Cajuns vs. Hilltoppers Game Day

Louisiana’s Ragin’Cajuns take on the Western Kentucky (0-5, 0-1 SBC) at Houchens Industries-L.T. Smith Stadium for the first time Saturday. The Cajuns (3-2, 1-0 SBC) picked up a dramatic 38-34 win over North Texas last week, scoring the game-winning touchdown with just 27 seconds remaining.

Hilltopper Offensive Notes The Hilltoppers rushed for a season-high 263 yards last week against Florida International. WKU also ran for 200 yards earlier in the season against South Florida. WKU currently ranks fourth in the Sun Belt and 53rd in the nation averaging 160.2 rushing yards per contest. The Toppers have also done a bulk of their scoring in the running game with seven of nine touchdowns coming on the ground - including all three against FIU.

While a total of seven different players accounted for at least one rushing attempt against FIU, the running back duo of sophomore Bobby Rainey and senior Marell Booker chewed up a big amount of those 263 yards. Rainey picked up 99 rushing yards for the second straight game - again tying a career high - on nine carries, while Booker ran for a season-high 62 yards on eight carries. Both also had long rushes of 37 and 31 yards, respectively. For Rainey, he is averaging 8.6 yards per rush over the last two games.

Since taking over at quarterback two games ago, redshirt freshman Kawaun Jakes has completed 38 of 54 passes for 394 yards and a pair of scores. He has also found a favorite target in the form of redshirt freshman tight end Jack Doyle. The duo has hooked up nine times for 121 yards in the last two games - an average of 13.4 yards per reception and 60.5 yards per contest.

Defensive Notes WKU's top three leading tacklers on the season added to their totals in a big way last week against FIU. Mark Santoro and Thomas Majors accounted for 12 stops each, and Taurean Smith posted 10 tackles. It was the second straight double-figure game for Majors and Smith as they finished with 14 and 13 tackles, respectively, at Navy. It was also the first time WKU had three defenders finished with 10 or more tackles since Antonio Thomas (15), Marion Rumph (12) and Dennis Mitchell (10) combined for 40 tackles in a 37-34 win over Illinois State on Oct. 8, 2005. On the year, Majors leads the Toppers with 49 total tackles, followed closely behind by Santoro's 47 stops and Smith's 41.

WKU-Stats Comparison
The Leaders
Rushing
WKU: Bobby Rainey - 47-311 / 2 TD
Passing —
WKU: Kawaun Jakes - 48-71-4 / 474
Receiving —
WKU: Jack Doyle - 20-178
Tackles —
WKU: Thomas Majors - 49 TT / 1 INT

WKU Scoring Offense- 13.8 pts
Rushing Yards Per Game- 160.2
Passing Yards Per Game- 133.6
Total Offense Per Game- 293.8

Defense Stats
Points Allowed Per Game- 40.2
Rushing Yards Per Game- 281.0
Passing Yards Per Game- 215.8
Total Yards Per Game- 496.8