NEW ORLEANS — Three weeks after ending the regular season with a bang, Alonzo Harris picked up from there.

The sophomore running back had 21 carries for 120 yards and two touchdowns in UL’s 43-34 New Orleans Bowl win over East Carolina on Saturday at the Superdome, including a 68-yard TD run in the second quarter that helped give the Cajuns an early 28-7 lead.

He also had a 6-yard TD run earlier in the same quarter.

The 68-yarder is the longest run in New Orleans Bowl history, topping the prior record of 50 by Troy’s Dujuan Harris in 2010.

"When that big back get those wheels turning," Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth said of UL’s Harris, "he’s tough to bring down.

"But, also, you’ve got to give a lot of credit to them boys up front."

Four of UL’s five starting offensive linemen — center Andre Huval, guard Daniel Quave and tackles Leo Bates and Jaron Odom — have started each of 26 games in both 2011 and ’12.

"That just says a lot," Hudspeth said, "about their hard work and their dedication."

L’s line — along with guard Mykhael Quave, who replaced 2011 senior starter Kyle Plouhar — helped Harris post his sixth career 100-yard-plus rushing game and his fifth of the season.

The Gadsden (Ala.) City High product finished the year with 100-yard-plus games in each of his own last three outings, including a 127-yard effort with three touchdowns in UL’s regular-season ending win at Florida Atlantic.

Harris also finished with 10 touchdowns this season, and he now has four career multi-TD games — including the two this year.

For Gautier

Hudspeth made sure to get a pre-planned series in the second quarter for senior quarterback Blaine Gautier, who was MVP of the 2011 New Orleans Bowl after throwing for a bowl-record 470 yards in a win over San Diego State.

Gautier underwent surgery after breaking two bones in his throwing hand in a Sept. 29 win over Florida International, and he didn’t play again until UL’s final regular-season home game Nov. 24 vs. South Alabama.

By then, sophomore Terrance Broadway — MVP of Saturday’s New Orleans Bowl — had become entrenched as UL’s new starter.

"At that point we had really had hit our stride, and the best thing about Blaine was he understood. And he is such a team player," Hudspeth said. "But we felt like we owed it to him, and I know Terrance Broadway "» would be the first one to say he deserved to play in this game.

"I don’t know if there’s another team in the country," Hudspeth added, "that has two quarterbacks like we have."

The series Gautier played was a 98-yard drive capped by Harris’ 68-yard TD run.

The Lutcher High product was 1-of-2 passing for eight yards in his final college game, with the one completion going to Bradley Brown — Broadway’s ex-teammate at Capitol High in Baton Rouge.

"I knew once he (Gautier) got in the game there was nothing that could go wrong," Harris said. "He’s been here before; he has that experience. He knew what it takes."

Praising Johnson

Broadway and Hudspeth heaped praise Saturday on Jay Johnson, UL’s offensive coordinator.

"I thought Coach Johnson "» had a great plan," Hudspeth said after the Cajun offense produced 591 yards, 170 more than ECU. "We got the ball to our playmakers."

"To me, he’s one of the best quarterback coaches and offensive coordinators in the country," added Broadway, who played previously at the University of Houston. "The way he schemes, and the way he coaches me — he challenges me every day. And the way he coached the game, and his play-calling ability, really meant a lot to us."

Praising McNeill

Hudspeth also had kind words for his counterpart, East Carolina’s Ruffin McNeill.

"Coach McNeill — I’ve got all the respect in the word for him, and I just think he’s got an outstanding team," the Cajun coach said. "He shows a lot of class. Good football team."

Hudspeth and McNeill hadn’t met before bowl week, but they quickly bonded, in part because McNeill once was an assistant coach at the same program where Hudspeth later was head coach, North Alabama.

Lagniappe

UL backup tight end Jacob Maxwell didn’t finish Saturday because of an ankle injury sustained on his lone catch, a 7-yard reception. Cajun starting tight end Ian Thompson ended up with three catches for 27 yards. "» One Superdome end zone was painted Saturday with the nickname "RAGIN’ CAJUNS," as expected. But the other read "ECU PIRATES," not "EAST CAROLINA" as originally suspected. Going with Ragin’ Cajuns was a compromise so neither "ULL" nor "Louisiana-Lafayette" was used. The Cajuns prefer "Louisiana.—» Cajun kickoff specialist Hunter Stover finished with two tackles Saturday, giving him eight on 40 kickoffs in 2012. "» The Cajuns practiced in New Orleans in black helmets adorned with fleur-de-lis decorations on each side and a middle red stripe, but they wore black pants, red jerseys and red helmets Saturday.

Of course, that’s with all due apologies to Brett Baer’s game-winning, 50-yard field goal last year.

For weeks now, the defensive coaches have been hammering their pupils on how well East Carolina quarterback Shane Carden extends the play.

Fittingly, there was the defense — obviously tiring and trying to hang on for the program’s second consecutive bowl victory — and there was Carden double- and triple-pumping as he rolled to the right sideline.

It was fourth down. There was just over 2:30 left to play in the game and the Cajuns were clinging to a 40-34 lead at the time.

After a quick start where the Cajun defense forced a trio of three-and-outs, it had yielded 24 first downs and 421 total yards to that point.

And no more.

Carden’s roll to the right with Cordian Hagans in hot pursuit finally ended when a pass attempt to Andrew Bodenheimer initially looked successful, but a huge hit by Melvin White dislodged the ball to force the Pirates to turn it over on downs with 2:32 left to play and no time-outs.

"I was thinking that I was going to do whatever I had to do on that play," White said.

The most memorable play of the career of a senior cornerback coming off successive nine-win seasons?

"Of course," White said with a smile.

For White and his defensive teammates, however, it truly was a special feeling. Since mid-October, it’s been a turbulent roller coaster ride for the defense loaded with plenty of ups and a lot of downs. There was the great efforts against Florida and then the debacle at home against Arkansas State "» with a whole lot of yards allowed in between.

On this day, though, it was the defense the delivered the finishing blow "» again with apologies to Baer’s 39-yard field goal that finalized the scoring with 10 seconds left.

"I feel like this feeling is even more special (than 2011 N.O. Bowl win)," White said, "because it was the defense that made the play. I feel that made it even more special."

After weeks of preparing for Carden’s play-making ability, it was especially gratifying for the defense to end the day with an A-plus in that area on such a crucial down.

"It was extremely difficult, because you had to get your man first and then be able to recognize when one of their receivers was filling a hole," White said.

"I was very proud of the way the guys handled that," UL safeties coach Tim Rebowe said. "It was tough. We talked all week about how good he (Carden) was at extending the play. We had a couple breakdowns, but I really think we did a decent job in coverage. We didn’t give up a lot of big plays."

In the two possessions prior to that memorable last stand, it was cornerback Jermarlous Moten coming through in a big way. The first one came two plays after a UL interception at the Cajun 34 with the Cajuns only leading 37-34.

After a five-yard run, Moten picked off Carden at the UL 21.

"All season long, we had been struggling with the post, so I kind of knew they were going to try to throw that on us," Moten said. "I had no safety help on that play and I kind of baited him."

On ECU’s next possession, a Moten pass break-up on third-and-three from the Pirates’ 35 ended that possession and set up an 11-play, 77-yard drive that ended with a Baer 25-yard field goal and a 40-34 UL lead with 3:11 left.

"They did a good job of changing coverages from the start of the game," said Carden, who finished 25-of-42 for 278 yards and two TDs and one interception. "They changed some things up a little more than we thought they would."

Those final three stops for UL’s defense served as a dramatic bookend to the start of the game when the defense delivered three consecutive three-and-outs to play a huge role in UL jumping out to a 28-7 lead.

"We came out hot and making plays," said defensive tackle Justin Hamilton, who finished with four tackles and one for a loss. "We really got after them. When things started to change, we knew we just had to keep fighting. We just had to keep believing in each other and keep fighting."

Hamilton was referring to the eight possessions in the middle in which ECU posted four touchdowns, two field goals and punted twice.

"It’s just a game of momentum," Rebowe said. "We’re doing a great job and then they hit one big play (45-yard pass to Gibril Solomon) and then they get the momentum. And then we had the turnover. It’s just a game of momentum, but I thought our kids kept fighting and kept making plays."

After UL dominated the time of possession in the first half, the Cajuns’ defense spent much of the second half on the field, limiting UL’s final lead in time of possession to 32:43-27:17.

"I was never worried about our defense getting fatigued," senior defensive end Emeka Onyenekwu said. "We were still playing hard. I was confident that the defense would bounce back. He was a good quarterback. You had to take the right angle on him.

"It really feels great for the defense to come through at the end. It’s a special feeling, knowing we had a lot to do with it."

NEW ORLEANS — Before every single game, UL coach Mark Hudspeth reminds his team that somebody’s opportunity is waiting in the upcoming contest.

In the 2012 R�L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, the wide receiver corps took that challenge to heart.

"We just always make sure we focus our game on helping the quarterback keep his confidence," said junior Darryl Surgent. "Today we came through when we needed and made sure they continue to have confidence in us."

"The depth at receiver really came into play today," Hudspeth said. "If you look at some of the plays our receivers made, it is the reason we won the football game."

Surgent, who didn’t start due to an undisclosed injury, chipped in just one catch for 10 yards, but sophomore Jamal Robinson, who did start, had six catches for 116 as the Cajuns had 324 yards through the air.

"That is one of our specialties," Surgent said. "If one guy is down, we have six or seven guys that can be the guy."

"If you put our third string in, even they would make plays," Robinson said. "(Terrance) Broadway threw some nice passes and I took advantage of them and made some plays. Whoever gets the opportunity will make plays."

Evident with junior Bradley Brown, who after Harry Peoples went down in the first half, stepped up and made two big catches for 30 yards."

"We’ve been trying to get the point across all season that we have depth at receiver," Brown said. "It really meant a lot to us to show how much depth we have."

Hudspeth said with Peoples out, the offense really doesn’t change, but he admitted the playbook does become a tad more limited.

"We have certain plays we like to dial up to Harry," Hudspeth said. "The schemes are the same, we just don’t call those plays. Bradley Brown stepped up and made some big plays. It seems to be that way all season. We have some guys that step up. That is a sign our team has a lot of character and a lot of heart."

"Harry and I have an unbelievable connection," said Broadway, who was named New Orleans Bowl MVP after passing for 324 yards. "Anytime he goes down, we need someone to step up. Bradley really stepped up and had a big game."

Peoples said the back injury limited him in the game. He caught three passes for 43 yards and said he felt the team played better once he went down.

"I don’t think I hurt the team at all," Peoples said. "I just couldn’t do everything I wanted to do. Everybody saw I went down and they all stepped their game up. We have the best wide receiver corps in the nation."

Senior Javone Lawson had four catches for 71 yards and among his four catches was probably the biggest play of the game. In the third quarter, Lawson hauled in a 14-yard pass in the end zone that bounced out of his grasp for a split second.

"To be honest, the game really slowed down for me," Lawson said. "When it popped out, I said "aww man." Then, I saw it again out the corner of my eye and I just caught it again."

Lawson, who played his last game Saturday in New Orleans, was visibly emotional after the game. He said he was happy to go out with a win and knows the receivers will carry on where the seniors are leaving off.

"Everybody played big," Lawson said. "We just did not want to lose this game. To leave these guys behind like this and know what they’re going to do next year is big for me."