Football: Cajuns Fall in Jonesboro, 30-21 11/12/11

Football: Cajuns Fall in Jonesboro, 30-21 11/12/11

Box Score
Box Score

The Ragin’ Cajuns football team could not overcome a five-turnover day as UL dropped a 30-21 decision at Arkansas State on Saturday afternoon.
 
With the loss, Louisiana falls to 8-3 overall and 6-2 in Sun Belt play. The Red Wolves outgained the Cajuns 397 to 314 in the contest with ASU quarterback Ryan Aplin accounting for 296 total yards of offense and three touchdowns.
 
Junior Blaine Gautier overcame a slow start to post 206 yards passing with two touchdowns and led the Cajuns on the ground with 53 yards.
 
Alonzo Harris had over 100 yards of total offense, leading the team with 81 yards on six catches.
 
The Red Wolves capitalized on an early Cajuns miscue to take a 7-0 lead. After a Harry Peoples fumble gave ASU the ball on the UL 14, Aplin connected with Taylor Stockermer for a 13-yard touchdown pass at the 11:44 mark in the first quarter.
 
Aplin pushed the ASU lead to 14-0 with 3:15 left in the first quarter on a 31-yard TD strike to Stockermer capping a five-play 42-yard drive.
 
With the 7:10 left in the first half, Arkansas State grabbed a 17 point advantage after a 22-yard field goal by Brian Davis. The score came after Gautier’s third interception of the contest gave the Red Wolves excellent field position on the UL 4-yard line.
 
Louisiana broke into the scoring column with 53 seconds left in the half when Surgent snared a Gautier pass for a 10-yard touchdown to pull the Cajuns within 10 points.
 
Davis tabbed his second field goal of the afternoon as time expired in the second quarter to give the Red Wolves a 20-7 advantage at the half.
 
The Cajuns came out hot in the second half scoring on their first drive of the third quarter. Gautier connected again with Surgent for a 31-yard touchdown pass to trim the ASU edge to 20-14 at the 12:54 mark.
 
After a muffed punt by Arkansas State gave UL the ball on the ASU 4-yard line, Harris punched it in on the next play to put the Cajuns in front 21-20 with 9:00 left in the third quarter.
 
ASU regained the lead at the 1:31 mark of the third quarter after a four-yard touchdown run by Aplin make the score 27-21 Red Wolves.
 
The Red Wolves put the game out of reach on Davis’ third field goal of the game with 2:49 remaining in the contest.
 
After a bye week, UL returns to action on Nov. 26 against Arizona in Tucson, Ariz. to close out the regular season.