“You’ve got to have a spark. You’ve got to hit your stride and go.”
Those were the words of Michael Desormeaux as his offense struggled in the early stages of the season.
The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns were looking for something to get them going.
The 2025 season has been one filled with early-season adversity. Starting quarterback Walker Howard went down on the last drive of a disappointing 14-12 loss to Rice to start the season.
The offense sputtered and lacked any ability to use the passing game in the following performances.
Then, the injury bug hit the offensive line, with five of the team’s top six tackles missing after a 1-3 start to the season.
After 24 consecutive points from Marshall, a pick-six, and a 34-17 deficit, Saturday night seemed like another episode in a downward spiral that might send the Cajuns’ season into disarray.
Then, Coach Des made the decision to make a change at quarterback.
“I thought maybe it was too late even when I did it,” Desormeaux said after the game about the change behind center.
As it turns out, the change came at the perfect time.
Lunch Winfield, the redshirt sophomore from Lutcher High School, has played in various spots this year, given his unique skill set. However, when he entered the game on Saturday night, it was different. He took over the full-time quarterback role and engineered three straight scoring drives, erasing a 17-point deficit and tying the game at 34.
Even after Marshall delivered the go-ahead score with just over a minute left, Lunch had an extra serving ready to go. He hit former walk-on Dale Martin in the back corner of the end zone to send the game to overtime.
The extended Lunch break turned into an all-you-can-eat buffet, as Winfield delivered two scoring drives in overtime, the last resulting in a walk-off touchdown to win the game 54-51 for Louisiana.
The win on Saturday had so many layers to it. It can almost feel too tall a task to put it all in perspective.
For one, it came two days before Coach Des’ 40th birthday. It’s been a season filled with firsts for Des, such as losing five of the top six tackles. It’s also been a season of familiar adversity, as the leader of the Cajuns saw another quarterback go down, and still has yet to go through one of his four seasons with a healthy signal-caller.
For the fans, Saturday night, ironically enough, was not the first time in recent memory that a quarterback wearing #2 came into the game and looked electrifying. Zeon Chriss, the now Houston Cougars backup QB, once did the same.
That spark from Chriss was somewhat short-lived. An eventual season-ending injury took place, and Chriss transferred out in the subsequent offseason.
While perhaps a reminder of the era of college football we’re in, that story should not be a hindrance to the excitement fans are feeling currently.
Saturday night in Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium was special. In fact, it was a signature moment in the opening season of the renovated facility.
An announced crowd of just over 20,000 surely thinned out in the second half, but that did not prevent those who stayed from making noise during the crazy comeback. In fact, the stadium’s loudest moments seemed to happen in the late stages of that game despite the volume of fans still in attendance being smaller.
Moments like that are so critical to a program like that of Louisiana’s. They represent hope for the future, and they represent memories that people will keep forever, regardless of how the rest of the season goes.
It’s perhaps unfair to expect Winfield to replicate the magic he provided on Saturday night moving forward. However, on this night, he represented the spark his team so badly needed.
Dawson Eiserloh is the host of “The LohDown with D-Loh” which is broadcast weekdays (1-3 PM) on ESPN 103.7 Lafayette and 104.1 Lake Charles — Southwest Louisiana’s Sports Station