Ragin’ Cajuns old and new were at Cajun Field for Louisiana football’s 2024 homecoming matchup vs Arkansas State on Saturday.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (7-1, 4-0 SBC) had been on the road for the majority of the season and finally get to come home and, boy, did they give their home crowd a show. The Cajuns took down the Red Wolves (5-3, 3-1 SBC) in dominating fashion 55-19 to remain at the top of the Sun Belt West division with a perfect 5-0 record.
“This is a game we’ve been looking forward to playing for a year now,” UL football coach Michael Desormeaux said. “We felt like last year when we played them, we certainly didn’t play our best brand of football. So tonight, that was the challenge.”
With the offensive leadership of its locked-in running back room, the Cajuns broke a two-year losing record in their homecoming games and remain one-loss teams in the FBS. Redshirt junior running back Dre’lyn Washington led them with a season-high 123 yards rushing and two touchdowns on eight carries marking his first game scoring multiple touchdowns in his career.
After a three-and-out on offense, the Cajuns’ defense was back on the field looking to put a stop to the Red Wolves’ tempo offense. Raynor dropped back for a pass deep downfield and almost connected with his receiver but fifth-year senior safety Tyrone Lewis Jr. was there to break it up and snag the ball from the ground. This marks Lewis’ fourth interception of the season and the first takeaway of the game.
UL’s offense was rolling after Lewis’s interception gave them the ball and momentum. Wooldridge took advantage of that connecting with his receivers deep downfield to get the Cajuns in the red zone quickly. He threw for 50 yards on the drive that was capped off with a 20-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Harvey Broussard.
This gave the Cajuns the first points of the game and a 7-0 lead.
The Cajuns drove down to the red zone for the second time in the quarter but after a failed third and long attempt they turned to old reliable kicker Kenny Almendares. He knocked in a 44-yard field goal to give his team a 10-point lead and tie a school record in field goal points (318). One more field goal and he will break the school’s record.
“It was pretty cool tonight for Kenny to get the record at homecoming too,” Desormeaux said. “A lot of good things happen tonight and I’m so proud of these guys. Absolutely love this team and everything that they’re about.”
The Cajuns could smell the end zone on their first drive of the second quarter. Their offense moved down the field with ease giving the Red Wolves defense all kinds of problems. UL capped off the drive on a breakout run from Washington who took it 46 yards to the house.
“All you got to do is keep working,” Washington said. “When you work the outcome pays off. I saw a lot from the offensive line tonight, they were working. They were executing. AJ Gillie, Lando, all of them were pushing boys down the field, chasing the ball everything.”
Following the score, Almendares’ PAT was good giving him the school record for most points scored by a kicker in school history.
Washington’s break-out touchdown run opened up running lanes all throughout the Red Wolves defense. As a team, they have rushed for 121 yards with Washington leading the way with 56 yards on three carries.
Along with him, redshirt sophomore Zylan Perry got in on the running game action rushing for a four-yard touchdown to give the Cajuns a commanding 24-0 lead in the first half. He has 41 rushing yards on six carries so far.
The Red Wolves seem to have no answer for the Cajuns’ relentless offense. It was written all over their body language as they trailed 24-0 in the first half. They allowed UL’s offense to rush for 151 yards so far and in the air about the same (155).
The play that really showed the Red Wolves may have lost the fight they started the game with was on a Wooldridge deep pass to redshirt junior wide receiver Robert Williams. Williams caught the ball and went down the sideline refusing to go down carrying Arkansas State defenders with him along the way.
“We run that play every week at practice so it’s like we gotta hit it once at least,” Williams said. “since a kid, my dad always said, don’t let the first guy bring you down. So I mean, I just kept that mindset the whole way and just played ball. Only thing going through my head was don’t fumble.”
UL ended the drive with a 13-yard rushing touchdown from redshirt freshman Bill Davis who had a 94-yard touchdown run called back due to a hold earlier in the drive. His score gave the Cajuns a 31-0 lead in the first half and marked the most first-half points scored so far this season.
Trailing by a ton, the Red Wolves knew they needed to make something happen on offense. Raynor locked in getting down the field any way he could whether it was scramble plays or quick passes to pick up first downs.
He got his team back in the red zone for the second time in the game and this time he would not be denied. He connected with fifth-year senior wide receiver Adam Jones for a 16-yard touchdown, the Red Wolves’ first points of the game. They failed on the two-point conversion after that but managed to crack the goose in the score column before halftime.
The Cajuns started with the ball second half and immediately got back to work with a flurry of run-and-pass plays. The running lanes remain open for them with Perry breaking out for a solid gain to get them in the redzone. A holding call on the Cajuns stalled the drive and forced them to settle for a 45-yard field goal from Almendares.
The made field goal puts Almendares at 60 made field goals this season and gives the Cajuns a 34-6 lead.
To start the game, UL had wide-open running lanes while its defense shut down the run game on the other side. That changed in the Red Wolves’ first drive of the second half as the Cajuns’ run defense seemed to be out of sorts.
The Red Wolves had run play after run play finding the Cajuns’ weak spot right in the gut of their defense. This led to a 13-yard rushing touchdown for running back Zak Wallace to score his team’s second touchdown of the game. They once again failed to convert on the two-point conversion making this 34-12.
The run game continues to be both team’s bread and butter. After Arkansas State’s rushing touchdown, the Cajuns went to the ground themselves. The Red Wolves got a big-time face mask penalty to keep the Cajuns’ drive alive and move them to the red zone.
Davis took it from there rushing for a 13-yard touchdown going completely untouched into the end zone. This marked his second rushing touchdown of the night and gave his team an even bigger cushion.
After an interception from UL’s redshirt junior safety Tyree Skipper to kill the Red Wolves drive, the Cajuns took over and started driving immediately. From Wooldridge extending plays with his legs and field vision to the ground and pound, there was just no stopping the Cajuns from getting into the endzone.
Leading them this drive was Washington who has led their running back room so far rushing for a season-high 123 yards so far. He took it 13 yards out for his second rushing touchdown of the night and notching his first multi-touchdown game of his career. This gave the Cajuns a 36-point lead heading into the final quarter.
They ended the game with no negative yards on offense and only allowing the Red Wolves three touchdowns all game. The defensive efforts were led by senior linebacker K.C Ossai and redshirt junior defensive lineman Jordan Lawson. Ossai led the team with 11 total tackles and 0.5 sacks while Lawson finished with six total tackles and a career-high 2.5 sacks.
“We had a lot of guys who were here for last year’s game so it was definitely a little chip on our shoulder,” Lawson said. “You never forget going on the field and being embarrassed so it wasn’t really a surprise for us to see the game go this way. All week has been, you know, we know it happened last year. Can’t let it happen again.”
With a 36-point lead heading into the final quarter, UL decided to go with its backup quarterback fifth-year quarterback Chandler Fields. The 5-foot-10 slinger hasn’t played in a game for the Cajuns since Week 2 against Kennesaw State on Sept. 7.
He made the most of his snaps throwing for 34 yards on an 80% completion rate getting the Cajuns to the red zone with ease. To end the drive, Fields took it himself on the ground for a 12-yard rushing touchdown to widen the gap some more in the fourth quarter.
The game was pretty much over by halftime but the Red Wolves’ backups who got in during the fourth quarter were looking to make the score less lopsided. Redshirt junior quarterback Timmy McClain took over and threw for 25 yards and finished the long drive with a 10-yard rushing touchdown to make the score 55-19.
TV channel: ESPN+
Streaming: ESPN, EPSN+
Radio: Ragin’ Cajuns Radio Network
Louisiana vs. Arkansas State will be available live on ESPN+ in Week 11 of the 2024 college football season. Jay Walker, Cody Junot, and Dawson Eiserloh will provide commentary from Cajun Field. Streaming options for the game include ESPN+.
Series record: Louisiana leads 29-22-1
In Lafayette: Louisiana leads 18-8
In Jonesboro: Arkansas leads 13-11-1
Louisiana’s last win: Oct. 22, 2022 (38-18)
Arkansas State’s last win: Nov. 4, 2023 (37-17)
Saturday’s matchup will be played in rainy weather with scattered showers, thunderstorms and warm with cloudy skies. It’ll be a high of 81 degrees and a low of 72 degrees.
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Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.
