San Diego State, La-Lafayette meet in New Orleans

Published Dec. 5, 2011 3:42 a.m. ET

foxsports

San Diego State will face Louisiana-Lafayette in the New Orleans Bowl on Dec. 17 at the Superdome.

Louisiana-Lafayette will be making just its third bowl appearance in program history and first in 41 years. The Ragin' Cajuns have an 8-4 overall and finished third in the Sun Belt with a 6-2 record under first-year coach Mark Hudspeth.

Louisiana-Lafayette averaged more than 32 points per game this season, led by quarterback Blake Gautier, who threw for 2,488 yards, 20 touchdowns and five interceptions. The Ragin' Cajuns started with a 6-1 record, but lost three of their past five games, including the past two to Arkansas State and Arizona.

Louisiana-Lafayette has known about its bowl destination for nearly two weeks, but didn't know its opponent until Sunday night.

San Diego State finished with an 8-4 regular season, including a 4-3 record in the Mountain West Conference. Aztecs' running back Ronnie Hillman led the Mountain West with 1,656 rushing yards, averaging 138 yards per game.

It's the first time San Diego State has played in back-to-back bowl games and will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs. San Diego State beat Navy last season in the Poinsettia Bowl for its first bowl victory since 1969.

The Aztecs have a 7-1 record all-time against teams from the Sun Belt.