Final 68 Ventures Bowl: Louisiana 13 Delaware 20

[ZoomZoom]

Nm

[Fais do-do]

Watching the Div1 6A Tx high school playoffs, I really think these teams would beat UL. We are awful.

[NewsCopy]

Louisiana came up just short in a late rally as Delaware held on for a 20-13 victory in the 68 Ventures Bowl on Wednesday night at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

Lunch Winfield threw for 231 yards and a touchdown, finishing 21 of 36 through the air, and guided the Ragin' Cajuns 86 yards in the final minute before Delaware broke up a pass in the end zone on the game's final play. Louisiana (6-7) was undone by three turnovers and missed opportunities deep in Blue Hens territory.

Jo Silver rushed for 116 yards, including a 61-yard touchdown run, and Nick Minicucci completed 19 of 30 passes for 176 yards and a score as Delaware (7-6) earned a win in its FBS postseason debut.

Louisiana missed a field goal on its opening possession and later had a drive end with an interception in the end zone. Silver capped the Blue Hens' first-quarter takeaway by racing untouched up the middle for a touchdown and a 7-0 lead.

The Ragin' Cajuns answered with a 22-yard field goal by Tony Sterner after driving to the Delaware 5, but the Blue Hens carried a 10-3 advantage into halftime. Minicucci connected with Sean Wilson for a 35-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the third quarter, and Nate Reed added a pair of field goals to extend the lead to 20-6.

Louisiana found life in the fourth quarter when Jordan Lawson blocked a 52-yard field goal attempt, setting up a drive that ended with Winfield's 8-yard touchdown pass to Shelton Sampson Jr. on fourth down. The Cajuns later forced a turnover on downs but gave the ball back on a fumbled snap near midfield.

Pinned at its own 7 with no timeouts, Louisiana moved into scoring position behind completions to Zylan Perry, Caden Jensen and Landon Strother before a pass interference penalty set up first-and-goal at the 8.

After a 1-yard gain and spike to stop the clock with two seconds left, Delaware's Blake Matthews broke up a pass in the end zone to seal the win.

Jaden Dugger led Louisiana with seven tackles, a sack and two tackles for loss. Maurion Eleam added six tackles, while Lawson recorded five stops and three tackles for loss as the Ragin' Cajuns saw a four-game winning streak come to an end.

Louisiana Athletics
RaginCajuns.com
PRESS RELEASE

[apb]

See Marlin

Told y'all he may be another Marlin and y'all want me banned from this site. How long are we going to let a HS level coach destroy our program?

[CajunSaint08]

I will have what you're smoking. Not a chance we score 21 unanswered.

I know, but I was trying to telepathically bring them good luck. Didn't work.

[babysitter]

But hey, at least they called us “Louisiana”.

[Duckster]

Important to acknowledge here this makes 3 out of 4 losing seasons for this coaching staff. Not celebrating it, but that's a fact. And ANOTHER FCS move up passing us by. Why do we put up with this mediocrity?

[Turbine]

But hey, at least they called us “Louisiana”.

The eternal optimist in you strikes again.

[zephyr]

Where are you getting this figure from?

It generally costs us money to go to a bowl game, especially when so few tickets are sold.

[zephyr]

Michael needs to give up play calling. This interception is on him.

The INT was on Lunch. The call was a good one. Jensen was wide open initially. Lunch held on to the ball too long. He did that a number of times last night. He had a throw to sampson he just waited on. Thankfully they bailed us out with the PI.