Football: Singing in the rain – Cajuns perform victory song for the first time in Hudspeth era

Tim Buckley, Daily Advertiser, September 11, 2011

KENT, Ohio — There was no postgame water bath for Mark Hudspeth.

And that’s fine by Hudspeth, who got plenty of wet anyway throughout the night of his first victory as head coach of the UL Ragin’ Cajuns.

With senior quarterback Chris Masson starting and junior Blaine Gautier finishing, and the Cajun defense coming up with several big plays, UL beat Kent State 20-12 in a weather-delayed game Saturday night.

"I’ll tell you: I don’t know if I’ve ever been more exhausted," Hudspeth said after the nearly four-and-a-half evening.

With rain pouring for much of the night, UL’s first win under Hudspeth also came with a flash.

Several flashes, actually.

The Cajuns beat the Golden Flashes behind a Lionel Stokes interception-returned-for-a-touchdown, a Qyen Griffin touchdown run and two Brett Baer field goals.

They did it in a game that actually was suspended for one hour and 22 minutes as — with 9:13 remaining in the third quarter — lightning strikes flashed around the field, heavy rain continuously dropped and players and fans alike scurried for cover.

"I was having fun — jumping around, acting like a little kid," Stokes said.

"I loved it," teammate Chris Tucker added. "I’m a defensive lineman. That’s my kind of game."

Attendance was announced at 10,380, but only a few hundred fans — at the most — remained by the end.

UL, bogged down after the delay by three personal fouls and minus-9 yards in offense before the fourth quarter even began, was up 17-7 at the time play was interrupted.

But three plays after it resumed, at 10:18 p.m. local time, Masson was sacked for a safety by C.J. Malauula.

And before the third was done, Kent State kicker Freddy Cortez would add a 44-yard field goal, making it five-point game, 17-12, heading into the fourth.

The Cajuns caught a second wind in the fourth quarter, though, and Chris Tucker’s recovery of Spencer Keith fumble led to a 10-play, 28-yard, Gauiter-directed drive that chewed up 5:34.

It ended with a 28-yard Baer field goal, putting UL ahead by eight.

Gautier fumbled late in the game to give Kent State one last shot, but cornerback Bill Bentley forced a fumble with his second huge hit of the night and Jemarlous Moten made the recovery to preserve UL’s win.

"It feels great," Stokes said of getting the win for Hudspeth, the former Mississippi State passing game coordinator and North Alabama head coach. "A lot of weight off of people’s shoulders."

Stokes picked off a Keith pass and returned it 63 yards for a touchdown early on, giving UL — combined with ones by Bentley and Moten at OSU — its third pick-six in two games.

Keith threw into heavy coverage, and Stokes’ return ended with the free safety breaking a tackle around 5-yard line to help give the Cajuns a 7-0 lead almost 10 minutes into the game.

It was a much-needed boost for a sputtering UL offense that generated no first downs and just 25 first-quarter yards.

But Kent State (0-2 with a season-opening loss at nationally ranked Alabama) answered with a 6-yard touchdown pass to Jacquise Terry, and Cortez’s extra point with 39 seconds in the first made it 7-7.

An Anthony Merray fumble recovered by Cajuns defensive lineman Tucker early in the second quarter set up UL’s first offensive touchdown of the game, a 1-yard run by Griffin that came just more than two more minutes into the second quarter.

The true freshman ran wide left and dove, catching the end zone pylon with the ball in his right hand to give the South Panola (Miss.) High product his second touchdown of the season.

Baer’s second extra point of the night put the Cajuns up 14-7 as clouds opened and a rainstorm began to soak in earnest an already-wet field at Dixon Stadium.

An earlier rainfall hit about nearly three hours prior to kickoff, and drops began coming down again just as Griffin was heading to the corner.

With water puddling heavily on the Cajun sideline and most of the UL’s side of the field looking a lot like a lake, Masson completed just one of his four pass attempts in the second quarter.

But the Cajuns scored anyway on an 11-play, 54-yard scoring drive heading into halftime, one that ended with a 35-yard Baer field goal and put UL up 17-7 with 20 seconds to go before the break.

That extended Baer’s miss-free streak of career field goals to 10, and his next in the fourth quarter made it 11.

"That was big — executing a field goal in that type of rain," Hudspeth said. "It wasn’t just raining. It was raining sideways.

"The field was holding water. I’m just proud of our snapper (Matt Rosenbalm), holder (Brady Thomas) and kicker."        

Twenty-nine of Louisiana’s net yards on its final scoring drive came on two rushes by Robert Walker, including a 14-yarder, and four by Griffin for 15 yards.

But 30 more yards for the Cajuns came on two personal foul penalties called on Kent State star Roosevelt Nix, including one that came after the Cajuns had picked up just two yards on a third-and-10 situation.

Griffin finished with 51 yards on 22 carries, including a long of 7 yards.

Masson — getting the start over Gautier, who opened at Oklahoma State — wound up 5-of-13 for 18 yards.

"The change of quarterbacks couldn’t have come any sooner," Hudspeth said. "It was just right.

"Playing in this type of weather is not really fair to judge (Masson)," added Hudspeth, whose Cajuns host Nicholls State in their home opener next Saturday.

"I thought he did a good job early in the game of managing the game, but we just didn’t move the ball at all.’