Louisiana-Lafayette running back Elijah Mitchell, a former star at Erath, scores a touchdown against ULM on Sept. 23 at Cajun Field in Lafayette. Mitchell, who was injured against Idaho last week, will not play today.

LAFAYETTE — Andre Nunez will be the starting quarterback tonight when the Ragin’ Cajuns host Texas State at Cajun Field.

The former Iowa Western Community College player came off the bench for a second straight game and threw for 213 yards and one passing touchdown in the Ragin’ Cajuns 21-16 win over Idaho on Saturday. That follows another impressive off the bench performance when Nunez shook off early rust to throw for 287 yards and two touchdowns in a 56-50 double-overtime loss to Louisiana-Monroe. 

“He has earned that right with his play in the last two games,” Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth said. “He has come in and played awfully well.”

Jordan Davis had started the game but lasted only two series, both three-and-outs, as the Cajun signal caller completed zero passes in three attempts and had two carries for negative yardage. 

That was eerily similar to how Davis performed against Louisiana-Monroe when he went 2-for-6 for eight yards with two carries for negative yardage. 

Hudspeth said Davis would not start against Idaho last week if he wasn’t 100 percent healthy from a knee injury he suffered weeks earlier against Texas A&M. Before the injury against A&M, Davis had played at a high level, throwing for 676 yards and five touchdowns against Southeastern Louisiana, Tulsa and A&M. Davis will be available as the team’s No. 2 quarterback today.

Mitchell out with injury

Elijah Mitchell has been a standout in the Ragin’ Cajuns backfield. The former Erath star has rushed for 257 yards, averaging 6.1 yards per carry, while scoring four rushing touchdowns. 

Mitchell injured his left foot against Idaho, a game he had to leave early, and will not suit up for tonight’s game. There is no timetable on Mitchell’s return.

Red zone efficiency

The Ragin’ Cajuns offense has been one of the nation’s best when it comes to getting points in the red zone. 

The Cajuns are one of only six teams that are perfect in red zone scoring, going 24-for-24 on drives inside the 20-yard line. The other five teams are Georgia, Florida, Arizona State, Florida International and Wyoming.

Vermilion & White notes

Robert Hunt started at left tackle last week for D’Aquin Withrow, who missed the game for a death in the family. Hunt will return to his natural left guard position tonight while Withrow will be lining up at left tackle … Free safety Travis Crawford will miss his third straight game with a bone bruise, while safety Denarius Howard will be sidelined as well with hamstring injury.