The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns will open their 2025 football season on Saturday night against the Rice Owls inside the newly renovated Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. Here are three storylines entering the opener for the Ragin’ Cajuns:
HOWARD GETS THE START
Former St. Thomas More star Walker Howard will finally be making his first collegiate start this Saturday night against Rice. The Lafayette native was a four-star recruit out of high school, where he threw for 5,824 yards and 67 touchdowns in his junior and senior seasons.
Howard signed with LSU out of high school, but after one season as a backup, he transferred to Ole Miss, where he played for two seasons. In three seasons with the Tigers and Rebels, Howard appeared in six games but had no starts. He completed 5-of-10 passes for 63 yards and no touchdowns.
Howard will now get the chance to show everyone what he can do as the leader of an offense.
UNFAMILIAR OPPONENT
Despite being separated by only three and a half hours, the Rice Owls and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns have only met on the gridiron six previous times. The series between the two programs is tied 3-3, with the Ragin’ Cajuns leading the games played in Lafayette 1-0, while Rice is 3-2 in the series in games played in Houston.
The two teams first met on October 1, 1921, in Houston, with Rice winning the game 54-0. The last meeting took place on September 17, 2022, in Houston, with the Owls winning 33-21. The lone meeting in Lafayette occurred on September 24, 1988, and the Ragin’ Cajuns won that contest 41-16.
HOMEFIELD ADVANTAGE
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns are looking to continue their excellent play in home openers. Louisiana is 34-20 in home openers dating back to 1971, and has won 16 of its last 17 openers at home. That includes eight straight, dating back to 2017, including winning all three openers under head coach Michael Desormeaux.
The Cajuns have also been tough to beat at home overall in recent years. Louisiana is 22-8 overall at home since the start of the 2020 football season.
Louisiana hosts Rice on Saturday, August 30th at 7 PM.