University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
Western Kentucky
Hilltoppers Stun Cajuns on the Road, 42-23
10/22/2011 11:38:00 PM | Football
Bobby Rainey's three-touchdown effort was too much to overcome as Louisiana's Ragin' Cajuns fell to Western Kentucky, 42-23, on Saturday evening at L.T. Smith Stadium in Bowling Green, Ky.
The loss snapped a six-game win streak for the Cajuns who fall to 6-2 on the year and 4-1 in Sun Belt Conference play.
Rainey led the WKU attack tallying 206 rushing yards on 32 carries including 99 yards in the fourth quarter.
Despite the loss, Blaine Gautier had a career day throwing for 419 yards, third-most in school history, while his 32 completions are the fifth-most ever at UL.
For the fourth straight game, the Cajuns had a receiver go over 100 yards after Harry Peoples totaled 140 yards on 10 catches.
Ladarius Green also had a solid outing after recording his third career two-touchdown performance of his career. Green, who leads the team with five TD catches on the season, moved into third in career touchdowns with the effort tying Fred Stamps with 19.
Rainey notched his second rushing touchdown of the afternoon with 25 seconds left on the clock in the third quarter punching in a five-yard run to give Western Kentucky a 28-17 edge.
Less than a minute later in the contest, Green hauled in his second TD pass from Gautier on second-and-goal from the WKU 6.
The Hilltoppers continued the back-and-forth scoring after a one-yard touchdown plunge by Kadeem Jones to give Western Kentucky a 35-23 lead.
WKU put the game out of reach on Rainey's final rushing touchdown of the contest as he ripped off a 24-yard run to make the score 42-23.
After winning the toss and electing the take the ball to start the contest, the Hilltoppers offense moved 65 yards on six plays capped by a one-yard touchdown run by Rainey to take a 7-0 lead. A 29-yard kickoff return and a couple long completions by Kawaun Jakes setup the WKU TD.
The Cajuns answered on the ensuing drive with a 22-yard field goal by Brett Baer to cut the Hilltopper advantage to 7-3.
A Blaine Gautier fumble led to a Jones two-yard touchdown run that extended the Western Kentucky lead to 11 points at the 14:18 mark in the second quarter.
Again UL answered as Aaron Spikes went 79-yards down the sideline on a toss sweep to pull the Cajuns within a score at 14-10.
With the Hilltoppers driving deep in Cajuns territory at the 10:30 mark in the second quarter, Lance Kelley came up with his third interception of the year to end the WKU threat.
Jakes hooked up with Mitchell Henry for a four-yard touchdown strike for the Hilltoppers third TD of the first half to make the score 21-10 with 2:23 left in the second quarter.
Gautier pulled the Cajuns back within four points with nine seconds left on the clock in the first half on a two-yard touchdown pass to Green to make the score 21-17 at the break.
Louisiana returns to action on the road with a conference game at Middle Tennessee on Oct. 29 at 6:30 p.m. The Cajuns have won three of their last four meetings against the Blue Raiders in Murfreesboro, Tenn.
-- RaginCajuns.com --
