University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
@RaginCajunsFB Returns Home To Face Coastal Carolina
9/17/2018 4:09:00 PM | Football
| Louisiana Opens Conference Play At Home Against Coastal Carolina |
| Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â OPPONENT Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â LOCATIONÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â DAYÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â TIME (CT)Â Â Â Â Â Â WATCH/LISTENÂ Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â Â STATS |
| Coastal Carolina   |      Lafayette, La.     |      Saturday, Sept. 22     |    6 p.m.   |    ESPN+/ESPN1420      |         Stats |
| Â Â Â Â LOUISIANA GAME NOTES |
| Â Â THE MATCHUP |
- Louisiana Football opens up its Sun Belt Conference play by hosting Coastal Carolina at Cajun Field on Saturday, Sept. 22 for the first meeting between the two programs in either school's history.
| Â Â LOUISIANA VS. COASTAL CAROLINA |
- Louisiana and Coastal Carolina meet for the first time on the gridiron, when the Ragin' Cajuns and the Chanticleers match up on Saturday.
- This is only the second year for Coastal Carolina in the Football Bowl Subdivision, since joining the Sun Belt Conference in football at the beginning of the 2017 season.
- Louisiana will travel to Conway to play Coastal Carolina for the first time during the 2019 season.Â
| Â Â A RAGIN' CAJUNS VICTORY WOULD |
- Snap a two-game losing streak against conference opponents stretching back to the 2017 season.
- Give Louisiana its first win in its conference opener since 2016 when the Cajuns beat South Alabama, 28-23 on Sept. 17.
- Be Louisiana head coach Billy Napier's first win against a conference opponent. Â
- Increase Louisiana's record in Sun Belt Conference season openers to 9-6 all-time since joining the Conference in 2001.
| Â Â A HOME COMING |
- Louisiana traveled seven players to Mississippi State who are originally from the state of Mississippi.  Â
- Ja'Marcus Bradley (Ackerman, Miss.)
- Bennie Higgins (Greenwood, Miss.)
- LaDarrius Kidd (Gulfport, Miss.)
- Keenan Barnes (Madison, Miss.)
- Alonzo Brown (Magee, Miss.)
- Jordan Wright (Pearl, Miss.)
- Kris Moncrief (Raleigh, Miss.)
- Four of the seven were tabbed as captains for the game, Bradley; Higgins; Kidd and Barnes.
| Â Â Â FIRST TIMES ARE BETTER TWICE |
- This will be the 11th time in school history that Louisiana has played two schools for the first time in either program's history during the same season.
- 2014 - Appalachian State, Boise State
- 2011 - Arizona, San Diego State
- 2009 - Nebraska, Southern
- 2005 - Florida Atlantic, Eastern Michigan
- 2003 - Florida International, South Carolina
- 2000 - Texas, Jacksonville State
- 1999 - Wofford, Middle Tennesse
- 1997 - Pittsburgh, Washington State
- 1995 - UAB, Nevada
- 1992 - Western Kentucky, Tennessee
- 1990 - Nicholls State, Texas A&M
- 1986 - Ole Miss, Oklahoma State
- 1985 - Idaho State, UNLV
- 1976 - Fresno State, Furman
- 1975 - New Mexico State, Southern Illinois
- 1965 - Chattanooga, Samford
- 1951 - ULM, McNeese State
- 1946 - Houston, Troy
- 1923 - Lamar, Southern MissÂ
- 1911 - Tulane, Louisiana State
| Â Â NUNEZ IS ACCUARTE |
- Senior quarterback Andre Nunez is among one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the country, with his 78.4 completion percentage ranking him second in the FBS.
- Nunez already broke a 21-year old school record when he went 19 for 22 against Grambling to finish with a completion percentage of 86.4 percent, setting a new single-game school record for completion percentage.
- Nunez has thrown for 408 yards this season and the senior has tossed three touchdowns, with at least one coming in both games the Cajuns have played so far this season.
| Â Â 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)
- Billy Napier - 49-17 vs. Grambling (Sept. 1, 2018)
| Â Â FBS FIRST YEAR HEAD COACHES OVERALL |
| Name | Team | Record | Conference | Previous Week | Upcoming |
| Josh Heupel | UCF | 2-0 | American Athletic | Postponed (at North Carolina) | Sept. 21 vs. Florida Atlantic |
| Jeremy Pruitt | Tennessee | 2-1 | SEC | W, 24-0 (vs. UTEP) | Sept. 22 vs. Florida |
| Herm Edwards | Arizona State | 2-1 | PAC-12 | L, 21-28 (at San Diego State) | Sept. 22 at (10) Washington |
| Billy Napier | Louisiana | 1-1 | Sun Belt | L, 10-56 (at (16) Mississippi State) | Sept. 22 vs. Coastal Carolina |
| Sean Lewis | Kent State | 1-2 | MAC | L, 10-63 (at (11) Penn State) | Sept. 22 at Ole Miss |
| Jonathan Smith | Oregon State | 1-2 | PAC-12 | L, 35-37 (at Nevada) | Sept. 22 vs. Arizona |
| Mike Bloomgren | Rice | 1-2 | C-USA | Bye Week | Sept. 22 at Southern Miss |
| Â Â MASON GETS THE NOD |
- Louisiana all-time great Damon Mason was recently honored as part of the 2018 Louisiana Athletics Hall of Fame class.
- Mason was a three-year letter-winner for the Ragin' Cajuns football team from 1994-96, posting 135 tackles as a senior, which put him atop Louisiana's all-time list for tackles in a season by a defensive back. It was also the third-highest, single-season total for the Ragin' Cajuns defender, who finished with a career total 243 tackles, six interceptions and four sacks.
- The LaPlace, Louisiana, native was honored as a national Defensive Player of the Week and was featured in "Sports Illustrated" after posting two interceptions, including one for a touchdown, to go along with two forced fumbles, one sack and a team-best nine tackles in the Ragin' Cajuns 29-22 upset win over nationally-ranked Texas A&M in 1996. Mason, was a first team All-Big West Conference selection in 1995, and earned third-team All-America honors in 1996.
- Mason will be honored on the field during Louisiana's Homecoming game against New Mexico State on Oct. 13 and he will be joined by the five other members (Scott Dohmann [baseball]; Anna Petrakova [women's basketball]; Yvette Girouard [softball] and Gerald Hebert [administration]) of the Class of 2018 on the field during halftime.
| Â Â NEW FACES |
- Louisiana had 18 new additions to the squad from 2017 make their first appearance as a member of the Ragin' Cajuns against Grambling (Sept. 1).
- When breaking down the numbers, nine were transfers from another school and nine were true freshmen.
- Two newcomers got the start with Chauncey Manac (LB) and Kendall Johnson (CB) getting the nod on defense.
| Â Â NEW FACES |
- 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.
| Â Â 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). Â
| Â Â STRONG AGAINST THE STATE |
- Over the past four seasons, Louisiana is 8-4 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); Southeastern Louisiana (51-48, Sept. 2, 2017) and Grambling (49-17, Sept. 1, 2018) with all the non-ULM wins coming at Cajun Field.
| Â Â A BIRD APPROACHES A MILESTONE |
- Jay Walker, who many know as the voice of the Ragin' Cajuns, will call career game number 297 when Coastal Carolina comes into town on Saturday.
- It is Jay's 27th season calling the Ragin' Cajuns on the radio, having served duties as both the color commentator and his current role as play-by-play announcer.
- During the 27 seasons Walker has called some memorable games, but the most was the color commentary he provided for Louisiana's biggest win in school history, a 29-22 win over No. 25 Texas A&M on Sept. 14, 1996.
- Walker called his 296th game when Louisiana took on Mississippi State.
| Â Â Â COACHING EXPERINCEÂ FILLS THE SIDELINEÂ |
- 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.
| Â Â Â 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.
| Â Â COACHES SHOW ON CST STARTS |
- On Tuesday, Sept. 4, Inside Louisiana Football aired for the first time on CST starting at 6:30 p.m. It was the first coaches show of the 2018 and it is a new endeavor for the Louisiana Athletic Department.
- The show will be produced throughout the season by the new Louisiana Broadcast Services and will be hosted by Darren Walker.
| Â Â 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.
- #GEAUXCAJUNS -
Players Mentioned
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