Epic Night for University of Louisiana Fans
UL – Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns celebrated Homecoming and the school’s 1,000th ! football game plus Tyrell Fenroy joined an elite group here Saturday afternoon at Cajun Field.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (5-3, 4-0 Sun Belt) also remained undefeated in Sun Belt Conference play with a convincing 49-20 victory over FIU (3-5, 2-2 Sun Belt). Troy's 31-30 loss to ULM later in the evening leaves Louisiana as the lone unbeaten team in SBC play, in sole possession of first place.
At the 5:12 mark of the opening quarter Fenroy moved over 1,000 yards for the season making him only the seventh player in NCAA history to record four consecutive 1,000 yard seasons.
Fenroy later added three rushing touchdowns – with the first allowing him to capture the Sun Belt Conference career rushing touchdown record with his 42nd career score. It was his fourth, three-touchdown game of the season and eighth of his career. Fenroy is now up to 44 career rushing touchdowns leaving him three shy of Brian Mitchell’s school record.
Louisiana’s defense pitched a shutout for 44-plus minutes, after FIU scored with 53 seconds left in the first quarter, and limited the Golden Panthers to 270 total yards for the entire contest.
Michael Desormeaux returned to action for UL and completed 13-of-19 passes for 216 yards and two touchdowns.
Louisiana posted 57 rushing attempts with nine different players getting at least one carry. The Ragin’ Cajuns were 11-of-17 on third-down conversions and controlled the clock for 37:38.
Louisiana trailed 7-0 just seconds into the game and 14-7 after the first quarter, but scored 28 unanswered points to take a 35-14 lead into halftime.
FIU wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as T.Y. Hilton took the opening kickoff 90 yards to paydirt to give the Golden Panthers a 7-0 lead 14 seconds into the first quarter.
The Ragin’ Cajuns responded with a 16-play, 75-yard drive to knot the score at 7-7 with 6:42 left in the first quarter. The drive was highlighted by a 20-yard reception on third-and-10 by Louis Lee to keep the chains moving. Desormeaux capped off the drive with a six yard touchdown pass to Ladarius Green.
Needing just a pair of yards to become the seventh player in NCAA history to record four consecutive 1,000-yard seasons, Fenroy rushed up the middle for four yards on the first play of the Cajuns’ second drive to secure his place in college football history with 5:12 remaining in the first quarter.
Following a three-and-out, the Golden Panthers took the lead with a one-yard touchdown plunge by Julian Reams. The FIU drive was aided by a 38-yard rush by Reams and two costly penalties by the Cajuns which gave the visitors a first-and-goal on the four-yard line.
Louisiana tied the score at 14-14 with 11:14 remaining in the half with an extended scoring drive. The Cajuns topped off the 11-play, 64-yard drive with a four-yard Fenroy touchdown. The touchdown gave the senior 42 in his career, making him the all-time Sun Belt Conference rushing touchdown leader.
The Cajuns’ defense stepped up on the next FIU possession as Daylon McCoy stripped A’mod Ned of the football and Gerren Blount picked up the loose ball and carried it 22 yards for the touchdown. The touchdown put the Ragin’ Cajuns ahead 21-14 with 11:05 left in the first half.
Defense helped UL extend their lead to 28-14 as Derik Keyes picked off a Paul McCall pass at the UL33 and returned the ball 63 yards to the FIU4. From there, the Cajuns needed just two rushes from Fenroy to extend their lead to 14 points.
Fenroy’s score was his second of the evening giving him his fourth multiple touchdown game of the season and 11th of his career.
UL added another touchdown just before halftime to extend their lead to 35-14.
The Cajuns took over control of the ball on the UL six yard line with 3:17 before the half. Louisiana started the drive with a 28-yard Julian Shankle rush off the right side. A Desormeaux pass to Jason Chery for 18 yards put Louisiana into field goal range. However, two plays later, Desormeaux connected with Chery once again for a 25-yard touchdown with just 36 seconds remaining in the half.
In the second half, the Cajuns struck quickly scoring a touchdown covering 73 yards on four plays to increase their lead to 42-14. Richie Falgout caught a Desormeaux pass and rumbled 82 yards down to the one-yard line to set up Fenroy’s third touchdown of the game with just 1:10 off the clock in the third quarter.
Fenroy’s third score marked his fourth, three-touchdown game of the season and eighth in his career. He ended the night moving up to 44 career rushing touchdowns which leaves him three shy of Brian Mitchell’s career mark of 47.
The Cajuns continued to compile both yards and points as they chewed up 7:38 of play clock on a 13 play, 56-yard scoring drive to increase the lead to 49-14 with 4:47 remaining in the third quarter. Shankle powered the ball into the end zone from two yards out to conclude the drive. The Cajuns stayed on the ground for nearly the entirety of the drive, running the ball on 12 of the 13 plays for 52 yards.
The teams swapped scoreless possessions until FIU added a late score for the Golden Panthers’ first points since 53 seconds remained in the first quarter. Wayne Younger completed a 10-yard touchdown pass to Eric Kirchenberg with 1:21 left to play to provide the final margin of 49-20.
Louisiana steps out of Sun Belt play next weekend hosting UTEP on Saturday, Nov. 8 at 6 p.m., at Cajun Field. The game will be televised by ESPN+.
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Re: Read, and Rejoice
Originally Posted by RCAJUN90
