The 2017 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2017 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Cajun Field in Lafayette, Louisiana, and competed in the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by seventh-year head coach Mark Hudspeth. They finished the season 5–7, 4–4 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place.
On December 3, the day following their final season game (a blowout loss against Appalachian State, 63–14), head coach Mark Hudspeth was fired. He finished with a seven-year record of 51–38. However, due to NCAA sanctions in 2016 because former assistant coach David Saunders arranged fraudulent college entrance exams for recruits, his official record was 29–38. On December 15, the school hired Billy Napier as head coach.
Offseason
Recruiting class
Preseason
Award watchlists Lou Groza AwardStevie ArtigueKSRWuerffel TrophyGrant HorstOLSR
Sun Belt Media Day
Predicted standings Sun Belt Conference predicted standings 1 Appalachian State 136 (7) 2 Troy 127 (2) 3 Arkansas State 122 (1) 4 South Alabama 98 5 Louisiana 95 (1) 6 Idaho 84 7 Georgia Southern 82 8 Georgia State 48 9 Louisiana-Monroe 46 10 New Mexico State 41 (1) 11 Texas State 31 12 Coastal Carolina 26
Preseason All–Conference Team
Offensive OL Kevin Dotson (second team) WR Keenan Barnes (Third Team) OL Robert Hunt (Third Team) OL D'Aquin Withrow (Third Team)
Defense DL Joe Dillon (first team) DB Tracy Walker (Third Team)
Specialists K Stevie Artigue (first team)
Roster
Schedule Louisiana announced its 2017 football schedule on March 1, 2017. The 2017 schedule consisted of five home and seven away games in the regular season. The Ragin' Cajuns hosted Sun Belt foes Georgia Southern, Louisiana-Monroe, New Mexico State, and Texas State, and traveled to Appalachian State, Arkansas State, Idaho, and South Alabama
The Ragin' Cajuns hosted one of the four non-conference opponents, Southeastern Louisiana from the Southland Conference, and traveled to Tulsa from the American Athletic Conference and Southeastern Conference members Ole Miss and Texas A&M.
Schedule source:
Game summaries
Southeastern Louisiana
Statistics Southeastern LouisianaLouisiana First downs 24 16 Total yards 514 369 Rushing yards 343 201 Passing yards 171 162 Turnovers 2 0 Time of possession 34:07 25:53
Team Category Player StatisticsSoutheastern Louisiana Passing Lorenzo Nunez 15-25, 171 yards, 3 TDs, INT Rushing Eugene Bethea 23 carries, 187 yards, 2 TDs Receiving Juwan Dickey 8 receptions, 99 yardsLouisiana Passing Jordan Davis 12-23, 162 yards, 1 TD Rushing Trey Ragas 4 carries, 61 yards, 1 TD Receiving Keenan Barnes 3 receptions, 70 yards
At Tulsa
Statistics LouisianaTulsa First downs 27 33 Total yards 596 667 Rushing yards 287 424 Passing yards 309 243 Turnovers 2 1 Time of possession 27:28 32:32
Team Category Player StatisticsLouisiana Passing Jordan Davis 21-32, 309 yards, 2 TDs, INT Rushing Trey Ragas 11 carries, 130 yards, TD Receiving Ryheem Malone 8 receptions, 119 yardsTulsa Passing Chad President 14-20, 243 yards, TD Rushing D'Angelo Brewer 38 carries, 262 yards, 3 TDs Receiving Justin Hobbs 5 receptions, 103 yards, TD
At Texas A&M
Statistics LouisianaTexas A&M First downs 17 27 Total yards 309 480 Rushing yards 93 179 Passing yards 216 301 Turnovers 5 2 Time of possession 29:10 30:50
Team Category Player StatisticsLouisiana Passing Jordan Davis 27-43, 197 yards, 2 TDs, 3 INTs Rushing Trey Ragas 14 carries, 93 yards, 1 TD Receiving Keenan Barnes 12 receptions, 118 yardsTexas A&M Passing Kellen Mond 21-34, 301 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT Rushing Jacob Kibodi 4 carries, 101 yards, 1 TD Receiving Damion Ratley 2 receptions, 86 yards
Louisiana–Monroe
Statistics Louisiana–MonroeLouisiana First downs 13 29 Total yards 310 607 Rushing yards 65 331 Passing yards 245 276 Turnovers 1 1 Time of possession 27:01 32:59
Team Category Player StatisticsLouisiana–Monroe Passing Caleb Evans 28-34, 343 yards, 1 TD Rushing Caleb Evans 16 carries, 129 yards, 5 TDs Receiving Marcus Green 8 receptions, 117 yardsLouisiana Passing Andre Nunez 22-37, 287 yards, 2 TDs Rushing Elijah Mitchell 13 carries, 107 yards, 2 TDs Receiving Jarrod Jackson 7 receptions, 113 yards, 1 TD
At Idaho
Statistics LouisianaIdaho First downs 22 13 Total yards 297 279 Rushing yards 84 103 Passing yards 213 149 Turnovers 1 0 Time of possession 30:05 29:55
Team Category Player StatisticsLouisiana Passing Andre Nunez 18-24, 213 yards, 1 TD, 1 INT Rushing Trey Ragas 17 carries, 78 yards, 1 TD Receiving Ja'Marcus Bradley 5 receptions, 93 yards, 1 TDIdaho Passing Matt Linehan 13-28, 149 yards Rushing Aaron Duckworth 14 carries, 62 yards Receiving Jacob Sannon 4 receptions, 58 yards
Texas State
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Statistics Texas StateLouisiana First downs 19 19 Total yards 325 367 Rushing yards 106 135 Passing yards 219 232 Turnovers 3 0 Time of possession 30:05 29:55
Team Category Player StatisticsTexas State Passing Willie Jones III 12-18, 197 yards, 1 INT Rushing Willie Jones III 14 carries, 58 yards Receiving Thurman Morbley 3 receptions, 68 yardsLouisiana Passing Andre Nunez 17-27, 232 yards, 1 TD Rushing Trey Ragas 19 carries, 72 yards, 2 TDs Receiving Keenan Barnes 5 receptions, 99 yards, 1 TD
At Arkansas State
Statistics LouisianaArkansas State First downs 17 29 Total yards 270 571 Rushing yards 91 262 Passing yards 179 309 Turnovers 2 1 Time of possession 33:55 26:05
Team Category Player StatisticsLouisiana Passing Jordan Davis 11-24, 128 yards Rushing Jordan Davis 9 carries, 33 yards Receiving Michael Jacquet 6 receptions, 55 yardsLouisiana Passing Justice Hansen 23-37, 275 yards, 2 TDs Rushing Justice Hansen 13 carries, 121 yards, 1 TD Receiving Blake Mack 5 receptions, 65 yards
At South Alabama
Statistics LouisianaSouth Alabama First downs 16 23 Total yards 374 368 Rushing yards 264 87 Passing yards 110 281 Turnovers 0 2 Time of possession 34:29 25:31
Team Category Player StatisticsLouisiana Passing Levi Lewis 8-15, 110 yards, 2 TDs Rushing Levi Lewis 18 carries, 129 yards Receiving Michael Jacquet 2 receptions, 58 yards, 1 TDSouth Alabama Passing Cole Garvin 22-35, 274 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs Rushing Tra Minter 13 carries, 50 yards Receiving Jamarius Way 5 receptions, 110 yards
Statistics LouisianaMississippi First downs 21 30 Total yards 427 641 Rushing yards 228 223 Passing yards 199 418 Turnovers 0 1 Time of possession 30:16 29:44
At Ole Miss
Statistics New Mexico StateLouisiana First downs 26 29 Total yards 402 505 Rushing yards 89 279 Passing yards 313 226 Turnovers 3 0 Time of possession 22:58 37:02
New Mexico State
Statistics Georgia SouthernLouisiana First downs 23 13 Total yards 464 379 Rushing yards 389 149 Passing yards 75 230 Turnovers 0 3 Time of possession 40:02 19:58
Georgia Southern
Statistics LouisianaAppalachian State First downs 18 27 Total yards 369 608 Rushing yards 162 357 Passing yards 207 251 Turnovers 3 0 Time of possession 27:52 32:08
At Appalachian State
References