Welcome everyone to another edition of #4Downs. Today’s edition is breaking down the Ragin Cajuns dominating victory over Northwestern State.
1st Down: McGuire on Fire
To borrow a phrase from Dan Patrick, Elijah McGuire was “en fuego”. The junior running back had five touchdowns (four in the first half!) and a whopping 162 yards rushing off of only 14 carries. After a underwhelming game last week against the Wildcats, McGuire bounced back in a big way against the Northwestern State Demons. McGuire should be a lock for Sun Belt Conference Player of the Week with a performance like that, even if it was against a Southland conference school.
2nd Down: How Haack got his groove back
Brooks Haack looked more comfortable this week than he did last week against the Kentucky Wildcats. Again this is probably another case of being against an FCS school. But Haack had a fantastic game against the Demons completing seven-of-eight passes for 162 yards on the night. Haack even got it done on the ground, getting 55 yards off of six carries Saturday night. This was a big confidence boost for Haack and something for him to build on in the coming weeks leading up to the beginning of the conference slate.
3rd Down: Defensive Struggles Still Noticeable
The Cajuns weren’t perfect tonight. The defense still has some work to do, the most glaring is to stop the run. The Demons rushed for over 200 combined yards on the night, hardly ever having to throw passes, but when they did throw it, there were a few passes that had busted coverage written all over it. The Cajuns need to be able to communicate better on the defensive side on the ball and be able to make defensive changes on the fly.
4th Down: #LafayetteStrong
This final down isn’t about anything in the game, it’s about what happened during halftime. Both Northwestern State and UL’s marching bands came out and played Amazing Grace in honor of the Grand shooting first responders. This was a great move on the part of both schools to show solidarity. After a senseless tragedy that left a community in a state of shock, it was great seeing how people have tried to get back to reality, and this moment in time is another part of the healing process. Again, a ton of respect for both band directors for putting this together.
Thanks for reading another edition of #4Downs.
-Clint Domingue