Football: Ragin’™ Cajuns Dominate Jaguars on Senior Night, 52-30

LAFAYETTE, La. – Terrance Broadway threw for 305 yards and a pair of touchdowns and rushed for a third score as Louisiana ran its record to 7-4 on the season, routing South Alabama, 52-30, on Senior Night at Cajun Field. 

After the game, the Cajuns accepted an invitation to play in the R�L Carriers New Orleans Bowl on Saturday, Dec. 22, marking the second straight year that Louisiana will be playing in the game.

“I couldn’t be happier going back to New Orleans,” Hudspeth said.  “It is a testament to the young men on this team that they fought through the adversity and injuries this season and put ourselves in a position to get invited back to New Orleans.  We’ve fought hard all season, and it’s nice to see all of that work pay off.  Our players and fans couldn’t be happier to be going back to the Big Easy – let’s paint the town red, again.”

The game marked the final home appearance for 18 Cajun seniors, a group that has been responsible for Louisiana going 10-1 at home over the last two seasons.

“Tonight was all about our seniors,” head coach Mark Hudspeth said.  “It is through the blood and sweat of those guys that the success that we have had the last two years has become possible.  It was good to see so many seniors have a hand in the win.

“To see guys like Blaine Gautier, Javone Lawson, Yobes Walker and the rest of them get the kind of reception from the Cajun fans made the game special.  It is something that they will remember for the rest of their lives.”

The Cajuns won the game on the defensive line, holding the Jaguars to just 54 yards rushing in 28 attempts, marking the sixth time (all wins) this year that Louisiana has held an opponent under 100 yards rushing.  South Alabama quarterback Ross Metheny was 27-for-44 for 360 yards and a pair of touchdowns, but the big plays went against them.

Louisiana blocked a field goal and had three quarterback sacks with each keeping the Jaguars out of the end zone.

South Alabama kicker Michael Chapuseaux converted three of his four field goal attempts to keep the Jaguars in the game, but as South Alabama was making field goals, the Cajuns were scoring touchdowns.

After the Jaguars cut the Louisiana lead to 17-16 just before half, the Cajuns scored touchdowns on their next three possessions to take control of the game, 38-16 midway through the third quarter.

“We hurt ourselves with field position in the second quarter that gave South Alabama a number of good chances,” Hudspeth said.  “To hold them to three field goals considering the field position they had shows that our defense got the job done.”

Justin Anderson led the defense with 10 tackles while Jemarlous Moten added eight.  Senior Emeka Onyenekwu made four tackles, including a pair of quarterback sacks.

Broadway led the Cajuns offensively, accounting for 369 yards of total offense.  He completed 11-of-19 passes for 305 yards and two touchdowns while rushing 13 times for 65 yards and a score.

Harry Peoples (5 catches, 166 yards and a TD) and Javone Lawson (3-113-1) were the primary targets for Broadway, each going over 100 yards receiving.

The Jaguars took the opening kickoff and drove 75 yards in three plays with Julien Valentin scoring on a one-yard run with 11:05 left in the first quarter to put South Alabama ahead, 7-0.  The Cajun defense appeared to have thwarted the drive two plays earlier when Justin Anderson stripped Terrance Timmons of the ball and Cordian Hagans recovered at the UL 3, but the play was called back because of an offsides call against Louisiana.

Louisiana came right back as Brett Baer converted a 27-yard field goal with 8:40 left to close the Cajuns to within 7-3.  The drive began with a 33-yard pass from Broadway to Javone Lawson, who returned to the lineup after missing the last three games with a broken wrist.

South Alabama drove deep into Cajun territory on its next possession, getting a first and 10 at the UL 11.  On third down, Emeka Onyenekwu sacked Jaguar quarterback Ross Metheny for a 14-yard loss.  Jamal Robinson blocked the ensuing 42-yard field goal by Michael Chapuseaux.

The Cajuns didn’t wait long to strike as Broadway found Harry Peoples on a short crossing pattern on the first play following the block.  Peoples turned upfield and outran the defense for a 75-yard touchdown to put Louisiana ahead, 10-7 with 4:17 left.

The defense struck again on South Alabama’s next possession as Jermarlous Moten stripped Gabe Lopez of the ball after a short catch and Rodney Gillis recovered for the Cajuns.  Effrem Reed needed just two runs to get the ball into the end zone, going 20 yards on his first carry and scoring on a 19-yard run up the middle on his second to give Louisiana a 17-7 lead with 3:18 left in the opening stanza.

Chapuseaux took over after that, converting field goals of 45, 33 and 50 yards to pull the Jaguars to within 17-16 with 6:13 left in the half. 

South Alabama close to within 17-10 just 52 seconds into the second quarter when Chapuseaux converted a 45-yard field. 

The Cajuns struck just before halftime, needing five plays to drive 98 yards in 1:53, with Lawson scoring on a 27-yard pass from Broadway with 16 seconds left to give UL a 24-16 lead at the intermission.

Lawson keyed the drive by catching a 53-yard pass from Broadway to move the ball to the South Alabama 27.

Bouyed by a 72-yard Harry Peoples reception, the Cajuns took the second half kickoff and drove 82 yards for a touchdown with Effrem Reed fighting in from one-yard out for the score to put UL ahead, 31-16 with 13:32 left in the third quarter.

Broadway pushed the Cajun lead to 38-16, capping a 75-yard drive by running it in on a keeper from six yards out for his team-high seventh rushing touchdown of the year.  A little trickery helped the Cajuns on the drive as Brady Thomas completed 25-yard pass to Melvin White on a fake punt to keep the drive alive.

South Alabama put its first second half points on the board when Metheny completed a 23-yar touchdown pass to Jereme Jones to make it a 38-23 game with 2:27 left in the third quarter. 

Senior Blaine Gautier, who had missed the last six games with a broken left hand, took over at quarterback on the third play of the fourth quarter and promptly threw a 27-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Maxwell to give the Cajuns a 45-23 lead with 13:50 left.

South Alabama countered with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Metheny to Gabe Loper to make it a 45-30 game with 7:26 left.

The Cajuns closed the scoring at the 3:33 mark when senior Yobes Walker scored on a one-yard run.

The Cajuns will head to Boca Raton, Fla. this week to close the 2012 regular season against FAU on Saturday, Dec. 1 beginning at 3:00 p.m. EST (2:00 p.m. in Lafayette).

— Ragin’ Cajuns —

South Alabama at Louisiana

November 24, 2012 – Cajun Field – Lafayette, La.

Post-Game Notes

 

 

• ·      The Cajuns closed out the home portion of the 2012 season beating South Alabama, 52-30 and ended the season 5-1 at home.
• ·      Louisiana is now 10-1 at Cajun Field under head coach Mark Hudspeth.
• ·      Tonight’s game marked the final home appearance in the careers of 18 Cajun seniors, 12 of whom would be considered starters at their respective positions.
• ·      Louisiana, which is bowl eligible for the second straight season, accepted an invitation to play in the R�L Carries New Orleans Bowl (Dec. 22) in a post-game ceremony.
• ·      Jamal Robinson blocked a field goal in the first quarter. It was the first blocked field goal this season and first since Le’Marcus Gibson blocked a field goal against North Texas on Oct. 15, 2011.
• ·      Javone Lawson, who has been out the last three games with a broken wrist, caught a 33-yard pass on the first UL play. He also caught a 53-yard catch late in the second quarter, which set him up for a 27-yard touchdown catch.
• ·      Lawson had his sixth 100-yard game of his career and first of the 2012 season. His 113 yards receiving in the contest puts him only 34 yards away from reaching the 2,000 yard plateau.
• ·      Entering the game, Louisiana opponents were 19-20 on field goal attempts this year. South Alabama went 4-5.
• ·      Brett Baer set Louisiana school records for both extra points made and attempted in a career.  He was seven-for-seven in the game, making him 112-for-119 during his career.  He broke Drew Edmiston’s school records (108-114 from 2006-08)
• ·      Effrem Reed notched his first career multi-TD game, carrying 17 times for 81 yards with touchdown runs of one and 19 yards.
• ·      UL held USA to nine yards rushing on 19 carries in the first half and 54 yards for the game. The Cajuns have held their opponents to less than 100-yards rushing six times this season, all of which have been wins.
• ·      Harry Peoples made five catches for a team-best 166 yards. His 72-yard catch in the third quarter set up the 1-yard touchdown run by Effrem Reed.
• ·      Tonight’s game was Peoples fifth career 100-yard game and third this season.
• ·      Terrance Broadway’s 6-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was his team-leading seventh of the season.
• ·      Blaine Gautier, who missed the last six games with a broken hand, threw an 18-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter.
• ·      Senior Yobes Walker scored the last touchdown of the game on a 1-yard run. Walker became the 16^th Cajun to score a touchdown this season.
• ·      Senior quarterback Brady Thomas completed his first attempt of the season on a fake punt in the third quarter. The 25-yard completion to Melvin White set up the 6-yard TD scamper by Broadway.

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