Louisiana head coach Billy Napier has his team sitting at 9-1 and ranked in the top 25. It’s remarkable what the Ragin’ Cajuns have accomplished this year, including beating the Big 12’s best team in Iowa State 31-14 in the season opener.

Louisiana’s big start has put Napier clear on the head coaching radar for bigger programs, including South Carolina. His experience as an assistant under both Nick Saban and Dabo Swinney are certainly attractive, and he’ll get his chance to run a Power 5 program soon.

However, Napier made a bizarre coaching decision during Friday night’s 24-21 win over Appalachian State.

Facing 4th down and 2 from its own 35-yard-line and leading 24-19 with 1:50 remaining, Napier called on his offense to take a safety. The longstapper had a tough time Friday night, including snapping one into the end zone earlier in the game, but there are a couple different things that Napier could have decided to do other than take a safety. The offense could have gone for it on 4th and 2, or the quarterback could have pooch-punted it.

Anyway, the safety cut Louisiana’s lead to 24-21 and gave the ball back to Appalachian State with 1 timeout and needing only a field goal to tie. The Mountaineers put themselves in prime position to tie the game, but they shanked the field goal.

Here’s how it all unfolded:

After the game, Napier was asked about the decision, and he basically said he was trusting his defense over the longsnapper and punting issues.