University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
5-1 , 2-0
App State
2-4 , 0-3
Defense Comes Through As Louisiana Defeats App State, 34-24
10/13/2024 12:53:00 AM | Football
Louisiana forces five turnovers to spoil gutsy effort by Mountaineers
LAFAYETTE – Louisiana's defense forced five turnovers, including four in the fourth quarter and the Ragin' Cajuns capitalized with 21 points to claim a 34-24 Sun Belt Conference victory over rival Appalachian State on Saturday night at Cajun Field.
Ben Wooldridge completed 14 of 23 passes for 198 yards and a pair of touchdowns while sealing Louisiana's (5-1, 2-0 SBC) with a 1-yard TD sneak with 1:03 left. Tyree Skipper and Tyrone Lewis Jr. each picked off a pair of passes while Justin Agu's 70-yard fumble return in the fourth quarter set up a 1-play score with center Landon Burton recovering a fumble in the end zone for a 27-17 lead.
"Really good teams and teams that have really bought into what they're doing, they complement each other well," said head coach Michael Desormeaux, "and offensively it wasn't our cleanest night to say the least but defensively they gave us the ball on some short fields, and we were able to set up some scores and that's what good teams do.
"You find ways to win games, and you play off each other's strengths and I told our defense we're going to have a night at some point where we didn't play great on offense, and they were going to have to play great and tonight I think was kind of that night."
Kenneth Almendares booted a pair of field goals, including a 53-yarder in the third quarter, tying him with Stevie Artigue (2015-19) for the school-record for most field goals made (53), which put the Ragin' Cajuns ahead for good, 20-17.
Facing its SBC rival for the first time since claiming the 2021 SBC Championship on the same field, Louisiana forced a punt on App State's (2-4, 0-3 SBC) opening possession before driving 75 yards in 12 plays with Almendares' 32-yard field goal giving the Cajuns a 3-0 lead.
The Mountaineers, still dealing with the aftermath of last month's floods from Hurricane Helene which ravaged much of Western North Carolina, answered with a 13-play, 77-yard drive as Joey Aguilar connected with David Larkins on a 1-yard scoring pass with 10:29 left in the first half.
One play later, Wooldridge would connect with Terrance Carter on a 74-yard scoring pass to put Louisiana ahead, 10-7, before the senior quarterback would find Harvey Broussard in the back of the end zone for an 8-yard scoring pass for a 17-7 advantage with 1:55 remaining.
App State would quickly answer as Aguilar would toss a short pass to Kanye Roberts, who broke several tackles and scored on a 15-yard TD to cut the deficit to 17-14 at halftime.
The Mountaineers would tie the game at 17-all in the third quarter when Jackson Moore connected on a 44-yard field goal to cap an 11-play drive, before Louisiana would respond with Almendares, who barely missed a 60-yard attempt at the end of the first half, connecting on his fifth career field goal from 50-plus yards to cap an 11-play drive for the Cajuns.
Aguilar, who finished 20-for-42 for 236 yards, drove App State downfield on its ensuing drive including a third-and-20 conversion to Kaedin Robinson, who fought off a defender for a 22-yard gain to the UL 21.
But on the following play, K.C. Ossai stripped the ball away from Roberts at the UL 15 and Agu collected the ball off the bounce and raced to the App 15 to stop a potential Mountaineer go-ahead score.
One play later, Louisiana scored in the most unconventional way as Bill Davis' fumble found its way into the end zone through a scrum of players and Burton – the Ragin' Cajuns senior center – pounced on the loose ball for a 27-17 lead with 13:11 left.
The Mountaineers would refuse to go away as they would cut the lead to 27-24 after Aguilar tossed a 26-yard TD strike to Eli Wilson with 8:06 remaining.
App State would get the ball back with another chance to take the lead after Jordan Favors picked off a Wooldridge pass at the App 16, but Lewis would grab his first interception of the season five plays later when he picked off Aguilar at the App 34 with 3:47 remaining.
Louisiana would take advantage of the miscue as Wooldridge would convert a fourth-and-4 opportunity, connecting with Lance LeGendre on a 16-yard pass to the App 10 before scoring three plays later to ice the Cajuns' fourth straight win over the Mountaineers after dropping the first eight meetings in the series.
"When we play them that's just what it is, and I'm proud to get a win," Desormeaux said. "It wasn't the prettiest, it wasn't the cleanest, but these games with them are just like that sometimes. I have the utmost respect for that team, for that staff and for the way they played tonight."
Carter caught four passes for a career-high 107 yards for Louisiana, which won its third straight contest and joined James Madison and ULM with 5-1 records. Carmycah Glass led all players with eight tackles in the game Amir McDaniel tallied a career-best seven tackles with a sack and two quarterback hurries on the night as he was paired up with Robinson.
Roberts rushed for 148 yards on 26 carries for App State, which held a 391-364 advantage in total offense. Robinson, who was targeted 13 times, caught seven passes to lead the Mountaineers with Makai Jackson adding five receptions for 48 yards.
Louisiana will return to the road for its next two contests beginning on Saturday (October 19) when it travels to Conway, S.C., for a showdown with Coastal Carolina (4-2, 1-1 SBC). Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. CT and will be televised live on ESPNU.
Single-game tickets for Louisiana's six home games – which include remaining games against Arkansas State (Nov. 9), South Alabama (Nov. 16) and Troy (Nov. 23) – are currently on sale now. Tickets start as low as $15 and can be purchased through RaginCajuns.com and its social media platforms (Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram).
Season tickets for Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns Football are available for purchase on-line at RaginCajuns.com/tickets or by calling the Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office at (337) 482-GoUL (4685).
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Team Stats
APP 0, UL 3
UL - Almendares,Kenneth 32 yd field goal 12 plays, 75 yards, TOP 04:56
APP 7, UL 3
APP - Larkins,David 1 yd pass from Aguilar,Joey (Moore,Jackson kick) 13 plays, 77 yards, TOP 06:48
APP 7, UL 10
UL - Carter,Terrance 74 yd pass from Wooldridge,Ben (Almendares,Kenneth kick) 1 plays, 74 yards, TOP 00:13
APP 7, UL 17
UL - Broussard,Harvey 8 yd pass from Wooldridge,Ben (Almendares,Kenneth kick) 5 plays, 33 yards, TOP 03:14
APP 14, UL 17
APP - Roberts,Kanye 15 yd pass from Aguilar,Joey (Moore,Jackson kick) 10 plays, 70 yards, TOP 01:28
APP 17, UL 17
APP - Moore,Jackson 44 yd field goal 11 plays, 44 yards, TOP 04:46
APP 17, UL 20
UL - Almendares,Kenneth 53 yd field goal 11 plays, 41 yards, TOP 05:04
APP 17, UL 27
UL - Burton,Landon 0 yd run (Almendares,Kenneth kick), 1 plays, 7 yards, TOP 00:08
APP 24, UL 27
APP - Wilson,Eli 26 yd pass from Aguilar,Joey (Moore,Jackson kick) 7 plays, 67 yards, TOP 02:38
APP 24, UL 34
UL - Wooldridge,Ben 1 yd run (Almendares,Kenneth kick), 7 plays, 32 yards, TOP 02:44
