1986 Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team

The 1986 Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team was an American football team that represented the University of Southwestern Louisiana (now known as the University of Louisiana at Lafayette) as an independent during the 1986 NCAA Division I-A football season. In their first year under head coach Nelson Stokley, the team compiled a 6–5 record.^[1][2]

1986 Southwestern Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football
Conference	Independent
Record	6–5
Head coach	Nelson Stokley (1st season)
Home stadium	Cajun Field
Seasons ← 1985 1987 →

1986 NCAA Division I-A independents football records
v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		T			W		L		T
No. 1 Penn State		–		–				12	–	0	–	0
No. 2 Miami (FL)		–		–				11	–	1	–	0
No. 20 Virginia Tech		–		–				9	–	2	–	1
No. 19 Boston College		–		–				9	–	3	–	0
Tulsa		–		–				7	–	4	–	0
Florida State		–		–				7	–	4	–	1
Army		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southwestern Louisiana		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Southern Miss		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Temple		–		–				6	–	5	–	0
Pittsburgh		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Rutgers		–		–				5	–	5	–	1
Cincinnati		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Notre Dame		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
Syracuse		–		–				5	–	6	–	0
South Carolina		–		–				3	–	6	–	2
Tulane		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
West Virginia		–		–				4	–	7	–	0
Louisville		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Navy		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
Wichita State		–		–				3	–	8	–	0
East Carolina		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Northern Illinois		–		–				2	–	9	–	0
Memphis State		–		–				1	–	10	–	0
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule

Date	Opponent	Site	Result	Attendance	Source
September 9	Oklahoma State	Cajun Field Lafayette, LA	L 20–21
September 13	Northeast Louisiana	Cajun Field Lafayette, LA (rivalry)	W 24–20		^[3]
September 20	at Memphis State	Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium Memphis, TN	W 26–10	22,944
October 4	at East Carolina	Ficklen Memorial Stadium Greenville, NC	W 21–10	27,726	^[4]
October 11	Tulsa	Cajun Field Lafayette, LA	W 17–13	22,031
October 18	at Ole Miss	Vaught–Hemingway Stadium Oxford, MS	L 20–21	33,500
October 25	Stephen F. Austin	Cajun Field Lafayette, LA	W 28–14
November 1	at Tulane	Louisiana Superdome New Orleans, LA	L 39–42	44,132	^[5]
November 8	at Southern Miss	M. M. Roberts Stadium Hattiesburg, MS	L 0–17	14,512	^[6]
November 15	at McNeese State	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA (Cajun Crown)	W 33–13
November 22	Louisiana Tech	Cajun Field Lafayette, LA (rivalry)	L 14–23	15,780	^[7]

References

1. "1986 Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Schedule and Results". SR/College Football. Sports Reference LLC. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
2. "2019 Louisiana Football Media Guide" (PDF). Louisiana Athletics Communications Office. 2019. p. 99. Retrieved December 31, 2020.
3. "Hard lessons learned, USL slams door on NLU". The Daily Advertiser. September 14, 1986. p. 23. Retrieved March 27, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
4. "Pannell leads USL win". Daily World. October 5, 1986. Retrieved March 27, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
5. "Cajuns fall to Tulane in crazy game". Daily World. November 2, 1986. Retrieved February 7, 2022 – via Newspapers.com.
6. "USL gets flattened by Southern Miss". The Daily Advertiser. November 9, 1986. Retrieved March 27, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.
7. "A.L.'s swan song has USL singing the blues". The Daily Advertiser. November 23, 1986. p. C1. Retrieved July 6, 2021 – via Newspapers.com.