COLUMBIA, Mo. — Missouri won’t host Louisiana until 3 p.m. Saturday, but for the Ragin’ Cajuns, everything feels like 10:45 a.m. these days. Almost but not quite Lunch time.
That’s because a season-ending injury to Louisiana’s starting quarterback has shaken up the Sun Belt program’s plan, bringing a backup named Lunch Winfield into play. He probably won’t start for the 1-1 Ragin’ Cajuns when they face No. 25 Mizzou (2-0), but when it comes to their ground game, he’s a factor.
And for Louisiana, the running game is the only factor.
Hopes were high down in Lafayette this season with hometown kid Walker Howard — a top-five quarterback recruit in 2022 who spent three seasons between Louisiana State and Mississippi as a backup — transferring in to start. And then, in the fourth quarter of the Ragin’ Cajuns’ season opener against Rice, he suffered a season-ending oblique injury.
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So last weekend against McNeese State, a Football Championship Subdivision program, Daniel Beale did most of the quarterbacking while Winfield came in for some wildcat looks.
The combined stats for all of Louisiana’s quarterbacks through two games: 24 for 40 passing (48%), 174 yards, one touchdown and one interception. Only two of the school’s receivers have caught more than two passes; none have more than five receptions.
The ground game is a different story: 76 rushing attempts spread across the roster, good for 466 yards (6.1 per carry) and four scores.
Running backs Bill Davis and Zylan Perry are the names to know. Davis has 190 rushing yards on a little more volume than Perry, who has posted 140, but both will get touches Saturday.
“Their offense is led by their two running backs,†Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz said. “I think both of those guys are really good football players. We know there’s good running backs in the Sun Belt — we have one now that started his career there.â€
He’s referring to Ahmad Hardy, the new MU lead tailback who played his freshman season at Louisiana-Monroe, another Sun Belt team.
In that ever-moving way college football works now, Davis might be a name to know for the next transfer portal cycle. He’s in his third season, having posted a 100-yard game as a true freshman, then 796 yards last season to earn second-team All-Sun Belt honors. He can be a bruiser, with 584 of those yards coming after contact in 2024.
“The running backs are the guys that give me the most anxiety, just because of their ability,†Drinkwitz said. “... They’re really hard to tackle. They’re built similar to Ahmad, and we know that’s a difficult style to get to the ground.â€
“They have the ability to break out at any time,†defensive end Damon Wilson II added.
Whether and how Louisiana pivots from its ground-based attack if or when it falls behind Missouri, a 27.5-point favorite, might be what determines how competitive Saturday’s game is. If the Ragin’ Cajuns are able to run the ball with the frequency and efficiency they like, the game could feel shorter than normal as they chew up time with rushing attempt after rushing attempt.
“They do a really good job controlling the clock,†Drinkwitz said.
Mizzou is fresh off a game where it allowed just 31 rushing yards to Kansas, so it’s not like Louisiana’s hosts are apt to leave a door open to run through.
Something else to consider: MU has never faced Louisiana before, but Drinkwitz has — back when he coached in the Sun Belt with Appalachian State in 2019. That year, the Mountaineers beat the Ragin’ Cajuns 17-7, holding Louisiana to 123 rushing yards.
“One of the things that makes them difficult is they have an offensive, defensive identity that’s been there, really, since 2019 — the last time I faced them,†Drinkwitz said. “Same style: outside zone, multiple personnels, utilizing the tight ends, play-action vertical throws; defensively, four-down into odd, utilize simulated pressure.â€
Will any of that matter on Saturday? If Missouri is up to snuff, it shouldn’t. But the Tigers will still get a look — and a feel, once it’s time to tackle them — at some good running backs.
