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Louisiana Fends off ULM, Win 11th Straight

Cajuns stay undefeated in Sun Belt play and extend their program best win streak to 11 before the big conference title game next week.

Andre Broussard/L’Acadien

Scoring Summary

FIRST QUARTER

Louisiana TD 14:20 L. Lewis run for 20 yds for a TD, (N. Snyder KICK)

2 plays, 75 yards, 0:40

7-0 Cajuns

ULM FG 7:33 C. Sutherland 26 yd FG GOOD

15 plays, 66 yards, 6:47

7-3 Cajuns

Louisiana TD 3:48 C. Smith pass,to K. Lacy for 37 yds for a TD, (N. Snyder KICK)

8 plays, 75 yards, 3:45

14-3 Cajuns

SECOND QUARTER

ULM TD 12:29 R. Rodriguez pass,to B. Knight for 46 yds for a TD, (C. Sutherland KICK)

5 plays, 62 yards, 1:39

14-10 Cajuns HALF

THIRD QUARTER

Louisiana TD 5:01 E. Bailey run for 2 yds for a TD, (N. Snyder KICK)

4 plays, 85 yards, 1:56

21-10 Cajuns

FOURTH QUARTER

ULM TD 1:35 M. Jackson run for 12 yds for a TD

11 plays, 71 yards, 2:14

21-16 Cajuns FINAL


Andre Broussard/L’Acadien

History was made on Senior Day.

Louisiana (11-1, 8-0 SBC) finds a way to hang on to beat ULM (4-8, 2-6 SBC) 21-16 in front of a crowd of 18,000 on a cold Thanksgiving Saturday afternoon at Cajun Field.

With the victory, the Cajuns extend their program-best win streak to 11, finish undefeated in conference play for the first time ever, and this is the first team in school history to have 11 regular season wins.

Levi Lewis opened the game with a 55-yard pass to Neal Johnson to set up a 20-yard touchdown run by Lewis on the next play. Lewis finished the game 13-22 for 163 yards, while adding 20 yards and a touchdown on the ground.

Chris Smith made the play of the game, throwing a 37 yard touchdown pass to Kyren Lacy on a 4th down direct snap play that the Warhawks didn’t see coming to make it 14-3 late in the first. Smith also had 31 yards on ten carries as well as 10 receiving yards on a single reception.

Andre Broussard/L’Acadien

Montrell Johnson continued his rushing prowess, racking up 62 yards on just 5 carries. Neal Johnson was the Cajuns’ leading receiver, hauling in 3 catches for 80 yards.

For ULM, Rhett Rodriguez was 11/24 for 145 yards and a touchdown, while adding 39 yards on carries in his final collegiate game. Malik Jackson had a solid game, rushing for 112 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. The sophomore from Opelika, AL looks to be a big part of the Warhawk offense going forward.

Now, Louisiana will have to deal with the rumors and conversations of Billy Napier being in the running for Power Five jobs at Virginia Tech, Florida, and potentially others down the stretch. What happens in Cajun Country with the Louisiana coaching staff will be an interesting topic of conversation heading into the postseason and will be watched with a close eye.

Andre Broussard/L’Acadien

Up Next

The Ragin’ Cajuns (11-1, 8-0 SBC) will now prepare for the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game (Dec 4, 2:30 pm CST, ESPN) vs Appalachian State (10-2, 7-1 SBC) at home.

ULM (4-8) concludes the first year under Terry Bowden on a sour note, but a lot to build on for the future.