University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Mississippi
Cajuns Fall To Ole Miss, 43-21
11/7/2010 1:00:00 AM | Football
Three first half turnovers proved too much to overcome as Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns fell to Ole Miss, 43-21, on Saturday evening in Oxford, Miss. The Rebels scored 17 points off the Cajuns' miscues, all coming in the first quarter.
The Cajuns now fall to 2-7 on the year. Ole Miss is now 4-5 this season.
On the game's opening drive, the Cajuns marched 73 yards for a score after a 27-yard pass from Brad McGuire to Aaron Spikes. The touchdown reception was his fifth of the year and the pass also marked the running back's fifth catch over 20 yards this season. In five of the last six games, the freshman back has hauled in a touchdown pass.
Key to the drive were two third down conversions. On third-and-10, Vernon Wolfe snagged a catch while falling out of bounds. A few plays later on third-and-8, McGuire hit Pierre Hill on a short underneath route that turned into 33 yards.
But the lead was short-lived. The Rebels countered with a six-play, 60-yard drive of their own to tie the contest at 7-7.
Ole Miss' lead grew to 24-7 after the Cajuns' next three possessions were cut short as the result of a turnover. The Rebels picked off two passes and recovered a fumble in the Cajuns' territory to score two touchdowns and tack on a field goal.
On their fifth drive, UL snapped the turnover streak and scored a touchdown to trim the Rebels' lead. McGuire capped off the six-play, 74-yard drive with a three-yard touchdown run. A 40-yard run by the quarterback earlier in the drive set up UL at the 11-yard line. Ladarius Green also hauled in a 23-yard pass to move the chains and keep the drive alive.
Ole Miss looked to put up another touchdown near the end of the first half. But a fumble at the seven-yard line came up in UL's favor and Melvin White returned the ball 93 yards for the score.
The Rebels would eventually make another field goal as the half expired to hold a 30-21 advantage at the break.
The third quarter saw both teams go back-and-forth with little success before the Rebels added a 27-yard field goal at the 1:43 mark.
An Ole Miss touchdown with less than a minute remaining sealed the Cajuns' fate.
Ole Miss limited UL to just 215 yards of total offense while racking up 478 yards of its own. It was the second-lowest offensive performance for the Cajuns this season.
McGuire finished the game 7-of-21 for 139 yards. He was also the Cajuns' leading rusher with 42 yards on 14 carries. Spikes was the leading receiver with 54 yards on two catches.
Defensively, Melvin White and Cooper Gerami led UL with seven tackles each.
