The Ragin’ Cajuns hold off Texas State 42-27

The Ragin’ Cajuns were in the driver’s seat for most of this Saturday afternoon contest against Bobcats. Louisiana started hot and jumped out to a 28-0 lead in the first half, only to cool off just enough to give Texas State hope for a comeback. The Bobcats couldn’t make it happen though, only cutting the lead down to 15 points in the second half. Louisiana would take it 42-27.

This game was won on the ground. The Ragin’ Cajuns had 327 total rushing yards, along with 4 rushing TDs. All of those TDs and 291 of those yards were produced by the tandem of Trey Ragas and Elijah Mitchell. It’s nice to see Mitchell re-emerging in this offense after flashing his talents last year, only to fall victim to a foot injury in October. If those two can continue to produce at this level, they may be the key for Billy Napier to reach a bowl game in his first year as the team’s head coach.

Outside of the run game, Andre Nunez served the same purpose he has all season: a serviceable game-manager. It’s baffling because at times Nunez has shown some talent with the ball in his hands, but the consistency just isn’t there. Only completing 50 percent of his passes and having a 1:1 interception ration is nothing to get excited about, but he did just enough.

The Bobcats were abysmal in the first half. The defense was letting the Cajuns run all over them and the offense didn’t have a drive that went for more than 14 yards until the second half of the second quarter. In any game that doesn’t take place in a hurricane, that’s no way to win. It wasn’t all bad, however, as the offense heated up in the second half.

Bobcat quarterback Tyler Vitt started slinging it in the second half, ending with a respectable 296 passing yards and 3 TD’s with no INT’s. He also added 92 yards on the ground. It was too little, too late for the Bobcats, as that 28-point deficit proved to be insurmountable.

Texas State has found ways all season long to linger, never letting the opposing team simply coast to victory. They seem to always hang around and never let the other team get comfortable. This can be a great help for them in the effort to keep some momentum on their side moving forward, but they need to turn a couple of these matchups into wins. They’ll have a few chances moving forward in Sun Belt play to do just that.

Louisiana seems to have the opposite issue; the Ragin’ Cajuns simply cannot hold on to any sort of momentum to save their lives. Even if they come out swinging, they slow down and let other teams in. This is a formula for disaster, but it may be the case of tough schedule fatigue. They are coming off of a rough few weeks wherein they played two SEC teams and had a slugfest with Coastal Carolina. This may have been just the thing to get them on track.

Up Next:

• Louisiana hosts New Mexico State: Saturday, 10/13 @ 2:00 PM
• Texas State hosts Georgia Southern: Thursday, 10/11 @ 4:30 PM