The Ragin Cajuns, off of a second half rally led by Jalen Nixon, came up short in the closing minutes falling to Kentucky 40-33.
The Wildcats wasted little time when on the first play at the line of scrimmage Stanley Williams put on the jets going 75 yards for the early score.
The Wildcats scored again later in the first quarter with another big play, this time through the air with Patrick Towles connecting with Garrett Johnson for 35 yards to extend the lead to 14-0.
Towles got another big pass play going in the second quarter, this time connecting with Jeff Badet for 37 yards to go up 21-0.
The Cajuns finally got on the board later in the quarter when Brooks Haack ran four yards into the endzone to cut the lead to two touchdowns. But Kentucky’s Austin MacGinnis kept the Cajuns out of reach booting a 44-yarder late in the second quarter.
MacGinnis sent a 21-yarder through the uprights early on in the third quarter to increase their lead to 27-7. The Cajuns freshman Stevie Artigue tried to close the gap with a 31-yarder going through the uprights to start his collegiate career.
Towles connected with Blake Bone on a short 5-yard pass but MacGinnis missed the PAT to make the score 33-10 late in the third quarter. But the Cajuns, led by backup quarterback Jalen Nixon started to rally back when Torrey Pierce broke free and ran it for 56 yards.
Pierce did it again running for 26 yards to continue to chop away at the lead. Nixon completed a pass to McGuire to come within eight points of the Wildcats.
Nixon continued the rally running for 23 yards for the score and tied it up off of a statue of liberty play for the two-point conversion.
But the Wildcats, thanks to converting a fourth-and-1 at midfield and two costly penalties, were able to get to the endzone with a 12-yard run by Mike Horton to put the dagger on a possible upset in the closing minutes of the game.
The Cajuns (1-0) will head back home to Cajun Field to take on the Northwestern State Demons on September 12th with kickoff set for 6 pm.
-Clint Domingue