Baer & Defense Key First Half Surge Past Lamar in 2012 Opener

Contact: Brian McCann

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LAFAYETTE – Aided by the foot of Brett Baer and a defense that forced four first half turnovers Louisiana opened up a 40-0 lead at halftime and coasted to a win by that exact margin in Saturday's game with Lamar at Cajun Field in front a home-opening crowd of 25,803.

Baer booted four field goals and the four turnovers the defense forced led directly to 16 points for Louisiana (1-0) which remained undefeated at home under head coach Mark Hudspeth and won its home opener for the fifth consecutive season.

The shutout was the first for UL at Cajun Field since 2002 (34-0 vs. UAB on 9/21/02) and extended the current win streak at the facility to six games dating back to 2011.

The Cajuns retained possession of The Sabine Shoe, the traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the Louisiana vs. Lamar game. It is named after the Sabine River, which helps to form part of the border between Texas & Louisiana. Louisiana is now 23-11 all-time against the Cardinals. It marked the first meeting between the two schools since 1989, as Lamar did not offer football from 1990-2009.

UL had a relatively short field to work with in building the insurmountable edge in the first half. Of the eight scoring drives, only one covered a distance greater than 56 yards and four covered less than 30 yards.

Blaine Gautier and Terrance Broadway combined for 203 yards passing for the Cajuns. Eight different receivers caught at least one pass.

Adding four extra points to his four field goal makes, Baer tied the school record for points scored in a game by a kicker with 16. His four field goal makes extended his current string of consecutive makes to 15, surpassing the previous mark of 14 set by Mike Shafer in 1994.

The Cajuns defense limited Lamar (0-1) to just 194 yards total offense and limited Cardinals quarterback Ryan Mossakowski to 81 yards on his 12 completions. Featured running back Herschel Sims was held to 42 net yards on 14 carries.

UL collected three fumble recoveries, one apiece from Qyen Griffin, Justin Anderson and Rodney Gillis. Gillis collected the Cajuns' first interception of the season late in the second quarter.

The first of eight straight scoring possessions started after a 41 yard Darryl Surgent kickoff return placed UL near midfield. After crossing into Cardinals territory on a Gautier to Jacob Maxwell connection, Baer put the hosts on the board with a career-long 52-yard field goal at 13:04.

Lamar's first possession was short lived – lasting only three plays – as Mossakowski was sacked on third down and Justin Hamilton forced a fumble. That set up the Cajuns on the Lamar 29, where six plays later Gautier found Maxwell in the back of the end zone for the first touchdown of 2012 and a 10-0 lead.

A second Lamar fumble of the opening stanza led to Baer's second field goal of the night, coming at 6:05 upping the lead to 13-0.

One play into the second quarter, the Cajuns finished off a 7 play, 28 yard drive with an Alonzo Harris rushing touchdown.

UL stretched the lead to 33-0 by the 4:43 mark of the second quarter. An 86 yard completion from Gautier to Jamal Robinson resulted in a touchdown and Baer posted field goals of 39 and 32 yards on the Cajuns next two possessions.

Lamar crossed into Cajuns territory only once in the first half and on the very next play Gillis intercepted Caleb Berry at the UL 38.

A Gautier to Javone Lawson touchdown connection with 12 seconds showing on the first half clock capped off the Cajuns dominance and pushed the lead to 40-0.

The first half shutout of the Cardinals marked the first time in the Hudspeth era that Louisiana held an opponent scoreless in the first half.

With the game well out of reach, the Cajuns coasted in the second half and managed the clock.

The Cajuns take the road for the first time in 2012, opening up Sun Belt Conference play with a 6 p.m., contest at Troy on Saturday, Sept. 8. The game will be available nationwide on ESPN3.com.

Game Notes:
The Cajuns retained possession of The Sabine Shoe, the traveling trophy awarded to the winner of the Louisiana vs. Lamar game. It is named after the Sabine River, which helps to form part of the border between Texas & Louisiana. Louisiana is now 23-11 all-time against the Cardinals.

The Cajuns opened their 111th season of intercollegiate football on a winning note, improving to 52-54-4 all-time in openers. UL now is 3-4 in season openers against Lamar.

Louisiana improved to 63-37-5 in home openers, including wins in five straight seasons (2008-12). UL did not play a home game six times from 1907-18.

The win by the Cajuns marked the first shutout since blanking Florida Atlantic, 6-0, on Oct. 18, 2006, 69 games ago. It was the first shutout at Cajun Field since a 34-0 win over UAB in 2002 (Rickey Bustle's first victory a Cajuns coach).

The victory improved the Ragin' Cajuns to 10-4 in two seasons under Mark Hudspeth and a perfect 6-0 at Cajun Field during the time. The six straight wins is the fourth-longest home winning streak in Cajun Field history. The stadium record is 11 straight wins, set from 1976-77, and there are also streaks of seven (1994-95) and nine (1987-88) games.

Senior kicker Brett Baer made four field goals in the first half to break the school record for consecutive field goals made with 15 going back to last season. He surpassed Mike Shafer's record set in 1994.

Baer opened the game with a career-long 52-yard effort to put UL ahead, 3-0, and added kicks of 40 yards late in the first quarter, and kicks from 39 and 32 yards in the second quarter. Baer is now 29-for-31 on field goal attempts in his career (93.5 percent). He is ahead of the NCAA mark of 87.8% by Florida State's Bobby Raymond (43-of-49). Baer will need 14 more attempts this season to meet the NCAA minimum of 45 career attempts.

Baer's kicking exploits allowed the senior to tie the school record for points scored in a game by a kicker with 16 in the contest. Baer kicked four field goals and made four extra points to tie the Rafael Septien's record, which was originally set vs. San Jose State on Nov. 22, 1974 when he made five field goals and an extra point.

The 86-yard pass from Blaine Gautier to Jamal Robinson in the second quarter was the longest non-scoring pass in school history. It broke the old record of 82 yards when Michael Desormeaux threw to Richie Falgout vs. FIU in 2008. It was also the fourth-longest pass overall,

After forcing just 16 fumbles and recovering nine during the entire 2011 campaign, the Cajuns defense forced four fumbles in the contest, recovering three. Justin Hamilton caused fumbles on each of the first two Cardinal drives with Justin Anderson and Qyendarius Griffin recovering. In the second quarter, Melvin White forced a fumble with Rodney Gillis recovering. All told, the four Lamar turnovers led to 16 UL points (3 FG, one TD).

When UL went to the halftime break with a 40-0 lead, it marked the first time in two seasons under Mark Hudspeth that the Cajuns shutout their opponent in the first half. In addition, it marked just the second time that UL held an opponent scoreless in consecutive quarters, accomplishing it in the final three quarters against North Texas in a 30-10 win.

The game served as the 12th Annual Herbert Heymann Footbal Classic. UL improved to 9-3 in Heymann Classic games.

UL and Lamar met for the first time since 1989 (then-USL won 42-33 on Nov. 11, 1989). LU did not offer football from 1990-2009, reinstating the program in 2010.

-- Ragin' Cajuns --

Baer & Defense Key First Half Surge Past Lamar in 2012 Opener

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