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LAFAYETTE, La. – Elijah McGuire recorded 229 all-purpose yards, picking up more than half that total in the final quarter as Louisiana-Lafayette scored twice in the period en route to a 19-9 Sun Belt Conference football victory over the University of South Alabama Saturday at Cajun Field.

McGuire, held to just 23 yards on the ground through 45 minutes, started the first Ragin' Cajun drive of the fourth quarter with a 33-yard run down the right sideline and he gained 14 more on ULL's next snap.  It would lead to a 32-yard Hunter Stover field goal with 11-and-a-half minutes remaining in the contest to help give the Ragin' Cajuns (5-3, 4-0 Sun Belt) their first lead, 12-9, since the start of the second period.

The Jaguars (5-3, 4-2 SBC) would move into the red zone three minutes later keyed by completions of 26 yards to Braedon Bowman and 41 to Marvin Shinn by Matt Floyd, but on third-and-goal from the ULL-2 Christian Ringo recovered a fumble to end the threat.  McGuire rushed three times for 12 yards to start the ensuing possession, helping the Cajuns cross midfield on a 31-yard catch.  Terrance Broadway connected with James Butler for a 40-yard gain, and one play later McGuire crossed the goal line from eight yards out to seal the win with five minutes to go.

That was the lone touchdown of the night for the Ragin' Cajun offense, leading to the third time in the series that the home team has won while helping ULL snap the Jaguars' four-game win streak and hand them their first loss away from Mobile this fall as well.  USA will return to the road on Saturday with a 2 p.m. match-up against Arkansas State in Jonesboro.

"This is the reigning Sun Belt champions and we had them down to the wire but didn't finish," Jag head coach Joey Jones stated.  "We did a lot of good things.  I thought we played great defensively; our defense has been solid throughout the year.  There are a lot of good things we can take from this, we can't let this one game be the end all; we have to move on.  We have Arkansas State next week, and it's a big ballgame."

McGuire, who came into the game leading the conference in all-purpose yards and second in rushing, finished with 116 yards on 18 attempts and 90 more on a game-high nine receptions; the sophomore added a pair of punt returns for 23 yards as well.  Broadway was 16-of-28 passing for 216 yards to go along with 54 yards on 11 carries, while Butler led ULL with 91 yards on four receptions.

"I thought we had a great plan defensively," explained Jones.  "[Defensive coordinator] Coach [Travis] Pearson did a great job, and our guys played hard up front.  Elijah McGuire got a little loose in the fourth quarter with a couple of runs and pass receptions — he's a great football player, we knew he had the ability to do that.  But overall I am really proud of our defense; we played great tonight."

Terrell Brigham led the USA defense — and all players — with 10 total stops, while Montell Garner collected nine tackles and Davin Hawkins eight.

Jake Molbert paced the Cajuns with seven stops and Tracy Walker added six, all of the solo variety, as ULL limited the Jaguars to 336 total yards including only 78 in the fourth quarter; 72 of those came on USA's first drive after falling behind.  Ringo was credited with three tackles for loss among his five total, while Corey Trim and T.J. Worthy also made five stops apiece.

Stover kicked his third field goal of the day from 22 yards out with three-and-a-half minutes to go in the third quarter to even the score 9-9, finishing a drive that covered 68 yards in just under four minutes.  Broadway began the possession with passes to Butler for 16 and 22 yards, and he added a 14-yard scramble to move the ball to the USA-21.  But after a 14-yard pass to McGuire out of the backfield, Brigham stopped McGuire for a three-yard pick up and Broadway for a loss of one to keep ULL out of the end zone.

The Cajuns opened the game by picking up first downs on runs of 15 and six yards from Broadway around a five-yard completion from the quarterback to McGuire, but on second-and-seven from the USA-30 he caught a ball deflected by Jesse Kelley and tried to throw it again.  After a penalty for an illegal forward pass resulting in a loss of down ULL faced third-and-28, but Broadway found Devin Scott for a gain of 45 yards down the left sideline.  The Jaguars would force and incompletion on third-and-goal, though, as the Ragin' Cajuns settled for a 23-yard Stover field goal and a 3-0 lead nearly six minutes into the contest.

The Jags answered with their first points 13 seconds into the second quarter when Aleem Sunanon converted a 20-yard field goal that capped a 15-play, 76-yard march.  Brandon Bridge hit Shavarez Smith three times for a total of 24 yards and two first downs to begin the possession, with USA moving the chains twice more on a 12-yard run from Xavier Johnson and a nine-yard completion to Bowman to get to the red zone.

Bridge and Smith hooked up again later in the period, this time for a gain of 58 yards on third-and-eight from the USA-27, and two plays later the Jaguars took their first lead — 9-3 after a failed extra-point attempt — with eight minutes and 15 seconds left in the half on a 12-yard pass from Bridge to Jeremé Jones in the back corner of the end zone.

Bridge was 16-of-27 passing for 177 yards before being knocked out with an injury, with Floyd completing 4-of-8 attempts for 93 yards in relief.  Smith had eight catches for 116 yards — his second 100-yard game of the year — with Bowman and Jones recording 54 and 35 yards, respectively, on three receptions.  Johnson paced the Jags with 43 yards rushing and Kendall Houston supplied 42.

USA had run for more than 200 yards in each of its last four outings, but was held to 66 yards on 35 attempts by the Cajun defense.

Broadway connected with McGuire to pick up 24 yards down the right side line and 11 more out of the back field on ULL's ensuing possession, with the Ragin' Cajuns adding another first down on a 13-yard pass across the middle to Butler.  But Antonio Carter ran Broadway out of bounds after a pick up of two yards and Roman Buchanan broke up a pass in the end zone intended for McGuire on third down, leaving Stover to hit a 26-yard field goal to cut the Ragin' Cajun deficit in half with four-and-a-half minutes remaining in the opening half.

"We had a lot of opportunities, but I have to go back and watch the film to see what all happened," Jones commented.  "Louisiana-Lafayette outplayed us a little in the fourth quarter, though I felt really good about where we were midway through the fourth quarter.  We hadn't really moved the ball offensively as much as I would have liked to throughout the game, but we had a chance when we got down inside the two-yard line and turned it over.

"Give them credit, they did a good job playing in the fourth quarter."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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