The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns fell short of winning the Sun Belt Conference Championship at Cajun Field on Saturday night, falling to the visiting Marshall Thundering Herd 31-3.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Louisiana’s second drive netted the Ragin’ Cajuns points as Chandler Fields found Lance Legendre for a 47-yard completion. The drive did stall but Kenneth Almendares made the 40-yard field goal to give Louisiana a 3-0 lead.
Marshall was able to answer the score on the ensuing possession.
The Thundering Herd’s drive started with the Ragin’ Cajuns being called for roughing the passer on a first-down incompletion. A few moments later, Marshall quarterback Braylon Braxton picked up a first down with a nine-yard run, then hit an open Tychaun Chapman for a 37-yard touchdown.
After the two teams traded punts, Louisiana had a promising drive as Fields found Harvey Broussard open for a 34-yard gain. The drive stalled and then Fields was knocked out of the game after a 10-yard run. Daniel Beale — in for Fields — tried to run to pick up the first on fourth and two but was a yard short.
Marshall got the ball and proceeded to march down the field, thanks to a 15-yard penalty called on Keyon Martin, and then a 25-yard pass to Carl Chester. The drive did lose steam and the Thundering Herd settled for a 32-yard field goal.
After a quick three-and-out by the Cajuns, the Herd struck again as Ethan Payne ran it for a 15-yard touchdown.
Louisiana tried to put together a drive before half as Beale found Legendre for a 20-yard game, and then an attempted pass to Robert Williams drew a pass interference flag on Marshall. That gave the Ragin’ Cajuns the ball at the 36-yard line.
Beale was sacked on the next play, then scrambled for a gain of nine yards to put the ball back at the 35-yard line. Beale then took a deep shot down the field to Jacob Bernard but Marshall’s Moten Jacob dove to pick it off.
At the break, Marshall led 17-3.
Marshall added to its lead in the third quarter with a nine-play, 56-yard drive as Braxton found Bralon Brown for a 20-yard touchdown. With less than eight minutes left in the third, the Thundering Herd led the Ragin’ Cajuns 24-3.
Louisiana appeared to have put together a touchdown midway through the fourth quarter. The Ragin’ Cajuns drove down to the 10-yard line but Beale had three straight incompletions. Facing fourth and 10, the Beale found Broussard for a touchdown but the score was nullified due to two penalties, with an illegal forward pass being the one accepted.
The Ragin’ Cajuns were also flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct called on George Jackson. The Thundering Herd took over and put together its final scoring drive as Jordan Houston ran it in from nine yards out.
BIG NUMBER I: 3
Louisiana had three costly penalties called on them in the first half of Saturday night’s game. There was a 15-yard penalty called on Lance Legendre for a chop block on the first play. Then a 15-yard penalty was called on Antoine Baylis for roughing the passer, and a 15-yard penalty was called on Keyon Martin for a personal foul. Those last two flags aided drives that netted 10 points for the Thundering Herd.
BIG NUMBER II: 96
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns had gone 96 straight games having scored at least one touchdown, but that streak was snapped on Saturday night against the Marshall Thundering Herd. The last game that Louisiana did not score a touchdown was a 47-3 loss to Arkansas State in 2017.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: BRAYLON BRAXTON
Marshall’s quarterback completed 18-of-26 passes for 193 yards and two touchdowns, while also rushing for 66 yards on 16 carries.
UP NEXT: Louisiana (10-3) will prepare for a bowl game. The official announcement of where the Ragin’ Cajuns will play in the postseason will be unveiled on Sunday morning.
