University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics
Saturday, November 29
Lafayette, La.
2:00 p.m.
Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns
6-6 , 5-3
30
vs
27
ULM
3-9 , 1-7
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
OT
F
ULM
13
0
0
14
0
27
Louisiana
14
3
0
10
3
30
Louisiana Completes Second-Half Gauntlet, Defeats ULM For Fourth Straight Win
11/29/2025 11:13:00 PM | Football
Ragin' Cajuns overcome injuries, 2-6 start to become bowl eligible for eighth straight year
LAFAYETTE – With an injury-plagued team off to a 2-6 start and heading into the final month of the regular season, most football outsiders were not giving the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns football team any chances of evening its record or most likely, earning bowl eligibility.
But as it did all season, Louisiana persevered, stayed the course, and capped off a historic November run with a redeeming performance from an expected key contributor coming out of fall camp.
Lafayette native and Opening Night starter Walker Howard engineered a pair of late scoring drives, including in overtime, where his 20-yard run around the right side set up Tony Sterner's 19-yard field goal and helped Louisiana defeat in-state foe ULM, 30-27, on Saturday at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.
"I don't know how else you thought that game was going to end," an emotional head coach, Michael Desormeaux, said. "It was just kind of important for the course of this year, with kind of what we've been through. Didn't know if we had enough, truthfully, to be able to go out there and find a way to win, and it's just what these guys are.
"They scratch and they claw, and I think it was really important for them to send the seniors out with a win some way somehow. We don't get any style points for it but I've never been more proud of a group of people or to be a part of a group than I am right now.
Louisiana (6-6, 5-3 SBC), which fell to 2-6 after a 35-23 loss at Troy on October 25, completed a 4-0 November which included a pair of three-point wins while fighting decimating injuries along the offensive line all season, which saw eight players, including two starters from the Opening Night two-deep out for the season.
The win for Louisiana – its 15th in the last 18 meetings against ULM (3-9, 1-7 SBC) in the 61-game series – was anything but easy with 34 games between the schools decided by eight points or less.
Things started great for Louisiana as Ja'Corian Norris took the opening kickoff and raced untouched for a 96-yard touchdown.
The Warhawks quickly responded with a four-play, 75-yard drive with Nic Trujillo's 52-yard grab on third-and-12 from the ULM 23 set up his 25-yard scoring pass one play later from Aiden Armenta.
ULM forced Louisiana to punt on its next drive and drove 70 yards in seven plays as Zach Palmer-Smith's 7-yard run up the middle gave the Warhawks a 13-7 lead.
A high snap on a second Ragin' Cajuns punt gave ULM excellent field position at its own 46, but the Warhawks quickly gave the ball back as a bad snap resulted in an Armenta fumble with Ashley Williams Jr. recovering for Louisiana at the ULM 43.
Five plays later, Louisiana found the end zone as Steven Blanco capped the drive with a 4-yard run up the middle with 6:10 remaining in the first quarter for a 14-13 lead. Blanco opened the drive for the Ragin' Cajuns when he caught a short pass from Lunch Winfield and raced 29 yards down the left side to the ULM 14.
Louisiana capped off a 10-play, 42-yard drive in the second quarter when Sterner converted on a 55-yard field goal – two yards off the school-record and the longest field goal by a Ragin' Cajuns kicker since 1976 for a 17-13 lead at halftime.
Jonathan Bibbs opened a track meet fourth quarter for both teams as he caught an Armenta pass over the middle and raced 68 yards for a touchdown to give ULM a 20-17 lead.
The Ragin' Cajuns would respond on their ensuing drive behind Howard, who was injured late in the fourth quarter in the season-opener against Rice and missed the next five games, allowing Winfield to earn the starting job after a second-half rally against Marshall in the SBC opener on September 27.
Howard, replacing an injured Winfield, helped lead Louisiana on an 85-yard drive as his 11-yard pass to Caden Jensen nearly converted a third-and-long situation. The Ragin' Cajuns gambled on fourth-and-1 at the UL 24 and Bill Davis got a key block and raced 76 yards untouched for a 24-20 advantage.
ULM would drive 75 yards in five plays on its following drive as Armenta's deep pass down the right side connected with Trujillo for a 43-yard TD with 9:32 remaining and giving the Warhawks a 27-24 lead.
Howard, who was 6-for-9 through the air for 44 yards in his most extensive action since the season opener, connected with Davis on a 26-yard pass on third-and-8 to the UL 50 before Davis would later gain 19 of his game-high 126 yards around the right side to the ULM 19.
The Ragin' Cajuns would get as close as the ULM 13 before Sterner's 30-yard field goal with 3:36 left tied the game at 27-27.
ULM, which was 2-0 against Louisiana in overtime games, got a 23-yard pass from Armenta to Rylan Green on first-and-15 to the UL 7 before Brent Gordon Jr. intercepted Hunter Herring's pass in the end zone on third-and-goal and giving the Ragin' Cajuns a chance to seal the win.
Howard opened Louisiana's first possession in the extra period with a 20-yard run around the right side to the ULM 5 before three inside runs got the Ragin' Cajuns to the ULM 1 and Sterner's 19-yard boot split the uprights.
Jaden Dugger, one of 20 Louisiana seniors honored in a pre-game ceremony, tied a career-high with 16 tackles, with 3.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. Senior Terrence Williams made 10 stops for the Ragin' Cajuns with Kody Jackson and senior Jalen Clark adding six tackles each.
Gordon added five tackles for the Ragin' Cajuns, defending four passes and recording his first collegiate interception, with Maurion Eleam and Jordan Lawson adding five stops each.
"This whole year has been, I would say, chaotic. From the University level, through athletics, to the football team. What a group of people to be able to find a way to come back from 2 and 6 and win four in a row, and give ourselves an opportunity to hopefully get a bowl game here. We're really humble, really grateful, and incredibly proud of the people who come to work in our building every day."
Fans are encouraged to stay connected with Louisiana Football by downloading the official #GeauxCajuns App — click here for iOS and here for Android — and by following the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (@RaginCajunsFB).
MICHAEL DESORMEAUX OPENING STATEMENT
"I don't know how else you thought that game was going to end. It was just kind of important for the course of this year, with kind of what we've been through. Didn't know if we had enough, truthfully, to be able to go out there and find a way to win and its just what these guys are, man. They scratch and they claw, and I think it was really important for them to send the seniors out with a win some way somehow. We don't get any style points for it but, I've never been more proud of a group of people or to be a part of a group than I am right now. This whole year has been, I would say, chaotic. From the university level, through athletics, to the football team. What a group of people to be able to find a way to come back from 2 and 6 and win 4 in a row, and give ourselves an opportunity to hopefully get a bowl game here. We're really humble, really grateful and incredibly proud of the people that come to work in our building every day."
ON THE DECISION TO GO TO WALKER HOWARD IN THE FOURTH QUARTER
"Lunch was hurting pretty bad. Early in the game he'd tweaked something, I don't think it's a serious thing, he'll be okay, but he wanted to go. He wanted to go, he deserved the opportunity to go, he just couldn't. A huge part of his game was gone, he was in a lot of pain. I just felt like there was no question, the right thing to do was to go with Walker. He's practiced really well. He gives you a little bit of a spark in some of the things that he does, and what he did there at the end was gritty and tough. And for a kid who loves this place and wanted to come back so bad, to have things go as poorly as they did, getting hurt in week one, he's been nothing short of an unbelievable teammate. He's sat there every day, and he's worked and encouraged his teammates, and he goes to work every day. He embodies what you want your team to be about, and for him to get a moment right there, to go out there and go finish the game for us was pretty special.
ON BECOMING BOWL ELIGIBLE DESPITE DEALING WITH ADVERSITY ALL SEASON
"It's hard to win. And years like this certainly make you appreciate last year a whole lot more, but I don't regret the way things happened this year. I'm thankful that they did. I learned more about this team and this program and the people in our building than you can learn in any good year. Eight (eligible bowl berths) in a row, nine out of 10 years, that says that consistently you're winning and consistently you're going out there and you're competing at a high level. Certainly 6-6 isn't the standard that we want, but that record was out the window I think about week 3, when some of the starting stuff started to mount up. I mean, we've had three different starting quarterbacks this year. We've had 10 different lineups on offense that we've had to play with. You've had guys that are in and out, week after week. You've just had guys that stepped up and had a spark. I mean, how about Brent Gordon, interception at the end of the game? Ja'Corian Norris? Takes over the returner role and provided a spark since he's been doing that. Walker Howard jumps in and goes to play great. Andrew Martinez has to jump in. There's a redshirt freshman, walk-on center, who goes and plays his tail off and works his rear end off to go play. I mean, Bill Davis and Zylan Perry have been phenomenal all year. It was very tough, hard runs and it's just been over and over this year, so I'm more proud of this one than I am of anything else that I've done here.
But as it did all season, Louisiana persevered, stayed the course, and capped off a historic November run with a redeeming performance from an expected key contributor coming out of fall camp.
Lafayette native and Opening Night starter Walker Howard engineered a pair of late scoring drives, including in overtime, where his 20-yard run around the right side set up Tony Sterner's 19-yard field goal and helped Louisiana defeat in-state foe ULM, 30-27, on Saturday at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.
"I don't know how else you thought that game was going to end," an emotional head coach, Michael Desormeaux, said. "It was just kind of important for the course of this year, with kind of what we've been through. Didn't know if we had enough, truthfully, to be able to go out there and find a way to win, and it's just what these guys are.
"They scratch and they claw, and I think it was really important for them to send the seniors out with a win some way somehow. We don't get any style points for it but I've never been more proud of a group of people or to be a part of a group than I am right now.
Louisiana (6-6, 5-3 SBC), which fell to 2-6 after a 35-23 loss at Troy on October 25, completed a 4-0 November which included a pair of three-point wins while fighting decimating injuries along the offensive line all season, which saw eight players, including two starters from the Opening Night two-deep out for the season.
The win for Louisiana – its 15th in the last 18 meetings against ULM (3-9, 1-7 SBC) in the 61-game series – was anything but easy with 34 games between the schools decided by eight points or less.
Things started great for Louisiana as Ja'Corian Norris took the opening kickoff and raced untouched for a 96-yard touchdown.
The Warhawks quickly responded with a four-play, 75-yard drive with Nic Trujillo's 52-yard grab on third-and-12 from the ULM 23 set up his 25-yard scoring pass one play later from Aiden Armenta.
ULM forced Louisiana to punt on its next drive and drove 70 yards in seven plays as Zach Palmer-Smith's 7-yard run up the middle gave the Warhawks a 13-7 lead.
A high snap on a second Ragin' Cajuns punt gave ULM excellent field position at its own 46, but the Warhawks quickly gave the ball back as a bad snap resulted in an Armenta fumble with Ashley Williams Jr. recovering for Louisiana at the ULM 43.
Five plays later, Louisiana found the end zone as Steven Blanco capped the drive with a 4-yard run up the middle with 6:10 remaining in the first quarter for a 14-13 lead. Blanco opened the drive for the Ragin' Cajuns when he caught a short pass from Lunch Winfield and raced 29 yards down the left side to the ULM 14.
Louisiana capped off a 10-play, 42-yard drive in the second quarter when Sterner converted on a 55-yard field goal – two yards off the school-record and the longest field goal by a Ragin' Cajuns kicker since 1976 for a 17-13 lead at halftime.
Jonathan Bibbs opened a track meet fourth quarter for both teams as he caught an Armenta pass over the middle and raced 68 yards for a touchdown to give ULM a 20-17 lead.
The Ragin' Cajuns would respond on their ensuing drive behind Howard, who was injured late in the fourth quarter in the season-opener against Rice and missed the next five games, allowing Winfield to earn the starting job after a second-half rally against Marshall in the SBC opener on September 27.
Howard, replacing an injured Winfield, helped lead Louisiana on an 85-yard drive as his 11-yard pass to Caden Jensen nearly converted a third-and-long situation. The Ragin' Cajuns gambled on fourth-and-1 at the UL 24 and Bill Davis got a key block and raced 76 yards untouched for a 24-20 advantage.
ULM would drive 75 yards in five plays on its following drive as Armenta's deep pass down the right side connected with Trujillo for a 43-yard TD with 9:32 remaining and giving the Warhawks a 27-24 lead.
Howard, who was 6-for-9 through the air for 44 yards in his most extensive action since the season opener, connected with Davis on a 26-yard pass on third-and-8 to the UL 50 before Davis would later gain 19 of his game-high 126 yards around the right side to the ULM 19.
The Ragin' Cajuns would get as close as the ULM 13 before Sterner's 30-yard field goal with 3:36 left tied the game at 27-27.
ULM, which was 2-0 against Louisiana in overtime games, got a 23-yard pass from Armenta to Rylan Green on first-and-15 to the UL 7 before Brent Gordon Jr. intercepted Hunter Herring's pass in the end zone on third-and-goal and giving the Ragin' Cajuns a chance to seal the win.
Howard opened Louisiana's first possession in the extra period with a 20-yard run around the right side to the ULM 5 before three inside runs got the Ragin' Cajuns to the ULM 1 and Sterner's 19-yard boot split the uprights.
Jaden Dugger, one of 20 Louisiana seniors honored in a pre-game ceremony, tied a career-high with 16 tackles, with 3.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks. Senior Terrence Williams made 10 stops for the Ragin' Cajuns with Kody Jackson and senior Jalen Clark adding six tackles each.
Gordon added five tackles for the Ragin' Cajuns, defending four passes and recording his first collegiate interception, with Maurion Eleam and Jordan Lawson adding five stops each.
"This whole year has been, I would say, chaotic. From the University level, through athletics, to the football team. What a group of people to be able to find a way to come back from 2 and 6 and win four in a row, and give ourselves an opportunity to hopefully get a bowl game here. We're really humble, really grateful, and incredibly proud of the people who come to work in our building every day."
Fans are encouraged to stay connected with Louisiana Football by downloading the official #GeauxCajuns App — click here for iOS and here for Android — and by following the Ragin' Cajuns on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram (@RaginCajunsFB).
MICHAEL DESORMEAUX OPENING STATEMENT
"I don't know how else you thought that game was going to end. It was just kind of important for the course of this year, with kind of what we've been through. Didn't know if we had enough, truthfully, to be able to go out there and find a way to win and its just what these guys are, man. They scratch and they claw, and I think it was really important for them to send the seniors out with a win some way somehow. We don't get any style points for it but, I've never been more proud of a group of people or to be a part of a group than I am right now. This whole year has been, I would say, chaotic. From the university level, through athletics, to the football team. What a group of people to be able to find a way to come back from 2 and 6 and win 4 in a row, and give ourselves an opportunity to hopefully get a bowl game here. We're really humble, really grateful and incredibly proud of the people that come to work in our building every day."
ON THE DECISION TO GO TO WALKER HOWARD IN THE FOURTH QUARTER
"Lunch was hurting pretty bad. Early in the game he'd tweaked something, I don't think it's a serious thing, he'll be okay, but he wanted to go. He wanted to go, he deserved the opportunity to go, he just couldn't. A huge part of his game was gone, he was in a lot of pain. I just felt like there was no question, the right thing to do was to go with Walker. He's practiced really well. He gives you a little bit of a spark in some of the things that he does, and what he did there at the end was gritty and tough. And for a kid who loves this place and wanted to come back so bad, to have things go as poorly as they did, getting hurt in week one, he's been nothing short of an unbelievable teammate. He's sat there every day, and he's worked and encouraged his teammates, and he goes to work every day. He embodies what you want your team to be about, and for him to get a moment right there, to go out there and go finish the game for us was pretty special.
ON BECOMING BOWL ELIGIBLE DESPITE DEALING WITH ADVERSITY ALL SEASON
"It's hard to win. And years like this certainly make you appreciate last year a whole lot more, but I don't regret the way things happened this year. I'm thankful that they did. I learned more about this team and this program and the people in our building than you can learn in any good year. Eight (eligible bowl berths) in a row, nine out of 10 years, that says that consistently you're winning and consistently you're going out there and you're competing at a high level. Certainly 6-6 isn't the standard that we want, but that record was out the window I think about week 3, when some of the starting stuff started to mount up. I mean, we've had three different starting quarterbacks this year. We've had 10 different lineups on offense that we've had to play with. You've had guys that are in and out, week after week. You've just had guys that stepped up and had a spark. I mean, how about Brent Gordon, interception at the end of the game? Ja'Corian Norris? Takes over the returner role and provided a spark since he's been doing that. Walker Howard jumps in and goes to play great. Andrew Martinez has to jump in. There's a redshirt freshman, walk-on center, who goes and plays his tail off and works his rear end off to go play. I mean, Bill Davis and Zylan Perry have been phenomenal all year. It was very tough, hard runs and it's just been over and over this year, so I'm more proud of this one than I am of anything else that I've done here.
Team Stats
ULM
UL
Total Yards
516
338
Pass Yards
311
126
Rushing Yards
205
212
Penalty Yards
52
25
1st Downs
29
17
3rd Downs
5
6
4th Downs
0
1
TOP
30:08
29:52
1st Quarter
ULM 0, UL 7
UL - Norris,Ja'Corian 96 yd kickoff return (Sterner,Tony kick)
ULM 6, UL 7
ULM - Trujillo,Nic 25 yd pass from Armenta,Aidan () 4 plays, 75 yards, TOP 01:28
ULM 13, UL 7
ULM - Palmer-Smith,Zach 7 yd run (Chambliss,Jacob kick), 7 plays, 70 yards, TOP 03:28
ULM 13, UL 14
UL - Blanco,Steven 4 yd run (Sterner,Tony kick), 5 plays, 43 yards, TOP 02:09
2nd Quarter
ULM 13, UL 17
UL - Sterner,Tony 55 yd field goal 10 plays, 42 yards, TOP 04:52
4th Quarter
ULM 20, UL 17
ULM - Bibbs,Jonathan 68 yd pass from Armenta,Aidan (Ryan,Makenzie kick) 3 plays, 80 yards, TOP 00:41
ULM 20, UL 24
UL - Davis,Bill 76 yd run (Sterner,Tony kick), 4 plays, 85 yards, TOP 01:58
ULM 27, UL 24
ULM - Trujillo,Nic 43 yd pass from Armenta,Aidan (Ryan,Makenzie kick) 5 plays, 75 yards, TOP 03:17
ULM 27, UL 27
UL - Sterner,Tony 30 yd field goal 11 plays, 65 yards, TOP 05:50
OT Quarter
ULM 27, UL 30
UL - Sterner,Tony 19 yd field goal 5 plays, 24 yards, TOP 00:00
Game Leaders
CMP
10
TD
0
YDS
82
INT
0
CMP
6
TD
0
YDS
44
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
S
/ Football
RB
/ Football
LB
/ Football
S
/ Football
CB
/ FootballQB
/ Football
S
/ Football
TE
/ Football
DE
/ Football
OL
/ Football
S
/ Football
RB
/ Football
K
/ Football
OLB
/ Football
LB
/ FootballQB
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Tyree Skipper Media Availability (Dec 12, 2025)
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Jim Salgado Media Availability (Dec 12, 2025)
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Michael Desormeaux Media Availability (Dec 12, 2025)
Friday, December 12
