun Belt) drew a 34-all tie with 3:59 remaining on an Andrew Allen 23-yard touchdown pass to Gregory Hogan, then the defense forced the Ragin' Cajuns (4-6, 3-3 Sun Belt) into a three-and-out.
• Punting from his own 29-yard line, Steven Coutts saw the wind knock down his attempt and the ball roll back to the 34-yard line for a net punt of five yards setting up NMSU with a short field for the eventual winning tally.
• Larry Rose III rushed for 14 yards, then two plays later Allen completed a pass to Tyrain Taylor to the UL6 which led to Parker Davidson's 21-yard field goal that completed the Aggies rally.
• Rodney Butler intercepted a second-down pass by Brooks Haack to prevent the Ragin' Cajuns from answering and seal the NMSU victory.
• Trailing or tied after falling behind 20-14 late in the second quarter, Louisiana generated touchdowns on back-to-back possessions in the fourth quarter. The latter score was a 31-yard touchdown pass from Haack to Jamal Robinson at 6:27 which gave the Ragin' Cajuns a 34-27 advantage.
• Haack and Robinson turned in career performances for Louisiana. Haack completed a career-high 24 passes (37 attempts) for a career-high 283 yards while Robinson caught a career-high 12 passes totaling 183 yards.
• Elijah McGuire netted 159 yards rushing on 18 carries and scored two touchdowns. The junior running back eclipsed 3,000 yards rushing in his career (upped total to 3,056) becoming only the third running back in program history to reach the mark joining Tyrell Fenroy (4,646) and Alonzo Harris (3,330).

WHAT'S UP NEXT
• Louisiana will return home on Wednesday, Oct. 12 to host Appalachian State in a game that will be nationally-televised on ESPN2. Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.

ON THIS DATE
Below are all-time results for Louisiana in games played on Oct. 1.

All-Time Cajuns Results on Oct. 1
1921 - at Rice (L, 54-0)
1927 - at LSU (L, 52-0)
1937 - Stephen F. Austin (W, 7-6)
1949 - at Southeastern La. (W, 27-20)
1955 - East Texas State (W, 20-15)
1960 - at Stephen F. Austin (W, 36-0)
1966 - Southeastern La. (W, 35-6)
1977 - at Hawai`I (L, 20-6)
1988 - at East Carolina (W, 48-36)
1994 - at Louisiana Tech (W, 13-3)
2005 – UCF (L, 24-21)
2011 - Florida Atlantic (W, 37-34)

NOTES FROM THE TULANE GAME
• Captains for the game were WR Al Riles (Covington), LB Otha Peters (Covington), DB Dominick Jones (New Orleans) and OL D'Aquin Withrow (New Orleans).
• The game marked the first overtime game for Louisiana since Oct. 31, 2009 (lost to FIU, 20-17). Third overtime game on the road for Ragin' Cajuns in school history (at Middle Tennessee in 2000 and 2003).
• Louisiana played its third 4-overtime game in school history; the first since a 57-51 win at Middle Tennessee on Nov. 15, 2003.
• Louisiana held Tulane to 0-for-16 on third-down attempts in the game.
• Elijah McGuire carried a career-high 38 times for 89 yards and two TDs.
• McGuire's 38 carries were the most by Ragin' Cajun since Alonzo Harris (33 carries, 189 yards) at Middle Tennessee on Oct. 29, 2011.
• McGuire's three TDs on the night gave him 47 in his career and 288 points (passing Brian Mitchell for second-place in school history).
• McGuire finished with 143 all-purpose yards, increasing his career total to 5,163 yards - 68 shy of tying Tyrell Fenroy for the UL all-time lead.
• Tulane wins coin toss (UL now 1-3 on season) and defers; Cajuns take opening kickoff.
• Junior Raynard Ford earned his first career start for Louisiana at right tackle in place of Grant Horst (illness).
• Mario Osborne's 9-yard sack in the first quarter was his first of the season (third of his career).
• Attendance was 24,253.
• Redshirt freshman Joe Dillion recorded his first career sack in the second quarter.
• Stevie Artigue sets career-high with four field goals; had three FGs in games against ULM (10/31/15) and Georgia State (11/7/15)
• Shay LaPorte's blocked punt was the first for the Ragin' Cajuns since Reggie Miles against Troy in 2015 season finale.
• Offensive lineman Craig Smith (one of 25 players) makes his debut for Ragin' Cajuns in fourth quarter in place of injured D'Aquin Withrow.
• Louisiana converted three fourth-down opportunities on its 16-play scoring drive after entering game 0-for-4 on the season.
• McGuire's 1-yard TD run in the fourth quarter capped a 16-play drive for the Ragin' Cajuns, the longest since a 15-play scoring drive in season opener against Boise State.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stevie Artigue

Steven Coutts

Raynard Ford

Brooks Haack

Grant Horst

Dominick Jones

Shay LaPorte

Elijah McGuire

Mario Osborne

Otha Peters

Al Riles

Jamal Robinson

Craig Smith

D'Aquin Withrow

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