@RaginCajunsFB Opens 2018 Against Grambling

Louisiana Opens 2018 Season Hosting Grambling In 18th Annual 2018 Herbert Heymann Classic

OPPONENT LOCATION DAY TIME (CT) WATCH/LISTEN STATS

LOUISIANA GAME NOTES

THE MATCHUP

Louisiana Football begins its 113th season this Saturday when it welcomes Grambling, from College Football's Championship Subdivision for a 6 p.m. (CT) kick off at Cajun Field. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3.

LOUISIANA VS. GRAMBLING

Louisiana and Grambling have never met on the gridiron, making this the first matchup of the two schools that are separated by only three hours.
The matchup is between two of the older programs in the state of Louisiana with the Ragin' Cajuns being the second oldest FBS program in the state (1901) while Grambling comes in as the third oldest FCS program in the state (1927).

A RAGIN' CAJUNS VICTORY WOULD

Get Louisiana off to a 1-0 start for the second-straight season (51-48 win over Southeastern Louisiana to start the 2017 season).
Give head coach Billy Napier his first win as a head coach both for Louisiana and in his career.
Improve Louisiana's record against schools in Louisiana to 8-4 over the past four seasons (currently sitting at 7-4).

LOUISIANA VS. THE FCS

Louisiana is 38-19-1 against schools currently in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-AA) dating back to 1982. Louisiana is 10-1 against FCS schools since 2000.

LOUISIANA TAKES ON THE SWAC

For only the third time in school history, the Ragin' Cajuns will face off with a school from the Southwestern Athletic Conference when they take on Grambling.
Grambling becomes the second school from the SWAC that the Cajuns will take on, having faced off with Southern twice going 2-0.

PLAYING THE STATE

Grambling had been the only Division I school that Louisiana had never played and that means that Saturday's game against Grambling means that the Ragin' Cajuns will have finally played every Division I football program in the state of Louisiana.
Over the past four seasons, Louisiana is 7-4 against Division I programs from the state of Louisiana. Besides beating Sun Belt Conference foe ULM three times, the Ragin' Cajuns have knocked off Southern (45-6, Aug. 30, 2014); Northwestern State (44-14, Sept. 12, 2015); McNeese State (30-22, Sept. 10, 2016) and Southeastern Louisiana (51-48, Sept. 2, 2017) with all the non-ULM wins coming at Cajun Field.

NAPIER LOOKS TO JOIN ELITE LOUISIANA COMPANY

Head coach Billy Napier goes for his first win as the head coach of Louisiana Football and he looks to join elite company in school history. The 27th head coach in Louisiana history, a win against Grambling would make Coach Napier only the 12th head coach in Louisiana history to win his first coached game at the helm of the Ragin' Cajuns.
Coach Napier would be the first coach to complete the feat since Sam Robertson won his first game as the head coach of Louisiana (then USL) when the Ragin' Cajuns beat New Mexico State 14-12 on Sept. 6, 1980.

HEAD COACHES WHO WON FIRST GAME AT LOUISIANA

Ashby Woodson - 6-5 at Opelousas (Dec. 21, 1901)
S. Ovey Herpin - 105-0 vs. Delcambre Academy (Nov. 2, 1903)
Edwin F. Gayly - 11-5 at Franklin (Nov. 5, 1904)
Herbert McNaspy - 28-0 vs. St. Martinville (Oct. 27, 1906)
Jefferson Caffery - 11-5 at Crowley (Nov. 2, 1907)
Clement J. McNaspy - 11-0 vs. St. Martinville (Oct. 24, 1908)
H. Lee Prather - 33-0 vs. Morgan City (Sept. 28, 1912)
H.O. Tudor - 34-0 vs. Abbeville (Sept. 25, 1920)
George Mitchell - 24-6 at Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 27, 1947)
A.L. Red Swanson - 25-0 vs. East Texas Baptist (Sept. 23, 1950)
Sam Robertson - 14-12 vs. New Mexico State (Sept. 6, 1980)

FBS FIRST YEAR HEAD COACHES OVERALL

Name	Team	Record	Conference	Previous Week	Upcoming
Mike Bloomgren	Rice	1-0	C-USA	W, 31-28 (vs. PVAM)	Sept. 1 vs. Houston
Billy Napier	Louisiana	0-0	Sun Belt	N/A	Sept. 1 vs. Grambling
Josh Heupel	UCF	0-0	American Athletic	N/A	Aug. 30 at UCONN
Sean Lewis	Kent State	0-0	MAC	N/A	Sept. 1 at Illinois
Herm Edwards	Arizona State	0-0	PAC-12	N/A	Sept. 1 vs. UTSA
Jonathan Smith	Oregon State	0-0	PAC-12	N/A	Sept. 1 at Ohio State
Jeremy Pruitt	Tennessee	0-0	SEC	N/A	Sept. 1 vs. West Virginia

COACHING EXPERINCE FILLS UP THE SIDELINE

Louisiana's coaching staff brings 129 years of combined collegiate and professional coaching experience. Coupled with those years, Louisiana's coaches have coached in a combined 43 bowl games.
It's not just bowl games that Louisiana's staff has experience in coaching. Rory Segrest, during his time with the Philadelphia Eagles, coached in the NFL Playoffs from 2008-10.
Coach Napier leads the charge with bowl experience, coaching in 10 bowl games during his career. While right behind him is Mark Hocke, who has had his hands in nine bowl games. Rob Sale is not far behind with seven bowl game appearances as a coach.
Leading the experience on the sidelines is Ron Roberts, who has 27 years on the sidelines, including six years as the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana (2012-17). Right behind him is Segrest, who has 22 years of coaching experience.

BEEF UP FRONT

Louisiana's week one starting offensive line boasts four players who are north of 300 pounds, with Robert Hunt leading the way at 336 pounds. Rico Robinson comes in at 307 pounds while Kevin Dotson and Ken Marks each sit at 303 pounds.
The right side of Louisiana's offensive line, with Hunt and Dotson, adds up to 639 pounds. While the left side, with Marks and Robinson combining for 610 pounds. Add in center Cole Prudhomme (292 pounds) Louisiana offensive line comes in at a whooping 1,541 pounds.

FLANKED EXPERINCE

Louisiana's three top receivers from 2017, who combined for a total 1,690 receiving yards during last season, return for the 2018 season.
Ryheem Malone (senior) is the returning leader in receiving yards (676 yards in 2017) while Keenan Barnes (senior) comes in as the number two returner leader (539 yards in 2017). Junior Ja'Marcus Bradley is the third-leading returner in receiving yards with 475 yards in 2017.
The 1,690 receiving yards produced during the 2017 season by Louisiana's top three returning receivers accounted for 66 percent of Louisiana's 2,578 total receiving yards gained in 2017.

RUNNING BACKS A PLENTY

Louisiana's backfield is chalk full of running backs that can carry the load on any given Saturday for the Ragin' Cajuns. Every back on the roster, with the exception of one, has carried the ball at least once in a game during their respective careers.
Trey Ragas, who ran for a team high 813 yards during the 2017 season, leads Louisiana in the backfield. But Elijah Mitchell, who before suffering an injury had burst onto the scene, along with Jordan Wright and Raymond Calais, all bring experience and talent to Louisiana's ground game that finished third in the conference last season.

FRONT SEVEN IS STOCKED

One of the more experienced spots on the team, Louisiana's front seven is made up of talent across the field. With their linebacking corps and defensive front being a anchor for Louisiana's defense.
Jacques Boudreaux, who is the second-leading returner in tackles (58), heads up Louisiana's front seven in the linebacking corps. He is joined by Justin Middleton who racked up 39 tackles last season as the two big returners in that spot.
Up front for Louisiana, LaDarrius Kidd returns from last season having been a force up front finishing with 21 tackles and he is joined by Tra'Vontae Booker (10 tackles).

TURNER LEADS A NEW LOOK SECONDARY

After having two members of last season's secondary drafted into the NFL, including Tracy Walker who led the team in tackles, Corey Turner has taken the mantle as the leader in the defensive backfield for Louisiana.
Turner, who is the leading returner in tackles (68 tackles in 2017), will lead a mix of experienced defensive backs and players who made the transition from the other side of the ball.
Koa Haynes (28 tackles in 2017) and Kamar Greenhouse are two players who have experience playing in Louisiana's secondary. But the additions of Michael Jacquet III (moving from WR) and Kendall Johnson (transfer from Nevada) means that Turner won't be alone in the secondary when it comes to making plays.

TAKING ON THE SEC

For the seventh-straight season Louisiana will face off with at least one SEC opponent during the football season. And it's the second straight year that the Ragin' Cajuns will take on two SEC teams (at Mississippi State, Sept. 15 and at Alabama, Sept. 29).
Despite never beating a team that was a member of the SEC when Louisiana played them (0-42 all-time vs. SEC), Louisiana did score a historic upset against current SEC member Texas A&M (29-25 on Sept. 14, 1996)but at the time Texas A&M was a member of the Big 12.

FACING RANKED COMPETITION

With Alabama being ranked No. 1 and Mississippi State coming in at No. 18 in the preseason AP Top 25 poll Louisiana will be facing two ranked opponents in the same season since 2010 when the Cajuns faced off with Georgia (No. 23) and Oklahoma State (No. 22).
This season will be only the fourth time that Louisiana has taken on two ranked opponents in the same season. The other three times were in 2010, 2009 (Louisiana State (No. 9) and Nebraska (No. 25)) and 1996 (Florida (No. 4) and Texas A&M (No. 25)).
As long as Mississippi State and Alabama stay in the top 20, Louisiana will take on two top 20 teams for the first time since 1985. During the '85 season the Cajuns faced off with Auburn (No. 2) and Florida (No. 5). Louisiana has not faced a ranked opponent since taking on Ole Miss (No. 14) in 2014.

SATURDAYS AT CAJUN FIELD

For the first time since 2016, Louisiana will be playing six games at home this season.
All six home games will be played on Saturday, and that's the first time that's happened for Louisiana since 2015.

SBC CHAMPIONSHIP GAME IS HERE

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 and the first game will be played this season. The announcement was made on June 8, 2016.
The two teams will be decided by who wins their respective divisions, with the conference being split into a east and west division for the first time.
The game will be played at the school with the better record or wins the tiebreaker if both division winners share the same conference record at the end of the season.

LOUISIANA AND THE HERBERT HEYMANN CLASSIC

Since 2001, the first Louisiana home football game has been renamed the Herbert Heymann Classic which honors one of the great philanthropists in the history of the University.
Heymann was a dedicated supporter of the University and athletics for over 30 years, graciously sharing his many visions with the community.
He was instrumental in creating a thriving cultural and educational center that Lafayette is to Acadiana, with the conversion of the Children's Museum into the Heymann Center for Performing Arts, providing land for such Lafayette structures as the University Arts Museum, the Lafayette Natural History Museum and Planetarium and the Lafayette General Medical Center.
Heymann passed away after a brief illness on April 10, 2001.
Below are the results from the Hebert Heymann Classic:

Year Opponent Result

2001 Nicholls State W, 20-0
2002 Minnesota L, 35-11
2003 Louisiana Tech L, 34-3
2004 Northwestern State W, 14-7
2005 Northwestern State W, 49-28
2006 North Carolina A&T W, 48-7
2007 Ohio L, 31-23
2008 Kent State W, 44-27
2009 Southern W, 42-19
2010 Arkansas State W, 31-24
2011 Nicholls State W, 38-21
2012 Lamar W, 40-0
2013 Nicholls State W, 70-7
2014 Southern W, 45-6
2015 Northwestern State W, 44-14
2016 Boise State L, 10-45
2017 Southeastern La. W, 51-48

- #GEAUXCAJUNS -

@RaginCajunsFB Opens 2018 Against Grambling

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Keenan Barnes

Tra'Vontae Booker

Jacques Boudreaux

Ja'Marcus Bradley

Raymond Calais

Kevin Dotson

Kamar Greenhouse

Koa Haynes

Robert Hunt

Michael Jacquet III

Kendall Johnson

LaDarrius Kidd

Ryheem Malone

Ken Marks

Justin Middleton

Elijah Mitchell

Cole Prudhomme

Trey Ragas

Rico Robinson

Corey Turner

Tracy Walker

Jordan Wright

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

@RaginCajunsFB Opens 2018 Against Grambling

Related News

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Keenan Barnes

Tra'Vontae Booker

Jacques Boudreaux

Ja'Marcus Bradley

Raymond Calais

Kevin Dotson

Kamar Greenhouse

Koa Haynes

Robert Hunt

Michael Jacquet III

Kendall Johnson

LaDarrius Kidd

Ryheem Malone

Ken Marks

Justin Middleton

Elijah Mitchell

Cole Prudhomme

Trey Ragas

Rico Robinson

Corey Turner

Tracy Walker

Jordan Wright

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