UL Lafayette vs. New Mexico State

The Cajuns entered Saturday's game with the chance to have a winning record at Cajun Field for the first time since 1996, the year the team beat Texas A&M 29-22.? UL Lafayette said good-bye to 13 seniors who played the last home game of their collegiate careers.

The Cajuns could not capture the victory, as New Mexico State was able to win 49-46 in dramatic fashion.? Louisiana-Lafayette led 38-20 in the third quarter, but the Aggies came back with 26 unanswered points to take a 39-38 lead.? After trading touchdowns, NMSU broke a 46 all tie with a Dario Aguiniga 29-yard field goal as time expired.

Jon Van Cleave led the Cajuns with 329 yards and four touchdowns.? Fred Stamps had seven catches for 100 yards and two touchdowns.? The Aggies Kenton Keith rushed for a game high 166 yards and three touchdowns.? The game's 95 total points have not been matched since the Cajuns defeated Patterson 107-6 in 1918.

The biggest play of the game came with just under 90 seconds to play in the game.? On second and 20, NMSU quarterback K.C. Enzminger hit P.J. Winston for a 33-yard completion down to the Cajuns 34.? The Aggies moved the ball 12 more yards before kicking the game-winning field goal.

The Cajuns fall to 3-7 (2-4), while New Mexico State improves to 5-6 (4-2).

The Cajuns opened the scoring in the second half.? Stephen Archangel forced a fumble on a Jenkins attempted punt return.? Trey Randall recovered the fumble for Louisiana-Lafayette.? Ivan Taylor scampered in from 20 yards away to extend the Cajuns lead to 38-20.

??????????? The Aggies would again cut into the Cajuns lead.? Keith scored on a 28-yard touchdown, his second of the game.? New Mexico State went for two but was unable to convert.? The Cajuns lead was now 38-26.

??????????? For the third time in the game, New Mexico State would gain valuable yards against the Cajuns' special teams.? Tyrone Gifford's punt return covered 42 yards down to the Cajuns 24.? The Cajuns defense would hold the Aggies to a field goal opportunity on fourth down.? New Mexico State ran a beautiful fake field goal.? Holder and back-up quarterback Buck Pierce threw a six-yard touchdown pass to tight end Michael Bangs.? The extra point brought the Aggies to within five at 38-33.

??????????? The Cajuns had a costly turnover to New Mexico State early in the fourth quarter. ?A Van Cleave pass went threw the hands of running back Ivan Taylor and into the hands of Aggies linebacker D'Wayne Taylor.? Taylor returned the ball 48 yards down to the Cajuns 17.? Marcus Dixon gave New Mexico State their second lead of the day with a one-yard touchdown run on fourth and goal.? The two-point conversion was no good, giving the Aggies a 39-38 lead with just under 11 minutes to play in the game.

??????????? Keith's third touchdown of the game gave New Mexico State an eight-point lead with just six minutes to play in the game.? The touchdown capped 26 unanswered second half points for the Aggies.

Van Cleave hit Eric Bartel on a 35-yard touchdown pass to put the Cajuns within two.? The two-point conversion was no good, but New Mexico State was flagged for pass interference in the end zone.? Van Cleave then hit Andre George in the end zone to tie the contest at 46.

New Mexico State opened the scoring early in the first quarter.? Aguiniga connected on a 35-yard field goal to give the Aggies an early 3-0 lead.

The Cajuns responded with a quick two play, 65-yard drive, capped by a 38-yard pass from Van Cleave to Stamps.

Just 24 seconds later, the Cajuns' Brad Franklin picked up a Keeon Johnson fumble and returned it 29-yards for a touchdown.? The fumble return for a score was the Cajuns first since Walter Sampson returned a Tulane fumble 15 yards on Oct. 7, 2000, a span of 15 games.? UL Lafayette led 14-3.

Van Cleave then connected on his second touchdown of the game.? George hauled it in from 15 yards away.? The Cajuns led 21-3.? Louisiana-Lafayette scored three touchdowns in just 4:48.

??????????? New Mexico State would not rollover.? P.J. Winston returned the following kickoff 58 yards to the Cajuns' 42-yard line.? The Aggies then marched down the field and into the end zone on a one-yard run by Johnson.

??????????? Following a Jonathon Knott field goal, the Aggies again hit pay dirt with Keith rumbling 38 yards.? New Mexico State needed just three plays and 1:09 to travel 71 yards and into the end zone.? The Cajuns lead was cut to 24-17.

??????????? Van Cleave and Stamps would connect again to help increase the Cajuns' lead.? With 0:53 remaining in the half, Van Cleave found Stamps in the corner of the end zone to give the Cajuns a 31-17 lead.? The touchdown was Stamps' second of the game, marking the first time this season a Cajun has caught two touchdowns in a game.

??????????? With just 41 seconds left, Ronshay Jenkins returned Knott's kickoff 47 yards.? The Aggies would move 19 yards on six plays before Aguiniga drilled a 43-yard field goal with just five seconds left in the first half.? The Cajuns led 31-20 heading into the locker room.

??????????? Next week the Cajuns will travel to Orlando, Fla. for their final game of the season.? The Cajuns will battle Central Florida in a make up of the postponed Sept. 15 contest.? Kickoff is slated for noon (CST).

Score By Quarters???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? ??????????????????????? Attendance: 9,321 New Mexico State?????????????????? 10??????? 10??????? 13??????? 16??????? 49

Louisiana-Lafayette????????????????? 21??????? 10??????? 7????????? 8????????? 46??????? Final

NMS—Aguiniga 35-yard field goal, 10:23, 1st

ULL—Stamps 38-yard pass from Van Cleave (Knott kick), 9:56, 1st

ULL—Franklin 29-yard fumble return (Knott kick), 9:32, 1st

ULL—George 15-yard pass from Van Cleave (Knott kick), 5:08, 1st

NMS—Johnson 1-yard run (Aguiniga kick), 0:22, 1st

ULL—Knott 28-yard field goal, 8:24, 2nd

NMS—Keith 38-yard run (Aguiniga kick), 7:15, 2nd

ULL—Stamps 38-yard pass from Van Cleave (Knott kick), 9:56, 2nd

NMS—Aguiniga 43-yard field goal, 0:05, 2nd

ULL—Taylor 20-yard run (Knott kick), 12:57, 3rd

NMS—Keith 28-yard run (two point conversion failed), 9:30, 3rd

NMS—Bangs 6-yard pass from Pierce (Aguiniga kick), 5:01, 3rd

NMS—Dixon 1-yard run (two point conversion failed), 10:51, 4th

NMS—Keith 17-yard run (Aguiniga kick), 6:03, 4th

ULL—Bartel 35-yard pass from Van Cleave (Van Cleave pass to George), 3:27, 4th

NMS—Aguiniga 29-yard field goal, 0:00, 4th

???????????????????????????????????? NMSU????? ULL

? FIRST DOWNS...................?????? 22?????? 26

? RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............?? 45-245?? 32-127

? PASSING YDS (NET).............????? 203????? 329

? Passes Att-Comp-Int...........? 22-12-0? 43-26-1

? TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....?? 67-448?? 75-456

? Fumble Returns-Yards..........????? 0-0???? 1-29

? Punt Returns-Yards............???? 2-30???? 1--1

? Kickoff Returns-Yards.........??? 7-174???? 8-76

? Interception Returns-Yards....???? 1-48????? 0-0

? Punts (Number-Avg)............?? 2-36.5?? 3-40.0

? Fumbles-Lost..................????? 3-2????? 1-0

? Penalties-Yards...............???? 9-71???? 6-45

? Possession Time...............??? 28:54??? 31:06

? Sacks By: Number-Yards........????? 1-6????? 0-0

? RUSHING: New Mexico State-Keith, Kenton 21-160; Dixon, Marcus 12-35;

? Johnson, Keeon 9-35; Pierce, Buck 2-12; Taylor, Walter 1-3.

? Louisiana-Lafayette-TAYLOR, Ivan 24-92; VAN CLEAVE, Jon 6-24; MORGAN,

? Donovan 1-9; DUGAS, Nick 1-2.

? PASSING: New Mexico State-Enzminger, K.C. 10-18-0-181; Pierce, Buck

? 2-4-0-22. Louisiana-Lafayette-VAN CLEAVE, Jon 26-43-1-329.

? RECEIVING: New Mexico State-Talbert, M. 3-77; Winston, P.J. 3-57; Briscoe,

? H.B. 2-25; Davis, Alex 1-19; Keith, Kenton 1-14; Bangs, Michael 1-6;

? Johnson, Keeon 1-5. Louisiana-Lafayette-STAMPS, Frederi 7-100; SCOTT, Cory

? 4-55; TAYLOR, Ivan 4-34; BARTEL, Eric 2-39; MORGAN, Donovan 2-31; GEORGE,

? Andre 2-29; DUGAS, Nick 2-24; JOERG, Josh 2-13; CRIST, B.J. 1-4.

? INTERCEPTIONS: New Mexico State-Taylor, D'Wayne 1-48.

? Louisiana-Lafayette-None.

? FUMBLES: New Mexico State-Keith, Kenton 1-0; Jenkins, R. 1-1; Johnson, Keeon

? 1-1. Louisiana-Lafayette-VAN CLEAVE, Jon 1-0.

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