Stymied and shut out in a half for only the second time in two seasons, Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns exploded with seven straight touchdowns in the second half and rolled to a 49-21 victory over Eastern Michigan here Saturday to extend the nation's longest winning streak.
The Cajuns, now 2-0 for only the third time in the last 14 seasons, trailed 14-0 at halftime before the quarterback combo of Chandler Fields and Ben Wooldridge teamed for five touchdowns passes – to five different receivers -- in a time span of 19:19 in the final two quarters.
Meanwhile, UL's defense forced five second-half turnovers and held the visiting Eagles (1-1) to one second-half score before the Cajuns scored the game's final 35 points.
"It was kind of a tale of two halves," said UL coach Michael Desormeaux, who became the first Cajun coach in 72 years to start his career with three straight wins including last December's R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. "Offensively we couldn't find a rhythm, and in the second half we came out and said we wanted to take some shots.
"Defensively, our guys fly around and strike people. When you do that, the ball will come loose."
The Cajuns, who opened the season with a 24-7 home win over Southeastern Louisiana last weekend and have now won a school-record-tying 11 straight games at Cajun Field, rolled up 376 yards of offense in the final two quarters after being limited to 76 yards and four first downs in a first half that included a lightning delay of one hour and three minutes.
Eastern Michigan came back after the delay to finish off an 88-yard drive five seconds before halftime, with quarterback Taylor Powell hitting Tanner Knue with a 25-yard scoring pass that provided a 14-0 lead.
The Cajuns had to punt on the second half's first possession, but found the end zone seven straight times after Eric Garror's 34-yard punt return gave UL good field position and a spark. Fields hit Michael Jefferson on an out-and-up behind the EMU secondary for a 27-yard score on the drive's second play.