Cajuns defeat Nicholls State

The Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns entered their third season under head coach Jerry Baldwin with high hopes to improve on last season's 1-10 record.? With 10 of 11 starters returning on defense, Baldwin will look for this group to carry his team the entire season.

The Cajuns' opponent, Nicholls State, opened their season in a very similar situation.? Nicholls State head coach Daryl Daye, fresh off consecutive 1-10 seasons, looked to take advantage of wet conditions at Cajun Field using his triple option offense.

The Cajuns won the toss and elected to kick off.? A 44-yard return by Nicholls Isiah Mitchell set-up the Colonels opening possession on the Cajuns 49.? The Colonels fumbled on their third possession of the game and the Cajuns Derace James recovered the ball.? Louisiana-Lafayette's opening drive of the season went 55 yards on 12 plays ending in one-yard touchdown run by running back Jerome Coleman at 8:03 of the first quarter.

Late in the first quarter, Nicholls State recovered a Jon Van Cleave fumble at the Cajuns 32 and moved the ball inside the Cajuns five-yard line.? The Colonels attempted four straight runs but were stopped as the Cajuns took over possession on their own one-yard line.?

This stand would prove to energize the Cajuns defense, as the team would allow the Colonels only 57 yards of total offense in the entire game.? Louisiana-Lafayette eclipses a 30-year-old school record of 68 yards allowed set against Texas-Arlington on October 16, 1971.? In addition, the Cajuns defense did not allow a single reception by any of the Colonels receivers.

Jonathan Knott accounted for all the scoring in the second quarter.? The junior college transfer from Northeast Oklahoma A&M kicked field goals of 44 and 33 yards.

After 33:15 of scoreless play, Jerome Coleman punched it in from one-yard out in the fourth quarter to cap a seven play, 60-yard drive that put the Cajuns ahead 20-0.

Louisiana-Lafayette posted their first shutout since October 8, 1994, a span of 72 games.

The Cajuns travel to Minnesota (0-1) next week to take on the Golden Gophers.? Kick-off is slated for 1:30pm.

Score By Quarters Nicholls State?? ??????????? ??????????? 0??????????? 0??????????? 0??????????? 0??????????? 0

Louisiana-Lafayette????????? ??????????? 7??????????? 6??????????? 0??????????? 7??????????? 20??????????? Final

ULL—Coleman 1 run (Knott kick), 8:03, 1st

ULL—Knott 45-yard FG, 10:11, 2nd

ULL—Knott 33-yard FG, 9:03, 2nd

ULL—Coleman 1 run (Knott kick), 2:42, 4th

TEAM STATS???????????????????????? NICH?????? UL

FIRST DOWNS...................??????? 4?????? 16

RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............??? 34-57?? 43-110

PASSING YDS (NET).............??????? 0????? 179

Passes Att-Comp-Int...........?? 11-0-0? 27-12-0

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....??? 45-57?? 70-289

Fumble Returns-Yards..........????? 0-0????? 0-0

Punt Returns-Yards............????? 0-0??? 9-105

Kickoff Returns-Yards.........??? 4-106???? 1-27

Interception Returns-Yards....????? 0-0????? 0-0

Punts (Number-Avg)............? 10-44.7?? 5-38.8

Fumbles-Lost..................????? 4-2????? 3-3

Penalties-Yards...............??? 11-80??? 12-82

Possession Time...............??? 26:13??? 33:47

Attendance:? 13,707

Individual Stats ??????????????? Rushing—ULL:? Coleman 24-108, 2TD, Miller 9-23, Tillman 1-1, Van Cleave 5-(-5), Dugas 1-(-6), Taylor 3-(-11).? NSU:? Son 9-31, Brock 5-20, Colletti 6-5, Vannoy 7-5, Vial 1-4, Williams 1-2, Fontenot 3-(-2), August 2-(-8).

Passing—ULL:? Van Cleave 12-26-0-179, Lane 0-1-0-0. NSU:? Vannoy 0-7-0-0, Fontenot 0-3-0-0, Son 0-1-0-0

Receiving—ULL:? Wilridge 4-107, Dugas 3-29, Stamps 3-26, Crist 1-9, George 1-8.? NSU:? None

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