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Know the Foe: UL Lafayette

Know the Foe: UL Lafayette

Football Nov 26
By ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist Paul Letlow

The 2021 season is unfolding as one of the best in program history for a nationally-ranked Louisiana Lafayette football team.

Fourth-year coach Billy Napier has built a consistent winner in Lafayette. No. 23 ULL (10-1, 7-0 Sun Belt Conference) have won a school-record 10 straight since losing the season opener at Texas. The Cajuns have won at least 10 games in three-straight seasons.

The Ragin' Cajuns clinched the Sun Belt West Division title for the fourth consecutive season with their win over Georgia State. ULL will have home-field advantage in the Dec. 4 Sun Belt Championship Game against Appalachian State at Cajun Field.

"We've turned the page really quickly this time of the year," said Napier, whose team beat Liberty 42-14 last week. "We don't spend much time on the previous game. We kind of speed that up and turn our attention to a ULM crew that has got some fight about them."

ULM (4-7, 2-5) will close its season Saturday (3 p.m., ESPNU) against ULL at Cajun Field. This could be the last chance for the Warhawks to knock off Napier, who is being mentioned as a candidate at numerous coaching vacancies around the country.

"Not only are we playing Lafayette as a state rival, a game that has to be circled. … but also, they represent the very best of our conference," said ULM coach Terry Bowden, whose team fell 27-14 at LSU last Saturday. "Right now, they are the elite of our conference. Their coach is the hottest name in the conference. Be hard for that school to keep that coach long."

ULL beat ULM, 70-20, in 2020 but had close calls the previous two seasons. Late field goal misses cost ULM in losing 31-30 in 2019 and 31-28 in 2018. Napier said he respects the effort he's seen from the Warhawks rebuilding under Bowden.

"The ULM team that we played against last year and we observed last year was a little bit of an outlier in my opinion," Napier said. "They had quite a bit of internal issues with the university, the administration and certainly COVID-19 hit them a little differently than some others. But prior to that, ULM was a very respected team. I can't say that loudly enough.

"In '18,'19, they were playing for bowl eligibility at the end of the season."

ULL has a veteran team that features eight "super seniors" on the roster this year, in quarterback Levi Lewis, linebacker Ferrod Gardner, offensive lineman Ken Marks, wide receiver Jalen Williams, linebacker Chauncey Manac, nose tackle Tayland Humphrey, safety Cameron Solomon and kicker Nate Snyder. Of the eight, Marks and Gardner are in their seventh season of eligibility.

Lewis is 32-7 as the starting quarterback and ranks first in program history for career passing touchdowns and second in career passing yards. Lewis fired three TD passes last week in a road win over Liberty. This season, Lewis has completed 189-of-308 passes for 2,274 yards and 18 touchdowns while rushing for 206 yards and three scores.

"You better be sure he doesn't beat you by himself because he can do so many things," Bowden said of Lewis. "He's had such a great career that this year just seems like another year, an average year. But that's because they've got more playmakers and a defense that just shuts people down."

The Cajuns average 32.2 points and 408.8 total yards per game. ULL averages 194.7 rushing yards per game, behind a seasoned offensive line that features four linemen with more than 30 career starts.

Running back Chris Smith leads ULL with 803 rushing yards and is second on the team with eight touchdowns. Against Arkansas State on Oct. 21, Smith ran for 238 yards on 24 carries and scored two touchdowns. His 238 yards were the fifth-most in ULL history.

Freshman running back Montrell Johnson ranks second on the team with 714 rushing yards on 130 attempts and leads the Cajuns with 11 rushing touchdowns. In the Arkansas State win, Johnson scored on a 99-yard touchdown run that broke a program record, the Sun Belt Conference record and tied an NCAA record.

The Cajun defense is tied for 13th nationally in scoring defense, holding opponents to 18.7 points per game. ULL produced six turnovers with seven sacks in the win over Liberty a week ago and has recorded 32 takeaways on the season.

Manac took over the team lead at 8.5 sacks and tied a team record with four against Liberty. The outside linebacker earned Sun Belt Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors for his effort.

Defensive lineman Zi'Yon Hill has 49 tackles, 7.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks in 10 games played this season.

Linebacker Lorenzo McCaskill leads the Cajuns with 67 total tackles to go along with two quarterback hurries and a forced fumble.

Cornerback Eric Garror has six pass break-ups and two of ULL's nine team interceptions.

Safety Percy Butler ranks third on the team with 55 tackles, 6.0 tackles for loss, one interception, three fumble recoveries and two break-ups.

Punter Rhys Byrns ranks 11th nationally, averaging 46.5 yards per punt average through 11 games this season.

"It will be a great challenge for us," Bowden said. "But an opportunity as well to go down there and play a team (that will give us) after a full season an indication of where we stand now along with the very best of the conference."

Warhawk connections: Former ULM head coach Matt Viator is now a special assistant to Napier on the ULL staff. Viator was released after ULM went 0-10 in 2020, including a 70-20 loss to ULL a year ago. He was 19-39 in five seasons at ULM but beat the Cajuns 56-50 in double overtime in 2017.

ULM special teams coordinator and defensive ends coach Ron West spent seven years as the defensive coordinator at ULL (1986-92), including serving as the assistant head coach in 1992.

Prior to joining the ULL staff in 2018, co-offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Tim Leger served as the wide receivers coach and recruiting coordinator at ULM from 2016-17.

Cajun stew: Saturday's game marks the 57th meeting between ULM and ULL with the Ragin' Cajuns leading the series, 30-25. The Ragin' Cajuns vacated a victory in 2011 due to the use of ineligible players. … ULL is 31-5 since the start of the 2019 season. …The Cajuns are 27-7 against Sun Belt opposition under Coach Napier, including a perfect 16-0 mark against members of the conference's West Division. …The Ragin' Cajuns own a 14-1 record in the month of November under Napier. … ULL has won seven straight at Cajun Field. … ULL has scored 40 or more points 15 times in the Napier era.
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