LAFAYETTE, La. — Big plays helped Louisiana-Lafayette break open a one-point game with the University of South Alabama Saturday, leading to the Ragin’ Cajuns’ 52-30 Sun Belt Conference victory at Cajun Field in the Jaguars’ final league game of the season.
Terrance Broadway accounted 365 yards of total offense, with both Harry Peoples and Javone Lawson recording over 100 receiving yards as ULL accepted a bid to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl after improving to 7-4 overall, 5-2 in the Sun Belt.
Ross Metheny countered with a school-record 360 passing yards on 27-of-44 passing for the Jags, who fell to 2-10, 1-7 in the SBC. USA will conclude the 2012 season — and complete a two-year transition to the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision level — with a 10 p.m. kickoff Saturday, Dec. 1 at Hawai’i.
Ahead just 17-16 with over two minutes to go before intermission, Broadway found Lawson for gains of 53 and 27 yards on back-to-back plays, with the latter capping a five-play, 98-yard march with 16 seconds left in the half. ULL got the ball to start the third quarter, and on second down from the 18-yard line Broadway connected with Peoples for a 72-yard completion that moved the ball to the USA-4. Effrem Reed scored from one yard out two plays later, extending the Cajun advantage to 31-16 88 seconds after the break.
“I thought that drive was the turning point in the game,” observed Jaguar head coach Joey Jones. “And then they came out in the third quarter and drove down and scored. That turned the whole game.
“Offensively they did a great job. We didn’t play as well defensively as we have played — we gave up a bunch of big plays and yardage — but they are a talented football team. They are very good on offense, and a lot of it had to do with the fact that they have some really good athletes.”
Broadway scored on a six-yard run midway through the quarter, ending a 12-play, 75-yard possession that was kept alive by a 25-yard completion from Brady Thomas to Melvin White for a 25-yard pickup on fourth-and-five from the ULL-44 to push the ULL lead to 22 points.
Peoples recorded a game-best 166 yards on five receptions while Lawson caught three balls for another 113, as Broadway completed 11-of-19 attempts for 305 yards and two scores. Reed carried 17 times for a game-high 81 yards and a pair of touchdowns, and Broadway posted 65 yards on 13 carries.
The Ragin’ Cajuns finished the night with an opponent-record 538 yards of total offense.
The Jaguars ended a string of 21 unanswered points with two-and-a-half minutes left in the third period, driving 67 yards in eight plays before Metheny found Jeremé Jones for a 23-yard touchdown pass. One play after finding Corey Besteda for a first down, Metheny connected with Bryant Lavender for a 24-yard gain to put the Jags on the ULL-16.
But Blaine Gautier came in and on his first play running the Cajun offense, from the USA-18, found Jacob Maxwell for a touchdown pass that made the score 45-23 ULL just over a minute into the final period. Metheny hit Gabe Loper midway through the period for a 28-yard score, one snap after Julien Valentin ran for 25 yards, once again drawing the Jaguars within two scores; but USA’s onside kick attempt was recovered by Dominique Tovell at the USA-46 and ULL scored again on a one-yard run by Yobes Walker for the final points of the night.
The Jaguars countered with 414 total yards — their second-highest total of the season — with 360 of those coming via the air. Wes Saxton paced all players with a career-high seven receptions while finishing with 83 yards, with the trio of T.J. Glover, Jones and Lavender posting four catches each and Greg Hollinger adding three for 60 yards. Valentin carried just three times for 34 yards to account for more than half the team’s rushing total.
USA was down 17-7 after one period, but Michel Chapuseaux hit a 45-yard field goal in the opening minute of the second period to wrap up an 11-play, 45-yard drive while drawing the Jags within one score. After the Jaguar defense forced a three-and-out — highlighted by a third-down sack from Alex Page — he made the score 17-13 with a field goal with 9:25 to go in the opening half.
USA pinned the Cajuns on their own seven-yard line on their ensuing possession, and after another three-and-out the Jaguars took over at the ULL-35 following a 13-yard punt return from Glover. Chapuseaux’s third field goal of the quarter — this time from 50 yards out with just over six minute remaining before the break — drew the Jags within one, 17-16.
After surrendering 170 yards over the opening 18 minutes, the Jag defense gave up 18 yards on ULL’s first 10 plays of the second quarter prior to the scoring drive in the final minutes of the half. Jake Johnson recorded nine stops and Enrique Williams had seven for USA, while B.J. Scott forced and recovered a fumble to go along with six stops and Terrell Brigham was credited with five. Clifton Crews added a second sack for the unit.
The Jags’ opening drive began with a 34-yard completion from Metheny to Hollinger, and it continued with catches by Glover and Saxton for 15 and 13 yards, respectively, that moved the chains as USA advanced to the ULL-3. Justin Anderson forced a fumble that Cordian Hagans recovered for the Ragin’ Cajuns, but ULL was offside on the play; instead, Valentin scored on his first career carry two snaps later to put the Jaguars up 7-0 just under four minutes into play.
The Cajuns began their first possession with a big play as well — Broadway connected with Lawson for a pickup of 33 yards — leading to a 27-yard Brett Baer field goal midway through the period that made the score 7-3.
USA had an opportunity to answer driving back into the red zone keyed by a 30-yard Metheny-to-Saxton completion, but Jamal Robinson blocked a 42-yard field-goal attempt. Instead, two plays later, Broadway hit Peoples on a crossing pattern with the latter going untouched down the left sideline for a 75-yard touchdown catch with just over four minutes to go in the first quarter as the Ragin’ Cajuns took their first lead, 10-7.
ULL extended its advantage to 17-7 less than a minute later on a Reed 19-yard scoring run up the middle. That came two plays after T.J. Worthy recovered a fumble forced by Jemarlous Moten after a 13-yard pass to Loper.
Despite holding the ball for just over three minutes in the first quarter, the Ragin’ Cajuns had a 170-152 edge in total offense at the end of the period.
Anderson’s 10 stops led all players, with Moten posting eight as well as three passes defensed. Melvin White was credited with seven tackles, Rodney Gillis six and Le’Marcus Gibson five..
For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).
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