The 2008 Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns football team represented the University of Louisiana at Lafayette in the

2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season The 2008 NCAA Division I FBS football season was the highest level of college football competition in the United States organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The regular season began on August 28, 2008 and ended on De ...

. Louisiana–Lafayette competed as a member of the

Sun Belt Conference The Sun Belt Conference (SBC) is a collegiate athletic conference that has been affiliated with the NCAA's Division I since 1976. Originally a non-football conference, the Sun Belt began sponsoring football in 2001. Its football teams participa ...

, and played their home games at Cajun Field. The Ragin' Cajuns were led by seventh-year head coach Rickey Bustle. UL-Lafayette finished the season with a 6–6 record (Sun Belt: 5–2). Louisiana–Lafayette came close to an upset against 24th-ranked

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

at home but ultimately lost, 20–17. The Ragin' Cajuns were also competitive against Kansas State, trailing by 42–37 late in that game, but Louisiana-Lafayette was hindered by ten penalties, twice as many as called against their opponent. Louisiana-Lafayette beat

Arkansas State Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the South Central United States. It is bordered by Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, and Texas and Oklahoma to the west. Its name is from the Osage l ...

with a

touchdown A touchdown (abbreviated as TD) is a scoring play in gridiron football. Whether running, passing, returning a kickoff or punt, or recovering a turnover, a team scores a touchdown by advancing the ball into the opponent's end zone. In Ameri ...

in the last 0:42 to play and won, 28–23. They defeated Florida International decisively, 49–20, before losing to

UTEP The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) is a public research university in El Paso, Texas. It is a member of the University of Texas System. UTEP is the second-largest university in the United States to have a majority Mexican American stude ...

in Lafayette. lost to

Florida Atlantic Florida Atlantic University (Florida Atlantic or FAU) is a public research university with its main campus in Boca Raton, Florida, and satellite campuses in Dania Beach, Davie, Fort Lauderdale, Jupiter, and Fort Pierce. FAU belongs to the 12-cam ...

after trailing, 40–7, in the final quarter. The following week, they were routed by eventual Sun Belt champions

Troy Troy ( el, Τροία and Latin: Troia, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒋫𒊒𒄿𒊭 ''Truwiša'') or Ilion ( el, Ίλιον and Latin: Ilium, Hittite language, Hittite: 𒃾𒇻𒊭 ''Wiluša'') was an ancient city located at Hisarlik in prese ...

, 48–3. UL-Lafayette won their finale against

Middle Tennessee Middle Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of the U.S. state of Tennessee that composes roughly the central portion of the state. It is delineated according to state law as 41 of the state's 95 counties. Middle Tennessee contains the s ...

, 42–28, which gave the Cajuns their sixth win, and with it, bowl eligibility. The Ragin' Cajuns also finished second in the Sun Belt Conference with a 5–2 mark in league play. It was the third season in four years that the Cajuns became bowl eligible, but the Cajuns did not receive a bowl bid.'' Phil Steele's 2009 College Football Preview'', vol. 15, p. 289, 2009.

Preseason

Award Watchlist

Sun Belt Media Day

Preseason Standings

Preseason All-Conference Team

''Offense'' :RB

Tyrell Fenroy Tyrell Joseph Fenroy (born March 6, 1987) is a former American football running back. He was signed by the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent in 2009. He played college football at Louisiana-Lafayette. Early years Fenroy attended St. Charl ...

:OL Chris Fisher ''Special teams'' :PK Drew Edmiston

Roster

Schedule

Game summaries

@ Southern Miss

@ Illinois

Kent State

@ Kansas State

@ Louisiana-Monroe

@ North Texas

Arkansas State

FIU

UTEP

@ Florida Atlantic

@ Troy

Middle Tennessee

Postseason

All–Conference Team

''First-Team Offense'' :QB Michael Desormeaux :RB

:OL Brad Bustle :OL Chris Fisher ''Second-Team Offense'' :WR Jason Chery ''Second-Team Defense'' :DB Derik Keyes ''Second-Team Special Teams'' :RS Jason Cherry ''Honorable Mentions'' :OL Jonathan Decoster :LB Antwyne Zanders

Post-Season Awards

, ULL - Player of the Year * Michael Desormeaux, ULL - Offensive Player of the Year *

Alex Carrington Alex Carrington (born June 19, 1987) is a former American football defensive end. He was drafted by the Bills in the third round of the 2010 NFL Draft. He played college football at Arkansas State. He has also played for the Buffalo Bills, St. ...

, ASU - Defensive Player of the Year * Levi Brown, TROY - Newcomer of the Year *

T. Y. Hilton Eugene Marquis "T. Y." Hilton (born November 14, 1989) is an American football wide receiver for the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at FIU, and was drafted by the Indianapolis Colts in the th ...

, FIU – Freshman of the Year * Larry Blakeney, TROY - Coach of the Year

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:2008 Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns football team

Louisiana-Lafayette The University of Louisiana at Lafayette (UL Lafayette, University of Louisiana, ULL, or UL) is a public research university in Lafayette, Louisiana. It has the largest enrollment within the nine-campus University of Louisiana System and the s ...

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football seasons Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns football