FB Game 9 Preview: at Ole Miss

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team wraps up a three-game roadtrip on Saturday when it travels to Oxford, Miss., to face Southeastern Conference opponent Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. The game will be televised live on the SEC Network and the WatchESPN app with Dave Neal (play-by-play), Matt Stinchcomb (color) and Dawn Davenport (sideline) providing commentary. The game will also be available statewide on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Radio Network with Jay Walker (PBP), former Ragin' Cajuns receiver Richie Falgout (color) and Cody Junot (sideline) on the call.

Louisiana (4-4, 3-2 SBC), which defeated South Alabama last week, plays the last of three straight road games that began on Oct. 19 at Arkansas State. The Ragin' Cajuns will return home for Homecoming on Nov. 18 against New Mexico State before facing Georgia Southern on Senior Day on Nov. 25.

The game against Ole Miss (4-5, 2-4 SEC) marks the fifth meeting between the schools with the Rebels claiming the previous four meetings in a series that dates back to the 1986 season. The Rebels claimed a 21-20 win in the series opener on Oct. 18, 1986 in Oxford and earned a 56-15 win over the Ragin' Cajuns in the last matchup on Sept. 13, 2014.

GAME 9
LOUISIANA RAGIN' CAJUNS (4-4, 3-2 Sun Belt)
Head Coach: Mark Hudspeth (Delta State, 1992) • @ULCoachHud
Record at LA: 28-35* (seventh season), Career Record: 94-56* (14th season)

OLE MISS REBELS (4-5, 2-4 SEC)
Head Coach: Matt Luke (Ole Miss, 2000)
Record at OM: 4-5 (first season), Career Record: Same

Nov. 11, 2017 • 11:01 a.m. • Oxford, Miss. • Vaught-Hemingway Stadium (64,038)
Series History: Ole Miss leads, 4-0
At Lafayette: Never met | At Oxford: Ole Miss leads, 4-0 | Hudspeth vs. OM: 0-1
First Meeting: Ole Miss 21, Louisiana 20 • Oct. 18, 1986 at Oxford
Last Meeting: Ole Miss 56, Louisiana 15 • Sept. 13, 2014 at Oxford

SEC Network | WatchESPN • Dave Neal PXP • Matt Stinchcomb Analyst • Dawn Davenport Sideline
KPEL 1420 AM (Flagship) • Jay Walker PXP • Richie Falgout Analyst • Cody Junot Sideline

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Stevie Artigue's 51-yard field in the first quarter at Arkansas State was the longest of his career and the first 50-yard field goal by a Ragin' Cajun since Brett Baer against East Carolina in 2012.
• Louisiana is one of four FBS schools (Houston, Maryland, Michigan) that have started three quarterbacks (Jordan Davis, Levi Lewis, Andre Nunez) in wins this season.
• Louisiana's three 100-yard rushing performances this season have been recorded by freshmen (Levi Lewis, Elijah Mitchell, Trey Ragas).
• Fourteen players on the Ragin' Cajuns roster hail from the state of Mississippi.
• Levi Lewis' 129 rushing yards in his collegiate debut marked the first 100-yard rushing game by a Ragin' Cajuns quarterback since Jalen Nixon (201 yards) at Arkansas State in 2015.

GAME NOTES
CALL US "LOUISIANA"
• The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns® is the nickname of the University's athletic teams. As listed by the Sun Belt Conference, the NCAA and ESPN.com, we politely ask that you refer to our athletic programs as simply "Louisiana" on first reference, or use any of the following: Ragin' Cajuns or Cajuns.
• For all electronic sports tickers and TV crawls only, please use "LA" as the official abbreviation for all athletic programs.
• The Sun Belt Conference made public its University Reference Guide in 2016 that is used to reference each member institution's athletic title and nicknames. The publication of the guide comes after all of the conference's presidents and chancellors submitted their preferred reference.
• The Sun Belt Conference will begin to use these references immediately. Sun Belt member institutions and media partners are encouraged to use these references so that there is consistency across all communication platforms.

THE SERIES
• Louisiana and Ole Miss meet for the fifth time in school history with the Rebels winning the four previous meetings in a series that began in 1986.
• All four meetings in the series have been played in Oxford.
• Ole Miss claimed the opening game in the series (21-20) on Oct. 18, 1986.
• The Rebels claimed the previous meeting with a 56-15 victory on Sept. 13, 2014.

A RAGIN' CAJUNS VICTORY WOULD ...
• improve their overall record to 5-4
• would even Louisiana's road record to 3-3
• would even the Ragin' Cajuns non-conference record to 2-2
• would be the first against an SEC opponent in school history (43 games)
• would be Louisiana's first win in the state of Mississippi since Oct. 21, 1989 (d. Southern Miss, 24-21; Cajuns are 0-7 since)

LOUISIANA VERSUS THE SOUTHEASTERN CONFERENCE
• Today's game is the second of two on the schedule this season for Louisiana with the Ragin' Cajuns facing Texas A&M earlier this season in College Station.
• In its history, Louisiana is 1-64 all-time in games played against current members of the SEC and 0-42 against SEC members at the time of the game.
• The lone win for Louisiana against a current SEC team was the Ragin' Cajuns 29-22 win over Texas A&M in 1996.

RAGIN' CAJUNS CONNECTIONS TO OLE MISS AND THE MAGNOLIA STATE
• Fourteen players on the Ragin' Cajuns roster hail from the state of Mississippi - Ackerman (2) - Ja'Marcus Bradley, Taboris Lee; Bay St. Louis - Chase Rogers; Brandon - SchDarren Archie; Calhoun City - Levarious Varnado; Greenwood (2) - Bennie Higgins, Denarius Howard; Gulfport - LaDarrius Kidd; Madison - Keenan Barnes; Magee - Alonzo Brown; Noxapater - Trev Miller; Pearl - Jordan Wright; Shubuta - Brijuan Dace; Tylertown - Joe Dillon.
• Louisiana head coach Mark Hudspeth is a native of Louisville, Miss., and is a graduate of Winston Academy (1988) and Delta State (1992).
• Assistant head coach Reed Stringer is a native of Canton, Miss., and is a graduate of both Canton Academy (1998) and Delta State (2001).
• First-year offensive coordinator Will Hall is a native of Amory, Miss., and graduated from Amory High School and Northwest Mississippi Community College.
• Louisiana Director of Athletics Dr. Bryan Maggard and Ole Miss Vice Chancellor of Athletics Ross Bjork were on the same senior staff at Missouri (1997-2003) under former Mizzou AD Mike Alden.

RAGIN' CAJUNS COACHING EXPERIENCE
• The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns coaching staff brings a combined total of 196 years of collegiate experience to the table along with 82 bowl/postseason appearances.
• Defensive coordinator Mike Lucas (36 years) and offensive line coach Mitch Rodrigue (32 years) are the most experienced coaches on the staff with co-defensive coordinator Charlie Harbison (19) and Rodrigue (15) the most experienced in post-season/bowl games.
• Both coordinators for the Ragin' Cajuns - Will Hall (West Alabama/West Georgia) and Mike Lucas (Southeastern Louisiana) have been head coaches during their collegiate careers.

NEW SURFACE FOR CAJUN FIELD
• Louisiana's 2017 season-opener against Southeastern Louisiana marked the first contest for the Ragin' Cajuns on the new Matrix Turf surface.
• The previous synthetic surface, which was installed in 2008, was replaced with the same surface used at the Dallas Cowboys' AT&T Stadium.
• Hellas Construction, based in Austin, Texas, installed the new surface in August.

#RAGINGRADS - AMONG BEST FBS PROGRAMS IN THE COUNTRY
• Louisiana is one of two in-state FBS schools (LSU) and seven Sun Belt Conference schools (Coastal Carolina, Georgia State, South Alabama, Arkansas State, Idaho and Troy) among a list of FBS schools across the country with at least five graduates on its roster.
• TE Matthew Barnes, OT Grant Horst, LB T.J. Posey and WR Devin Scott all earned their bachelor's degrees from UL with punter Sam Geraci earning his degree from Cincinnati.
• Here is a list of FBS schools with five or more graduates on their current 2017 roster.

18 – Northwestern
14 – Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, East Carolina
13 – Toledo
12 – TCU, Alabama, Oregon, Virginia
11 – Georgia State, Kansas State, Maryland, UCF, USF
10 – Kent State, Nevada, New Mexico, South Alabama, Texas Tech, West Virginia
9 – Houston, Iowa State, Pittsburgh, Purdue, Rutgers, Temple
8 – Auburn, Clemson, Iowa, Kentucky, NC State, Northern Illinois, Ole Miss, Penn State, SMU, Syracuse, UAB, Western Kentucky
7 – Arizona State, Georgia, Kansas, Marshall, Memphis, Middle Tennessee, Missouri, North Texas, Utah, Virginia Tech
6 – Akron, Arkansas State, Colorado State, Duke, Florida, Illinois, Oklahoma, UMass, UTEP, UTSA, Troy, Tulsa, Washington
5 – Arkansas, Baylor, UConn, FAU, Idaho, Louisiana, LSU, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Tennessee, USC, Washington State

CAJUNS ADD CINCY TRANSFER GERACI AT PUNTER
• Looking to replace Ray Guy Award semifinalist Steven Coutts at punter, Louisiana picked up former Cincinnati punter Sam Geraci as a graduate transfer.
• Geraci played three seasons with the Bearcats where he averaged 41.5 yards per punt in three seasons with 67 punts placed inside the opponent's 20-yard line.
• Geraci averaged 46.3 yards per attempt in 2015 with 17 attempts of 50 yards or more. He averaged 40.0 yards per attempt in 2016, with 37 punts resulting in fair catches and 31 attempts landing inside the 20-yard line.

HOMEGROWN CAJUNS
• As with most schools, Louisiana has placed a heavy emphasis on recruiting players within its state borders as 58 players on the roster, including 27 from the nine-parish Acadiana region, hail from the state of Louisiana.
• Fifteen players on the current roster come from Lafayette with 19 coming the talent-rich New Orleans metro area.

THE CAJUNS HAVE THE INTERNATIONAL FLAIR
• Reserve lineman Christian Cederquist (Denmark) is the lone international player on the Ragin' Cajuns roster. The Copenhagen native spent last season as a redshirt after transferring from Eastern Arizona College.

TEAM CAPTAINS
• Quarterback Jordan Davis, linebacker T.J. Posey, offensive tackle Grant Horst and nose tackle Taboris Lee were voted as team captains for the 2017 season.

SBC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME COMING IN 2018
• The Sun Belt Conference will hold its first ever football championship game as the league's presidents and chancellors, as well as athletic directors, voted unanimously to play the game beginning in 2018. The announcement was made on June 8, 2016.
• Details regarding how the two participants will be selected will be available at a later date. Rules set forward by the Division I Council in January require conferences with fewer than 12 members to hold championship games in football, as long as they meet one of two conditions.
• A conference can choose to either play their championship game between division winners after round-robin competition in each division or between the top two teams in the conference standings following full round-robin, regular-season competition between all members of the conference.

HUDSPETH HEADS THE SUN BELT COACHING FRATERNITY
• Now in his seventh year at Louisiana, head coach Mark Hudspeth is the dean of the Sun Belt Conference coaching fraternity, having taken over the reins of the Ragin' Cajuns program in 2011.
• Hudspeth, in his 14th season as a head coach, spent seven years as head coach at North Alabama and was an assistant at five schools, including FBS programs Navy and Mississippi State.

CUE UP SOME WILLIE ... THE CAJUNS ARE ON THE ROAD AGAIN
• For the first time since the 2011 season, Louisiana will play seven football games on the road, including trips to SEC opponents Texas A&M and Ole Miss, along with American Athletic Conference member Tulsa.
• Also on the road schedule are dates at Sun Belt Conference co-championships Arkansas State (Oct. 19) and Appalachian State (Dec. 2), plus league rivals Idaho (Oct. 7) and South Alabama (Nov. 4).

RAGIN' CAJUNS RECEIVERS IN ELITE GROUP
• Louisiana is one of eight FBS schools to have three players record 100 receiving yards in a game during the 2017 season.
• Keenan Barnes (at Tulsa, at Texas A&M), Ryheem Malone (at Tulsa) and Jarrod Jackson (vs. ULM) have all surpassed the 100-yard receiving mark in games this season.
• Currently four players - Barnes, Malone, Jackson and Ja'Marcus Bradley - have all recorded 100-yard receiving games in their careers for the Ragin' Cajuns.
• FBS teams with at least three players with 100 or more yards receiving in a game:

Arizona State – 5
Oklahoma State - 4
Louisiana - 3
Virginia – 3
Washington State – 3
SMU – 3
Louisiana Tech – 3
Massachusetts – 3

FORMER DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR JAMES WILLIS REJOINS CAJUNS AS ANALYST
• Former defensive coordinator James Willis rejoined the Ragin' Cajuns program as a defensive analyst during the team's open date and will be in the booth beginning with Louisiana's game at Idaho on Oct. 7.
• Willis served as defensive coordinator for Louisiana from 2013-14, helping lead the Ragin' Cajuns to a pair of bowl games. He left after the 2014 season to become a defensive assistant/linebackers coach for the NFL's New Orleans Saints.
• A former Auburn standout and seven-year veteran in the NFL, Willis worked as an assistant at Rhode Island, Temple, Alabama, Auburn and Texas Tech before joining the Ragin' Cajuns program in early 2013.

IT'S A CAJUNS AND REBELS FOOTBALL-HOOPS WEEKEND IN OXFORD
• Today's game between Louisiana and Ole Miss at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium wraps up a busy 16-hour stretch of action between the institutions.
• Both men's basketball teams opened their respective 2017-18 seasons on Friday in a 7 p.m. game at The Pavilion at Ole Miss. The trip to Oxford is the first for the Ragin' Cajuns men's basketball team since the 2011-12 season.
• Football play-by-play announcer Jay Walker is calling both games in Oxford this weekend.
• The Ragin' Cajuns football team plays its first game in Oxford since 2014 while the Ole Miss baseball team advanced to the College World Series in 2014 after defeating the Ragin' Cajuns in three games in Lafayette.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

SchDarren Archie

Stevie Artigue

Brett Baer

Keenan Barnes

Ja'Marcus Bradley

Alonzo Brown

Christian Cederquist

Brijuan Dace

Jordan Davis

Joe Dillon

Sam Geraci

Bennie Higgins

Grant Horst

Denarius Howard

Jarrod Jackson

LaDarrius Kidd

Taboris Lee

Levi Lewis

Ryheem Malone

Trev Miller

Elijah Mitchell

Jalen Nixon

Andre Nunez

T.J. Posey

Trey Ragas

Chase Rogers

Devin Scott

Levarious Varnado

Jordan Wright

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