University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Saturday, November 23
Lafayette
4:00 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
9-2 , 6-1
51
vs
30
Troy
3-8 , 2-5
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
Troy
14
0
8
8
30
Louisiana
7
27
3
14
51
Cajuns Defeat Troy To Claim Share of SBC West Title, 51-30
11/23/2024 10:46:00 PM | Football
Louisiana can win outright title, host SBC Championship, with win at ULM
LAFAYETTE – Redshirt senior Chandler Fields, making his first start of the season, completed 18 of 24 passes for a career-high 323 yards and two touchdowns while Louisiana scored 30 unanswered points to defeat Troy, 51-30, in a Sun Belt Conference game on Saturday at Cajun Field.
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Keyon Martin, back in the starting lineup for the first time since an injury at Texas State on Oct. 29, picked off a pair of passes while redshirt freshman Bill Davis rushed for three touchdowns as Louisiana (9-2, 6-1 SBC) clinched a share of the SBC West Division title – its fifth in seven years since the conference went to the divisional format beginning in 2018.
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Louisiana can clinch the outright West Division title and home berth in next month's Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game with a win in its regular-season finale next Saturday (Nov. 30) at ULM or a loss by South Alabama (5-5, 5-2 SBC) on Friday against Texas State.
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"We're really proud of the response from this team," head coach Michael Desormeaux said. After a really disappointing week last week (a 24-22 loss to South Alabama), adversity kind of hits in that game and you start to realize you're going to be without some guys who played a critical role in helping us get to this point.
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"I think in really good teams, the next guy steps up and the next guy performs. Tonight, we had a lot of that, and I know we're going to talk about those guys individually, but as a team, I couldn't be more proud of the belief that they had."
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Fields, who replaced an injured Ben Wooldridge in the second half in last week's game, wasted no time in shaking off any rust as he connected with Jacob Bernard on a 46-yard pass on the Ragin' Cajuns first play from scrimmage. Five plays later, Fields would escape pressure and connect with Tavion Smith – making his first career start – with a 20-yard scoring pass with 9:44 remaining in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.
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Troy (3-8, 2-5 SBC), looking to knock off a SBC division leader for the second week in a row, took advantage of a short field on its third possession as Matthew Caldwell hit Jackson Worley on a 4-yard scoring pass to cap a 7-play, 34-yard drive.
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Following a UL punt, the Trojans drove 68 yards in seven plays as Caldwell threw his second of four TD passes on the night with a 30-yard strike to Devonte Ross for a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
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After that, it was all Cajuns.
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Davis scored the first of his three rushing TDs on the following drive with a 1-yard plunge to cap a 4-play, 55-yard drive which was aided by Robert Williams' 44-yard kickoff return. Davis, who gained 64 yards on 19 carries, bulled his way for a 14-yard run on the opening play of the drive before Fields connected on a 38-yard strike to the Troy 3.
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Martin collected the first of his two, second-quarter interceptions when he picked off Caldwell at the Troy 44. One play later, Fields would connect with Lance LeGendre on a 44-yard TD strike to put Louisiana ahead for good, 21-14, with 12:23 left in the half.
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The senior cornerback would collect his second interception two drives later at the Troy 49 and the Ragin' Cajuns would score six plays later as Davis scored on a 3-yard TD for a 31-14 lead with 2:16 remaining.
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Kenneth Almendares, who moved past Stevie Artigue for the school's all-time lead in extra point conversions (154) and became the Sun Belt Conference all-time leader in field goals (66), booted field goals of 38 and 32 yards in the second quarter to give Louisiana a 34-14 lead at the break.
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Almendares, who moved into the national lead with 25 made field goals on the season (in 27 attempts), added a 46-yard field goal in the third quarter to give the Ragin' Cajuns a 37-14 lead.
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Troy would score back-to-back touchdowns and convert on a pair of two-point conversions beginning with Caldwell's 6-yard pass to Brody Dalton with 5:45 left in the third quarter. The Trojans would close to with 37-30 with 11:31 remaining after Caldwell capped a 13-play, 82-yard drive with a 1-yard TD pass to Trae Swartz, but the momentum would be short-lived as Williams would returning the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a 44-30 lead.
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Davis would cap off his night after Louisiana turned Troy over on downs at the Troy 3 with a 1-yard TD run with 1:09 remaining.
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LeGendre caught six passes for 109 yards and a touchdown for Louisiana, which recorded 418 yards of total offense despite Troy holding a 78-56 advantage in total plays and a near seven-minute advantage in time of possession.
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K.C. Ossai led all players with nine tackles with Justin Agu tying his career-high with eight. Jake St. Andre forced a fumble – one of three turnovers by the Trojans – while Jordan Lawson and Mason Narcisse combined for 2.0 sacks.
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"Tonight, there was some adversity in the game," said Desormeaux, "and they never wavered, never faltered, just kept plugging away and we ended up having a really good night here for Senior Night at home.
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"I told them before this game that we're playing for one more (home) game. We want to go down the tunnel one more time as a team this year. So, we still got work to do, but for us tonight was a good way to bounce back. We got to build off it and try to keep playing our best ball going forward."
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Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
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Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (@RaginCajunsFB) to stay up-to-date on Louisiana Football.
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Keyon Martin, back in the starting lineup for the first time since an injury at Texas State on Oct. 29, picked off a pair of passes while redshirt freshman Bill Davis rushed for three touchdowns as Louisiana (9-2, 6-1 SBC) clinched a share of the SBC West Division title – its fifth in seven years since the conference went to the divisional format beginning in 2018.
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Louisiana can clinch the outright West Division title and home berth in next month's Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game with a win in its regular-season finale next Saturday (Nov. 30) at ULM or a loss by South Alabama (5-5, 5-2 SBC) on Friday against Texas State.
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"We're really proud of the response from this team," head coach Michael Desormeaux said. After a really disappointing week last week (a 24-22 loss to South Alabama), adversity kind of hits in that game and you start to realize you're going to be without some guys who played a critical role in helping us get to this point.
Â
"I think in really good teams, the next guy steps up and the next guy performs. Tonight, we had a lot of that, and I know we're going to talk about those guys individually, but as a team, I couldn't be more proud of the belief that they had."
Â
Fields, who replaced an injured Ben Wooldridge in the second half in last week's game, wasted no time in shaking off any rust as he connected with Jacob Bernard on a 46-yard pass on the Ragin' Cajuns first play from scrimmage. Five plays later, Fields would escape pressure and connect with Tavion Smith – making his first career start – with a 20-yard scoring pass with 9:44 remaining in the first quarter for a 7-0 lead.
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Troy (3-8, 2-5 SBC), looking to knock off a SBC division leader for the second week in a row, took advantage of a short field on its third possession as Matthew Caldwell hit Jackson Worley on a 4-yard scoring pass to cap a 7-play, 34-yard drive.
Â
Following a UL punt, the Trojans drove 68 yards in seven plays as Caldwell threw his second of four TD passes on the night with a 30-yard strike to Devonte Ross for a 14-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.
Â
After that, it was all Cajuns.
Â
Davis scored the first of his three rushing TDs on the following drive with a 1-yard plunge to cap a 4-play, 55-yard drive which was aided by Robert Williams' 44-yard kickoff return. Davis, who gained 64 yards on 19 carries, bulled his way for a 14-yard run on the opening play of the drive before Fields connected on a 38-yard strike to the Troy 3.
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Martin collected the first of his two, second-quarter interceptions when he picked off Caldwell at the Troy 44. One play later, Fields would connect with Lance LeGendre on a 44-yard TD strike to put Louisiana ahead for good, 21-14, with 12:23 left in the half.
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The senior cornerback would collect his second interception two drives later at the Troy 49 and the Ragin' Cajuns would score six plays later as Davis scored on a 3-yard TD for a 31-14 lead with 2:16 remaining.
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Kenneth Almendares, who moved past Stevie Artigue for the school's all-time lead in extra point conversions (154) and became the Sun Belt Conference all-time leader in field goals (66), booted field goals of 38 and 32 yards in the second quarter to give Louisiana a 34-14 lead at the break.
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Almendares, who moved into the national lead with 25 made field goals on the season (in 27 attempts), added a 46-yard field goal in the third quarter to give the Ragin' Cajuns a 37-14 lead.
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Troy would score back-to-back touchdowns and convert on a pair of two-point conversions beginning with Caldwell's 6-yard pass to Brody Dalton with 5:45 left in the third quarter. The Trojans would close to with 37-30 with 11:31 remaining after Caldwell capped a 13-play, 82-yard drive with a 1-yard TD pass to Trae Swartz, but the momentum would be short-lived as Williams would returning the ensuing kickoff 96 yards for a 44-30 lead.
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Davis would cap off his night after Louisiana turned Troy over on downs at the Troy 3 with a 1-yard TD run with 1:09 remaining.
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LeGendre caught six passes for 109 yards and a touchdown for Louisiana, which recorded 418 yards of total offense despite Troy holding a 78-56 advantage in total plays and a near seven-minute advantage in time of possession.
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K.C. Ossai led all players with nine tackles with Justin Agu tying his career-high with eight. Jake St. Andre forced a fumble – one of three turnovers by the Trojans – while Jordan Lawson and Mason Narcisse combined for 2.0 sacks.
Â
"Tonight, there was some adversity in the game," said Desormeaux, "and they never wavered, never faltered, just kept plugging away and we ended up having a really good night here for Senior Night at home.
Â
"I told them before this game that we're playing for one more (home) game. We want to go down the tunnel one more time as a team this year. So, we still got work to do, but for us tonight was a good way to bounce back. We got to build off it and try to keep playing our best ball going forward."
Â
Fans are encouraged to stay engaged with the Ragin' Cajuns by downloading the #GeauxCajuns app. Click here for iOS/Apple platforms and here for Android platforms.
Â
Follow the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram (@RaginCajunsFB) to stay up-to-date on Louisiana Football.
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Team Stats
TRO
UL
Total Yards
394
418
Pass Yards
259
323
Rushing Yards
135
95
Penalty Yards
43
45
1st Downs
23
18
3rd Downs
6
2
4th Downs
2
0
TOP
33:22
26:38
1st Quarter
TRO 0, UL 7
UL - Smith,Tavion 20 yd pass from Fields,Chandler (Almendares,Kenneth kick) 6 plays, 85 yards, TOP 03:03
TRO 7, UL 7
TRO - Worley,Jackson 4 yd pass from Caldwell,Matthew (Renfroe,Scott Taylor kick) 7 plays, 34 yards, TOP 03:45
TRO 14, UL 7
TRO - Ross,Devonte 30 yd pass from Caldwell,Matthew (Renfroe,Scott Taylor kick) 7 plays, 68 yards, TOP 02:58
2nd Quarter
TRO 14, UL 14
UL - Davis,Bill 1 yd run (Almendares,Kenneth kick), 4 plays, 55 yards, TOP 01:20
TRO 14, UL 21
UL - LeGendre,Lance 44 yd pass from Fields,Chandler (Almendares,Kenneth kick) 1 plays, 44 yards, TOP 00:08
TRO 14, UL 24
UL - Almendares,Kenneth 38 yd field goal 6 plays, 37 yards, TOP 02:44
TRO 14, UL 31
UL - Davis,Bill 3 yd run (Almendares,Kenneth kick), 6 plays, 49 yards, TOP 02:49
TRO 14, UL 34
UL - Almendares,Kenneth 32 yd field goal 6 plays, 26 yards, TOP 00:48
3rd Quarter
TRO 14, UL 37
UL - Almendares,Kenneth 46 yd field goal 7 plays, 46 yards, TOP 03:54
TRO 22, UL 37
TRO - Dalton,Brody 6 yd pass from Caldwell,Matthew (Parker,Landon pass) 10 plays, 83 yards, TOP 05:14
4th Quarter
TRO 30, UL 37
TRO - Swartz,Trae 1 yd pass from Caldwell,Matthew (Ross,Devonte pass) 13 plays, 82 yards, TOP 06:48
TRO 30, UL 44
UL - Williams,Robert 96 yd kickoff return (Almendares,Kenneth kick)
TRO 30, UL 51
UL - Davis,Bill 1 yd run (Almendares,Kenneth kick), 3 plays, 3 yards, TOP 01:31
Game Leaders
CMP
18
TD
2
YDS
323
INT
0
Players Mentioned
CB
/ Football
K
/ Football
WR
/ Football
RB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
DE
/ Football
WR
/ Football
CB
/ Football
DL
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
LB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
QB
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