Football: Sweet, sweet revenge – unite’, fierte’, combattre’ & croire

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, November 18, 2012

Rather than family names, the UL Ragin’ Cajuns sported one of four French words — unité, meaning unity; fierté meaning pride; combattre, meaning fight; and croire, meaning believe — on the back of their special black jerseys for Saturday night’s Sun Belt Conference game against Western Kentucky.

The one UL quarterback Terrance Broadway wore was "croire."

Broadway couldn’t actually remember afterward what the word was, and he suggested he certainly couldn’t pronounce it if he did happen to recall what it was.

"But I know what was on my back," Broadway said. "It meant believe. Our team, we just believe. We always believe. We never let go of the rope."

Believe it or not, the Cajuns — despite being down by 10 points with two minutes and 43 seconds remaining in front of 20,314 at Cajun Field — rallied to beat WKU 31-27 and snap a two-game losing streak to the Hilltoppers.

Broadway threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jamal Robinson in the near corner of the end zone with 2:42 to go, the UL defense came up with a 3-and-out stop behind key tackles from Jemarlous Moten and Justin Anderson, and Broadway ran in from 14 yards out with 38 seconds remaing to lift the Cajuns to 6-4 and make them bowl-eligible for a second straight year.

After a last-gasp WKU pass to the end zone fell incomplete, the Cajuns had pulled off a comeback about as incredible as their one last season vs. UL Monroe.

"Our kids found a way," said UL coach Mark Hudspeth, whose Cajuns were coming off a 27-20 loss one week earlier at No. 7 Florida that went awry in the final 1:42. "That’s what we preach. "» We’ve got a bunch of great kids, and they never quit.

"I appreciate every fan in the stands tonight. Especially the ones that stayed. I think a lot of our fans questioned some of our guys, and me, last week, for letting go of the rope," Hudspeth added. "I hope nobody left the stands tonight and let go of the rope. We’ve got to build this thing together, and I’m gonna tell you: We’ve got a chance to do something special."

UL, which with regular-season games remaining Saturday at home vs. South Alabama and Dec. 1 at Florida Atlantic, still has a shot at claiming a share of the Sun Belt title if it wins out and it gets some help as well.

On Saturday, though, they simply savored the win that was.

"What a finish," Hudspeth said.

"Our last goal on the plan to win each week is ‘Find a way,’ " Broadway added, "and this week we found a way."

After Western Kentucky jumped to a 7-0 lead with a 1-yard Keshawn Simpson touchdown run early in the second quarter, UL answered with an 18-yard Torrey Pierce touchdown — the first of two TDs for the Cajun walk-on running back.

WKU’s Garrett Schwettman and UL’s Brett Baer’s traded field goals — a career-long 42 yarder and from 23 yards, respectively — to make it 10-10 at halftime.

Schwettman’s second field goal, this one from 25, put WKU up 13-10, but Pierce’s second TD, a 15-yard run, made it 17-13 with 2:51 left in the third quarter.

"If we ever get the opportunity to run the ball, he (UL running backs coach Marquase Lovings) always wants us to run it hard and run it with passion," Pierce said. "Tonight, me aloing with the other running backs and even the quarterback — we ran the ball with a lot of passion."

Starting running back Alonzo Harris finished with 105 yards on 10 carries, his third over 100 this season, and Broadway had a career-high 145 on 14 runs.

Two Antonio Andrews TD runs, from 17 and 13, yards, however, put WKU back up at 27-17.

Then the magic began.

First Broadway drove UL 11 plays and 72 yards in 3:17, capping things with the pass to Robinson.

After the big defensive stop, UL first looked for a tying field goal from Baer — but instead wound up with the winning TD from Broadway on an eight-play, 93-yard drive that took just 54 seconds and featured four completions to slot receiver Harry Peoples, who finished with 13 catches for 144 yards.

"The way Terrance had been scrambling out of the pocket and stuff," Baer said of Broadway’s winning run, "it was just a fitting end for that game."

"We had some momentum, and we were getting such big chunks," Hudspeth added. "So when it crossed the 50, and we had time, I said, ‘Hey, (offensive coordinator) Jay (Johnson), let’s go win this game. Let’s don’t tie it up. Let’s win it.’ "