Boise Leaves Louisiana Feeling Blue

Louisiana fell to Boise State 34-9, in a game that was not nearly as close as the score would indicate. The loss dropped Louisiana to 1-3 while Boise improved to 3-1.The Cajun offense looked punch less and quarterback Terrance Broadway continued to struggle. The senior from Baton Rouge finished the evening 20-38 for 160 yards and one interception. Louisiana's only bright spot was running back Elijah McGuire, the sophomore finished with 31 yards rushing on seven carries and 10 catches for 106 yards. McGuire tallied the Cajuns only touchdown, a seven yard rush in the fourth quarter.

The Boise State defense forced a three and out on the Cajuns opening drive. After that stop, the Bronco offense marched down the field in 11 plays for a score. The 80 yard drive was capped by an eight yard Jay Ajayi touchdown run. That first series would set the tone for the remainder of the game.

The Bronco offense had its way with the Cajun defense early, scoring on three of their first four possessions. Jay Ayaji and the Boise offensive line came out and dominated the Cajun defense. Ayaji rushed for 150 yard and recorded the first three Bronco touchdowns. Boise would finish the night with 499 yards of total offense, the Broncos rushed for 262 yards on 48 attempts. Quarterback Grant Hedrick finished the evening with 237 yards through the air.

The Cajun offense was only able to muster one field goal in the first half. The Boise defense held Louisiana to 128 total yards in the first half. Elijah McGuire accounted for 107 of those yards.

The second half saw the Cajun defense bow up...some what. They would only allow one touchdown while holding the Bronco's to three field goal attempts. Dan Goodale would connect on two of those three tries. Boise State's lone touchdown would come late in the third quarter, a 5 yard Devan Demas touchdown run.

Unfortunately for the Louisiana defense, the Cajun offense was not able to provide much help. The Cajuns finished with an abysmal 241 yards of total offense. The Cajun offense also committed one turnover, pushing them to minus nine for the season. The Cajuns have the worst turnover ratio in all FBS. After the game Coach Hudspeth agreed that the offense should shoulder much of the blame saying, "I'm gonna put this one on the offense".

Terrance Broadway looked uncomfortable for much of the evening. As well as the offensive line played a week ago at Ole Miss, they had their hands full with the Broncos. Boise held Louisiana to only 67 rushing yards on 23 attempts and recorded three sacks. Not only was the Bronco rush defense stout, but the secondary did its part as well only giving up 160 yards. The Cajuns were unable to get the ball down field; a majority of Terrence Broadway's completions were check downs to Cajun running backs.

One other bright note for Louisiana was the pass rush. The Cajuns were finally able to generate some pressure up front. Louisiana would sack Grant Hedrick three times, doubling their season total. Elijah McGuire continued to shine for the Cajuns. The sophomore set a career high with 10 catches and was responsible for 137 total yards. He accounted for 56.8% of Louisiana's total yards. If the Cajuns are to find the win column again this season, someone other than McGuire is going to have to step up and make plays.

The Cajuns have off next week and the bye could not come at a better time. Hopefully the extra practice time will allow the Cajuns to fix some of their major problems, like the secondary and lifeless offense. After the bye, Louisiana will face Georgia State at Cajun Field on Saturday, October, 4^th.