The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns picked up a 34-30 win over Texas State this past Saturday to put their record at 4-2 heading into their bye week.
It was a critical win for the success of this year’s team in terms of the Sun Belt West title, but even more than that, this game was finally the signature win that second-year head coach Michael Desormeaux was looking for.
“Really happy to be sitting here today with a Western Division win against a really good football team,” Desormeaux said to open his weekly press conference. “That was a really good team win. All three phases played a huge role in that game, and I’m proud of our staff because going into it, we knew that that was certainly going to be a challenge. I think we had a really good plan for them in all three phases. And certainly, it always comes down to the players executing and our kids did a phenomenal job, man, they stayed in the fight for four quarters and when the opportunity came, we took advantage of the situation that we had and we went out there and found a way to take the lead at the end and win.”
“For two years, we’ve been waiting for us to have a win like that.”
Trailing 30-21 with less than 10 minutes to go in the game, Louisiana had the football on their side of the field. On first down, Zeon Chriss dropped the football and lost five yards. On the next play, he ran out of time and had to take a five-yard sack that set up a 3rd and 20.
Then, the redshirt freshman fired a 22-yard strike to Jacob Bernard. The play was the catalyst to the final stretch for the Cajuns, which included two touchdowns, a blocked punt, and a forced fumble. However, the confidence of the young quarterback to find the open receiver was the thing that stood out the most.
“I say this all the time. I mean, every time you’re in one of those situations, you know he’s got a smile on his face and he’s staying in the huddle like its 1st and 10,” Desormeaux said. “I mean, that’s just kind of who he is a little bit. I would be lying if I didn’t tell you I wasn’t a little nervous after he dropped the snap and then took a bad sack. Then I’m like, oh, man, this isn’t there’s no way, but I believed he could put us in a position to do something. I mean, the Go for it right there was like 15 yards anyway because you can’t punt it back to them there.”
“We had a good set of plays that we felt good about. The first one we dropped the snap we had some guys open would have been efficient. Second one, I think he kind of got through his read a little bit fast and wanted to take off and there really wasn’t anything there. Then the third one he just read it perfectly.”
After the five-yard touchdown pass to Robert Williams, the Louisiana defense got a quick three and out before Dalen Cambre sold out on a blocked punt on fourth down to give the Cajuns excellent field position.
“It wasn’t an all-out block,” Desormeaux said of the fourth down block. “It was kind of a scheme pressure. It was really I think you have a chance every time you call something like that because it takes one person getting through there and doing their job. It was basically like a half-block. So it was really to kind of make them punt it quickly, quicker than they wanted to. But it was flawlessly executed on the front side.”
“The fit on the shield was perfect. We blew up the right shield, Dalen’s jump on the ball. I mean there was not a minor instance of hesitation there or there wasn’t a flinch of a false step. He was rolling off the front foot and he was going to trim the fat off of it and took it off the foot so it was flawlessly executed.”
This win will be looked at as a signature win for this team due to multiple factors. Now, the Cajuns go into their bye at 4-2 with tons of momentum for when they return to Cajun Field to host Georgia State for homecoming. Second, this puts Louisiana firmly in the conversation for a West title with matchups against Troy and South Alabama still to come. Lastly, this team is beginning to put chemistry and execution together with continuity within the depth chart. Zeon Chriss has proven that he can lead this team even at a young age, there’s plenty of young talent at the skill positions, and the defense continues to shine week after week.
This is the point of the season where a win can propel you into a run while a loss could debilitate the remainder of your season. Luckily for Desormeaux and the Cajuns, they get to experience the latter if they play their cards right over the next month.
Matt Miguez is the host of the Miguez Mindset Podcast on ESPN Southwest Louisiana’s YouTube channel. He is also a contributor for ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles.