Louisiana Sends Seniors Out In Style With 36-17 Win Over Georgia Southern
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Ben Wooldridge threw three first-half touchdown passes and Kenneth Almendares tied a school record with five field goals – three of them in a 10-minute span – to boost Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns to a 36-17 Sun Belt Conference win over Georgia Southern in a Thursday night national television contest.
The Cajuns (5-5, 3-4 Sun Belt) snapped a two-game loss streak with the win in their home finale and kept alive their hopes of becoming bowl eligible with two games remaining. UL needs to win one of its final two games – at Florida State on Nov. 19 and at Texas State on Nov. 26 – to become bowl eligible for the 10th time in the last 12 seasons.
UL, winning for the fourth straight time against the Eagles (5-5, 2-4) and improving to 5-1 in the all-time series, scored on all but three possessions in the game with one turnover on downs deep in Georgia Southern territory in the first quarter, and two punts in the final two quarters – the last coming in the game's final three minutes. The Cajuns also scored on five of their six first-half possessions, with Wooldridge 's three touchdown passes coming in the game's first 19 minutes to stake the Cajuns to a 21-7 lead.
Almendares hit two field goals in the final 3:44 before halftime and then added three more in the second half from 42, 39 and 40 yards. He became the first Cajun kicker in 33 years to record five field goals in a game and joined Rafael Septien (Oct. 5, 1974 vs. Lamar) and Mike Lemoine (Sept. 9, 1989 vs. Central Michigan) as UL players with five-field-goal games.
Almendares' second field goal, a 34-yard effort at the halftime horn that provided a 27-7 lead, came after the game's biggest defensive play. Georgia Southern had driven to the UL 11 in the half's final minute, but Cajun defensive end Andre Jones sacked Eagle quarterback Kyle Vantrease on third down and forced a fumble, which Mason Narcisse returned to midfield with 33 seconds left.
Wooldridge completed two passes and ran for a key 10-yard first down to set up Almendares for a 34-yard field goal on the final play of the half to provide the 20-point halftime advantage.
