Louisiana came back home to Cajun Field looking to get back to winning ways. Their opponent, the Troy Trojans, came into the game leading the Sun Belt West division. The Cajuns hed a 17-0 lead with 23 minutes left in the game, but Troy was able to score 3 unanswered as they won 23-17 tonight.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Scoring was slim in the first half of the contest, but the Ragin Cajuns struck first on a Ben Wooldridge 11-yard touchdown run to make it 7-0 with less than six minutes left in the first half. Louisiana left six points off the board earlier in the game with two missed field goals by Kenneth Almendares.
Almendares put the Cajuns ahead by 10 with a 30-yard field goal at the 1:27 mark of the first half, making him 1-3 at that point in the game.
Louisiana put seven more points on the board on their first drive of the second half, when Ben Wooldridge ran for his second touchdown of the game from 10 yards out to make it 17-0 Cajuns with 8:36 left in the third quarter. Wooldridge was hurt on the play as he dove for the goal line and landed awkwardly on his shoulder.
Troy finally put themselves on the board with the final play of the third quarter when Gunnar Watson found Michael Vice for a three-yard score to make it 17-7 with 15 minutes remaining.
Troy followed that touchdown three minutes later with a 35-yard strike from Watson to Deyunkrea Lewis to make it 17-14 with 12:01 left in the game.
With 2:41 remaining, Brookes Buce hit a 37-yard field goal to tie the game at 17 and give Troy the opportunity to steal one on the road.
Two minutes later, Kimani Vidal punched in a 22-yard touchdown with just five seconds left on the clock, but the PAT was blocked for a 23-17 lead.
The Cajuns tried for one final gasp, but it fell short as the Trojans won 23-17 at Cajun Field.
BIG NUMBER: 23
Troy was able to score 23 unanswered points in the final 15:03 of the game to close it out and win 23-17. Troy outgained the Cajuns 201-14 in the final fifteen minutes.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Kimani Vidal
Vidal had 117 yards on the ground for the Trojans, including the game-winning touchdown with five seconds left. The Marrietta, Ga product also had 14 yards receiving in the contest.
UP NEXT: Louisiana will return to the friendly confines of Cajun Field Thursday night as they will host Georgia Southern in a nationally televised matchup. Kickoff from Cajun Field at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium is set for 6:30 p.m.