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2020 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team

The 2020 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the 2020 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Ragin' Cajuns played their home games at Cajun Field in Lafayette, Louisiana, and competed in the West Division of the Sun Belt Conference. They were led by third-year head coach Billy Napier. The Cajuns began the season with an away matchup against a preseason top-25 Iowa State and concluded their regular season at conference and in-state rival Louisiana–Monroe.

Shortly before the season began, Offensive Line Assistant Coach D. J. Looney, 31, died of a heart attack while at practice on August 1, 2020.[1] He was honored at the Week 9 matchup against UAB in his hometown of Birmingham, Alabama, where players all wore Looney's name on their jerseys.

The win over Iowa State marked the first victory against a ranked team on the road in team history, the second victory ever against a ranked team, and the highest ranked team ever defeated.[2] The following week, the Cajuns were nationally ranked for the first time since the 1940s, reaching 19th in the AP Poll.[3] During their Week 2 overtime victory against Georgia State, the Cajuns secured their first victory in overtime since the 2005 conference matchup against the Troy Trojans.[4] During Week 14, Louisiana was ranked for the first time ever in the College Football Playoff rankings, at No. 25. This was also the first time the Cajuns had been ranked in the three major college football rankings (No. in the 20 AP Poll, No. 21 in the Coaches Poll, and No. 25 in the CFP rankings).[5] During Week 14, the Cajuns defeated Appalachian State for the first time in school history, bringing their all-time record against the Mountaineers to 1–8.[6]

The Cajuns ended their season by defeating the UTSA Roadrunners in the 2020 First Responder Bowl. Senior RB Elijah Mitchell earned the bowl game MVP. This also marked the first time a Sun Belt team took part in that bowl game.

Preseason

Recruiting class

Award watch lists

Listed in the order that they were released

Preseason

References:[7][8][9][10][11][12]

Season/Postseason

References:[13][14][15]

Sun Belt coaches poll

The Sun Belt coaches poll was released on August 25, 2020. The Cajuns were picked to finish first in the West with 47 votes and second in the conference behind Appalachian State.

Sun Belt Preseason All-Conference teams

Athlon Sports Sun Belt Preseason All-Conference teams

References:[16]

Lindy's Sports Sun Belt Preseason All-Conference teams

During the announcement, Lindy's also picked the Cajuns to win their third-consecutive Sun Belt West Division Championship as well as named Senior running back Elijah Mitchell to the Preseason Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year.[17]

References':[18]

Personnel

Schedule

The 2020 schedule consists of 6 home and 6 away games in the regular season. The Ragin' Cajuns will travel to Sun Belt foes Appalachian State, Georgia State, Texas State and Louisiana–Monroe. The Cajuns will play host to Sun Belt foes Georgia Southern, Coastal Carolina, Arkansas State, and South Alabama.

The Ragin' Cajuns will host one of the three non-conference opponents at Cajun Field, Central Arkansas, from NCAA Division I FCS, and will travel to Iowa State of the Big 12 and UAB of the C-USA.

Louisiana had a game against Missouri and Wyoming, which were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.[19]

On August 12, the Cajuns and Iowa State reached an agreement to play each other. This game will replace the Cajuns' Wyoming game that was canceled.[20]

On August 13, New Mexico State decided to postpone all their fall sports to the spring.[21] This canceled their October 23 contest with Louisiana.

On August 17, McNeese pulled out of the agreement to play Louisiana in the Herbert Heymann Classic on September 5.[22]

On August 20, the Cajuns reached agreements with UAB and Central Arkansas to play them away on October 23 and home on November 21, respectively.[23]

Schedule Source:[26][27]

Game summaries

At Iowa State

At Georgia State

Georgia Southern

Coastal Carolina

At UAB

At Texas State

Arkansas State

South Alabama

At Louisiana–Monroe

At Appalachian State

Vs. UTSA (first responder bowl)

Postseason Accolade

Rankings

Players drafted into the NFL

Notes

1.^ Many games during the 2020 season denoted “0” in attendance due to COVID-19 pandemic regulations. See Impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.

References

  1. ^ Artemis Moshtaghian and Dakin Andone. "Louisiana-Lafayette assistant football coach D.J. Looney dies at 31". CNN. Retrieved August 2, 2020.
  2. ^ Logue, Andrew (September 12, 2020). "Ragin' Cajuns beat No. 23 Iowa St 31-14; 1st Top 25 road win". AP NEWS. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  3. ^ "ICYMI: UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns ranked in AP Top 25 for first time since 1943". WDSU. Associated Press. September 18, 2020. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  4. ^ Adams, Madeline (September 20, 2020). "Cajuns earn first overtime victory since 2005 with 34-31 win over Georgia State". KLFY. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  5. ^ Partsch III, Raymond. "Cajuns maintain position in CFP ranking". The Daily Iberian. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  6. ^ Selbe, Nick. "No. 25 Louisiana Edges Appalachian State Despite Special Teams Miscues". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  7. ^ "Levi Lewis Named to Davey O'Brien Preseason Watch List". KATC. July 14, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  8. ^ Faust, George (July 16, 2020). "Louisiana's Mitchell, Ragas named to Doak Walker watch list". KLFY. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  9. ^ "O'Cyrus Torrence Selected to Outland Trophy Watch List". Louisiana Athletics. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  10. ^ "Rhys Byrns Lands on Ray Guy Award Watch List". Louisiana Athletics. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  11. ^ "Jalen Williams named on Wuerffel Trophy watch list". KLFY. July 25, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  12. ^ "Lewis Adds Name to Maxwell Award Preseason Watch List". Louisiana Athletics. Retrieved July 28, 2020.
  13. ^ "Shane Vallot Named to Rimington Trophy Watch List". Louisiana Athletics. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  14. ^ "Kyren Lacy Named to 2020 FWAA Freshman All-America Watch List". Louisiana Athletics. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  15. ^ "Ken Marks Named to 2020 Mayo Clinic Comeback Player of the Year Award Watch List". Louisiana Athletics. Retrieved March 2, 2021.
  16. ^ "Louisiana Tops Athlon Sports' Preseason All-Sun Belt Teams With Seventeen Selections". Louisiana Athletics. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  17. ^ Faust, George (July 7, 2020). "Senior running back Elijah Mitchell tabbed as Preseason Offensive Player of the Year". KLFY. Retrieved July 8, 2020.
  18. ^ "Louisiana Lands Six on 2020 Lindy's All-Sun Belt Preseason Teams". Louisiana Athletics. Retrieved July 5, 2020.
  19. ^ Talty, John. "SEC moves to conference-only 2020 schedule, pushes back start of season". AL.com. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
  20. ^ "Iowa State adds the UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns as non-conference opponent". www.msn.com. Retrieved August 12, 2020.
  21. ^ "Independent N.M. State moves football to spring". ESPN.com. August 13, 2020. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  22. ^ "McNeese AD explains decision to not play the Cajuns". www.msn.com. Retrieved August 20, 2020.
  23. ^ Buckley, Tim. "Cajuns add UAB, Central Arkansas to their 2020 schedule". The Daily Advertiser.
  24. ^ "Sun Belt Conference Championship Football Game Canceled". sunbeltsports.org. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  25. ^ Selbe, Nick. "Sun Belt Title Game Canceled Due to Positive COVID-19 Test". Sports Illustrated.
  26. ^ "2020 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Football Schedule". Retrieved February 28, 2020.
  27. ^ "Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns". ESPN. Retrieved March 2, 2020.
  28. ^ "Louisiana, Iowa State Could Be Ready To Light It Up". Odds Shark. Retrieved September 9, 2020.
  29. ^ "Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns vs Georgia State Panthers". Odds Shark. Retrieved September 16, 2020.
  30. ^ "Georgia Southern Eagles vs Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns". Odds Shark. Retrieved September 23, 2020.
  31. ^ "Coastal Carolina Chanticleers vs Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns". Odds Shark. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
  32. ^ "Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns vs UAB Blazers". Odds Shark. Retrieved October 24, 2020.
  33. ^ "Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns vs Texas State Bobcats". Odds Shark. Retrieved November 4, 2020.
  34. ^ "Arkansas State Red Wolves vs Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns". Odds Shark. Retrieved November 9, 2020.
  35. ^ "South Alabama Jaguars vs Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns". Odds Shark. Retrieved November 15, 2020.
  36. ^ "Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns vs Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks". Odds Shark. Retrieved November 29, 2020.
  37. ^ "Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns vs Appalachian State Mountaineers". Odds Shark. Retrieved December 5, 2020.
  38. ^ "Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns vs UTSA Roadrunners". Odds Shark. Retrieved December 27, 2020.