Football: SBC’s new sheriff – Cajuns put abrupt halt to Troy’s home opener streak 9/9/12

UL running back Alonzo Harris (46) runs away from a group of Troy defenders during his big night that included 137 rushing yards. Brad Kemp/Courtesy UL sports information

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, September 9, 2012

TROY, Ala. — One streak ended in a good way for the UL Ragin’ Cajuns, as UL’s string 21 consecutive losses in road openers came to a close.

Two others ended in a bad way for the Trojans, as Troy’s run of 25 consecutive victories in home openers — including longtime coach Larry Blakeney’s 21 in a row — was halted.

But what impressed UL coach Mark Hudspeth the most in a 37-24 win over Troy in front of 17,981 at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday night was the way backup quarterback Terrance Broadway came in on relief of injured starter Blaine Gautier — and delivered.Gautier exited with bruised ribs after a 10-yard touchdown run that helped tie the game at 7 with three minutes and 37 seconds remaining in the opening quarter, and Broadway — who sat out all of last season after transferring from the University of Houston — wound up going 10-of-16 for 143 yards, a touchdown pass to Harry Peoples and no interceptions.

"Terrance was prepared," Hudspeth said. "I thought he made some great decisions, and, most of all, he took care of the football."The Cajuns also got a game-high 137 rushing yards and one touchdown from running back Alonzo Harris, three Brett Baer field goals (two from 25 yards, one from 32) and a T.J. Worthy-forced fumble returned for a touchdown 56 yards by cornerback Jemarlous Moten.

UL wound up winning the turnover battle 3-0, including an Emeka Onyenekwu interception and Christian Ringo’s recovery of a Jake Molbert-forced fumble, making Hudspeth one happy man."We talked about it before the game," Hudspeth said, "I guaranteed ’em that if we won the turnover battle we’d win the game. I told ’em I’d walk home if we didn’t."But the Cajuns did, and Hudspeth didn’t have to worry about having good shoes for the long trek.

UL took the lead for good on Moten’s TD, and the Cajuns’ defense — despite allowing Troy 588 total yards, despite allowing quarterback Corey Robinson a Troy school-record 485 yards on 46-of-70 passing and despite getting beat in the battle of first downs 34-15 — came up big in the second half.

The Cajuns got seven pass breakups in all, including key ones by Molbert and Moten, and a critical fourth-down stop with a tackle from Ringo with just more than a minute remaining in the third quarter and UL up 30-17 at the time.

"We bent," Hudspeth said, "but didn’t break at times."

Troy had its way on the game’s opening drive, using just nine plays to go 74 yards as Deon Anthony ran in from 11 yards out for an early touchdown.Anthony broke a tackle inside, then cut right and ran in standing up.

UL broke the tie with 1:31 left in the opening quarter, when Moten returned Anthony’s bouncing fumble along the left sideline and Baer added his second PAT of the night.Moten appeared to be out-of-bounds when the fumble happened, but he came back in, caught the ball on a high bounce off the new artificial turf at Veterans Memorial and ran in untouched.

"It looked like money," Moten said. "I knew if I just grabbed it and took off, it was over."The play was examined by video review, but the touchdown stood up.

"We had it reviewed and thought he (Moten) might have been out of bounds before he fumbled," Blakeney said, "but the review proved it was a legal play."That’s a tough, tough chain of events. We’re headed down the field moving the ball pretty good, and all of a sudden, bang, it’s the other way for six."

Up 14-7 after one quarter, UL took a 10-point lead with a 25-yard goal by Baer — closing a drive boosted by Harris’ career-long 50-yard run to end the first."I kind of felt like it was gonna be a pretty good game, being that it was a homecoming," said Harris, who played his high school football in Alabama."I would give all the props to the offensive line," he added. "They definitely made hole for me to be able to get the yardage, so it starts up front."The six-play, 63-yard was directed by Broadway, a University of Houston transfer who was 6-of-9 passing for 61 yards in his Cajun debut one week earlier vs. Lamar.

"It was good to get some passes in last week," Broadway said, "to get the jitters out of my system and be ready for this week."

Baer added a second field goal after the long Harris ruin, this one again from 25 yards, to make it 20-7 with 7:35 left before halftime.

It stayed that until the final minute of the half, when with 52 seconds remaining before the break Robinson connected with Jaquon Robinson on a 5-yard touchdown pass.Will Scott’s PAT pulled the Trojans to within six at 20-14, and Scott’s 33-yard second field with 9:50 left in the third quarter made it a three-point game.

But the Cajuns extended their lead back to 10 less than two minutes later with a 9-yard TD pass from Broadway to Peoples, and another Baer PAT.Broadway found Peoples on the right side, and the UL senior split of couple Troy defenders to score.Baer then hit another field — his 18th straight dating back to last season, a Sun Belt Conference record — to make it 30-17.Harris’ 2-yard TD run and a Baer PAT put UL up 37-24 with just under 10 minutes to go, and a late Robinson to Eric Thomas TD pass would not be enough for Troy.

That has UL 2-0 heading into Saturday’s game at nationally ranked Oklahoma State, and feel good — but not necessarily great — about itself.

"We’re just trying to make our mark, and we’re not there yet," Hudspeth said. "We’re a work-in-progress."