Football: Gators escape – Cajuns’ bid to knock off No.6 Florida fades in final seconds

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, November 11, 2012

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — And now back to your regularly scheduled Sun Belt Conference programming.

The return for UL, however, comes only after an emergency interruption that had the college football world on the edge of its couch for much of Saturday.

Ultimately, the upset alert was a false alarm.

But the Ragin’ Cajuns did very nearly knock off No. 7 Florida in UF’s Homecoming here, hanging with the SEC’s Gators most of the first half and leading in the second before finally succumbing 27-20 in front of an announced 86,482 at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium.

UL blew perhaps its best chance to beat a ranked team since a 1996 victory over No. 25 Texas A&M that came one week after quarterback Jake Delhomme and the Cajuns lost to then-No. 4 and eventual ’96 national-champion Florida in their last visit here.

"Sad," said UL running back Alonzo Harris, whose 2-yard touchdown run with eight minutes and 35 seconds left in the third quarter helped pull UL to within three at 13-10.

"Hurt, knowing you could have won the game, but it slipped through our fingers," Harris added after the Cajuns fell to 0-38 all-time vs. SEC opponents. "There’s just a lot of disappointment going on."

Tied 3-3 until a 2-yard Jeff Driskel touchdown pass to Trey Burton with seven seconds to go before halftime, UL was up 20-13 on Florida (9-1, 7-1 in the SEC) most of the fourth quarter and with less than two minutes to go.

A late-game decision regarding overtime, however, ultimately proved costly.

Two touchdowns in the final 1:42 — reserve quarterback Quinton Dunbar’s 3-yard pass to Jacoby Brissett, and Loucheiz Purify’s block of a Brett Baer that landed in the hands on Jelani Jenkins, who took it in from 36 yards out with two seconds remaining — dropped the Cajuns to 5-4.

"I feel like we have a knife in our stomach right now," said Cajuns sophomore quarterback Terrance Broadway, who finished 16-of-23 for 171 yards. "I mean, we fought. We had a real good week of practice, and we believed.

"From Sunday night practice, there was never one minute, one hour, one second, we didn’t believe we (were) coming to win this game."

But it wasn’t enough.

Down 13-10 late in the third quarter, UL backup slot receiver Bradley Brown slipped a gap to block a Kyle Christy punt and lineman Blake Comminie returned it 22 yards for a TD that helped make it 17-13 Cajuns.

"I was like, ‘Man, this is it,’ " Brown said.

A 22-yard field goal early in the fourth from Baer, his second field goal of the game, further heightened UL hopes, making it 20-13 with 13:11 remaining.

But Brissett, playing because Driskel sprained an ankle, found Dunbar to cap a four-play, 49-yard drive that consumed only 1:14.

UL got the ball back with 1:42 remaining.

But — rather than go hurry-up to try to get Lou Groza Award semifinalist Baer in position for a possible game-winning field goal — it ran Harris over right tackle for 4 yards, over right guard for 2 and up the middle for 1.

"I’m very disappointed, because I think we could have won the game," Harris said. "No doubt we could have won the game.

"And I just feel like "» we should have (given) ourselves an opportunity to go two-minute (drill). "» I know we were struggling a little bit, but I think we should have (given) it a try."

The Cajuns, however, opted otherwise.

"It’s a lot of pain in the lockerroom, because we know we had that game and we let it slip away," Brown said. "But the thing we didn’t understand was why we didn’t go for it with (1:42) left — because we’re a two-minute team. We can run a no-huddle.

"It made us wonder, and we thought about what the coaches were thinking, and I realized the coaches wanted to take that game into overtime. They had a plan.

"We didn’t know it at the time, but they knew exactly what they were doing. And sometimes it’s not for you to understand what’s going on," Brown added. "It’s for you to trust in your coaches and believe in the process. "» And that’s one thing we’ve got to continue to do: Trust in our coaches, no matter what happens. On the sideline, in the lockerroom. No matter what, we’ve got to believe in them first."

Hudspeth — who wouldn’t have minded OT, especially considering how successful the Cajun defense had been most of the day — explained.

"We were backed up right there," he said of a drive that started on UL’s own 27.

"You’re going against the No. (5) defense in the nation, and just didn’t want to give them a short field and (they) kick a field goal and the game’s over right there."

Florida called a timeout with 13 seconds left, and Baer came out to punt.

That’s when things really went wrong for UL.

"We hadn’t moved the ball great," Hudspeth said.

"We’d been grinding it out, which (means) not hitting many big plays. So we just didn’t think we could grind it out in 1:42 and get anything. So we were going to run it down to 13 seconds, punt it, and that was going to use up six or seven seconds, and "» then, hey, go into overtime and roll the dice. And we didn’t get the punt off. That’s disappointing."

After Purify got past two Cajuns and put a hand up, the weakened punt popped to Jenkins.

"They brought more than we can handle, apparently," Broadway said. "I mean, we knew what was coming."

"I don’t think the punt-protectors were prepared for it, or they didn’t get the right reads," Harris added. "It just was a breakdown."

Hudspeth said the Cajuns didn’t flex anyone out because they were in "max protection."

"We knew they may be trying to come," he said, "and our shield let some guys slip loose.

"Same block they had tried earlier "» and we had picked it up. We just didn’t execute it right this time. Give them credit for making something happen. That’s what good football teams do."

An $1 million payday later, the Cajuns must now return their focus to the Sun Belt, as a key conference meeting with Western Kentucky awaits Saturday.

"Next week it’s gonna be horrible for Western Kentucky," said Cajuns starting slot receiver Harry Peoples, who lost a fumble early but had a game-high 10 catches for 73 yards.

"I know everybody in the lockerroom feels bad, but we also feel we should have won this game. And the next game, and the next game, and the next game, and the next game, we are gonna show we should have."