2026 Louisiana Football Preview - The UAB Game

LAFAYETTE – The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team faces the first of two consecutive American Conference opponents on Saturday when it welcomes UAB in a non-conference clash at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. The game will be available on ESPN+ with Dan McDonald (pxp) and Eric Mouton (color). Fans can also listen to the broadcast on the Ragin' Cajuns Radio Network and Varsity Sports Network with Jay Walker (pxp), Cody Junot (color) and Dawson Eiserloh (sideline) on the call.

Louisiana (1-1), which travels to face Charlotte next Saturday in a 5:30 p.m. CT start, returns to action after dropping a 49-30 decision to No. 14-ranked USC last Saturday in Los Angeles. The Ragin' Cajuns had 358 yards of total offense against the Big 10 Trojans, including 212 through the air.

Lunch Winfield completed 16 of 22 passes for the second consecutive week and tossed his first touchdown of the season to redshirt freshman Russell Babineaux. Winfield also rushed for 91 yards with a pair of TDs as Louisiana gained 146 yards on the ground.

UAB (1-1) erased a 10-point second-half deficit and scored the game's final 16 points as the Blazers rallied for a 26-20 victory over ULM last Saturday. The Blazers held the Warhawks (0-2) scoreless over the final 25 minutes and limited ULM to just three points in the second half. UAB scored 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback.

The Blazers rushed for 266 yards on 52 attempts, led by Roderick Robinson II, who finished with 114 yards on 21 carries. Bam McReynolds added 75 yards and a touchdown on 16 attempts against his former team as the Blazers averaged 5.1 yards per carry. Ryder Burton finished 8-of-16 for 115 yards and a touchdown.

The meeting is the ninth all-time between the schools with the series even at 4-4. Louisiana has won the last three meetings, including a 34-0 victory in Lafayette in 2002.

Fans are encouraged to stay connected with Louisiana Football by downloading the official #GeauxCajuns App — click here for iOS and here for Android — and by following the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (@RaginCajunsFB).

GAME 3 PREVIEW – Louisiana (1-1) vs. UAB (1-1)
Location: Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium (30,932) | Lafayette, La.
Date/Time: Saturday, September 19 | 7 p.m.

TICKETS
Single-game tickets are available and can be purchased through RaginCajuns.com/Tickets

TV/RADIO
TV: ESPN+
Talent: Dan McDonald (play-by-play), Eric Mouton (analyst)

Radio: Lafayette – Hot 107.9 FM; 103.3 The Goat, 1420 AM; New Orleans/Slidell – WGSO 990 AM; Worldwide – Varsity Network powered by Learfield
Talent: Jay Walker (play-by-play), Cody Junot (analyst), Dawson Eiserloh (sideline)

LIVE STATS
Available at CajunStats.StatBroadcast.com

SERIES RECORD
Overall – Series tied, 4-4
In Lafayette – Louisiana leads, 2-1
In Birmingham – UAB leads, 3-2
Last 10 meetings – Tied, 4-4
Current Streak – Louisiana +3

KICKING OFF
• Louisiana plays the first of two consecutive games against teams from the American Conference when it hosts UAB on Saturday at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. The meeting is the ninth all-time between the schools and the first in Lafayette since 2002.

LOUISIANA STORYLINES
• Louisiana quarterback Lunch Winfield has completed an identical 16-for-22 passes (72.7 percent) in his first two games of the 2026 season.
• Louisiana is 1-4 overall against American Conference schools under head coach Michael Desormeaux, with its lone win - a 41-21 victory at UAB in 2023.
• The Ragin' Cajuns will play a school from the American Conference for the fifth consecutive season dating back to 2022 (at Rice).
• The Cajuns have played the following American schools since 2022: Rice (twice), Tulane (once), UAB (once) and Houston (once, UH's final game before moving to the Big 12).
• The next win by Louisiana would give Desormeaux his 31st career victory, moving him past Augie Tammariello (1974-79) into sole possession of seventh place on the program's all-time list.
• Louisiana comes into the season with an eight-year active streak of competing in a bowl game.
• The Ragin' Cajuns return 41 letterwinners and 15 starters from the 2025 season.
• Ninety-three of Louisiana's 108 players on the 2026 roster were recruited as high school products, with the remaining 15 coming through the transfer portal or junior college.
• Seven players on the Louisiana roster are from the state of Alabama: Conor McPherson (Montgomery), Kevin Malone (Prichard), Edrick Williams (Daphne), Jai'Vale Mays-Hudson (Daphne), Michael Bowens Jr. (Brewton), Chase Howard (Mobile) and Ashton Wright (Mobile).
• Current UAB cornerbacks coach Lionel Stokes is a former Ragin' Cajun, playing at Louisiana from 2010-11 before returning to Lafayette as a member of the coaching staff for two stints from 2014-16 and 2022-23.

"SHOW ME MY OPPONENT ..."
• UAB enters Saturday's game ranked 11th nationally in passing defense, allowing just 119.0 yards per game. The Blazers held ULM to only 56 passing yards and have surrendered 238 through two games.
• UAB erased a 10-point second-half deficit against ULM, scoring the game's final 16 points while shutting out ULM 13-0 in the fourth quarter and claiming a 26-20 win last week in Birmingham.
• The Blazers limited the Warhawks to three second-half points and finished with a 381-257 advantage in total offense, including 266 yards on the ground.
• UAB rushed 52 times for 266 yards and wore down the Warhawks as the game progressed.
• The Blazers have now rushed for 460 yards through the first two games of the season, establishing an early identity behind an offensive line anchored by center Adam Lepkowski.
• Ike Esonwune, the American Conference Defensive Player of the Week, has recorded 15 tackles through his first two games as a Blazer, including five in the season opener at Illinois.
• He transferred to UAB after spending three seasons at Oklahoma State, where he recorded 31 tackles during the 2025 campaign.

EIGHT STRAIGHT BOWL GAMES
• Since the 2018 season, Louisiana has appeared in a bowl game, setting a school-record for most consecutive bowl appearances.
• The list of Louisiana bowl game appearances since 2018 is listed below:

2018 – AutoNation Cure Bowl (Tulane)
2019 – LendingTree Bowl (Miami [Ohio])
2020 – SERVPRO First Responder Bowl (UTSA)
2021 – R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl (Marshall)
2022 – Radiance Independence Bowl (Houston)
2023 – R+L Carrriers New Orleans Bowl (Jax State)
2024 – Isleta New Mexico Bowl (TCU
2025 – 68 Ventures Bowl (Delaware)

THE LONGEST ACTIVE BOWL STREAKS
• Louisiana's eighth consecutive bowl appearance places the Ragin' Cajuns in some illustrious FBS company for active postseason streaks.
• Below are the schools with the longest active streaks in reaching the postseason.

School Year Started (Bowl)
Georgia – 1997 (Outback Bowl)
Oklahoma – 1999 (Independence Bowl)
Alabama – 2004 (Music City Bowl)
Clemson – 2005 (Champs Sports Bowl)
Iowa – 2013 (Outback Bowl)
Ohio State – 2013 (Orange Bowl)
Memphis – 2014 (Miami Beach Bowl)
Oregon – 2017 (Las Vegas Bowl)
LOUISIANA – 2018 (Cure Bowl)

THE MOST UNIQUE NICKNAME IN COLLEGIATE ATHLETICS
• Referred to as the Ragin' Cajuns, the University of Louisiana has perhaps the most unique and fitting nickname in all of collegiate athletics.
• In 1921, the University adopted the nickname and mascot Bulldogs.
• Beginning in 1963, Louisiana's (then Southwestern Louisiana) football team were dubbed the "Raging Cajuns" by then-Sports Information Director Bob Henderson and head football coach Russ Faulkinberry.
• In addition, the team switched from gold helmets to white helmets with an Acadian flag. At the time, more than 90 percent of Faulkinberry's teams were composed of Louisiana high school players, many with French-speaking Acadian backgrounds.
• The nickname stuck, and in 1967 the second 'g' was dropped to make Ragin'.
• In the early 70's other sports teams began to adopt the Ragin' Cajuns nickname.
• The University's full switch to Ragin' Cajuns was part of "Operation Turnaround" during the 1974-75 school year.
• In fact, the Ragin' Cajuns were voted as the best collegiate team nickname by Sporting News in 1998 and by an ESPN SportsNation survey in 2006.

2026 Louisiana Football Preview - The UAB Game

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Players Mentioned

Russell Babineaux

Michael Bowens Jr.

Chase Howard

Kevin Malone

Jai'Vale Mays-Hudson

Conor McPherson

Edrick Williams

Lunch Winfield

Ashton Wright

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University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics