University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Kansas State
Cajuns' Strong Showing at Kansas State Falls Short 40-20
9/18/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
Saturday, Sept. 18, 2004
Statistical Recap
MANHATTAN, Kan. -
For the
second straight week,
Louisiana's
Ragin' Cajuns had trouble containing a Heisman Trophy
candidate running back. Despite Kansas State's Darren
Sproles rushing 38 times for 292 yards,
Louisiana's
Ragin' Cajuns were in the game until the final minutes,
but the defending Big XII Champions proved victorious
40-20 in front of 47,914 fans here at KSU Stadium.
Sproles' 292 yards is the second-highest total by a Ragin' Cajuns opponent in school history and also broke his own Kansas State single-game rushing record. The total is 10 yards shy of Louisiana Tech's Jason Davis' record (47 attempts, 302 yards) which was set Sept. 29, 1990.
Leading 30-14, K-State was on the verge of scoring again when Sproles coughed-up the ball inside the Cajuns red zone. Derek Morel recovered the ball and turned it over to the Cajuns offense at the nine yard-line.
An 80-yard run by Jerry Babb from the Cajuns 19 yard-line set-up a short touchdown plunge by Chester Johnson. Babb's pass to Kemmie Lewis was incomplete, but the Cajuns closed the deficit to 30-20 with 10 minutes to play.
Babb's
rush gave the sophomore signal caller 101 yards on the
ground, marking the first Cajuns quarterback to rush for
100 yards since Sept. 21, 1991. Tyjuan Hayes ran for
116 yards on 22 carries in a 9-7 loss at
Arkansas.
KSU added 10 points in the final 6:28 to cushion the scoring differential.
The Wildcats jumped out to a quick 13-0 lead in large part to Sproles.
Sproles accounted for 47 yards on the Wildcats first drive. Sproles returned the Cajuns' first punt 25 yards to the Cajuns 41 yard-line. He added16 yards on the ground and caught a six yard pass, but the Cajuns defense tightened, limiting K-State to a 41-yard field goal by Joe Rheem.
Sproles did all the work again on the Wildcats second drive. After three rushes for 10 yards, Sproles took a pitch left 35 yards into the end zone untouched.
Sproles managed 43 of the Wildcats 67 yards on the next drive, but the Cajuns defense stepped-up to limit K-State to a field goal opportunity. Travis Bass tackled Sproles for no gain, then a slew of Cajuns tackled the runner for a one-yard loss on third-and-three from the Cajuns 16 yard-line. Rheem converted a 34-yard field goal to put the hosts ahead 13-0.
Louisiana-Lafayette responded with a lengthy nine-play, 80-yard drive to begin the second quarter.
Facing
a third-and-21, Babb gave an inside handoff to Dwight
Lindon, who barreled down the field for 24 yards. The
run gave the Cajuns a first down at their own 33-yard
line.
Babb then completed an eight-yard pass to B.J. Crist, followed by an eight-yard Chester Johnson run to put the Cajuns near midfield.
Babb later connected with a wide-open Crist on a 39-yard touchdown pass to cut the Wildcats lead to 13-7.
On Kansas State's ensuing possession, the Cajuns defense didn't allow the Wildcats to advance for a first down, forcing K-State to punt.
Abdule Levier took the first play on the Cajuns' next possession for 11 yards, but Jesse Tetuan forced a fumble on Levier's next carry to swing momentum back to KSU.
Sproles
set-up KSU's next scoring drive with a 30-yard run to
the UL 14-yard line. Dylan Meier connected on a
seven-yard touchdown pass with Brian Casey with 5:56
left in the second quarter to extend the K-State lead to
20-7.
C.C. Brown forced and recovered a Sproles fumbled inside the Cajuns' 20-yard line near the end of the first half. Unfortunately, the Cajuns failed to capitalize, as a dropped pass at the KSU three yard-line thwarted the Cajuns best scoring attempt.
Kansas State scored twice very quickly in the second half to increase their lead to 30-7.
A 12-play, 80-yard drive was capped by a Dylan Meier's one-yard run.
Babb was intercepted on the next series by Marvin Simmons who returned the ball 11 yards to the Cajuns' 19-yard line. The defense allowed just three yards, holding the Wildcats to a 33-yard field goal by Rheem.
The Cajuns responded with a 7-play, 72-yard scoring drive in 2:48. Babb made several key plays on the drive. The first came via a 9-yard pass to Lewis at the Cajuns' 38-yard line on second-and-9. The Cajuns crossed midfield after Babb found Bill Sampy with a 40-yard completion to the KSU 11-yard line. Sampy made a nice adjustment on the ball and had the end zone within his sights, but slipped to the ground. Babb tiptoed down the sideline for a nine-yard touchdown run to bring the Cajuns to within 30-14.
-Ragin' Cajuns-
