The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns scored three defensive touchdowns in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, but it wasn’t enough as Garrison Rippa kicked a 27-yard field goal in overtime to win their first FBS bowl game in school history with a 34-31 final score.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Louisiana struck first with a defensive touchdown. Ragin’ Cajuns safety Patrick Mensah forced Jacksonville State’s Perry Carter to fumble the ball and Jalen Clark scooped it up and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown.
Louisiana’s defense stepped up with another turnover on Jacksonville State’s next possession as cornerback Keyon Martin picked off a deep pass from Zion Webb.
Despite a 25-yard pass from Chandler Fields to Pearse Migl, the Cajuns’ offense could not take advantage as the drive stalled. Fields was sacked on third down and Louisiana was forced to punt the ball away.
After being held in check on its first two possessions, Jacksonville State got going on its third drive with a 13-play, 80-yard touchdown drive capped with a one-yard touchdown dive by Cole Fuller.
With neither team able to muster anything else on offense in the first half, Louisiana’s defense would score yet again. Clark picked off a pass by Webb and returned it 16 yards for a touchdown.
In the closing moments of the first half, the Gamecocks moved right down the field on a 14-play, 75-yard drive that resulted in a seven-yard touchdown run from Ron Wiggins that tied the game at 14-14 with less than 30 seconds left in the first half.
Louisiana started the second half with the football, but the offense once again struggled to get anything going and was forced to punt. Jacksonville State then took the football all the way down inside the five-yard line on their first drive, but the Cajuns stood strong on third and goal to force a 32-yard field goal from Garrison Rippa to give the Gamecocks a 17-14 lead with 7:55 left in the third quarter.
Louisiana answered with their first substantial offensive drive of the game, going 73 yards in six plays before Chandler Fields walked it into the endzone from one yard away to make it a 21-17 lead for the Cajuns with 5:47 remaining in the third quarter.
Jacksonville State responded very quickly, scoring in just 2:54 after an 8-play, 75-yard drive. The drive capped off with a 10-yard touchdown run from the backup quarterback Logan Smothers to make it 24-21 as the third quarter came to an end with Louisiana moving down the field once again.
That drive stalled out but the Cajuns did tie it up with a 33-yard field goal from Kenneth Almendares with 14:02 remaining in the game.
Later in the quarter, Jacksonville State had the football during a 24-24 game when Smothers was picked off by Tyree Skipper. The safety then returned the interception 43 yards for a touchdown to give Louisiana the 31-24 lead with 5:32 to go.
On 4th and 3, Jacksonville State scored the game-tying touchdown when Zion Webb found Perry Carter for the 18-yard score to tie it at 31 with 1:46 remaining in the game.
This contest would go into overtime with the Cajuns getting the ball first. The Louisiana offense went three-and-out before Almendares missed a 43-yard field goal for JSU to take over.
Garrison Rippa knocked a 27-yard field goal through the upright to win the New Orleans Bowl for Jacksonville State, their first FBS bowl win in history.
BIG NUMBER: 3
The Louisiana defense came up with three defensive touchdowns, two scored by Jalen Clark. The three scores are a New Orleans Bowl record and are one off of the NCAA record of four.
BIG NUMBER II: 526
Jacksonville State gained 526 yards (290 rushing) against the Cajuns in the New Orleans Bowl, the most given up by Louisiana in the 2023 season.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jalen Clark
Clark had an unbelievable game on Saturday afternoon in a losing effort, with two touchdowns scored on a scoop-n-score and a pick-six to go along with his two tackles.