LOUISIANA La. -- After a streak of three weeks in which they saw everything go against them, the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns are finally seeing things fall their way for a change.
Two weeks ago, the Cajuns scored late to pull off a stunning 13-10 upset at Middle Tennessee. And Saturday night, after blowing a 20-0 lead and being taken into overtime by the Troy Trojans, they managed to pull off another three-point victory, 31-28.
Earlier this year -- certainly during the first 15 days of October when they lost three straight, two by three points -- both of those games almost certainly would have ended differently.
So what is the sudden difference?
"I think we're a team that's learning how to win," redshirt freshman Michael Desormeaux said after the Cajuns' latest victory. "It might be a little too late, but we still have a chance to have a heckuva season and it can be great for us, great for our program.
"We've got three games left … I think we go to North Texas next week and hopefully we can continue to find a way to win. I don't care what the score is as long as we get it done."
The Cajuns (3-5, 2-2 Sun Belt Conference) stands 1‰ games behind league-leading Louisiana-Monroe, a team the Cajuns play Nov. 26 in Monroe.
The Indians still must play defending champion North Texas and at Middle Tennessee.
UL, meanwhile, must face North Texas this week and last-place Florida International before its date with the Indians (3-4, 3-0).
Arkansas State, the only other SBC team (4-3, 3-1) with one loss still must face Middle Tennessee, Troy and North Texas.
"Every one of them (games) is huge now," UL coach Rickey Bustle said. "It's a matter of us taking care of our business a day at a time.
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By GLENN QUEBEDEAUX
Special to The Advocate