Football: UL’s 2011 win against Monroe already legend

Tim Buckley, The Advertiser, November 3, 2012

Some, like senior offensive tackle Jaron Odom, claim they’re not even thinking about what happened around this time last season.

Others, like defensive end Emeka Onyenekwu, can’t help but revel in the memory of UL’s Miracle over Monroe comeback win of 2011.

It happened two days shy of one year ago, against the very same team — now Sun Belt Conference-leader ULM — the Ragin’ Cajuns visit this afternoon.

"Aw man, that was, like, one of the greatest games of my career," said Onyenekwu, a fifth-year senior.

"Just watching, witnessing that comeback — we never stopped believing that we could come back with two minutes left on the clock to do that. We just had to have a lot of drive, and have everyone believing."

Down by 11 after a late ULM touchdown in the early November game, UL rallied with two touchdowns of its own in the final two minutes and five seconds — Blaine Gautier’s 16-yard touchdown pass to the Darryl Surgent, followed by Alonzo Harris’ 3-yard TD run with 1:06 to go — to win 36-35 in front of 28,176 at Cajun Field.

Surgent, now a Cajun junior and UL’s leading receiver by yardage this season, will never forget "just playing as a team, not giving up."

"You know, usually "» with three minutes left in the game and you’re down "» not too many teams come back," he said. "But we were fortunate to keep playing with composure and keep playing with heart, and we were able to come back because we never gave up.

"We knew what we were capable of doing," Surgent added. "We knew if everybody played together and played hard we could come back, because we would go through those situations during the week. We had been there before — if not in a regular game, then in practice."

The way this one unfolded, though, was one for the ages.

"That was the game you saw how much momentum can really help you," kicker Brett Baer said.

A personal foul on the kickoff after ULM’s final touchdown helped UL with field position, and Gautier — who had been shaken up and knocked out of the game earlier — needed only six plays to go 48 yards and help make it 35-30.

Harris’ TD was the topper, capping a drive boosted by Gautier’s 24-yard pass to Javone Lawson, and UL’s defense held on from there, first keeping Warhawk receiver Brent Leonard inbounds to keep the clock running, then watching ULM quarterback Kolton Browning mysteriously run out of bounds with the ball as time expired.

But in between was the play of the game, an onside kick Cajuns can’t help but recall with fondness.

"It was a pretty exhilarating moment," tight end Ian Thompson said.

First, ex-Cajun punter Spencer Ortego ran as fast as he could to retrieve Baer’s special — but misplaced — onside-kick tee.

Then Baer did his trick, the bouncing kick bounding off Cajun Brad McGuire, changing direction and somehow landing in the hands of now-NFL tight end Ladarius Green along the UL sideline.

"That was just a tremendous kick," ULM coach Todd Berry recalled this past summer. "I mean, that is so difficult to make. I don’t know that I’ve seen a kick go across the field like that. Ever.

"Of course we called timeout right before — because we had never seen their onside look. We didn’t know how they were gonna align. And once they got aligned, we kind of aligned appropriately to that.

"But for him (Baer) to get that big bounce that he got — you know, sometimes you get some good breaks. And that was a good break," Berry added. "It was a great kick."

And for the Cajuns it was a great way to cap their first undefeated season at home since 1987.

"To see the way our guys just kept battling, kept finding a way "» to see the way they pulled it out, was pretty emotional," said Mark Hudspeth, who was in his first season as Cajun head coach at the time.

UL players, and those at Cajun Field who hadn’t already given up and gone home, went wild afterward.

Many hugged.

Others collapsed on the turf, simply exhausted.

But by the time all got back in their locker room, the party — Cajun-style — was on.

"That was big," receiver Jamal Robinson said. "That was real big. Everybody was happy. "» Everybody was dancing, celebrating, cheering."

One year later, some in Lafayette — the win over ULM a gem in a season that ended with a New Orleans Bowl win over San Diego State — are still smiling.

Others, however, have moved on, more consumed by what’s ahead than what once was.

ULM is 6-2 overall with an upset win over then-No. 8 Arkansas, and 4-0 so far in Sun Belt play; UL is 4-3 overall, and has lost two straight to make it 2-2 in the conference.

"We don’t really re-live or pay attention to (anything) that happened last year," senior cornerback Melvin White said.

"Last year is last year," Odom added. "We’ve just got to play."