Ragin’ Cajuns take No. 25 ranking to Georgia State

Image

LAFAYETTE -- For the first time in school history the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns will hit the road as a top 25 ranked team in the country.
The historical mark came after a hard fought 31-14 win over then ranked Iowa State. The Ragin’ Cajuns will now travel to Atlanta to take on the Georgia State Panthers in the first Sunbelt Conference game for both teams. Game time between the teams is set for 11 a.m. CST and will be aired on ESPN2
In their win over Iowa State, Louisiana-Lafayette utilized a stingy pass defense and some well-prepared special teams play to knock out the Cyclones.
“We played together — all three phases contributed,” Ragin’ Cajun head coach Billy Napier said. “I think the first way you win is you don’t beat yourself. We took care of the ball. We didn’t turn it over. We talk about attacking the ball and owning the ball. That’s part of our formula. We did that today.”
Despite being out gained 303-272 in the yardage department, the Ragin’ Cajuns held highly touted Iowa State quarterback Brock Purdy to only 145 yards on 16 for 35 passing. Not only that, but the tenacious Louisiana-Lafayette defense also had two huge takeaways.
As far as special teams goes, the Ragin’ Cajuns had a couple of big plays that tilted the momentum and the game toward the visiting Sunbelt conference team. In the second quarter, Chris Smith took a kickoff 95 yards to the end zone following an Iowa State touchdown, tying the game at 7-7.
Then with Louisiana-Lafayette leading 17-14 in the third quarter, Eric Garror pretty much sealed the deal for the Ragin’ Cajuns as he jetted to pay dirt with an 83-yard punt return.
“I think it’s (special teams) the first place you start when you talk about putting a football team together, because that’s where you play with effort, physicality, you combine your offensive and defensive players and a lot of your walk-ons and second-tier players have roles on those teams,” stated Napier.
As well as the Louisiana-Lafayette defense and special teams played, the offense was not able to get much going. Outside of a 78 yard touchdown pass from Levi Lewis to Peter LeBlanc, the Ragin’ Cajuns only managed 76 yards through the air and 118 yards rushing.
“This is the creator of that 3-3-5,” Napier said. “They fully comprehend and understand what they’re doing. They played us a little different than we expected in the first half, so I think it was critical. We made some adjustments.”
“We made a lot of mistakes today,” Napier continued. “This is just part of the journey. Nobody’s going to care, if you go lose a couple over the next couple of weeks, what happened today. We got a lot of work to do. The scary thing is this team can get better.”
Louisiana-Lafayette will have the chance to get their talented running game going in two days when they take on the Panthers. Georgia State will be playing their first game of the season, as their first two games were cancelled due to the pandemic.
The Panthers return all four linebackers on a team that ranked 112th in the country defensively. The Ragin’ Cajuns and the Panthers have not played each other since 2018 when Louisiana-Lafayette defeated Georgia State 36-22.