This season for Louisiana Ragin Cajuns football has been a rollercoaster ride. The ride began before fall camp with the announcement that former LSU quarterback Anthony Jennings would come across the basin and ended with a poor showing in the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.
They were given no chance by the experts after the homecoming loss to the Idaho Vandals of making a bowl game. The Cajuns were able to prove the doubters wrong after winning three of their last four games.
Here’s a look back at the season that was for the Ragin Cajuns.
Best Moment: Offensive Flurry Against South Alabama
The best moment for this team has to be the win over the South Alabama Jaguars. It may not mean much now that the season is over, but when you look at the game and what it meant at the time it meant the world to a team who was trying to avoid starting 1-3 for the third consecutive season. The Jags had beaten Mississippi State to start the season and the Cajuns were able to dominate on offense with 512 yards. After a disappointing loss to Boise State, this was a great sign that this team could play well against a team that looked good at the time.
Worst Moment: Off the Field Incident
If there is one thing that many fans would like to forget, it was the video that made the rounds on the internet featuring players singing a rap song with vulgar lyrics. The situation created a black cloud over the program and the situation was amplified after a questionable statement by Mark Hudspeth. Look at the attendance numbers for the New Orleans Bowl: 35,061. This could have set the record for the bowl game because of how close they were from the Mercedes-Benz Superdome, but many fans aren’t happy about what was said and they let it be known by not paying for tickets.
Most Valuable Player: Aussie Rules
If there’s one player that was outright snubbed in the All-Sun Belt teams, it has to be sophomore Steven Coutts. The Australian was second in the conference and 19th in the country with an average punt of 44.14 yards. There are several instances where his punts gave the Cajuns a chance to hold on and win key games. While there were other great players on this team (Eli McGuire, JaMarcus Bradley, Joe Dillon, etc.), no one made more of an impact than he did.
Breakout Player: Freshman Becomes Big Man On Campus
The Cajuns front seven has been great all season long, being great in shutting down the run and one of the biggest surprises is Joe Dillon. The freshman All-American had 51 total tackles, 12.5 for a loss, and seven sacks. He is going to be a force to be reckoned with going forward and expect him to continue his path to being one of the best in program history.
Play of the Year: Big Boy Touchdown
With everything on the line in the final week of the regular season, the Cajuns dominance of UL Monroe was solely thanks to the defense with two touchdowns. The biggest one came with Trev Miller taking the ball from Caleb Evans and taking it to the house from over 60 yards out. If there’s one touchdown that I love, it has to be a fat guy touchdown and that was a majestic touchdown.
Looking Forward to 2017:
The Cajuns are losing a lot of big names in Eli McGuire, Otha Peters, and Al Riles. However, the amount of youth on this team is going to be a very big benefit going forward. Having JaMarcus Bradley and Michael Jacquet gain tons of experience this season will help out the passing game going forward if the right QB is chosen. The chance that Anthony Jennings has of getting another year with the Cajuns is about the same as the Saints have of making the playoffs right now, so the QB battle in 2017 will be interesting with the front runners right now being Dion Ray and Jordan Davis. The commits up to this point look good, but there needs to be an emphasis on the secondary as evidenced by the poor performance against Southern Miss.
-Clint Domingue