Sun Belt · Michael Desormeaux, year 6 (30-26) · Cajun Field · 41,426 · 20,851 avg in 2026
LastL 30–49 at USC · Sat Sep 12 · Lunch Winfield 212 pass yds, 1 TD, 91 rush yds
Nextvs UAB · Sat Sep 19 · 8 pm ET · Cajun Field · Louisiana by 7.5 · series 4-4, won the last 3 · Game preview
Updated Tue Sep 15 · through week 2
| Wk | Date | Us | Opp | Line | Opponent | Result | Record | Conf |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sep 6 | #35 | #149 | -20.5✓ | Lamar | W 38–7 128 | 1-0 | 0-0 |
| 2 | Sep 13 | #36 | #31 | +30.5✓ | @USC | L 30–49 123 | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| 3 | Sep 20 | #35 | #58 | -7.5 | UAB | |||
| 4 | Sep 26 | #36 | #162 | @Charlotte | ||||
| 5 | Oct 3 | Arkansas State | ||||||
| 6 | Oct 10 | @Louisiana Tech | ||||||
| 7 | Oct 17 | Troy | ||||||
| 8 | Oct 24 | @Southern Miss | ||||||
| 10 | Nov 7 | South Alabama | ||||||
| 11 | Nov 13 | @UL Monroe | ||||||
| 12 | Nov 21 | Coastal Carolina | ||||||
| 13 | Nov 28 | @Georgia State |
| Date | Opp | Result | Yds | TO | TOP | EPA/play | Success% | Explosive% | Note |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sep 13 | @USC | L 30–49 | 358 | 0 | 26:46 | +0.313 | 41.5% | 157.8% | |
| Sep 6 | Lamar | W 38–7 | 474 | 3 | 33:38 | +0.305 | 54.4% | 115.6% | |
| Season average (2 games) | 416 | 1.5 | +0.309 | 48.0% | 136.7% | ||||
Louisiana won four straight Sun Belt titles when Billy Napier was in Lafayette — and has spent every year since trying to prove the dynasty was the program, not the man who left for Florida.
Fans point to four straight conference titles and a top-20 ranking and ask why the national conversation still files them under generic Sun Belt mid-pack — as if the best run any Sun Belt program ever…
The season in chapters
What fans said
Real posts from the day of the game, chosen by community score · usernames not shown
What it is like to watch them2025 · 6-7 · last season
✓ measured from 13 games · ranks are among Sun Belt teams the same season
Recent form · last 10 games · incl. 2025
Mixed. 5-5 over the last 10, and lost the last one.
The question whether, myself, as the head coach of football, will follow SEC orders. I said it earlier this morning when asked, of course we will
Next Sep 20
vs UAB · at home
~ our read on style
Market outlook
Sportsbook consensus · best odds across multiple books · 2026-09-14
the open questionwhere does it go from here?
Louisiana collapsed 52 spots in SP+ under Michael Desormeaux — a fanbase built on Billy Napier’s four straight Sun Belt titles now faces its steepest drop since that dynasty.
our readbackground
Louisiana collapsed 52 spots in SP+ — the 6-7 record and #91 talent rank reveal a stark disconnect from the Napier-era dominance that still defines the Ragin' Cajuns' identity in the Sun Belt.
our readbackground
Shelton Sampson Jr. is a legitimate money-down target -- his 3rd-down conversion rate ranks among the position's best, and his per-target value holds up in that spot too.
our readdeveloping
Shelton Sampson Jr. produces at a notably higher rate when his team is an underdog than when favored, and his per-target value rises too, not just raw catches.
our readdeveloping
Caden Jensen is used almost exclusively underneath -- a low share of his targets are downfield shots.
our readbackground
Shelton Sampson Jr. is a real deep-ball threat -- a high share of his targets come on throws past the sticks.
our readbackground
Outcome band · Louisiana · 2026
Floor, base and ceiling come from the season-path projection, which plays out conference title games and the CFP — so a ceiling can run past 12 games.
Louisiana enters 2025 rated No. 105 in SP+ (-10.1), down 52 spots from 2024. SP+ reflects three years of tape; a drop this steep is structural, not noise. The recovery window is open but the room knows it. Preview coverage is split — believers and skeptics are reading the same data differently.
The off-field storyline driving the noise right now. Not analysis — the soap opera, and that's the point.
The 'the projection is underselling us' read -- fans betting the season beats the preview number.
The 'the model has seen the tape' counter -- efficiency ratings reward what a program has actually done, not hope.
This event was in 22 of 61 board posts (36%) over the last 60 days — a fanbase consumed by it. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
Louisiana enters 2026 rated No. 105 in 2025 SP+ (-10.1), down 52 spots from 2024. SP+ reflects three years of tape; a drop this steep is structural, not noise. The recovery window is open but the room knows it. Preview coverage is split — believers and skeptics are reading the same data differently.
The off-field storyline driving the noise right now. Not analysis — the soap opera, and that's the point.
The 'the projection is underselling us' read -- fans betting the season beats the preview number.
The 'the model has seen the tape' counter -- efficiency ratings reward what a program has actually done, not hope.
This event was in 22 of 61 board posts (36%) over the last 60 days — a fanbase consumed by it. Fan text shown verbatim, attributed to the community not the individual poster.
The boards ≠ the fanbase: a vocal, self-selected slice.
Fan mood index · most recent r/cfb data
More in this tab
Louisiana is the Sun Belt program whose 2018-2021 Billy Napier 4-consecutive-Sun-Belt-championships + Cajun Field + Ragin' Cajuns identity define what Lafayette-Sun-Belt-football looks like.
SEC eligibility fight in court
A Sun Belt program fighting for SEC eligibility in court tells you everything about where Louisiana thinks it belongs — Desormeaux isn't rebuilding to stay comfortable in the Sun Belt.
LSU adds Notre Dame transfer Tuihalamaka after eligibility granted
Sun Belt teams don't typically land P4 transfer eligibility fights — Tuihalamaka arriving at Lafayette with clearance in hand says Desormeaux is patching a backfield that lost its NFL-caliber piece and ranked 91st in class depth.
Ansinneo Charles commits to Louisiana
Desormeaux's backfield had one NFL departure and real pressure to reload depth — Charles is the homegrown answer to a position room that couldn't afford a thin class at #81 nationally.
5-star OL commits to Notre Dame
The No. 2 IOL in the country picking Notre Dame over the field ripples straight into the Sun Belt — Desormeaux's center room was already thin enough that this chart was worth publishing.
Top 3 commits
Recruiting Footprint · 2026
LA leads the 2026 class with 14 commits. National footprint reaching 5 states.
Where they recruit · 2023-2026
81 signees across 8 states, 2023-2026. LA leads the pull.
That is 13.0% of every high-school FBS signee LA produced over those cycles — second only to LSU, 11 signees back. The full map →
Miles from home · 2026 roster
The median Louisiana player grew up 135 miles from campus.
Half this roster came from closer than that; half came from farther.
Straight-line distance from each player's listed hometown to Cajun Field. Hometowns are placed at city-centroid precision, not street address — fine at this scale, but a player's true door-to-door number can differ by a few miles. 127 of 137 listed players have a geocoded hometown. Source: CFBD roster hometowns.
Top community posts · last 12 months · r/cfb
Fan confidence higher than any point since 2020
82nd percentile among FBS programs
The penalty battle is a wash: 12 penalties committed vs. 13 drawn on opponents.
108 penalty yards committed vs. 108 drawn on opponents, 2026 season total.
Outcome band · Louisiana · 2026
Recruiting Footprint · 2026