The Louisiana Ragin Cajuns (2-3, 1-1 Sun Belt) defense had become a laughingstock for the first four games of the 2017 season. Whatever adjustments were made over the last two weeks paid off with the Cajuns coming away with a 21-16 victory on the road over the Idaho Vandals.
Idaho got on the board early after a seven play drive was capped off by a one-yard touchdown run from DJ Henderson in the first quarter. The Cajuns responded late in the first quarter with a quick drive down the field that ended with Dion Ray getting things done on the ground from three yards out to tie things up.
The Cajuns took the lead in the second quarter with a lengthy 14 play drive that was capped off by a short touchdown run from Trey Ragas. The Cajuns defense started to shine after getting the lead forcing the Vandals kick a 26-yard field goal late in the first half.
Andre Nunez put the final nail offensively with a nice pass to a wide open JaMarcus Bradley to make it 21-10.
The Cajuns defense continued to force Idaho to settle for a pair of field goals to make it a five-point ballgame early in the fourth quarter. The Vandals did manage to get into Cajun territory with two minutes left in the ballgame, but the Cajuns defense continued to hold strong on 4th and 3 to clinch their first Sun Belt Conference victory.
The Cajuns will return to Cajun Field this Thursday for a nationally televised game against the Texas State Bobcats (1-4, 0-2 Sun Belt) with kickoff set for 6:30 pm.
-Clint Domingue