@RaginCajunsFB Heads To Alabama To Face No. 1 Crimson Tide

Louisiana Heads To Tuscaloosa To Face No. 1 Alabama

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LOUISIANA GAME NOTES

THE MATCHUP

Louisiana Football heads to Tuscaloosa, Alabama to face the No. 1 Alabama Crimson Tide for the first time since 1990. It is also the first time that Louisiana has ever faced the number one team in the country.

LOUISIANA VS. ALABAMA

Louisiana and Alabama meet for the first time since Oct. 6, 1990, when the Ragin' Cajuns travel to Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Sept. 29.
It is Louisiana's first trip to Bryant-Denny Stadium since Oct. 14, 1989, with the Crimson Tide having made the trip to Lafayette for the first time in history during Louisiana and Alabama's last match-up.
Louisiana and Alabama have faced off twice at Legion Field in Birmingham, Alabama with the games in 1988 and 1989 being played away from Tuscaloosa.
All-time, Alabama is 8-0 against Louisiana.

A RAGIN' CAJUNS VICTORY WOULD

Snap a two-game losing slide that Louisiana is currently on, with setbacks at Mississippi State (Sept. 15) and at home against Coastal Carolina (Sept. 22).
Be Louisiana's first win over a member of the Southeastern Conference.
Give Louisiana its second win against a ranked opponent in school history, with the Cajuns having knocked off No. 25 Texas A&M (then a member of the Big 12) 29-22 on Sept. 14, 1996.

CRIMSON TIES

Louisiana and Alabama have plenty of coaching ties across its respective staffs. The biggest being head coach Billy Napier spending a combined five years (2011, 2013-16) at Alabama as an assistant coach under current Alabama head coach Nick Saban.
But Coach Napier is not the only member of Louisiana's staff that has spent time at Alabama with Assistant Head Coach Rory Segrest spending three years as a player at Alabama (1992-94) and then he joined the staff as a student assistant from 1994-95 and then a strength and conditioning graduate assistant in 1996.
Head Strength and Conditioning Coach Mark Hocke also spent time at Alabama (2009-14) learning under longtime Alabama Strength and Conditioning Coach Scott Cochran.
Louisiana Defensive Coordinator Ron Roberts has some ties to Alabama, as well, with two of Alabama's assistant coaches, Pete Golding (co-defensive coordinator) and Karl Scott (defensive backs) having served under Coach Roberts while he was the head coach at Southeastern Louisiana.

PARTY LIKE IT'S 1990

For the first time in 28 years, Louisiana and Alabama will face off on the gridiron, with the last match-up being on Oct. 6, 1990.
Long-time Louisiana Football Director of Operations Troy Wingerter, who played for Louisiana from 1988-91, was on the team that last played Alabama.
It is not the longest time between match-ups, the longest having been 42 years between Sept. 25, 1942 and Nov. 12, 1988.
The last time Louisiana and Alabama met, the top song was "Hold On" by Wilson Phillips. The top grossing movie was Paramount Pictures' "Ghost" starring Demi Moore, Patrick Swayze and Whoopi Goldberg.

NUNEZ STAYS ON TARGET

Senior quarterback Andre Nunez has remained among one of the most accurate quarterbacks in the country, with his 72.3 completion percentage ranking him eighth 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 541 yards this season and the senior has tossed four touchdowns, with at least one coming in the three games that the Cajuns have played so far this season.

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)

FBS FIRST YEAR HEAD COACHES OVERALL

Name	Team	Record	Conference	Previous Week	Upcoming
Josh Heupel	UCF	3-0	American Athletic	W, 56-36 (vs. FAU)	Sept. 29 vs. Pittsburgh
Jeremy Pruitt	Tennessee	2-2	SEC	L, 21-47 (vs. Florida)	Sept. 29 at (2) Georgia
Herm Edwards	Arizona State	2-2	PAC-12	L, 27-20 (at (10) Washington)	Sept. 29 vs. Oregon State
Billy Napier	Louisiana	1-2	Sun Belt	L, 28-30 (vs. Coastal Carolina)	Sept. 29 at (1) Alabama
Sean Lewis	Kent State	1-3	MAC	L, 17-38 (at Ole Miss)	Sept. 29 vs. Ball State
Jonathan Smith	Oregon State	1-3	PAC-12	L, 14-35 (at Arizona)	Sept. 29 at Arizona State
Mike Bloomgren	Rice	1-	C-USA	L, 22-40 (at Southern Miss)	Sept. 29 at Wake Forest

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.

LOUISIANA DOUBLES UP ON THE GROUND

Junior Raymond Calais ran for 108 yards on five carries (a career-high) and sophomore Trey Ragas rumbled for 103 yards on 15 touches. Both Cajuns reached the endzone during the game.
It is the first time since Oct. 24, 2014, that Louisiana has had a pair of 100-yard rushers in a game. In that game Elijah McGuire (265 yards) and Alonzo Harris (107 yards) each broke the century mark.
It is the 23rd time in school history that Louisiana has had a pair of 100-yard rushers in a single game.

PERFECT IN THE RED ZONE

Louisiana is 10-for-10 in the red zone during the first three games of the season and Louisiana is one of 14 teams across the country that has remained perfect inside the 20. The Ragin' Cajuns are the only team left in the Sun Belt Conference that has remained perfect in the red zone.
In each of the Cajuns trips to the red zone, they capped off the visit with a touchdown. Louisiana is one of two teams, the other being the PAC-12's UCLA, that are 100 percent in the red zone, scoring all of their points by touchdown.

TAKING ON THE SEC

For the seventh-straight season, Louisiana will take one 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

Louisiana's game against Alabama will be the first time that the Ragin' Cajuns have faced off with the number one team in the country.
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 for the first time 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).

A BIRD APPROACHES A MILESTONE

Jay Walker, who many know as the voice of the Ragin' Cajuns, will call career game number 298 when Louisiana travels to Tuscaloosa, Alabama 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 297th game when Louisiana hosted Coastal Carolina.

COACHING EXPERINCE FILLS 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.

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, 10 were transfers from another school and eight were true freshmen.
Two newcomers got the start with Chauncey Manac (LB) and Kendall Johnson (CB) getting the nod on defense.

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.

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.

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 -

@RaginCajunsFB Heads To Alabama To Face No. 1 Crimson Tide

Players Mentioned

Raymond Calais

Alonzo Harris

Kendall Johnson

Chauncey Manac

Elijah McGuire

Andre Nunez

Trey Ragas

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics

@RaginCajunsFB Heads To Alabama To Face No. 1 Crimson Tide

Players Mentioned

Raymond Calais

Alonzo Harris

Kendall Johnson

Chauncey Manac

Elijah McGuire

Andre Nunez

Trey Ragas

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