Football: Boise State saddles Cajuns with three-game losing streak

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, September 21, 2014

 

UL running back Elijah McGuire (15) runs the ball against Boise State safety Darian Thompson (4) during the first half of the Cajuns’ loss on Saturday. (Photo: Otto Kitsinger/Associated Press)

 

 

BOISE, Idaho – UL flew 2,085 miles on Friday to face Boise State.

The rest of the numbers were not nearly so impressive for the Ragin’ Cajuns on Saturday night, when the 3-1 Broncos beat coach Mark Hudspeth’s club 34-9 in front of a below-capacity 33,337 at Albertsons Stadium here.

It was first-ever meeting between Boise State of the Mountain West and UL, which at 21-3 trailed by double digits at the break for a third straight week.

It was the third straight loss for 1-3 UL, which had not previously dropped three in a row during Hudspeth’s three-plus-seasons tenure in Lafayette.

"Our defense played much better," Hudpseth said. "I’m gonna put this one on the offense. WE made some nice plays defensively, but got zero help from the offense. They were on the field all day long.

"And offensively, we’ve got to create some ways to get our playmakers the ball. You’re going to see a different look. We’ve got to some guys the ball more. We’re not getting Eli (Elijah McGuire) enough touches."

The Cajuns allowed the Broncos 273 yards in total offense in the first half alone, including 120 rushing yards by running back Jay Ajayi, who had three TDs before halftime, and 189 yards by quarterback Grant Hedrick on 17-of-20 passing.

By the time the third quarter was done, BSU was up 31-3.

UL, meanwhile, tried to open things up a bit rather than run into the heart a Boise State defense that came in allowing just 1.58 yards per rush – tops in the nation – and 49.0 rushing yards per game.

McGuire did have six first-half receptions for 81 yards, but UL managed only 128 yards in total offense and seven first downs before the break.

And the Cajuns did have 47 rushing yards through three quarters, but they were 1-for-11 on third-down conversion attempts heading into the fourth.

UL’s opening drive went nowhere, but Boise State picked apart a Cajun defense playing without injured leading tackler Trae Johnson (knee) to go 70 yards in 12 plays and score on its opening possession.

Ajayi scored standing up from 2 yards out to help put the Broncos up 7-0 with 8:37 remaining in the opening quarter.

UL’s second drive stalled on downs, and Boise State needed only three plays to go 64 yards and score another.

Ajayi again capped things with a 2-yard touchdown run, set up by a 57-yard pass from Hedrick to Matt Miller, who entered the night averaging 103.0 receiving yards per game.

The Cajuns answered with a 22-yard field goal by Hunter Stover, but did so only after getting two huge breaks.

One was that Boise State roughed punter Daniel Cadona deep in Cajun territory, keeping UL’s drive alive. The other: Stover, an ex-linebacker, turned a longer botched field-goal attempt into a 14-yard pass completion to tight end Evan Tatford at the BSU 7-yard line.

UL quarterback Terrance Broadway completed passes of 33 yards and 23 yards to running back Elijah McGuire in the first quarter, which ended with Boise State up 14-3.

It wasn’t long, though, before the Broncos would stretch their lead.

Ajayi did it yet again, this time popping through a hole on the right side and cutting right before scoring from 16 yards away.

Dan Goodale’s third straight PAT made it 21-3 with 12:04 to go before halftime, putting the Cajuns in a spot they desperately wanted to avoid.

Hudspeth suggested throughout last week that UL is not a team built for overcoming big deficits, and that perhaps Broadway’s biggest problem this season has been being forced to try to do so.

Yet here the Cajuns were, down by 18 points at halftime to a team able to move practically at will on UL’s struggling defense.

Boise State tried to make it 21 before the break, but Goodale’s 44-yard field attempt with 2:06 left before halftime was right wide.

Boise State did eventually push its lead to 24-3 by capping its opening drive of the third quarter with a 40-yard field goal by Goodale, who came on after a minus-8 yard Marquis White sack.

The Broncos made it 31-3 later in the third with a 5-yard TD run by Devan Demas, who ran right – right past UL linebacker Dominique Tovell, actually.

Tovell did stop a scrambling Hedrick late in the third quarter, though, forcing Boise State into a field-goal attempt that Goodale missed.

UL got a 7-yard TD run from McGuire with 11:56 remaining – Stover’s PAT missed off the upright – but by then things were all but over for UL, which is idle Saturday before starting Sun Belt Conference play Oct. 4 vs. Georgia State.

Goodale closed the scoring with a late 33-yard field goal that was set up by a 73-yard run from Demas.

LAGNIAPPE: Cadona and Stover were UL’s captains Saturday night. … Usual backup McGuire and usual reserves Torrey Pierce and Effrem Reed all took turns in the UL backfield on UL’s opening possession, but usual senior starter Alonzo Harris did not. Harris didn’t open UL’s second drive of the game either, but he did play later on that drive. … McGuire had a career-high number of receptions when he hit eight in the third quarter. He finished with 10 catches for 106 yards. … With a third-quarter interception, Broadway’s INT count for the season hit seven in four games.

UL Update

Records: UL 1-3, Boise State 3-1.

Next up: UL is idle Saturday and does not play again until opening Sun Belt Conference play on Oct. 4 vs. Georgia State at Cajun Field. Boise State is at Air Force on Saturday.