The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns defeated the McNeese Cowboys 34-10 on Saturday night inside Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. The win is the first of the season for Louisiana and the loss also marks the first for McNeese.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The game began with both offenses clicking. The Cajuns took the ball first and Daniel Beale, in his first career start after the injury to Walker Howard, drove them down the field for an opening touchdown. Bill Davis punched it in, making it 7-0 Louisiana.
McNeese responded quickly, as Jake Strong hit Josh Jackson for a 55-yard gain on their first play. A few downs later, Devin Lippold scored from two yards out to tie the game 7-7.
After that first stretch of offense, both teams went cold for a while. The Cajuns missed two field goals, including a chip shot inside 30 yards. However, late in the half Louisiana finally broke through again. A six play, 91 yard drive was capped with a 36 yard Davis touchdown run. That made it 14-7.
Then, a poor decision on the kick return gave McNeese bad field position. The Cajuns got a stop and quickly worked their way into field goal range. Tony Sterner knocked this one through, making it 17-7 Cajuns at the break.
To start the second half, McNeese worked their way into field goal range and converted on one that cut the lead to seven at 17-10. Louisiana answered with a nice drive, but were ultimately turned away on downs.
To start the fourth quarter, the Cajuns marched down and added a field goal to make it a 10 point game at 20-10. That gave Louisiana some breathing room, and the defense continued to shut McNeese down.
Touchdown drives of 40 and 34 yards put the game away for Louisiana late, as they came away with the 34-10 victory.
BIG NUMBER: 315
Louisiana ran for 315 yards on the game, the most in a game since 2021 against UAB. It also marked the first time in the Coach Desormeaux era that the team topped three bills.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Bill Davis
Davis led the way with 132 yards rushing and two touchdowns. He averaged nearly seven yards per carry in the win.
UP NEXT: Louisiana (1-1) will be on the road to face Missouri next Saturday at 3:00 PM. McNeese 1-1) will return home to host Weber State next Saturday at 6:00 PM.