With Saturday night’s 24-22 loss to South Alabama, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns will have to wait another week to claim the Sun Belt Conference West Division title. The loss at Cajun Field was also the first in SBC play for Michael Desormeaux’s squad.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Louisiana put together a good opening drive as the Ragin’ Cajuns went 40 yards on 11 plays. With the ball at the South Alabama 25-yard line and facing fourth and two, the Ragin’ Cajuns opted not for a field goal and went for it but the Jaguars stuffed Dre’lyn Washington.
South Alabama went right to work as the Jaguars needed as Gio Lopez scored on a two-yard quarterback keeper.
Louisiana had a promising second drive but a sack on third down forced the team to punt the ball away. South Alabama’s offense scored yet again needing only five plays to go 90 yards, as Lopez found an open Jamaal Pritchett for a 67-yard reception. The very next play Lopez ran it in from nine yards out.
Louisiana got on the board with a 35-yard field goal by Kenneth Almendares.
South Alabama’s third drive ended like their first two — with a touchdown. The Jaguars went 75 yards on 10 plays as Kentrel Bullock capped the drive with a two-yard touchdown run.
Louisiana’s first play of the ensuing drive ended in a disaster as Washington ran for 22 yards but while fighting off a tackle he was stripped of the football and South Alabama recovered it. It was the first lost fumble of the season by the Ragin’ Cajuns.
Louisiana committed another turnover as Ben Wooldridge’s deep pass was picked off by Jaden Voisin. The Jaguars converted that into points as Laith Marjan made a 35-yard field goal as time expired.
At the break, the Ragin’ Cajuns trailed 24-3.
Louisiana’s defense forced its third punt and the offense put together a 15-play, 60-yard drive. The Ragin’ Cajuns — led by Chandler Fields who came in for the injured Wooldridge — had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Almendares, but the drive ate 8:28 off the clock.
Louisiana’s defense forced another punt but the snap was bad and recovered by the Ragin’ Cajuns and at the ball at the USA 21-yard line. Louisiana couldn’t punch it into the end zone and settled for a 22-yard field goal by Almendares.
The Ragin’ Cajuns scored again and did so in quick fashion as Fields found Washington for a 66-yard touchdown. The extra point was good and with 8:28 left in the fourth, Louisiana trailed 24-16.
Louisiana’s defense then forced a turnover as Kody Jackson picked off a deep pass by Lopez. That gave the Ragin’ Cajuns the ball at their own 14-yard line with less than six minutes to go.
The Ragin’ Cajuns went 86 yards on 12 plays and capped the drive with Fields running it in from two yards out. The two-point run was no good.
Louisiana was forced to kick the onside kick, but the kick went out of bounds. South Alabama took a few kneel downs to seal the win.
BIG NUMBER: 234
Whether it was using tempo or matchups, South Alabama’s offense came out firing on all cylinders in Saturday night’s matchup. The Jaguars’ first three drives resulted in 234 yards and three touchdowns.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: KENNETH ALMENDARES & CHANDLER FIELDS
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns kicker was stellar as he went 3-for-3 on field goal attempts, making kicks from 35, 25, and 22 yards out. Fields came off the bench and completed 14-of-17 passes for 185 yards, one passing touchdown and one rushing touchdown.
UP NEXT: Louisiana (8-2, 5-1 SBC) will look to bounce back when it hosts Troy on Saturday. Kickoff is set 4 p.m.
