The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns may be able to recover from last Thursday's gut-wrenching 39-36 road loss to Arkansas State, but it won't be easy.

Rarely has a team done so many things well, only to be undone by a staggering collection of little mistakes.

Freshman quarterback Michael Desormeaux directed touchdown drives of 80, 92, 79, 74 and 80 yards against the Indians.

He capped the first march with some fancy sleight-of-hand on a reverse pitchout to Corey Fredrick that covered the final 17 yards, and in general made life miserable for ASU with 174 yards rushing and 97 passing on 10-of-16 attempts.

Behind Desormeaux, the Cajuns converted an amazing 14-of-19 third down plays and 2-of-2 fourth down gambles, including a 15-yard pass to Bill Sampy to Indians' 3 to set up Josh Harrison's TD and a late 36-36 tie.

The visitors ran for 457 yards and totalled 554 yards on the night.

The 1986 Cajuns ran for 513 yards against Tulane, with Brian Mitchell's 191 yards similar to Desormeaux's output, yet lost 42-39. Not since that game has a UL squad run so well and lost.

When Tyrell Fenroy was knocked out with 62 rushing yards, Abdule Levier came up with 57 and a score and Harrison scampered for 87 and a pair of TDs.

Coach Rickey Bustle's team had a 16-0 lead late in the first half and a pair of 15-point leads at 22-7 and 29-14 in the second half.

Fans who turned off the radio and tuned in later were stunned at the final tally, but no more so than the Cajuns themselves.

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Bruce Brown
On the Line