The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team will officially kick off the 2014-15 bowl season on Saturday when it plays Mountain West Conference opponent Nevada in the 14th annual R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome.
Kickoff is scheduled for 10 a.m. and can be seen nationally on ESPN. Bob Wischusen (play-by-play), Mack Brown (color) and Kaylee Hartung (sideline) will handle the commentary. The game against Nevada (7-5) can also be heard nationally on ESPN Radio will Bill Rosinski (play-by-play), David Norrie (color) and Joe Schad (sideline) handing the action.
Fans of the Ragin' Cajuns can hear the game on the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Network with Jay Walker (play-by-play), Gerald Broussard (color) and Steve Peloquin (sideline) handling the commentary.
Winners of seven of its last final eight games of the regular season, Louisiana (8-4) appears in its fourth straight bowl in New Orleans. The Ragin' Cajuns earned a 32-30 victory over San Diego State in the 2011 game, a 43-34 win over East Carolina in the 2012 game and a 24-21 victory over Tulane in last year's game.
In the past three seasons, Louisiana is one of six schools nationally to win a bowl game joining Florida State, Michigan State, Oregon, South Carolina and Texas A&M.
Leading the Ragin' Cajuns on offense during the 2014 regular season was Elijah McGuire, who was named the Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year. The sophomore rushed for 1,165 yards and 14 TDs on the season while catching a team-high 40 receptions. Alonzo Harris, who rushed for 120 yards in the 2012 win over ECU, added 737 yards on the ground with 12 TDs during the season for the Ragin' Cajuns, which was fourth in the Sun Belt Conference and 26th nationally in rushing offense.
Terrance Broadway, the Ragin' Cajuns all-time leader in total offense (9,186 yards), has thrown for 2,068 yards and 12 TDs for Louisiana while adding 646 yards on the ground and three scores. The three-year starter and 2012 New Orleans Bowl MVP has thrown for 7,329 yards and 48 touchdowns in his career – second in both categories to Jake Delhomme.
McGuire (40-414), Al Riles (31-331), James Butler (30-417), Gabe Fuselier (24-214) and Larry Pettis (16-117) are the top targets for Louisiana.
Led by the first-team All-Sun Belt Conference tandem in Christian Ringo and Justin Hamilton, the Ragin' Cajuns led the league in rushing defense. Ringo, who tallied a career-best 42 tackles, led the league in both sacks (10.5) and tackles for loss (19.5) while Hamilton recorded 26 tackles with nine stops for loss and five sacks.
Corey Trim led the Ragin' Cajuns with 71 tackles on the season with a pair of interceptions with Dominique Tovell following with 70 stops, including 10 for loss and three sacks. Daniel Cadona set a single-season record for the Ragin' Cajuns, averaging 43.3 yards per punt while Hunter Stover finished fifth in the league in scoring (87 points) and went 15-for-18 on field goals.