Louisiana’s Ragin Cajuns celebrated home coming on Saturday at Cajun field and the day went about as best can be planned.
Beautiful weather a huge homecoming crowd started tailgating early Saturday Morning. By 4PM the game went about as good as can be expected for the “Cajun Nation.” Andre Nunez completed 19 of 25 passes for a career-high 315 yards and tied a school-record with five touchdown passes as the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns piled up a school-record 759 yards of total offense and defeated New Mexico State, 66-38, on Saturday for homecoming at Cajun Field.
Earnest Patterson recorded a career-high 114 yards receiving while Elijah Mitchell rushed for 107 yards and three touchdowns as Louisiana (3-3) scored on all seven first-half drives before punting to open the second half. Nunez’s 31-yard scoring strike to Rhyeem Malone in the third quarter tied the single-game record held by Jake Delhomme against Northern Illinois in 1996. Patterson added a school-record sixth receiving TD in a game after taking a second-quarter lateral from Jackson and racing 79 yards a 28-14 lead with 2:04 remaining in the first quarter.
Louisiana gained 344 yards on the ground against NM State (2-5) while throwing for 415 yards through the air. Trey Ragas added 94 yards on the ground on a game-high carries for Louisiana with Raymond Calais adding 90 yards on 10 attempts.
Louisiana will return to Sun Belt Conference action on Saturday (Oct. 20) when it travels to Boone, N.C., to face Appalachian State in a 2:30 p.m. CDT game.
