How the West Was Won: Louisiana Clinches Sun Belt West Division Crown
For the second-straight season, the Ragin' Cajuns will stake claim to the title of Sun Belt West Division Champions after putting together a complete team performance in a 53-3 rout of Troy at Cajun Field on Saturday afternoon.
It was all Louisiana (9-2, 6-1 SBC) from start to finish after it compiled 598 yards of total offense and scored 53 points, the second-highest point total of the season and the most against a conference opponent since scoring 55 against Arkansas State on Oct. 21, 2014.
With the victory, the team clinched its first nine win season since 1976 and its fourth overall in program history, while the six conference wins are the most by the program in the Sun Belt era.
Of the 598 total yards, 344 came on the ground with the help of six different running backs. Chris Smith was responsible for 87 of those yards, the majority coming on an 80-yard touchdown scamper, while Trey Ragas finished the night with 79 yards and two touchdowns, bringing his season total to 11.
The five rushing touchdowns against the Trojans upped the Ragin' Cajuns' season total to 39, breaking the school record of 34 set during the 2005 campaign.
Quarterback Levi Lewis once again impressed through the air, finishing the night 21-of-33 for 273 yards and a touchdown. Senior wideout Ja'Marcus Bradley was the beneficiary of 96 of those yards on five receptions and hauled in the team's lone aerial touchdown.
Louisiana's defense was stellar once again, holding the Trojans to a season-low three points and extending its streak of holding opponents under 30 points to 10 games. Jacques Boudreaux recorded his fourth double-digit tackle game of the season with 11 on the night, while fellow linebacker Jourdan Quibodeaux notched a career-high eight tackles and was added his first career sack, which resulted in Louisiana's first safety since Sept. 14, 2014 against Ole Miss.
Placekicker Stevie Artigue also played a pivotal role in the contest, going a perfect 3-for-3 on field goal attempts and 6-for-6 on PATs to tie Brian Mitchell for third on the team's all-time scoring list with 286 career points.
Bradley got the Ragin' Cajuns on the board first, hauling in a 12-yard toss from Lewis in the back of the end zone and put Louisiana up 7-0. Following a 30-yard field goal by Troy, which ended up being its only points of the contest, Raymond Calais, Elijah Mitchell and Ragas tallied touchdowns to put the team ahead 28-3 with 8:18 to play in the first half.
Artigue went on to hit a field goal at the end of the first half to put Louisiana ahead 31-3 at the half before coming out and hitting another one early in the third period, extending the lead to 34-3.
Eighteen seconds later, Quibodeaux bulldozed his way into the back field and sacked Troy's Kaleb Barker in the end zone to tack on two more points for Louisiana before Ragas and Smith each added a rushing score to push the lead to 50-3 with 15 minutes to play in the game.
Artigue scored the only points of the fourth quarter, drilling a 31-yard field goal with 9:50 on the clock to solidify the 53-3 final score.
Louisiana wraps up the 2019 regular season on Saturday, Nov. 30, when it welcomes in-state foe ULM to Cajun Field. Kickoff for the rivalry game is slated for 6:30 p.m. and will be televised nationally on ESPNU.
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