Live Game Talk: Louisiana vs. Northwestern State

[cajun4life]

I’m team ZC. But he took all the snaps in the spring and plenty in the fall, and we still ended up with Wooldridge as QB1. Count me in as concerned over the QB room

It was either Chandler or Ben from the beginning. Des wouldn’t sit a senior in favor of a RS Fr.

[ULvictory]

Attendance: 18,186

[JamesTheJeweler]

It was either Chandler or Ben from the beginning. Des wouldn’t sit a senior in favor of a RS Fr.

Geezus, I sure hope he's not starting a player solely based on class.

[zeppelincajun]

It was either Chandler or Ben from the beginning. Des wouldn’t sit a senior in favor of a RS Fr.

Chandler will be a senior next year. If Des always just goes off seniority, ZC won’t get a shot until his RS-Junior year. With transferring as prevalent as it is, I highly doubt he’ll be here that long not seeing the field.

[RaginScotsman]

Attendance: 18,186

That’s about right. Better than last year’s opener.

[CajunVic]

. . . ring that bell, loudly . . .

[zeppelincajun]

Positives:
- THE STUDENTS. That was a real student section. Felt a little electricity in the building for kickoff.
- The defense. I get it NSU’s offense was awful. Still the guys can only go out there and compete against who we schedule. Outside of a busted assignment in junk time, our defense allowed NOTHING.
- Lot E baby. I had to leave tailgating for a few hours midday. Came back at 5, and there was a decent bit of cars in that lot. There is no better advertisement for our games than a parking lot with actual cars for people driving by on Congress and Bertrand to see. Until we average 25K for a decade, I don’t wanna hear a peep about people parking across the street. Get people in the damn gates and close to the action.
- The running game. 206 yards total on 34 attempts for a 6.1 yard average. Compare that to 133 yards on 38 attempts (3.5 yard average) against SLU last year. We could’ve run as much as we wanted to on NSU tonight.

Negatives

- The passing game. NSU had no fear of getting beat deep. We made them pay twice, but other than that they brought pressure all night and weren’t punished for it. Ben didn’t respond well at times, and frankly I would’ve like to see less hurries with our o-line going up against an FCS line.
- Time. Some extenuating circumstances, but for the most part that was just a long drawn out uncompetitive football game. Hopefully those who turned out will give another game a shot.
- This is small sample size, but the scanners were, as always, an issue. The two friends I transferred tickets to: one scanned/the other said it had already been scanned. Thankfully they called over a supervisor and let them in. Buddy said the people in front of him had the same issue and were sent to the ticket booth. Someone else told me their tickets didn’t scan, and they were sent to the booth for printed tickets. Maybe these were isolated incidents, but I doubt it. I got in no problem.

[zeppelincajun]

Real close on this score.

[LouisianaB]

Thanks Dave! Now I'm ready for GameDay!

Didn’t you leave at halftime

[ULvictory]

I’ve been saying to let people park inside of Cajun Field for a small fee. It’s about PERCEPTION. A packed parking lot insinuates a full lot which can draw interest from someone passing on any of the main roads.

[NewsCopy]

Ben Wooldridge, making his return to the lineup nearly 10 months after a season-ending injury, threw for three touchdowns and rushed for one and the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns used a smothering defensive effort to claim a 38-13 win over in-state opponent Northwestern State on Saturday night at Cajun Field.


Dre'lyn Washington, who rushed for career-high 88 yards on eight carries, scored on Louisiana's second play from scrimmage with a 62-yard race down the left sideline while Robert Williams and Tavion Smith each caught their touchdown passes in a Ragin' Cajuns uniform.

All five touchdowns scored for Louisiana (1-0) were 20 yards or greater with Wooldridge connecting with Peter LeBlanc on a 50-yard strike in the third quarter before finding Smith for a 21-yard scoring pass with 4:59 remaining.

Wooldridge completed 14 of 32 passes for 223 yards while adding 29 yards more on the ground in his first game back after missing Louisiana's final three games in 2022. The redshirt senior connected with nine players in the game with Neal Johnson grabbing a team-high three passes for the Ragin' Cajuns.

LeBlanc, Williams and Terrance Carter each caught a pair of passes for Louisiana, which finished with 429 yards of total offense including 206 on the ground. Jacob Kibodi added 49 yards on the ground for the Ragin' Cajuns with redshirt freshman Kendrell Williams gaining 23 yards on three carries late in the contest.

Tyree Skipper, Kendré Gant, Jordan Lawson and K.C. Ossai had six stops each for the Ragin' Cajuns, which limited Northwestern State (0-1) to 187 yards of total offense including 77 yards on the ground in 40 attempts. Lawson collected two of Louisiana's five sacks in the game with Ossai, Antoine Baylis and Tyler Guidry each recording one.

Louisiana forced the first of seven three-and-outs on the night on the Demons' opening drive and needed 53 seconds to find the end zone with Washington going around the left side and scoring on a career-long, 62-yard run for a quick 7-0 lead.

The Ragin' Cajuns would stretch their lead to 14-3 in the second quarter after forcing the Demons to punt for one of their school-record tying 11 times on the night and starting at the NSU 41.

Wooldridge opened the drive with an 11-yard pass to Pearse Migl before scoring three plays later on a run around the right end and scoring from 24 yards out.

Louisiana scored on its next possession after Wooldridge connected with LeBlanc for an 8-yard pass on third-and-8 from the NSU 40 before hitting a wide open Williams on the next play and a 21-3 lead.

Wooldridge tossed his second TD of the night on Louisiana's second drive of the third quarter when he found LeBlanc on a 50-yard strike and a 28-6 lead.

Kenneth Almendares added a 33-yard field goal for a 31-6 Louisiana lead with 14:55 remaining before Wooldridge hit Smith for a 21-yard scoring pass to cap a 10-play, 68-yard drive.

Northwestern State's Tyler Vander Waal completed 12 of 28 passes for 110 yards and a touchdown in his debut with Scooter Adams gaining a team-high 33 yards on eight carries and hauling in a 47-yard pass with 2:01 remaining.

Louisiana returns to play on Saturday (Sept. 9) when it opens Sun Belt Conference play with a first-ever meeting against Old Dominion (0-1).

Louisiana Athletics
RaginCajuns.com
PRESS RELEASE

[NewsCopy]

It wasn't always pretty, but the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns did open the 2023 season with a 42-6 win over the Northwestern State Demons.

The rest of the story
ESPN 1420