Defense Locks Up Ragin' Cajuns Homecoming Victory

[NewsCopy]

The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team evened its record, moving within a win of bowl eligibility, following a 47-34 Homecoming victory over New Mexico State on Saturday at Cajun Field.

Louisiana (5-5, 4-2 Sun Belt) never trailed, responding with a scoring strike both times New Mexico State (4-6, 2-4 Sun Belt) drew even.

Tied at 34-all with 14:19 remaining in the game the Ragin' Cajuns found a momentum-shifting tally when Jordan Davis fired a strike to Ryheem Malone for the go-ahead score at 10:21. The defense assured there would be no answer, or last-minute rally by the Aggies, by capturing an interception on each of the visitor's final three possessions.

Louisiana snapped a two-game losing streak in the series with NMSU and secured a winning record at Cajun Field (improved to 3-1) for the first time since 2014.

LEADING THE RAGIN' CAJUNS
Davis completed 18-of-31 passes for 203 yards and two touchdown tosses and also added 71 yards and an additional touchdown on the ground.

Malone hauled in 113 yards receiving on seven catches, his highest output in Sun Belt play. Trey Ragas produced a season-high 132 yards rushing on the way to tallying two scores.

Jacques Boudreaux tied Tracy Walker for the team lead with nine tackles and had the game-changing interception late in the fourth quarter that set up the Ragas score that created the final margin.

Kevon Perry notched two sacks in leading the Cajuns defensive line to five total tackles for loss which kept NMSU quarterback Tyler Rogers out of rhythm most of the night resulting in his season-low of just 184 yards passing.

HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST QUARTER
The Ragin' Cajuns got on the board first when Dion Ray capped a 10-play drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to put Louisiana up 7-0 at the 10:46 mark. New Mexico State's Jason Huntley returned the ensuing kickoff 97 yards to tie the game at 7-all. The Cajuns regained the lead at the 2:38 mark on a 3-yard connection between Davis and Michael Jacquet. Louisiana outgained the Aggies 147 to -6 in the quarter.

SECOND QUARTER
Ragas extended the Ragin' Cajuns advantage to 21-7 at the 9:20 mark as he ran through a defender on his way to a 31-yard TD. The touchdown was his eighth of the season and his first since Oct. 12.

After New Mexico State picked up a 24-yard field goal by Dylan Brown, Davis added to the lead with 3:33 left in the half on a 43-yard scamper. The Aggies answered with a late TD in the quarter as Larry Rose III capped a 75-yard drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to make the score 28-17.

THIRD QUARTER
NMSU quickly picked up a 29-yard touchdown pass from Tyler Rogers to Rose at the 13:15 mark to cut the lead to 31-24. Following a 28-yard field goal by Stevie Artigue, the visitors pulled within three points on a 7-yard TD rush by Rose at 3:25.

FOURTH QUARTER
After Brown pulled NMSU into a 34-all tie with a 19-yard field goal with 14:19 left to play, Davis found a wide open Malone for a 33-yard touchdown strike to vault Louisiana back into the lead at 10:21. The defense came up with three interceptions down the stretch – the first by Boudreaux setting up a Ragas touchdown at 5:31 that opened a double-digit lead – to seal the victory.

UP NEXT
Louisiana wraps up the home portion of the schedule on Saturday, Nov. 25 facing Georgia Southern (1-9, 1-5 Sun Belt) at Cajun Field. Kickoff for the ESPN3-telecasted contest is set for 4 p.m.

In the first-ever meeting with the Eagles on their home turf, the Ragin' Cajuns will seek to gain bowl eligibility for the sixth time in seven seasons under head coach Mark Hudspeth.

LOUISIANA AC

[CajunEXPRESS]

I'm going to give some props to the defense.

We started the game with a long TD drive. Of course NMSU used 17 seconds to tie the game. Thankfully we emposed our will on their defense and had another long drive scoring another TD with a around three minutes in the quarter. That's using the clock and using it well. In the second series MNSU was three and out. The NMSU offense really didn't get traction until midway into the second quarter.

Then the SACK. Well not really, but the impact knocks their QB out the game without a yellow flag, a rare event these days when it comes to QB.

[cajunhawk]

We’re gonna be back into 6 wins and be stuck with Hud...aren’t we?

[Just1More]

I'm going to give some props to the defense.

We started the game with a long TD drive. Of course NMSU used 17 seconds to tie the game. Thankfully we emposed our will on their defense and had another long drive scoring another TD with a around three minutes in the quarter. That's using the clock and using it well. In the second series MNSU was three and out. The NMSU offense really didn't get traction until midway into the second quarter.

Then the SACK. Well not really, but the impact knocks their QB out the game without a yellow flag, a rare event these days when it comes to QB.

Our special teams collapse combined with (2) 3 and outs by the NMSU offense... ate their defense's lunch. That was a horrible 1st quarter for the NMSU defense... and it paid dividends to us all game long. Knocking Rogers out of the game was a huge added bonus.

[angeleast]

We’re gonna be back into 6 wins and be stuck with Hud...aren’t we?

(: and some will brag about it and be happy with that. I just have higher aspirations for my team.

[CajunEXPRESS]

We’re gonna be back into 6 wins and be stuck with Hud...aren’t we?

Hud wasn’t getting fired if he ended up with 8 loses.

[zephyr]

(: and some will brag about it and be happy with that. I just have higher aspirations for my team.

Why is it that some here always try in insinuate that people are happy with 6 wins?

[zephyr]

I'll be honest, I think we were fortunate last night. Some costly penalties that went against them helped us, not to mention the ejection of two players on the same play and guys who were their best defenders. Prior to that you knock their QB out of the game who had really been playing well and just led his team back from 18 down. At the point where they tied the game, i didn't see us overcoming that as they just seemed too hot. Then, when they are trying to pass the ball down the field and having some success, it starts absolutely pouring which made it really hard to throw and led to an interception that honestly sealed the game. I'll take it but a lot of factors went our way last night.

[cjr3888]

When will Larry Rose graduate? Dudes been there forever.

[Cajunsmike]

(: and some will brag about it and be happy with that. I just have higher aspirations for my team.

Honest ? here, would you have been happier with a loss so as a coaching change would be more likely to happen. Hopefully I get only a yes or no answer. Also, those of us who are happy with the victory also aspire for more than 6 wins.

[Cajunsmike]

When will Larry Rose graduate? Dudes been there forever.

Yesterday was the last time we will see Larry Rose.

[HOUCajun]

Honest ? here, would you have been happier with a loss so as a coaching change would be more likely to happen. Hopefully I get only a yes or no answer. Also, those of us who are happy with the victory also aspire for more than 6 wins.

No. Always want to win!

[Cajunsmike]

No. Always want to win!

HOUCajun, I know you always want to win. I was wondering how angel east feels. No criticism if he feels that way because the way people feel is the way they feel. Just hoping for honest feedback.

[angeleast]

Honest ? here, would you have been happier with a loss so as a coaching change would be more likely to happen. Hopefully I get only a yes or no answer. Also, those of us who are happy with the victory also aspire for more than 6 wins.

There are no simple yes or no answers. I will never pull for our team to lose. But until we get rid of that over paid prima donna, we are stuck with 6 and 6 or some bad variation. Hud has done his best and over the course of his career here its simply no t good enough. Yes I want to win but I simply want a coach who would give us a better shot at moving forward. I'm like a huge majority of fans. Hud has got to geaux.I hate that we are not the 2nd best team in the state. Hell its debatable if we even in top 3.

[Cajunsmike]

There are no simple yes or no answers. I will never pull for our team to lose. But until we get rid of that over paid prima donna, we are stuck with 6 and 6 or some bad variation. Hud has done his best and over the course of his career here its simply no t good enough. Yes I want to win but I simply want a coach who would give us a better shot at moving forward. I'm like a huge majority of fans. Hud has got to geaux.I hate that we are not the 2nd best team in the state. Hell its debatable if we even in top 3.

You can complicate things and there are lots of factors that go into decisions. But at the end of the day, everything comes down to a simple answer. Before I retired, people I worked with got irritated with me when reviewing projects as I forced them to give me the simple answer before I let the conversation move on. However, they generally appreciated that approach as it led to better decisions. In this case, I think angeleast is saying he would prefer the win than the loss despite the fact it likely increases the odds of Hud staying.