FB Game 2 Preview: at Tulsa

LAFAYETTE - The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team hits the road for the first time during the 2017 season when it travels to face American Athletic Conference member Tulsa on Saturday (Sept. 9) at H.A. Chapman Stadium.

Kickoff is set for 3:05 p.m., and the game will be streamed live on ESPN3 with David Saltzman and George Wrighster on the call. The game will also be broadcast on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Radio Network with Jay Walker (play-by-play), Richie Falgout (color) and Cody Junot (sideline) calling the action.

Louisiana (1-0) opened its season with a 51-48 win over Division I-FCS member Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday. Tulsa (0-1) dropped its opening game last Thursday in a 54-29 loss at No. 10 Oklahoma State.

GAME 2
LOUISIANA RAGIN' CAJUNS (1-0, 0-0 Sun Belt)
Head Coach: Mark Hudspeth (Delta State, 1992) • @ULCoachHud
Record at LA: 25-31* (seventh season), Career Record: 91-52* (14th season)

TULSA HURRICANE (0-1, 0-0 American)
Head Coach: Philip Montgomery (Tarleton State, 1995)
Record at TU: 16-11 (third season), Career Record: Same

Sept. 9, 2017 • 3:05 p.m. • Tulsa, Okla. • H.A. Chapman Stadium (30,000)
Series History: Louisiana leads, 5-4
At Lafayette: Louisiana leads, 3-1 | At Tulsa: Tulsa leads, 3-2 | Hudspeth vs. Tulsa: 0-0
First Meeting: Sept. 3, 1977 at Lafayette • Louisiana 48-21
Last Meeting: Oct. 31, 1992 at Tulsa • Tulsa, 27-9

ESPN3 | WatchESPN • David Saltzman PXP • George Wrighster Analyst
KPEL 1420 AM (Flagship) • Jay Walker PXP • Richie Falgout Analyst • Cody Junot Sideline

FIVE THINGS TO KNOW
• Louisiana is one of two FBS schools (Boise State) ranked in the top 10 nationally in both kickoff return average and punt return average.
• The 51 points scored by the Ragin' Cajuns were the most in a season-opener in the modern era (after World War II).
• Louisiana opens its seven-game road schedule looking for its first official win in a road opener since 1990.
• Kicker Stevie Artigue has made his last 32 PAT attempts and nine straight field goals dating back to last season.
• Raymond Calais' 229 all-purpose yards were the most by a Ragin' Cajun since Elijah McGuire (266) vs. Arkansas State in 2014.

GAME NOTES
THE LOUISIANA-TULSA SERIES
• Today's meeting between Louisiana and Tulsa is the 10th in the series that began in 1977.
• Louisiana holds a 5-4 advantage in the series, winning five of the first seven contests before the Hurricane claimed wins in 1991 and 1992.
• This is the first of a home-and-home series between the institutions with Tulsa visiting Cajun Field on Sept. 28, 2019.

LOUISIANA VERSUS THE AMERICAN ATHLETIC CONFERENCE
• Today's game for Louisiana will be just the second contest against an American Athletic Conference member, but the Ragin' Cajuns have an extensive history against schools in the league.
• The Ragin' Cajuns are 23-53 all-time in games against schools currently in the AAC with the majority of contests (26) coming against Tulane.
• Louisiana has played Cincinnati (0-3), East Carolina (7-4), Houston (3-6), Memphis (4-9), Temple (0-1), Tulane (4-22), Tulsa (5-4) and UCF (0-4) during its football history.

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 experience 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 CAJUNS MAKE 2017 DEBUT AGAINST SLU
• Eighteen players, including four true freshmen, made their debut in Saturday's game against Southeastern Louisiana.
• Deuce Wallace (DB), Ashton Johnson (RB), Errol Brown (DB), Jackson Ladner (LS), Tommy Whitted (DE), Sam Geraci (P), Bennie Higgins (DT), Ryheem Malone (WR), DJ Miller (DB), Mustafa Mitchell (DE) and Justin Middleton (LB) were among the newcomers making their debut in the Vermilion and White.
• Junior college transfer Koa Haynes earned the start at Rover in place of Tracy Walker, who had to sit out the first half due to helmet-to-helmet contact in the second half against Southern Miss in the 2016 R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
• Andre Jones (DE), Elijah Mitchell (RB), Chase Rogers (TE) and Bralen Trahan (DB) each debuted as true freshman for the Cajuns with Trahan recording an interception and Mitchell scoring his first career touchdown with a go-ahead 2-yard run with 8:41 remaining.

FIRST-TIME STARTERS VS. LIONS
• Eight players made their first career start for Louisiana in its season-opener against Southeastern Louisiana - WR Michael Jacquet, C Cole Prudhomme, QB Jordan Davis, RB Trey Ragas, LB Tanner Holmes, DB Corey Turner, DB Lorenzo Cryer and DB Koa Haynes.

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.

CURRENT NFL CAJUNS
• When the NFL regular-season officially kicks off the 2017 season this weekend, three former Ragin' Cajuns on listed on respective rosters:
Justin Hamilton (DT) - Philadelphia (signed to Practice Squad)
Elijah McGuire (RB) - New York Jets
Christian Ringo (DT) – Green Bay

#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 57 players on the roster, including 26 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.

THE BOOK OF ELI: CHAPTER 2
• Freshman Elijah Mitchell made his debut for Louisiana last week against Southeastern Louisiana, carrying a team-high 11 times for 56 yards.
• The true freshman, who averaged 5.1 yards per carry, scored on a 2-yard touchdown run with 8:41 remaining that gave Louisiana the lead for good, 49-42.
• Mitchell rushed for 1,903 yards and 28 touchdowns in eight games as a senior at nearby Erath High School.
• He finished his career as the leading rusher in Bobcats' history with 4,045 yards and 50 touchdowns in three seasons on only 457 carries.

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.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stevie Artigue

Errol Brown

Raymond Calais

Christian Cederquist

Steven Coutts

Lorenzo Cryer

Jordan Davis

Sam Geraci

Koa Haynes

Bennie Higgins

Tanner Holmes

Grant Horst

Michael Jacquet III

Ashton Johnson

Andre Jones

Jackson Ladner

Ryheem Malone

Elijah McGuire

Justin Middleton

Elijah Mitchell

Mustafa Mitchell

T.J. Posey

Cole Prudhomme

Trey Ragas

Chase Rogers

Devin Scott

Bralen Trahan

Corey Turner

Tracy Walker

Deuce Wallace

Tommy Whitted

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