The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns are on a three-game win streak and are 5-1 on the season after taking down the App State Mountaineers 34-24 last Saturday. Now coach Michael Desormeaux’s group will turn their attention to a road matchup with Coastal Carolina.
The Chanticleers on the other hand have a 4-2 record and have lost two out of their last three games. Their most recent loss came on the road last week 39-7 to the James Madison Dukes.
Kickoff inside Brooks Stadium is set for 11:00 a.m. Saturday. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
YEARS IN THE MAKING
The last time these two teams faced off on the gridiron was in 2020 when the Chanticleers got the best of Ragin’ Cajuns 30-27.
COVID-19 ravaged college football, shortening many program seasons that year. Louisiana finished the regular season 9-1 while Coastal Carolina was 11-0. A rematch in the Sun Belt Championship was scheduled in the middle of December but a reported outbreak in the Chanticleer program canceled the contest and the conference crowned the two as co-champs.
That hasn’t sat well with the fanbase of the Cajuns over the last few years and there’s still some of the roster and coaching staff that experienced what went down four years ago.
THREE-HEADED BACKFIELD
Louisiana is known for developing offensive linemen and running backs that find their way to playing in the NFL. They’ve got a couple of good linemen such as Jax Harrington and AJ Gillie while also having a three-headed monster in their running back room.
Bill Davis has been the most explosive running back for the Cajuns, leading the team in carries, and rushing yards, and has the second-most rushing touchdowns with three. Davis’ longest is 73 against Tulane and has recorded multiple carries of 40+ yards over the last few games.
The second head is Zylan Perry, who has been a complementary back to Davis and is second on the team in carries and yards with 356. Both ball carriers have done most of the heavy lifting in the run game while their third running back Dre’Lyn Washington was recovering from an injury sustained early in the season.
Since Washington’s return, head coach Michael Desormeaux and his coaching staff have become more lethal on the ground, have more effective options to go to, and can rely on the hot hand if one of the other backs isn’t having his best game.
ALL-TIME SCORING LIST
As the weeks have passed, kicker Kenneth Almendares has climbed the ranks of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ all-time scoring list.
In last week’s win over App State, Almendares’ 10 points (2 FG, 4 PAT) helped the senior overtake Brian Mitchell as the fourth-highest scorer in program history.
Almendares’ 293 career points are one point short of Tyrell Fenroy’s 294 and 17 points away from tying Stevie Artigue for second. However, Elijah McGuire sits atop the mountain with 318 career points scored for the Cajuns.
Over the final six regular season games, Almendares would need to average 4.3 points per contest surpass McGuire, Artigue, and Fenroy, and become Louisiana’s all-time scoring leader.
SERIES RECORD: Coastal Carolina leads 2-1
Last 3 Meetings:
2020: COASTAL CAROLINA 30 – LOUISIANA 27
2019: LOUISIANA 48 – COASTAL CAROLINA 7
2018: COASTAL CAROLINA 30 – LOUISIANA 28
STAT LEADERS:
Louisiana
Ben Wooldridge: 115-of-168, 1,412 Yards, 12 TD, 4 INT
Bill Davis: 61 Carries, 399 Yards, 3 TD
Lance Legende: 18 Catches, 322 Yards, 3 TD
Cameron Whitfield: 4 Sacks
K.C. Ossai: 42 Tackles (23 Solo)
Tyree Skipper: 3 INT
Kenneth Almendares: 12-of-13 Field Goals, Long of 53, 22-of-22 PAT
Coastal Carolina
Ethan Vasco: 69-of-128, 1,185 Yards, 8 TD, 4 INT
Christian Washington: 60 Carries, 313 Yards, 4 TD
Jameson Tucker: 15 Catches, 303 Yards, 3 TD
Tray Brown & Joah Cash: 2.5 Sacks
Shane Bruce: 43 Tackles (13 Solo)
Xamarion Gordan, Cristian Conyer, Wyatt Gedeon & Matthew McDoom: 1 INT
Kade Hensley: 8-of-9 Field Goals, Long of 49, 25-of-25 PAT
