Ragin’ Cajuns are working to rebuild
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns were the darlings of the college football world early in coach Mark Hudspeth’s tenure, posting four consecutive nine-win seasons and four consecutive New Orleans Bowl victories.
The Ragin’ Cajuns however, have been on a steady decline during the past three seasons.
The program self-imposed sanctions after an ex-assistant coach worked to arrange fraudulent college entrance exam scores for recruits and losses piled up.
As a result, rebuilding Louisiana is ranked No. 118 in Orlando Sentinel college insider Matt Murschel’s preseason 2018 college football rankings.
Murschel ranked all 129 Football Bowl Subdivision teams in the country. The Sentinel staff takes a closer look at a new team daily, counting backward from No. 129 to our projected No. 1 team. Louisiana
Billy Napier (0-0, entering his first season; 0-0overall)
5-7, 4-4 in Sun Belt Conference
After a season-opening win against Southeastern Louisiana, the Ragin’ Cajuns dropped three consecutive games. The worst was a 55-50 double overtime loss to rival Louisiana-Monroe. Louisiana won three of its next four, but the team stumbled and lost another three of the final games on the regular season to fall short of bowl eligibility.
Louisiana coach Mark Hudspeth was fired after posting his third consecutive losing season. Ragin’ Cajuns athletics director Bryan Maggard cited the team’s inconsistent play and apathy among the fan base among the reasons he opted to part ways with Hudspeth. 6 4 5
DB Simeon Thomas, S Tracy Walker III, OL Grant Horst
QB Levi Lewis, OL Kevin Dotson, OL Robert Hunt, WR Ja’Marcus Bradley, RB Lenard Calloway, DB Corey Turner
Napier has brought new energy to a Louisiana program eager to get back to winning bowl games.
The strength of the team is arguably the offensive line, which is anchored by veterans Kevin Dotson and Robert Hunt.
The Ragin’ Cajuns also boast depth at receiver and running back, with Ja’Marcus Bradley and Lenard Calloway shining during the spring game.
The team has yet to settle on a starting quarterback, but Levi Lewis delivered a strong spring game performance and has developed strong communication with his teammates.
The offense will need to help offset some significant losses on defense. Safety Tracy Walker is among the top performers who moved on to the NFL.
Louisiana proved it can thrive and rack up bowl wins. Napier, however, will likely need more than one season to get the Ragin’ Cajuns back into the postseason picture.