It wasn’t pretty, but at the end of the night, the Cajuns were able to eke out a victory on Saturday night to close out the three game homestand against South Alabam a28-23.
The Cajuns started out strong, stopping the Jaguars in the redzone after they attempted to go for it on their opening drive. They then marched down the field with a 13 yard pass to true freshman Michael Jacquet to start out with a 6-0 lead after Stevie Artigue missed the point after, a recurring theme that haunted the team throughout the night.
The Jagaurs responded by moving methodically down the field and ending up with a touchdown early in the second quarter off a run from Tyreis Thomas and took a 7-6 lead. But the Cajuns were able to take the lead back late in the first half with a 31-yarder going through the uprights from Artigue to make it 9-7 heading into the locker room.
An offensive flurry for the Cajuns began halfway through the third quarter with a deep ball from Anthony Jennings to Al Riles from 71 yards out to make it a 15-7 after another missed PAT. The Cajuns continued to strike in the third quarter with another deep ball, this time to Keenan Barnes which made it 22-7 after a switch to Scheurich finally got an extra point through the uprights.
But South Alabama was waiting in the wings to cut away at the lead and began to do so late in the third with Dallas Davis connecting with Grant Powell on an 18 yard throw to make it 22-14. The Jags continued to chop away with a 23-yarder from Gavin Patterson to make it a five-point game.
But Elijah McGuire found paydirt with a 68 yard run down the field where he was virtually untouched to make it 28-17.
A late South Alabama touchdown made it 28-23 and they attempted to make it a three point deficit with a two point conversion, but were unable to get the job done as the pass fell incomplete. This led to the Cajuns getting into victory formation and gave the Cajuns their second straight W.
The Cajuns (2-1, 1-0 Sun Belt) will be leaving the friendly confines of Cajun Field next Saturday to travel and take on Tulane (1-2) with kickoff set for 7 pm.
-Clint Domingue