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Teams / Sun Belt / Louisiana
Index · this season
58
at its 5-year level▲ Up 5 this season
Career53since 1936
Peak752020
Last 561seasons
#94 nationally · 4-2 (1-1 conf)
Résumé #76 · record ahead of its play
Schedule so far #123
Margin ±5 pts (tightens with games)
Why 58? →

Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns

Sun Belt · Lafayette, LA · Cajun Field · Head coach Michael Desormeaux
Rival
Established rivalry
25-16 all time (41 meetings since 1976)
Louisiana leads
Last: won 30-27 (2025) · Louisiana has won 3 straight
Holds it
program traits are earned from history
No recognized national titles since 1936. Counted: AP poll champion, a coaches-poll champion, or the BCS / playoff title-game winner; a split year counts for both.0national titles
Heisman Trophy winners0Heisman
Seasons finishing in the AP top 10 since 19360AP top-10
Consensus All-Americans since 19361All-Americans
NFL draft picks since 196728NFL picks
Winning percentage since 193647.8%win pct
History since 1936 · football since 1971. Every season →
Chemistry
Chem 66: typical66
Chem 65: typical
65Foundation
Chem 68: typical
68Gel
gel counts 45% so far
▲ Above its norm +10
early · #24 of 138
HC year5
Ret. starters41%
QB yrs w/ OC2
View chemistry →
Team chemistryearly · #24 of 138 FBS teams
Chem 65: typicalFoundation65+Chem 68: typicalGel68=Chem 66: typicalChem66Gel counts 45% so far (it grows as games are played, up to half)
Foundationwhat the program has built · moves over seasons
Foundation65Staff stability — Coach and coordinator tenure, staff who came along, assistant turnoverStaff stability82Roster continuity — Returning starters and the lineup's experienceRoster continuity64Unit cohesion — QB & coordinator, QB & receivers, offensive line, defense: how long each unit has played togetherUnit cohesion74Administration — Athletic director continuity and coach-AD alignmentAdministration78Investment — Commitment to football: its share of the department's spending and whether that is growing, plus spending and recruitingInvestment53Fan base — How passionate and loyal the fan base is: how often it sells out, and whether it sells out games that don't matterFan base32
ContinuityClimate
Continuity · who has played and coached togetherlive

Who has played and coached together, and for how long, ranked against every FBS team at the same point of the season.

▸Staff stability
Coach and coordinator tenure, staff who came along, assistant turnover
82
Staff cohesion80
HC year 5 · OC year 6 · DC year 3
Assistant turnover85
10% of on-field staff new this season (FBS average about 45%)
▸Roster continuity
Returning starters and the lineup's experience
64
Returning core69
41% of last season's starters · FBS median 32%
Experience58
11 career starts per starter · FBS median 12
▸Unit cohesion
QB & coordinator, QB & receivers, offensive line, defense: how long each unit has played together
74
QB & coordinator80
2 seasons together · same as 20% of FBS teams
QB & receivers84
7.8 games started together on average · FBS median 3.9
Line cohesion74
7.1 games per linemen pair · FBS median 5.2
Defensive cohesion52
4.0 games per defensive pair · FBS median 4.5
Climate · around the programlive

The administration, money and fans around the team: athletic director continuity, willingness to invest, and crowds.

▸Administration
Athletic director continuity and coach-AD alignment
78
AD continuity78
Bryan Maggard · year 10 (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)
▸Investment
Commitment to football: its share of the department's spending and whether that is growing, plus spending and recruiting
53
Football's share74
35% of department spending goes to football
Investment trend41
+11% over three years
Football investment51
$14.8M on football (2024-25 federal report)
Recruiting spend35
$0.50M men's recruiting
Department resources46
$43M athletic department revenue
▸Fan base
How passionate and loyal the fan base is: how often it sells out, and whether it sells out games that don't matter
32
Sellouts30
sellout crowds (95%+ of capacity) at 0 of 41 home games (last 8 seasons)
Sells out anyway34
sellout crowds at 0 of 29 games that didn't matter: cupcakes, or a team expected to lose or having a losing season

Finances: U.S. Department of Education athletics disclosures, as reported by each school. Athletic directors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Attendance: reported crowds vs stadium capacity.

Gelhow it is working right now · moves week to week
Gel68Playing above its parts — Results vs what its preseason projection expected, game by gamePlaying above its parts74Settled & sharp — A settled starting lineup and clean execution (penalties, turnovers) vs its own normalSettled & sharp57Alignment — Coaches and players telling the same story; the staff on one pageAlignmentsoonResilience — Confidence, and how the team sounds after adversityResiliencesoonFan & media mood — Expectations met or missed this season (preseason rank vs now), stronger for fan bases that react hard; fan and media sentiment joins laterFan & media mood83Coach security — The hard-facts hot seat, inverted: results vs expectation, recent seasons vs the program's norm, stakes, a new ADCoach security64
InternalOn-field fitExternal
Internal · how the program talkscoming

How the team talks in press conferences and interviews, each program against its own normal, so a naturally terse coach isn't read as upset. Being built program by program, Big Ten first.

▸Alignment
Coaches and players telling the same story; the staff on one page
soon
Coming: measured from press conferences and interviews.
▸Resilience
Confidence, and how the team sounds after adversity
soon
Coming: measured from press conferences and interviews.

Readings are team-level; we don't publish psychological readings of individual players.

On-field fit · how it is playing togetherlive

How the team is playing together this season: beating or missing its preseason expectation, a settled lineup, clean execution.

▸Playing above its parts
Results vs what its preseason projection expected, game by game
74
This season74
+4.8 points a game vs its preseason projection (5 games)
▸Settled & sharp
A settled starting lineup and clean execution (penalties, turnovers) vs its own normal
57
This season57
83% of starters kept game to game
External · pressure from outsidelive

Pressure from outside the building: the hard-facts hot seat now; this season's fan and media mood as it is measured.

▸Fan & media mood
Expectations met or missed this season (preseason rank vs now), stronger for fan bases that react hard; fan and media sentiment joins later
83
This season83
outside the AP poll: projected #106 preseason -> #94 in our Index now · beat rival Arkansas State 23-20 (+8) · results 4-2 (+5, recent games count more)
▸Coach security
The hard-facts hot seat, inverted: results vs expectation, recent seasons vs the program's norm, stakes, a new AD
64
This season64
Michael Desormeaux, year 6 · 67% wins so far · +4.8 pts a game vs preseason expectation · last two seasons -0% vs the program's norm

Dashed gold ring = typical (62). 20-50 is the warning zone; under 10 is a collapse. Spokes with no data yet are dashed and left out until they fill in. Chem blends the two halves, then places the blend among this season's teams.

Trend · Foundationeach program year runs Feb 1 to the title game
'1665'1753'1841'1954'2064'2173'2251'2345'2457'2555'262016 wk 1 vs Boise State: 58 · L2016 wk 2 vs McNeese: 73 · W2016 wk 3 vs South Alabama: 57 · W2016 wk 4 vs Tulane: 63 · L2016 wk 5 vs New Mexico State: 64 · L2016 wk 7 vs App State: 70 · L2016 wk 8 vs Texas State: 67 · W2016 wk 10 vs Idaho: 64 · L2016 wk 11 vs Georgia Southern: 69 · W2016 wk 12 vs Georgia: 67 · L2016 wk 13 vs Arkansas State: 60 · W2016 wk 14 vs UL Monroe: 70 · W2016 wk 1 vs Southern Miss: 65 · L2017 wk 2 vs Tulsa: 55 · L2017 wk 3 vs Texas A&M: 57 · L2017 wk 4 vs UL Monroe: 55 · L2017 wk 6 vs Idaho: 56 · W2017 wk 7 vs Texas State: 55 · W2017 wk 8 vs Arkansas State: 49 · L2017 wk 10 vs South Alabama: 51 · W2017 wk 11 vs Ole Miss: 50 · L2017 wk 12 vs New Mexico State: 48 · W2017 wk 13 vs Georgia Southern: 54 · L2017 wk 14 vs App State: 53 · L2018 wk 3 vs Mississippi State: 42 · L2018 wk 4 vs Coastal Carolina: 44 · L2018 wk 5 vs Alabama: 45 · L2018 wk 6 vs Texas State: 45 · W2018 wk 7 vs New Mexico State: 45 · W2018 wk 8 vs App State: 44 · L2018 wk 9 vs Arkansas State: 46 · W2018 wk 10 vs Troy: 46 · L2018 wk 11 vs Georgia State: 45 · W2018 wk 12 vs South Alabama: 47 · W2018 wk 13 vs UL Monroe: 47 · W2018 wk 14 vs App State: 46 · L2018 wk 1 vs Tulane: 41 · L2019 wk 2 vs Liberty: 60 · W2019 wk 3 vs Texas Southern: 60 · W2019 wk 4 vs Ohio: 60 · W2019 wk 5 vs Georgia Southern: 61 · W2019 wk 7 vs App State: 60 · L2019 wk 8 vs Arkansas State: 60 · W2019 wk 10 vs Texas State: 60 · W2019 wk 11 vs Coastal Carolina: 59 · W2019 wk 12 vs South Alabama: 59 · W2019 wk 13 vs Troy: 59 · W2019 wk 14 vs UL Monroe: 59 · W2019 wk 15 vs App State: 56 · L2019 wk 1 vs Miami (OH): 54 · W2020 wk 3 vs Georgia State: 62 · W2020 wk 4 vs Georgia Southern: 64 · W2020 wk 7 vs Coastal Carolina: 62 · L2020 wk 8 vs UAB: 64 · W2020 wk 9 vs Texas State: 63 · W2020 wk 10 vs Arkansas State: 62 · W2020 wk 11 vs South Alabama: 63 · W2020 wk 13 vs UL Monroe: 64 · W2020 wk 14 vs App State: 61 · W2020 wk 1 vs UTSA: 64 · W2021 wk 2 vs Nicholls: 70 · W2021 wk 3 vs Ohio: 69 · W2021 wk 4 vs Georgia Southern: 68 · W2021 wk 5 vs South Alabama: 72 · W2021 wk 7 vs App State: 71 · W2021 wk 8 vs Arkansas State: 72 · W2021 wk 9 vs Texas State: 73 · W2021 wk 10 vs Georgia State: 72 · W2021 wk 11 vs Troy: 69 · W2021 wk 12 vs Liberty: 71 · W2021 wk 13 vs UL Monroe: 70 · W2021 wk 14 vs App State: 67 · W2021 wk 1 vs Marshall: 73 · W2022 wk 2 vs Eastern Michigan: 50 · W2022 wk 3 vs Rice: 52 · L2022 wk 4 vs UL Monroe: 53 · L2022 wk 5 vs South Alabama: 54 · L2022 wk 7 vs Marshall: 51 · W2022 wk 8 vs Arkansas State: 49 · W2022 wk 9 vs Southern Miss: 51 · L2022 wk 10 vs Troy: 52 · L2022 wk 11 vs Georgia Southern: 50 · W2022 wk 12 vs Florida State: 53 · L2022 wk 13 vs Texas State: 53 · W2022 wk 1 vs Houston: 51 · L2023 wk 2 vs Old Dominion: 49 · L2023 wk 3 vs UAB: 49 · W2023 wk 4 vs Buffalo: 48 · W2023 wk 5 vs Minnesota: 42 · L2023 wk 6 vs Texas State: 47 · W2023 wk 8 vs Georgia State: 45 · L2023 wk 9 vs South Alabama: 45 · W2023 wk 10 vs Arkansas State: 46 · L2023 wk 11 vs Southern Miss: 46 · L2023 wk 12 vs Troy: 49 · L2023 wk 13 vs UL Monroe: 49 · W2023 wk 1 vs Jacksonville State: 45 · L2024 wk 2 vs Kennesaw State: 61 · W2024 wk 4 vs Tulane: 60 · L2024 wk 5 vs Wake Forest: 61 · W2024 wk 6 vs Southern Miss: 62 · W2024 wk 7 vs App State: 63 · W2024 wk 8 vs Coastal Carolina: 63 · W2024 wk 10 vs Texas State: 63 · W2024 wk 11 vs Arkansas State: 64 · W2024 wk 12 vs South Alabama: 62 · L2024 wk 13 vs Troy: 63 · W2024 wk 14 vs UL Monroe: 58 · W2024 wk 15 vs Marshall: 58 · L2024 wk 1 vs TCU: 57 · L2025 wk 2 vs McNeese: 56 · W2025 wk 3 vs Missouri: 54 · L2025 wk 4 vs Eastern Michigan: 55 · L2025 wk 5 vs Marshall: 60 · W2025 wk 7 vs James Madison: 58 · L2025 wk 8 vs Southern Miss: 52 · L2025 wk 9 vs Troy: 52 · L2025 wk 10 vs South Alabama: 55 · W2025 wk 11 vs Texas State: 57 · W2025 wk 13 vs Arkansas State: 58 · W2025 wk 14 vs UL Monroe: 57 · W2025 wk 1 vs Delaware: 55 · L2026 wk 2 vs USC: 65 · L2026 wk 3 vs UAB: 62 · W2026 wk 4 vs Charlotte: 63 · W2026 wk 5 vs Arkansas State: 64 · W2026 wk 6 vs Louisiana Tech: 65 · L2026 wk 7 vs Troy: 65 · next gametypical 62

Every game since 2016, one continuous line; thin rules separate seasons and the chip is where each season finished. Navy dot = win, red = loss. Big drops usually mean a new staff, a new quarterback or a rebuilt line.

Trend · Gelthis season, after each game
typical 62wk 2 vs USC · L · on-field 63 · fan mood 68652wk 3 vs UAB · W · on-field 59 · fan mood 70633wk 4 vs Charlotte · W · on-field 61 · fan mood 84704wk 5 vs Arkansas State · W · on-field 60 · fan mood 90715wk 6 vs Louisiana Tech · L · on-field 60 · fan mood 83696

How the team is working right now, rebuilt after each game from only the games so far: on-field fit (results vs preseason expectation, lineup settling, execution) and that week's fan & media mood. Coach security is part of today's Gel number but isn't rebuilt week by week yet. Navy frame = win, red = loss.

Continuity facts
Head coach
Year 5
at this school
Offensive coordinator
Year 6
at this school
Defensive coordinator
Year 3
at this school
HC & OC together
5 seasons
working together
QB with his OC
2 seasons
same play-caller
QB & receivers
7.8 games
started together, average
Offensive line pairs
7.1 games
started together, average
Returning starters
41%
from last season
Starter experience
11 starts
career average
Internal facts
Pressers read
soon
this season, coaches and players
Coach tone
soon
vs his own normal
"We" vs "I"
soon
share of team language
Owning mistakes
soon
vs pointing outward
Same story
soon
coaches and players agree
After losses
soon
how fast tone recovers
Leaders named
soon
players teammates point to
Newcomers
soon
transfers talked about as part of it
Openness
soon
forthcoming vs guarded
Measured from press conferences and interviews, program by program.
Climate facts
Athletic director
Bryan Maggard
year 10
Football spending
$14.8M
2024-25 federal report
Spending trend
+11%
over three years
Department revenue
$43M
all sports
Recruiting spend
$0.50M
men's teams
Home crowds
—
of capacity
Staff turnover
10%
on-field staff new this season
Fan mood
soon
fans and local media
Coach & AD
soon
on the same page
Finances: U.S. Department of Education athletics disclosures. Athletic directors: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).
Offense · games started togetherlatest lineup · 11 starters
Winfield
Blanco
Sampson
Strother
Chappell
Jensen
Jackson
Alexander
Moreau
Fordham
Isom
QBLunch Winfield143948106613124
RBSteven Blanco33222122331
WRShelton Sampson Jr.921326127312112
WRLandon Strother42244244443
TEBrock Chappell82641196410104
TECaden Jensen10112292415316133
OLGeorge Jackson627461538612133
OLZay Alexander62344366663
OLKaden Moreau133124101612620153
OLCooper Fordham123114101313615204
OLJakoby Isom41234333344

Each square: games the two players have started together at this school (darker = more). Gray diagonal: the player's own starts here.

Defense · games started togetherlatest lineup · 11 starters
West
Edwards
Williams
Andre
Williams
Johnson
Kidder
Eleam
Jackson
Demery
Bates
DLFitzgerald West Jr.1466862111863
DLChase Edwards69696216661
DLLance Williams66666216661
LBJake St. Andre896116216662
LBAshley Williams66666216661
LBMicah Johnson22222212221
LBHarrison Kidder11111111111
DBMaurion Eleam1166662111862
DBKody Jackson866662181261
DBAvery Demery66666216661
DBLake Bates31121112113

Each square: games the two players have started together at this school (darker = more). Gray diagonal: the player's own starts here.

Chemistry is Scorebook's own rating of how well a program fits together, on the same all-time 0-99 scale as our other ratings (compared with every FBS team since 2016; 62 is typical, 20-50 signals something is wrong, and single digits are reserved for true collapses; each season is compared with its own era). This early version blends continuity (who has played and coached together, and for how long; it counts most) with the climate around the program; how the program talks joins as it is measured. Within continuity, quarterback-centered pairings count most because they held up when we tested them against results. How our ratings work →