Louisiana football is looking to continue to ride the momentum of a 7-1 record entering Week 11 of the 2024 college football season.

The Ragin’ Cajuns survived a close Sun Belt Conference matchup on Tuesday against Texas State, beating the Bobcats 23-17. The win marked the Cajuns’ fifth straight and second in a row on the road. Now the party is returning to Cajun country for their a homecoming game against Arkansas State this Saturday.

“Homecoming is for everybody else; the football game is for us,” UL coach Michael Desormeaux said. “Homecoming means a lot to a lot of people, and we play a big part in the homecoming festivities, it culminates with the game, and we take that very seriously. It's exciting to be at home for all that stuff but our job is to is to go play between the white lines, and that's what we intend on doing.”

The Cajuns (7-1, 4-0 SBC) are locked in and dead set on getting steps closer to their goal of competing for the Sun Belt championship, a spot they haven’t been in since 2021. Here’s all you need to know about UL’s game against the Red Wolves (5-3, 3-1 SBC).

Another dual-threat challenge

Last week, the Cajuns had the task of stopping Texas State’s dual-threat quarterback Jordan McCloud and now they have a similar task on hand this week. Red Wolves sophomore quarterback Jaylen Raynor has been a problem for defenses with a strong arm and an ability to extend plays with his legs.

The last time the Cajuns faced him in 2023, Raynor threw for nearly 200 yards and rushed for two touchdowns. Arkansas State beat UL 37-17, a lashing Desormeaux and his staff did not forget.

“Truthfully, it’s a team that last year we went up there to their place and they got after us pretty good,” Desormeaux said. “You know they put it on us. I don’t know any other way to explain it. So this is one we’re really excited to be playing. Certainly, it’s a lot on the line this year.”

Raynor’s elusiveness has carried over into this season making the Red Wolves a pretty balanced offense. He is currently up to 1,867 yards passing with seven touchdowns. On the ground, he’s rushed for 250 yards and two touchdowns.

“He’s a similar player to McCloud,” Desormeaux said. “I think this guy doesn't throw the ball in jeopardy; he takes care of the football. He makes really good decisions and I think he's a good passer. He killed us last year So, you know, I think we've done a better job in the last few weeks of keeping our rush lane integrity and you have to do that with Raynor.”

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Cleaning up the little things

With a 10-day rest before this weekend’s homecoming matchup, the Cajuns have been able to recover some of their injuries. Against Texas State, one of their key cornerbacks senior Keyon Martin went down with an injury resulting in him being carted off the field.

“All the tests and everything came back negative, you know, naturally he's got a concussion after the game so he's in protocol for that,” Desormeaux said. “He's still really, really sore and banged up, you know, but he'll be fine. Our guys have done a good job of getting themselves healthy, obviously with the help of athletic training staff and everything.”

While the Cajuns are licking their wounds they are also trying to fix little things before facing the Red Wolves. Containing the run game has been one of those issues as UL has allowed opponents close to 157 rushing yards per game. Against the Bobcats, the Cajuns allowed 177 yards rushing but kept them out of the end zone.

A big key to doing so was senior linebacker K.C. Ossai and sophomore linebacker Carmycah Glass who finished with a combined nine solo tackles. The duo has led the Cajuns defense this season and will look form a wall against a tough Red Wolves offense.

“Our mindset hasn’t changed,” Desormeaux said. “And I told our team this a couple of weeks back, ‘Until the season is over, we're the 6-7 team that played last year, and that doesn't change until it's over.' So everything that motivated us to work and to get to this point has to still be in play because the reality of it is that until this year's over, we’re still a 6-7 (team) and that chip on our shoulder has to be there.”

Shannon Belt covers high school sports and the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow her high school and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ShannonBelt3. Got questions regarding HS/UL athletics? Send them to Shannon Belt at sbelt@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: What to know about UL football's homecoming opponent Arkansas State