Louisiana Athletics have been working the phone lines today as they have set their second future non-conference matchup of the day. Just hours after the announcement that the Cajuns would be making a trip to USC in 2026, it has been revealed that Louisiana will make a trip to Fort Worth, Texas in 2028 to play the Horned Frogs of TCU out of the Big 12 Conference. The game will be played in week 3 of the 2028 season on September 16th at Amon G. Carter Stadium, and will be the second all-time matchup between the two schools in football. Louisiana and TCU last met in the 2024 Isleta New Mexico Bowl, where the Horned Frogs earned a 34-3 win. The Cajuns, who were depleted due to a large number of players opting out and entering the transfer portal, were limited to just two red-zone opportunities, taking advantage in one of them with a short 24-yard field goal that gave them their only points. TCU's QB Josh Hoover threw for 4 touchdowns and 252 yards. TCU finished their 2025 regular season with an 8-4 record, and are now shifting focus on playing #16 USC in the Alamo Bowl at the end of the month. Louisiana on the other hand finished 6-6 after a four-game win stretch to earn bowl eligibility, and look to end 2025 with a winning record as they set to face 6-6 Delaware in the 68 Ventures Bowl. This article written by Abdul Abusada of Cajuns Insider and Cajun Sports Talk. Don't forget to tune into Cajuns Insider podcast shows on all The Kneaux socials every week during the football season! Also don't forget to tune into The Cajun Sports Talk Podcast Show on @CajunSportsTalk on YouTube every Tuesday evening!

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team are scheduled to meet with the USC Trojans in Los Angeles, California on Saturday, September 12, 2026, Cajuns Insider learned. USC will host the Cajuns at Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, with UL getting a $1.3 million guarantee for playing the game, according to Kevin Kelley of FBSchedules.com. This will be the first ever football matchup between the two schools. USC, a Big Ten school, has a record of 2-0 against Sun Belt teams, while Louisiana has an 0-6 record against Big Ten opponents. UL will have a chance to earn their first win against a Big Ten opponent when they make the cross-country trip to Los Angeles. USC finished the regular season with a 9-3 record and ranked 16th in the CFP Top 25, which included wins against #15 Michigan and #21 Iowa. They finished the season top 10 in total offense, averaging 472 yards and 36.5 points per game. R-Jr QB Jayden Maiava and R-Fr RB King Miller have been on the throne for this high-powered offense, both with the potential of returning to USC next season for another run at the playoffs. The Trojans are currently set to face the TCU Horned Frogs in the Alamo Bowl. With this addition, Louisiana's non-conference schedule, as of now, appears to be set for 2026. The Cajuns will play all four non-conference opponents in the first four weeks of their season, kicking off against an FCS opponent, the Lamar Cardinals, in Lafayette on September 5th. They will then head to Los Angeles to face USC the next week, then will be back home to face the UAB Blazers of the American Conference on September 19th. Following that game, the Cajuns are currently scheduled to play in Ruston against a familiar foe in Louisiana Tech on September 26th. However, the Bulldogs are set to join the Sun Belt Conference, which could happen either prior to the start of 2026 or 2027. If they do join in 2026, that game against Louisiana Tech would be taken off of the Cajuns' schedule, re-opening UL's search for another non-conference game. This article written by Abdul Abusada of Cajuns Insider and Cajun Sports Talk. Don't forget to tune into Cajuns Insider podcast shows on all The Kneaux socials every week during the football season! Also don't forget to tune into The Cajun Sports Talk Podcast Show on @CajunSportsTalk on YouTube every Tuesday evening!

Team Stats (Pelicans at Mavericks) Final Score: 119-126 Rebounds: 40-43 Assists: 27-31 Blocks: 2-6 Steals: 7-6 Turnovers: 11-12 Stat Leaders Scoring Leaders: Trey Murphy III, 41; De’Aaron Fox, 24 Rebound Leaders: Trey Murphy III, 9; Victor Wembanyama, 18 Assist Leaders: Derik Queen, 8; Stephon Castle, 14 My Player of the Game: Trey Murphy III Chrissy's Key Takeaways * Trey Murphy III scored 41 points on 15-for-22 shooting for the Pelicans. He was 5 for 11 on 3-pointers, including a high-arcing 31-footer at the close of the third quarter to stun the sellout crowd. * The Pelicans are 2-7 with the loss while the Spurs are 7-2. The two teams have already played each other twice this season with San Antonio winning both games. The first one went into overtime and this second one was tied up in the third quarter. * Jeremiah Fears Jeremiah Fears had 18 points and Herb Jones added 15 for the short-handed Pelicans, who were without Zion (strained left hamstring), Jordan Poole (strained left quad) and Yves Missi (illness). * The Pelicans look to get back in the win column tonight on the road against the Phoenix Suns. Follow @TheKneaux on X, and follow me there too, @SportsChrissy.

New Orleans Saints 24 - 20 Tampa Bay Buccaneers The Saints have taken down Baker Mayfield and the Buccaneers, providing a spark of hope for the future of this team, as well as for the Carolina Panthers. The team had great performances from many of the young players in this one, and Brandon Staley appears to have officially turned around a defense that looked hopeless last season. In a year where all hope seemed lost, Tyler Shough has provided life for the fanbase and has 100% earned his role as the 2026 starter for the team (barring any drastic decrease in play quality). Two games ago, I was praying the Saints landed as high of a draft pick as possible, and now I see myself not caring too much about it if Shough continues to play like this. If the Saints can rely on Shough to uplift a team void of talent at different positions, then they can quickly scratch off the QB position from the offseason needs list and turn their focus to other positions. With that being said, let’s dive into how the team did and where they need to focus this offseason. Tyler Shough Tyler Shough played an incredible game today, although it may not appear that way when glancing at the box score. Passing-wise, he finished 13/20 with 144 yards and an interception on a clear communication with Chris Olave, but shined in the run game with 55 yards on seven carries and two touchdowns. One came on a designed run play, with Shough shooting out of the hole alongside a great block by Devaughn Vele. The other came on a play where it looked like Shough would be taken down for a disastrous sack, from which he broke free and broke Kevin Harlan’s mind. He has showed multiple times this season that he can make plays in the clutch, and played an excellent second half to close this game out. He made multiple pro-level throws in big moments and displayed why some commentators have compared him to guys like Josh Allen and Ben Roethlisberger. If Tyler Shough continues to play the way he has, the Saints will have found their guy, and the worry about Shough’s age will disappear into thin air. I will say I’m surprised at the low level of hype he has gotten across social media and sports commentary, so I’m interested to see the discourse about him after this massive win. The Young Guys The Saints appear to have made all of the right picks in this past draft, with every drafted player performing well. This does not include Broughton, who was injured earlier on, and the seventh rounders, which are as good as blind shots in the dark anyway. Specifically in this game, Devin Neal played an excellent game, and all of the other guys have shown they definitely belong in the National Football League. Neal finished with 70 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries, with a few really solid runs where he had to fight for extra yardage through contact. If he continues to play this way with Alvin Kamara out, he will likely be the Saints' RB2 for the foreseeable future, and possibly work his way into the RB1 role if he continues to develop. If the Saints were to go the Jeremiyah Love route in the draft, he and Love would be an amazing duo to watch every week. The Saints' young guys in the secondary also played well today, with Kool-Aid McKinstry leading the team in tackles and having a clutch PBU late in the game, and Alontae Taylor having a big-time interception to start the third quarter. I also really liked what I saw from Jonas Sanker and Jordan Howden in this one, which is a positive without Justin Reid being able to play. Another young player that wasn’t drafted this offseason but is new to the team, Devaugn Vele, had two huge catches for third-down conversions on the last offensive possession. Although Vele is not young in the traditional age sense, he is on a rookie contract. If he can be the bigger body receiver that the Saints depend on to get first downs, the trade they made with the Broncos will pay off massively. Brandon Staley’s Defense The Saints' defense ranked 19th and 30th last season in points and yards allowed, respectively. Brandon Staley has the defense turned around in the points allowed per game department, where they currently rank 12th in the league. Although the Saints' defense currently ranks 22nd in points allowed per game, it’s hard to put that fully on Staley, as the offense has struggled to stay on the field and constantly has put this defense in poor positions this season. This is not at all to say the defense is perfect or that it doesn’t have holes, but it is nice to see the defense slowly starting to find its identity, even without a lot of high-level talent. This is a team that can acquire a high-level impact player like Arvell Reese or Caleb Downs in the draft and see their defense truly take a leap with the current coordinator at the helm. I will say, I can’t end this section without noting that Demario Davis has continued to play out of his mind for yet another season, and that I would happily watch another couple of years with him in the black and gold on if the team decides to bring him back. Kellen Moore I absolutely dragged Kellen Moore the last couple of weeks, and well, if the Saints didn’t win this one, you’d be seeing a common occurrence with another dragging of the Saints' head coach. That being said, the Saints DID win this one, so I will go a little easier on Kellen Moore than I expected to just a few hours ago at halftime. Kellen Moore has made mental mistakes time and time again this season. His playcalling when needing a yard on offense is that of a five-year-old mashing buttons on Madden… random. The most recent instance came in this one on fourth and one when he called an outside toss to Devin Neal, which proceeded to get stuffed for a loss of two. On plays where a Taysom Hill touch possibly makes sense, he refuses to call one, and will then call a Taysom Hill RPO on first and 10, or leave Taysom Hill in to drop two passes. In addition to playcalling woes, Kellen Moore’s decisions of when or when not to challenge plays have been worse than bad. On a third and one in the middle of the third quarter, Audric Estime went up the middle and seemed to gain a yard past the first down marker, yet the ball was marked a yard short. Instead of challenging this seemingly clear first down that was terribly spotted, he simply went for it, and an illegal man downfield penalty led to the Saints taking the field goal. This is by far not the worst mistake he’s made as a head coach, but as a 2-10 team with nothing to lose, it makes sense to throw the red flag and try to avoid the four-point swing that occurred. Tyler Shough is the future for the Saints at the quarterback position. By the end of the season, I would really like to see Kellen Moore give me reasons to believe he is the future at the head coach position as well. Offensive MVP: Tyler “Turn That Nine Upside Down It’s a Six” Shough Defensive MVP: Whole defense Special Teams MVP: Mason Tipton

Team Stats (Pelicans at Nets) Final Score: 101-119 Rebounds: 36-45 Assists: 29-36 Blocks: 3-7 Steals: 9-6 Turnovers: 15-16 Stat Leaders Scoring Leaders: Trey Murphy III, 23; Michael Porter Jr., 35 Rebound Leaders: Derik Queen, 9; Nic Claxton Assist Leaders: Jose Alvarado, 6; Nic Claxton My Player of the Game: Jose Alvarado Chrissy's Key Takeaways * This was the worst game the Pelicans have played all season. The team started out flat and never picked up the pace or the defense. Offense struggled, too . * No one looked ready to play -- it was like a different team was playing than we saw in the last two games against the Minnesota Timberwolves. * The Nets led by 11 at the end of the first quarter and led by as much as 28. * The Pelicans next game is on Monday at home at 7 pm against the Spurs. Follow @TheKneaux on X, and follow me there too, @SportsChrissy.

Can the Saints bounce back after losing two games in a row?

Team Stats (Timberwolves at Pelicans) Final Score: 125-116 Rebounds: 49-43 Assists: 30-29 Blocks: 10-3 Steals: 5-11 Turnovers: 19-12 Stat Leaders Scoring Leaders: Julius Randle, 28; Trey Murphy III, 21 Rebound Leaders: Rudy Gobert, 12; Trey Murphy III, Jeremiah Fears, 7 Assist Leaders: Naz Redi, 6; Trey Murphy III, 8 My Player of the Game: Trey Murphy III Chrissy's Key Takeaways * This time it wasn't the third quarter that spoiled the game for the Pelicans -- it was the fourth quarter. The Pelicans were up 90-88 going into the fourth quarter. * New Orleans did a much better job of containing Anthony Edwards as he only had 11 points compared to 44 points in Tuesday's game. * The Pelicans are one lethal three-point shooter away from turning these losses into wins because the team is playing with so much pace and competing much better under James Borrego. * With that being said, the Pelicans are 3-20 on the year. But Trey Murphy is playing like an all-star, and rookies Jeremiah Fears and Derik Queen are a sight for sore eyes . Follow @TheKneaux on X, and follow me there too, @SportsChrissy.