By: TRACEY
JAGNEAUX
Sports Editor
ORLANDO, Fla. – Former Ville Platte High standout, Kendall Ardoin, and the Tulane Green Wave will travel over 600 miles and through three states to take on the ULL Ragin’ Cajuns in the Auto Nation Cure Bowl that takes place in Orlando Saturday. Game time is set for 12:30 p.m. and will air on CBS Sports Network.
This is the first trip to a bowl for the fifth year senior tight end and the first bowl game appearance for the Green Wave since a 24-21 loss to the Ragin’ Cajuns in the New Orleans Bowl in 2013. Tulane is 4-8 in all bowl games since 1910.
Ardoin, who has already graduated with two bachelor’s degrees and is now working on a master’s degree in Energy Management, is in his last year of eligibility and is excited to end his career in a bowl game.
“I have been here for the past five years, and this is the first time we have the chance to play in a bowl game, so to be able to put the cleats on one more time is a perfect way to finish up my college career, especially since I was injured and could not play in my last regular season game,” stated Ardoin.
“It has been a thrilling experience to play on the collegiate level,” Ardoin continued. “The teammates I have had here are now my brothers. We have sweated and bled together the last few years to get to this point. I am ready to get the whole experience of the bowl game and have some fun. But, most importantly, I want to go out with a win.”
The Green Wave finished the season with an overall record of 6-6 and became eligible with a 29-28 come from behind win over Navy in their final game of the year. Tulane was 5-3 in American Athletic Conference play.
The Green Wave average 25.7 points per game on offense and are led by quarterback Justin McMillan. The LSU transfer has passed for 1,159 passing yards and nine touchdowns. He has completed 50 percent of his passes on the season.
Darius Bradwell has a team-high 982 rushing yards and nine rushing touchdowns. Corey Dauphine is not far behind Bradwell with 754 rushing yards. Tulane’s leading receiver, Darnell Mooney, has totaled 987 yards and eight receiving touchdowns.
The defense is allow ing 27.8 points per game. Their leading tackler is Zachery Harris with 86 total tackles. Outside linebacker Patrick Johnson has a team-high 9.5 sacks and four forced fumbles.
“I was a little bit partial to try to get into that Cure Bowl,” third-year Tulane coach Willie Fritz said on his team’s selection to the Orlando based bowl game. “Hopefully we’ll have a lot of people travel from New Orleans. We’re pumped up about it.”
Fritz also talked about the mental preparation for the game itself and his team’s approach to this game.
“That’s what I talked to our guys about,” Fritz said. “I told them that getting prepared for this game and playing the very best we can and winning the game was first. Then there’s second, there’s third, there’s fourth and there’s fifth, and having a good time is down here (pointing to the floor). We want to represent Tulane University and our conference the right way.”
On the other side of the field, the Ragin’ Cajuns are 5-2 in overall bowl play and last won a bowl game in 2014 with a 16-3 victory over Nevada in the New Orleans Bowl. The last bowl appearance for ULL was two years ago, when the Cajuns lost to Southern Mississippi 28-21 in that same bowl game. ULL finished the season at 7-6 overall and was 5-3 in Sunbelt Conference play. The Cajuns fell 30-19 to Appalachian St. in the inaugural Sunbelt Championship game two weeks ago.
ULL averages 32.5 points per game on offense. Quarterback Andre Nunez has thrown for 2,136 yards and 19 touchdowns on the year. Jamarcus Bradley has caught 10 of those touchdown passes and leads the team with 557 receiving yards, while Ryheem Malone has hauled in 41 passes to lead ULL in receptions.
Three Cajun running backs, Trey Ragas, Elijah Mitchell and Raymond Calais, have combined for 2,813 yards on the ground. Ragas leads the trio with 1,141 rushing yards.
Defensively, ULL surrenders 33.6 points per game. Linebacker Jacques Boudreaux leads the Cajuns with 87 total tackles on the year. Linebacker Chauncey Manac has 7.5 tackles for loss and four sacks on the season.
ULL head coach Billy Napier emphasized the need for focus in the days leading to the bowl game.
“I think really the message for our team right now is that we understand that this time of year comes with lots of distractions,” Napier said Monday, “and we’ve got to be super focused relative to what are the things that really help you play better. I think we’re all gonna want to play well when we’re running out of the tunnel. But, it’s more about the routine that we’re in now, how we prepare.”
The Cajuns and the Green Wave have met 28 times on the field of play, with Tulane owning a 22-6 lead in that series. The last time the two teams played each other was in 2016 in a regular season game at Yulman Stadium in New Orleans when the Wave beat the Cajuns 41-39 in four overtimes. Ironically, it was Ardoin that caught the winning two- point conversion to seal the victory for the Wave.