Cajuns Open Home Slate This Saturday
Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns football team opens the home portion of its 2011 schedule on Saturday, Sept. 17 hosting Nicholls State at Cajun Field in the 11th Annual Herbert Heymann Football Classic presented in association with the U.S. Marines.
The Cajuns and Colonels kick off at 6:08 p.m. in a live television broadcast on Cox Channel 4. Jimmy Fredrick will call all of the action with Scott Brazda providing analysis and Blair Abene on the sidelines.
Saturday will mark the Cajun Field debut of head football coach Mark Hudspeth and he will do so in front of the largest season ticket base in school history. Click here for game notes.
In preparation for Saturday’s in-state matchup, coach Hudspeth held his weekly media luncheon on Monday afternoon.
Click here to view a video of coach Hudspeth’s comments from the media luncheon. Click here to view a transcript.
The second edition of Inside Ragin’ Cajuns Football airs tonight at 9:30 p.m. on Cox Channel 4. Replays of Inside Ragin' Cajuns Football will air Wednesday's at 4:30 p.m. on Cox Sports Television (CST).
The Ragin’ Cajuns (1-1) rolled to a 20-0 victory in the last meeting against Nicholls State (1-1) on Sept. 1, 2001. That contest served as the inaugural Herbert Hymann Classic.
UL is coming off a road win at Kent State. The 20-12 win marked the first non-conference road win since the Cajuns defeated Houston 31-28 on Oct. 7, 2006.
Lionel Stokes gave the Cajuns a 7-0 lead at Kent State with his 63-yard interception return. Stokes was named the College Sports Madness Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Week.
The three interception returns for touchdown are the most in any two-game stretch in UL history. In the last two seasons, the defensive backs have accounted for 16 of the team’s 18 interceptions.
Christopher Tucker had two fumble recoveries that led to 10 points at Kent State. The last time the Cajuns had a player record two fumble recoveries in the same game was in 2003 when Antonio Floyd had two against La.-Monroe. Tucker was named the Louisiana Sports Writers Association (LSWA) Co Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.
Qyendarius Griffin has led the Cajuns in rushing in both games this season after rushing for 51 yards on 24 carries at Kent State. He’s also posted a touchdown in consecutive games. With his touchdown against the Golden Flashes, Griffin became the first true freshman running back at UL in the modern era to rush for a TD in the first two games of the season.
Despite a downpour at Kent State, kicker Brett Baer managed to remain perfect in his career after going 2-for-2 on field goals and 2-for-2 on extra points earning him LSWA Special Teams Player of the Week honors. Baer is a prefect 11-for-11 in career field goals.
Baer has also done well in his first season as the Cajuns punter. On the season, he is averaging 44.5 yards per punt. Twice on the year Baer has posted a punt of 55 yards, and has pinned opponents inside of the 20 yard line four times.
Darryl Surgent has posted 126 yards on five kick returns this season. He is averaging 117.5 all-purpose yards in two games. Surgent leads the Sun Belt averaging 10.9 yards on seven punt returns totaling 76 yards.
The Cajuns are set to open Sun Belt conference play on the road at FIU next weekend. Louisiana holds a 6-2 edge in the series, but the Golden Panthers have won the last two meetings including a 20-17 overtime victory in FIU Stadium in 2009.
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