Louisiana has spent three straight years stuck at 6-7, and a home date against a UAB team starting over from scratch is exactly the kind of game that's supposed to break the cycle.
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Louisiana brings back its starting quarterback healthy, its top receiver, and a defensive back who can take away a top target — that's a lot more continuity than a UAB team replacing its coach and half its two-deep on defense. The Cajuns have underachieved relative to their talent for three straight years, but a home non-conference game against a rebuilding roster is the kind of spot where that talent gap should actually show up. Back Louisiana here.
UAB
+Ryder Burton gets first full year as starter
+portal additions Simpkins, Robinson beef up run game
+Chris Burge (3.5 sacks) anchors the pass rush
−allowed nation-worst 9.7 yards per pass attempt in 2025
−first-year coach installing new system on the fly
−finished 4-8 last year, coach fired mid-season
Louisiana
+Lunch Winfield back healthy after ankle surgery
+picked second in Sun Belt West preseason poll
+Sampson, Gordon give returning production on both sides
−three straight 6-7 seasons under Desormeaux
−lost leading tackler Jaden Dugger to NFL Draft
−quiet portal approach leaves less new-talent infusion
This one's a study in contrasts before it's anything else. Louisiana returns quarterback Lunch Winfield, who's healthy again after offseason ankle surgery, plus receiver Shelton Sampson and corner Brent Gordon, and the Cajuns were tabbed to finish second in the Sun Belt West in the league's preseason poll. UAB, meanwhile, is rebuilding on the fly under first-year coach Alex Mortensen, who inherited the job after Trent Dilfer was let go midway through a 4-8 season. Quarterback Ryder Burton gets a full offseason as the guy after throwing 7 touchdowns against 5 interceptions in relief snaps a year ago.
The Blazers didn't sit still in the portal. Running backs Ja'Vin Simpkins (Coastal Carolina) and Roderick Robinson (Georgia) arrive to give Burton a run game, and edge rusher Chris Burge, who racked up 3.5 sacks last season, is one of the few proven vets left on defense. That defense is the real question mark — UAB allowed a nation-worst 9.7 yards per pass attempt in 2025, and there's no version of this preview where that number doesn't matter against a Louisiana offense with its starting quarterback back and a receiver room that knows the system.
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Louisiana took a quieter approach this offseason, staying mostly out of the portal aside from adding a few offensive linemen, betting that continuity beats a full teardown. The Cajuns did lose their leading tackler, linebacker Jaden Dugger, to the 49ers in the fifth round of the NFL Draft, which leaves a hole on the second level against a UAB backfield that added two transfer running backs specifically to attack it. This is a non-conference game, but for a Desormeaux program that's plateaued at 6-7 three times in four years, it still carries something to prove.
UAB Blazers
Sep 12?vs UL Monroe—
Sep 3?@ Illinois—
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Sep 12?@ USC—
Sep 5?vs Lamar—
Recent form.
For UAB, this trip to Cajun Field comes after a Week 1 test at Illinois and a home opener against ULM, so by the time Lafayette rolls around, Mortensen's staff should have a real read on who Burton is with a full season of reps and whether that revamped run game is holding up. For Louisiana, it's an early measuring-stick game before Sun Belt play heats up — the kind of tune-up a team with second-place expectations needs to handle.
UAB Blazers
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
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Fully healthy — no injuries on ESPN's report
Injury report — info via ESPN.
The bigger story here is program direction. Louisiana is trying to prove last year's ankle injury to Winfield was the anomaly, not the new normal, and that this roster is finally ready to push past bowl eligibility. UAB is just trying to find out who it is under a new coach, with a defense that has to be dramatically better than the version that got shredded through the air a season ago. Whichever team looks more like itself early on Saturday, September 19, should have the edge.
