The 2024 college football season is getting underway for 134 FBS programs around the country as Michael Desormeaux and the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns will open their season against the Tigers of Grambling State on Saturday.
This game will look different than in recent years as Cajun Field at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium is still undergoing a $65 million renovation. The capacity of the stadium has been cut from nearly 42,000 to 25,000 during the construction and will sit near 30,000 by its completion before the 2025 season.
The Cajuns finished 2023 with a record of 6-7 for the second consecutive season under Desormeaux, with both seasons looking eerily similar. The team battled injuries at major positions such as quarterback, which led to Louisiana dropping conference games in walk-off fashion or critical mistakes late. Then, a pair of bowl games that you were in until the end and just let slip away.
The Cajuns will be looking to rewrite that script for the third season in the Desormeaux era and there’s confidence that it will get done.
“I feel really good about where we’re at,” Desormeaux said at his game week media availability. “There were holes the first two years offensively that that we weren’t able to fill the way we wanted to last year. We were a little younger and inexperienced on defense, probably played a bigger factor than maybe I thought. This year, we’ve been able to build off of that experience, add some more experienced players in there, and certainly put some guys in positions where I felt like we lacked a little bit at times last year.”
“I think as a staff, our staff did a good job addressing some needs that we had, but ultimately, I think we have a veteran, experienced team that you know, we haven’t had the last two years on both sides of the ball, so I feel really good about our team and where we’re at.”
The offense will once again be led by Ben Wooldridge, who was the week one starting quarterback in 2023 before suffering a season-ending injury against UAB. In his fourth season with the Cajuns, the Fresno State transfer will look to stay healthy as the offense will need that consistency at the quarterback position.
Wooldridge will have an abundance of playmakers in this offense as Dre’Lyn Washington is back from injury to lead the running back room along with Elijah “Bill” Davis. Out wide, Jacob Bernard returns as the leading receiver from a season ago along with Harvey Broussard, Robert Williams, and Lance Legendre, who missed all of last season with an off-the-field issue. Terrence Carter will also be a big factor in the offense from a tight end position that will look to be featured in the offense.
Protecting the skill players will be four returning starters on the offensive line including Preseason All-Sun Belt AJ Gillie, Landon Burton, Jax Harrington, and Bryant Broussard.
Defensively for the Vermilion and White, there’s returning talent and leadership at every level as Jordan Lawson, KC Ossai, and Tyrone Lewis Jr will be just a few of the key players to watch along with Mason Narcisse, Cam Whitfield Jr, and Keyon Martin. First-year defensive Jim Salgado has been a welcome sight to both the coaches and players, so the defense will look to be even better than the solid production from 2023.
On the other side of the field, Grambling comes to Lafayette with a ton of questions under first-year head coach Mickey Joseph. Myles Crawley is back under center after a strong showing a year ago as he is predicted as the best quarterback in the SWAC for this coming season. However, over 50 new players join the roster as Joseph will look to use what he learned at LSU and Nebraska to help restore FCS glory to the Tigers.
Weather will certainly play a factor in this season opener as rain is predicted in the forecast for much of the day Saturday in what has already been a messy opening weekend in college football with several games from Thursday night being delayed due to inclement weather.
The Sun Belt is a conference that is full of question marks so if the Cajuns can bounce back after two 6-7 seasons in 2024, another appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game could be in order for Desormeaux’s squad.
The season gets underway Saturday at Cajun Field with a 7:00 p.m. kickoff against the Grambling State Tigers. The game can be seen on ESPN+.