Louisiana wins sixth straight game; takes control of SBC West Division
LAFAYETTE – Dre’lyn Washington rushed for a career-high 123 yards with a pair of rushing touchdowns while the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns scored the game’s first 31 points and never looked back in recording a dominating 55-19 Homecoming victory over Arkansas State in a Sun Belt Conference game on Saturday at Cajun Field.
Bill Davis added pair of rushing touchdowns and Kenneth Almendares became the all-time leading scorer as Louisiana (8-1, 5-0 SBC) won its sixth straight game and defeated Arkansas State (5-4, 3-2 SBC) – which whipped the Ragin’ Cajuns 37-17 in last year’s meeting in Jonesboro – for the 13th time in the last 14 games played at home.
The win, which saw Louisiana’s highest scoring output since a 70-20 win at ULM in 2020 and its most points at home since a 77-6 thrashing of Texas Southern in 2019, gave Louisiana a two-game lead over its closest SBC West Division rivals – Arkansas State, Texas State (5-4, 3-2 SBC) and South Alabama (4-5, 3-2 SBC) heading down the stretch.
“It’s good to be back home,” head coach Michael Desormeaux said. “We talk about how important homecoming is to some people. Our guys did a really good job at staying focused this past week. This is a game we’ve been looking forward to playing for a year now, we felt like last year when we played them (Arkansas State) we certainly didn’t play our best brand of football.”
Following a rare three-and-out on its opening drive – its second one of the season – Louisiana capitalized on a Tyrone Lewis interception and drove 71 yards in seven plays with Ben Wooldridge connecting with Harvey Broussard on a 20-yard scoring pass with 9:07 remaining in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.
Almendares, who moved past Elijah McGuire (318 points, 2013-16) as the school’s all-time leader, tied the Ragin’ Cajuns career mark with a 44-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead late in the first quarter before converting after Washington’s 46-yard TD run in the second quarter for a 17-0 lead.
Zylan Perry and Davis each scored rushing TDs of 4 and 13 yards respectively for Louisiana to build a 31-0 lead before A-State scored late in the first half to trail 38-6 at intermission.
Almendares added a 45-yard field goal with 10:54 remaining in the third quarter to become the fourth player in Sun Belt Conference history to record 60 field goals in a career. Davis and Washington would extend Louisiana’s lead to 48-12 in the third quarter after scoring on runs of 10 and 14 yards before Chandler Fields scored on a 12-yard run with 8:46 remaining in the game.
Wooldridge completed 17 of 26 passes for 264 yards and a touchdown as Louisiana piled up a season-high 579 yards of total offense, including 278 on the ground. Lance LeGendre caught a team-high four passes as 12 different players had at least one reception on the night.
Lewis and Tyree Skipper each intercepted passes for Louisiana, which tallied 4.0 sacks against the Red Wolves with Jordan Lawson leading the way with 2.5. Mason Narcisse added a sack for the Ragin’ Cajuns with K.C. Ossai credited for a half-sack along with a game-high 11 tackles.
Lorenzell Dubose, making his first career start at cornerback, added six tackles and a pass breakup for Louisiana.
Jaylen Raynor went 23-for-35 for 167 yards with a touchdown for A-State with Ja’Quez Cross gaining 81 yards on the ground on 14 carries.
Louisiana will host South Alabama in a SBC West Division battle on Saturday (Nov. 16) at Cajun Field with kickoff scheduled for 6 p.m. The game will be televised live on ESPN+.
Single-game tickets for Louisiana’s six home games – which include remaining games against South Alabama (Nov. 16) and Troy (Nov. 23) – are currently on sale now. Tickets start as low as $15 and can be purchased through RaginCajuns.com and its social media platforms (Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram).
67
0
17
20
