The Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns were back home to Cajun Field today and they were able to defeat Sun Belt Conference opponent Georgia State, 36-22.

This game started out slow as we saw five consecutive punts from both teams combined. The Cajuns started with good field position but couldn't make anything of it.  Rhys Burns was able to pin the Panthers twice within their own five-yard line.

The stalemate ended on the third drive from Louisiana as they were backed up on their own eight-yard line. During the first play, Raymond Calais was able to hit a run around the edge of the defense and made a house call! It was a 92-yard touchdown run that kept on running into the Louisiana record books as it was the longest in the school's history. UL led 7-0 as we played in the first quarter.

As we got into the second quarter the Panthers were able to push the ball into Cajuns territory but then stalled. Brandon Wright would attempt but end up missing a 29-yard field goal which swung the momentum solely to Louisiana and they would make them pay.

Quarterback Andre Nunez would finally get it going through the air as he hooked up with wide receiver Ryheem Malone. However, the biggest one was when he hit him for a 32-yard score down the right sideline to increase the lead to 13-0 when kicker Kyle Pfau missed the extra point.

A big play that occurred right before the first half came to a close when the Panthers went for it on 4th and 4 from the Cajuns 13-yard line with 20 seconds remaining. Winchester was able to find Devin Gentry for the score to cut the Louisiana lead to 13-7 at the half.

Georgia State started the second half with the football and pushed it to the Cajuns 29-yard line and attempted to continue their 4th down luck but this time it failed. Winchester was run out of bounds and Georgia State turned the ball over on downs.

Levi Lewis entered the game for the second time and engineered an 11 play drive that totaled 60 yards. They got the ball down to the Panthers four-yard line but Lewis could not throw it in on 2nd and 3rd down and would settle for a Kyle Pfau field goal to increase their lead to 16-7.

Before we entered the fourth quarter the Panthers cut into the Louisiana lead with a rushing touchdown by Demarcus Kirk to pull within two at 16-14.

As we got into the fourth quarter it was all Cajuns as they saw one score from Elijah Mitchell and two from Raymond Calais on the ground to give them a 36-14 lead. Georgia State quarterback Aaron Winchester would rush for a score to close the gap 36-22 but that's where it would end.

Raymond Calais was the star on this night with three scores on 13 carries and rushing for 186 yards while Elijah Mitchell carried 19 times for 136 yards and touchdown.

The defense played really well today and with the win, the Cajuns move to 5-5 on the year and 3-3 in the Sun Belt Conference.

Next Saturday Louisiana will be back at Cajun Field for a matchup with South Alabama at 4 pm.

 

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