Spotlight
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns vs Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns vs Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders Game Summary- 12/3 - 06:00 Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders 7 7 7 7 28 Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns 14 7 7 14 42
Game Wrapup Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns 42, Middle Tenn. St. Blue Raiders 28 |
Lafayette, LA (Sports Network) - Michael Desormeaux threw for 243 yards and four touchdowns to help lead the UL-Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns to a 42-28 win over the Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders in Sun Belt Conference action at Cajun Field.
Desormeaux converted 18-of-25 pass attempts for the Ragin' Cajuns (6-6, 5-2 SBC) as they snapped a three-game slide in earning their sixth win of the campaign. Tyrell Fenroy generated 83 yards and two touchdowns on 24 carries as well.
The Blue Raiders (5-7, 3-4) were paced by Joe Craddock who converted 22-of-28 passing for 242 yards and a pair of scores, while Phillip Tanner tacked on 78 yards and two TDs on 23 rushing attempts as the squad had a three-game win streak snapped in the regular-season finale.
Desormeaux put the Ragin' Cajuns on top early in the first quarter when he capped an 11-play, 80-yard drive with a four-yard TD pass to Luke Aubrey.
MT countered just over two minutes later with a two-yard scoring run by Tanner to knot the score at 7-7.
Running into the end zone on carries of four and three yards after that, Fenroy lifted ULL to a 21-7 advantage before Tanner's four-yard run for the Blue Raiders brought the visitors to within a touchdown at the break, 21-14.
Middle Tennessee opened the second half with a lengthy, 11-play, 80-yard drive of its own as Craddock hit Eldred King with a 22-yard strike to again tie the score, this time at 21-21.
Desormeaux's five-yard TD pass to Ladarius Green in the third frame again put the Ragin' Cajuns ahead by a score, but within just seven seconds of the fourth quarter the teams were again locked up after Craddock's 15-yard pass to Sancho McDonald took the receiver into the end zone.
From there on out the game belonged to Louisiana-Lafayette as Desormeaux hit Jason Chery and Louis Lee with 18 and 37-yard touchdown passes, respectively, to give the Ragin' Cajuns the victory.
Louisiana-Lafayette, which became bowl eligible with the win, controlled the ball for more than 11 minutes in the fourth quarter to secure the decision.
Game Notes
Box Score Middle Tennessee Blue Raiders at Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns |
| FINAL | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Middle Tennessee | 7 | 7 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Louisiana-Lafayette | 14 | 7 | 7 | 14 | 42 |
| Scoring Drives |
|---|
| Quarter 1 |
| 10:45 left: UL Lafayette Touchdown - 4-yard pass from Michael Desormeaux to Luke Aubrey. (Drew Edmiston kick). |
| 8:41 left: Middle Tennessee Touchdown - 2-yard run by Phillip Tanner. (Alan Gendreau kick). |
| 2:16 left: UL Lafayette Touchdown - 4-yard run by Tyrell Fenroy. (Drew Edmiston kick). |
| Quarter 2 |
| 11:20 left: UL Lafayette Touchdown - 3-yard run by Tyrell Fenroy. (Drew Edmiston kick). |
| 6:18 left: Middle Tennessee Touchdown - 4-yard run by Phillip Tanner. (Alan Gendreau kick). |
| Quarter 3 |
| 8:39 left: Middle Tennessee Touchdown - 22-yard pass from Joe Craddock to Eldred King. (Alan Gendreau kick). |
| 5:23 left: UL Lafayette Touchdown - 5-yard pass from Michael Desormeaux to Ladarius Green. (Drew Edmiston kick). |
| Quarter 4 |
| 14:53 left: Middle Tennessee Touchdown - 15-yard pass from Joe Craddock to Sancho McDonald. (Alan Gendreau kick). |
| 11:06 left: UL Lafayette Touchdown - 18-yard pass from Michael Desormeaux to Jason Chery. (Drew Edmiston kick). |
| 6:43 left: UL Lafayette Touchdown - 37-yard pass from Michael Desormeaux to Louis Lee. (Drew Edmiston kick). |
| Team statistics | Middle Tennessee | Louisiana-Lafayette |
|---|---|---|
| Time of Possession | 28:41 | 31:19 |
| First Downs | 26 | 23 |
| Passing Yards Completions-Attempts Interceptions | 242 22-29 1 | 243 18-25 0 |
| Rushing Yards Attempts | 167 40 | 152 43 |
| Punt Return Yards | 1 | 10 |
| Turnovers Fumbles-Lost Interceptions | 3 3-2 1 | 0 0-0 0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 6-49 | 5-44 |
| Punts-Average | 2-28.5 | 3-37.0 |
