University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
8-2 , 5-1
South Alabama
1-9 , 0-6
Louisiana Staves Off South Alabama in Mobile, 37-27
11/16/2019 8:21:00 PM | Football
Ragin’ Cajuns clinch perfect road record for the first time since 1970
With the victory, the Ragin' Cajuns finished the regular season with a perfect 5-0 record away from home, the first time it has accomplished the feat since 1970. The team also improved to 8-2 on the year, its best record through ten games since 1976.
The Ragin' Cajuns waited until the fourth quarter to find the end zone on the ground, but those two touchdowns proved to be historic as the scores improved the team's season total to 34, matching the school record for the most rushing touchdowns in a single season.
Junior Elijah Mitchell led the backs with 117 yards on 17 carries and was the beneficiary of one of those touchdowns, while Trey Ragas added a touchdown of his own and finished the night with 52 yards. Raymond Calais also had a productive outing, carrying the ball 13 times for 77 yards.
Quarterback Levi Lewis became the sixth quarterback in program history to throw for at least 15 touchdowns in a season with two against the Jaguars. Lewis finished the night 16-for-28 for 136 yards and the two scores.
The kicking game was also critical for the Ragin' Cajuns in the victory, which was propelled by Stevie Artigue's 13 points. His three made field goals upped his career total to 46, the most in program history, while he also jumped Alonzo Harris for fourth all-time in scoring in program history with 271 career points.
Defensively, Ferrod Garner showed out with a career-high 10 tackles and a 0.5 sack. Percy Butler added seven tackles in the win, while Joe Dillon and Jacques Boudreaux tallied six stops.
Louisiana opened the scoring on its first drive when Artigue connected on a 22-yard field goal just under six minutes into the game. The lead lasted just three minutes, though, after South Alabama capped a six-play, 71-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown run to go ahead 7-3.
Three drives later, Louisiana found a nice offensive rhythm before Lewis found a wide-open Johnson in the back of the end zone from nine yards out to put the Ragin' Cajuns ahead, 10-7.
After South Alabama retook the lead on a four-yard touchdown run, the Louisiana offense took advantage of quality field position set up by a Calais 60-yard kickoff return with a one-yard touchdown pass from Lewis to Hunter Bergeron to go back ahead, 17-14, with 7:30 remaining in the first half.
The Jaguars drew first blood in the second half when it caught a bit of luck and fell on a fumble in the end zone to jump ahead, 21-17.
Following two more Artigue field goals that put the Ragin' Cajuns back in front, Mitchell and Ragas both found the end zone in the final period to open up a 37-21 advantage with 4:12 to play in the game.
South Alabama cut the lead to 37-27 when Tra Minter scored from 11 yards out, but that was as close as it got as Louisiana held off the Jaguars in the final 2:48 to clinch the victory in Mobile.
Louisiana will play its final two contests of the regular season at Cajun Field, beginning on Saturday, Nov. 23, when it hosts Troy. Kickoff against the Trojans is slated for 4 p.m. on ESPN+.
Team Stats
LA 3, USA 0
LA - Artigue, Stevie 22 yd field goal 15 plays, 66 yards, TOP 5:44
LA 3, USA 7
USA - Davis, Carlos 20 yd run (Onate, Frankie kick), 6 plays, 71 yards, TOP 2:48
LA 10, USA 7
LA - Johnson, Neal 9 yd pass from Lewis, Levi (Artigue, Stevie kick) 11 plays, 69 yards, TOP 4:28
LA 10, USA 14
USA - Wilson, Jared 4 yd run (Onate, Frankie kick), 8 plays, 75 yards, TOP 4:35
LA 17, USA 14
LA - Bergeron, Hunte 1 yd pass from Lewis, Levi (Artigue, Stevie kick) 6 plays, 36 yards, TOP 2:14
LA 17, USA 21
USA - Baker, Kawaan 0 yd fumble recovery (Onate, Frankie kick)
LA 20, USA 21
LA - Artigue, Stevie 25 yd field goal 8 plays, 59 yards, TOP 3:10
LA 23, USA 21
LA - Artigue, Stevie 20 yd field goal 4 plays, 2 yards, TOP 1:40
LA 30, USA 21
LA - Mitchell, Elija 1 yd run (Artigue, Stevie kick), 17 plays, 85 yards, TOP 7:12
LA 37, USA 21
LA - Ragas, Trey 23 yd run (Artigue, Stevie kick), 3 plays, 47 yards, TOP 1:12
LA 37, USA 27
USA - Minter, Tra 11 yd run (Trotter,Desmond passfailed), 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 1:24
