MONROE - The announcement that the University of Louisiana football family feared came over the Malone Stadium public address system, just as the Ragin' Cajuns came on the field for the second half.

Arkansas State had scored a touchdown with 30 seconds left, giving the Indians a 31-24 victory over North Texas and effectively eliminating the Cajuns from the opportunity of a home-field appearance in the New Orleans Bowl.

"We knew we couldn't do anything about that," said Cajun linebacker Mark Risher. "We knew it was possible and we just had to know how to handle it."

They apparently handled it pretty well, adding to a 33-14 intermission lead and running away with a 54-21 win over previously league-leading UL Monroe here Saturday in the season finale.

The Cajuns needed a win over the Indians on Saturday to claim a share of the league title. That and an ASU loss to North Texas would have put UL into the Dec. 20 New Orleans Bowl to be played at the Cajuns' home field.

Literally hundreds of Cajun fans were monitoring the ASU-UNT game, and the Arkansas State win could easily have knocked out any emotion that UL built during its big 26-point second quarter.

"We heard it when we came out," said quarterback Jerry Babb. "All we could do was control what we could control."

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Dan McDonald
dmcdonald@theadvertiser.com