Ragin' Cajuns Roll over USA on Senior Night

Lafayette,La.- Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns rolled over South Alabama 52-30 on "Senior Night" and with the win accepted an invitation to play in the R+L Carrier New Orleans Bowl.

UL’s acceptance of the bid marked the second straight year the Cajuns are going to play at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. The Cajuns defeated San Diego State 32-30 on that game’s last play.

Terrance Broadway threw for 305 yards, completing 11 of 19 passes for the Ragin' Cajuns (7-4, 5-2 Sun Belt Conference) an average of 27.8 yards per completion.

Harry Peoples caught five passes for 166 yards, an average of 33.2 per catch, and Javone Lawson had three catches for 113 yards, a 37.7-yard average. Each had a touchdown catch.

Louisiana expanded a 24-16 halftime lead to 38-16 on its first two third-quarter possessions on rushing touchdowns by Effrem Reed and Broadway.

Blaine Gautier, out since Sept. 29 with a broken hand, came in at quarterback for the Ragin' Cajuns in the fourth quarter and his first pass went for an 18-yard score to Jacob Maxwell.

Ross Metheny completed 27 of 44 for 360 yards and two touchdowns for the Jaguars (2-10, 1-7) in their season finale.

Ahead just 17-16 with over two minutes to go before intermission, Broadway found Lawson for gains of 53 and 27 yards on back-to-back plays, with the latter capping a five-play, 98-yard march with 16 seconds left in the half. UL got the ball to start the third quarter, and on second down from the 18-yard line Broadway connected with Peoples for a 72-yard completion that moved the ball to the USA-4. Effrem Reed scored from one yard out two plays later, extending the Cajun advantage to 31-16 88 seconds after the break.

Broadway scored again on a six-yard run midway through the quarter, ending a 12-play, 75-yard possession that was kept alive by a 25-yard completion from Brady Thomas to Melvin White for a 25-yard pickup on fourth-and-five from the UL-44 to push the UL lead to 22 points.

The Ragin’ Cajuns finished the night with an opponent-record 538 yards of total offense.

The Jaguars ended a string of 21 unanswered points with two-and-a-half minutes left in the third period, driving 67 yards in eight plays before Metheny found Jeremé Jones for a 23-yard touchdown pass. One play after finding Corey Besteda for a first down, Metheny connected with Bryant Lavender for a 24-yard gain to put the Jags on the UL-16.

But Blaine Gautier came in and on his first play running the Cajun offense, from the USA-18, found Jacob Maxwell for a touchdown pass that made the score 45-23 UL just over a minute into the final period. Metheny hit Gabe Loper midway through the period for a 28-yard score, one snap after Julien Valentin ran for 25 yards, once again drawing the Jaguars within two scores; but USA’s onside kick attempt was recovered by Dominique Tovell at the USA-46 and Louisiana scored again on a one-yard run by Yobes Walker for the final points of the night.

The Cajuns will travel down to Florida Atlantic to face the Owls in the last game of the regular season.