Cajuns Defeated by Owls

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns, hampered by injuries to key personnel, were hampered by Florida Atlantic on Saturday afternoon by a final score of 40-29 at Lockhart Stadium in Fort Lauderdale.

Louisiana (5-5, 4-1) falls into a first place tie in the Sun Belt Conference with Troy (6-3, 4-1). The Trojans play a non-conference game at Louisiana State on Saturday evening. The Cajuns travel to Troy next Saturday in a game that will decide at least a piece of the SBC championship.

Florida Atlantic (5-5, 3-2) keeps their SBC title hopes alive with the victory. FAU would need to win their two remaining games, have Troy lose their two remaining SBC games and have the Cajuns lose to Middle Tennessee to create a two-way tie with UL.

The Owls put the game out of reach in the third quarter following the Cajuns third turnover of the game. Rusty Smith hit Rob Housler with a 23-yard touchdown pass to put FAU in front by a 33-7 margin with less than six minutes remaining in the third stanza.

Cajuns quarterback Michael Desormeaux was given the rest of the night off after the touchdown. Brad McGuire replaced Desormeaux and was under center until replaced by Chris Masson with 6:20 remaining.

McGuire led the Cajuns on a 13-play, 74-yard scoring drive in the fourth quarter. He tossed a two-yard touchdown pass to Ladarius Green with 7:44 remaining in the game.

Masson's first career pass attempt was intercepted. On the next series, Masson was 6-for-6 passing for 82 yards, throwing a 30-yard touchdown pass to Luke Aubrey. Aubrey caught a two-point pass from Masson to pull the Cajuns within 40-29 with 1:40 remaining in the game.

Cajuns running back Tyrell Fenroy finished with 18 carries for 92 yards and a touchdown. Fenroy was unable to reach 100 yards rushing in any of his four career games vs. FAU.

Fenroy is now 17 rushing yards from tying Kevin Faulk's State of Louisiana career rushing record. He is one rushing touchdown from Brian Mitchell's UL mark of 47 career rushing touchdowns. He is two rushing scores from Mitchell's UL single-season mark of 19 rushing touchdowns and 42 rushing yards from Mitchell's UL single-season mark of 1,311 rushing yards.

FAU struck on the game's opening drive, moving 64 yards in four plays. The Owls scored on a six-yard run by Charles Pierre to take a 6-0 lead. Nate Douglas blocked the extra point for the Cajuns, their first blocked kick of the season.

A Cajuns fumble led to another FAU touchdown. Smith hit Chris Bonner with a 13-yard slant pass to give the Owls a 12-0 lead. UL blocked the extra point again, as Gerren Blount was able to stuff the kick.

The Cajuns had a chance early in the second quarter, but were unsuccessful on third-and-one and fourth-and-one from the FAU 14-yard line. The Cajuns turned the ball over on downs to the Owls.

FAU immediately traveled 85 yards in seven plays, scoring on 14-yard pass from Smith to Housler. The drive's key play came on a 48-yard pass over the middle from Smith to his wide open tight end Jamari Grant.

UL got on the board with a seven-play, 80-yard drive. Desormeaux connected with Green on a pair of passes totaling 37 yards. Fenroy capped the drive with a 14-yard touchdown run. The Cajuns trailed 19-7 with 7:22 remaining in the first half.

FAU punted for the first time in the game, giving UL the ball at their 23-yard line with 5:55 to play in the second quarter. The Cajuns drove down to the FAU 23-yard line before Desormeaux was intercepted at the 19-yard line with 1:22 remaining.

The Owls used 34 seconds in driving 81 yards for six more points. Smith found Cortez Gent in single coverage down the right side for a 44-yard completion down to the Cajuns 23-yard line. Two plays later, Willie Rose scored on a 10-yard rush to give the hosts a 26-7 lead at the half.

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