The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns went on the road this past Saturday to battle with a Sun Belt West rival in South Alabama. After forcing five turnovers and sacking Carter Bradley five times, the Cajuns came back home with a 33-20 win and locked themselves into second place in the West division.
However, the story of this game has to be the fact that for the first time in the 2023 season, Louisiana played a complete game in all three phases.
The Cajuns jumped out to a 17-0 lead in the first half and never looked back, keeping the pedal down in the second half and coming up with big-time steps, including two turnovers and a defensive touchdown on a strip sack.
The win in Mobile not only got Louisiana back in the win column, but it gave them momentum heading into November.
“Coming off of a win that we needed, it was important for us to go and play that type of game,” Desormeaux said Monday. “I have a ton of respect for South Alabama, for their players and for their staff. I was really proud of our kids. I thought we went out there and we played really tough physical football, which we pride ourselves on being that type of team. I’m also tremendously proud of our defense, which had five guys that typically play for us on defense that were out. And we had some guys who had to play significantly more. Certainly, we had some guys that don’t play every down that had to play a little bit more and carry a bigger load and they did it and did it really well.”
One of the areas where the Cajuns have grown the most has been their running attack, becoming one of the top 10 rushing offenses in America. In this contest, Louisiana rushed for over 200 yards for the fifth time in eight games. The other three contests had rushing totals of 165, 173, and 177. Through those eight games, the Cajuns averaged 214 yards on the ground. Desormeaux said they spent the offseason improving the ground game after a down year in 2022.
“That’s all we heard about last year,” Desormeaux said. “We knew that we didn’t play to the standard that had been set here and it’s no one ever wants to underachieve and let your organization down or let your team down. We knew there were a lot of reasons why, but we were hell-bent this year on getting back to that. That offensive line, I told you guys this in the offseason, they were different from day one. They were different from day one. When we got in that indoor and we did our offseason workouts, the focus was totally different. Those guys have strength. They have busted their tails to make sure they’re on the field. Every day they’ve been in there. They’ve worked their asses off our tight ends playing right on the edge and our running backs. I mean, they’ve stepped up tremendously this year.”
Backing up that offensive success has been the play of the Cajuns defense, especially this past Saturday when they held South Alabama to 20 points. The Jags came into this game scoring 55 points in each of the last two games. Cameron Whitfield had a career day with seven tackles, 3.5 sacks, and three forced fumbles to lead the Cajuns defense. Kendre Gant had a scoop n score touchdown and Tyrone Lewis Jr also added two interceptions from the secondary.
“For sure,” Desormeaux said when asked if this weekend’s game was the best defensive performance of the season. “There were a lot of moving parts now going into that week. You find out Thursday morning Justin Agu won’t be able to go, we get there (to Mobile) and we got a guy that’s sick that can’t play. You knew you were already out a couple of them. Then Courtland and K.C. didn’t play the whole second half. I mean it was really well done. Hats off to our defensive staff. They had those guys ready to go, they had them ready to play.
“When you got a bunch of players that are fighters, that are gritty, and that are tough, you always got a shot,” Desormeau continued. “Our guys, they just don’t see why they shouldn’t be successful. They don’t see why they shouldn’t get to go out there and go play well, and when you play with that type of confidence and toughness, you always got a chance.”
The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns will look to continue their success when they head to Jonesboro this weekend, a place where they have struggled to find success at times.
“Now you turn the page to this Arkansas State game,” Desormeaux said of his opponent this weekend. “This team is not the same team that they were last year, they’re playing with a lot of confidence, they’ve got this quarterback who’s really got them rolling on offense. They’re throwing the ball down the field, their run game has improved and on defense, they’re they’re really sound. They’re getting enough stops to go out there and give their offense a chance to win the game. So you’re playing another tough team. Historically, we’ve struggled in Jonesboro. I mean, even the games we’ve won have not been easy. This is the most important game of the year, and we have to prepare like it and we gotta go play like it.”
Matt Miguez is the host of the Miguez Mindset Podcast on ESPN Southwest Louisiana’s YouTube page. He is also a digital contributor for ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.