MOBILE, Ala. – Levi Lewis ran for 129 yards and threw for another 110 in his collegiate debut to lead Louisiana to a 19-14 Sun Belt Conference football win over the University of South Alabama Saturday at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Lewis was 8-of-15 passing with two touchdowns in a three-minute span early in the second quarter, finding Michael Jacquet from 56 yards out and Chase Rogers for a 13-yard score to break open a 3-0 contest as the Ragin' Cajuns (4-4, 3-2 Sun Belt) jumped out to a 19-0 advantage.  Malik Stanley scored twice for the Jaguars (3-6, 2-3 SBC), once in the final minute of the first half and again in the last minute of regulation, ending up with a game-high-tying five catches for 68 yards as Cole Garvin was 22-of-35 passing for 274 yards.

Jeremy Reaves led South with 10 tackles — three more than any other player was credited with — with Tracy Walker and Jacques Boudreaux pacing ULL after recording seven stops apiece.

Louisiana 19, South Alabama 14
South Alabama/Louisiana photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-The two teams were separated by just six yards of total offense — ULL had a 374-368 edge — although the Ragin' Cajuns gained 264 of those on the ground while the Jaguars posted 281 via the pass.
-The Ragin' Cajuns scored on four straight first-half possessions, more than doubling USA's total yards (265-128) in the opening 30 minutes.
-Before an 80-yard touchdown drive to get on the scoreboard 38 seconds before the intermission the Jaguars had gained just 48 total yards on their first five possessions.
-The Jags made it a one-possession game with 58 second to go in the game when Garvin connected with Stanley for a 16-yard touchdown, but ULL recovered the onside kick.
-The Ragin Cajuns were 7-of-16 on third-down conversions, leading to 34-and-a-half minutes of possession.
-Jamarius Way led all players with 110 yards on five receptions.

NOTES
-It was the first time in six meetings in the series that the road team has won, is ULL now 4-2 against the Jaguars.
-It marks the third occasion this fall that South has dropped consecutive contests.
-The Ragin's Cajuns' time of possession was nearly two-and-a-half minutes more than any other opponent has posted this fall, as it was the first time in four outings the Jags have lost the time of possession battle.
-All three of South's losses in Sun Belt action this fall have been by a single-figure margin.
-The Jags have now dropped all five games this season when trailing at the half.
-Reaves finished with a double-digit tackle total for the second straight contest while recording his seventh career game with 10 or more stops.
-With the performance he also moved into second on USA's all-time list in the category with 269 in three-plus years.
-Way is the first Jaguar to have 100 or more yards receiving in back-to-back games since Josh Magee accomplished the feat in the last two outings of the 2016 season.
-Stanley became the first Jag to post multiple touchdown catches in a game since Maaseiah Francis had a pair at Idaho on Nov. 26 a year ago.
-Garvin finished with career highs in completions (22) and passing yards (274) in his first appearance since USA defeated Troy on Oct. 11.
-Corliss Waitman averaged a season-best 50.3 yards, becoming the first individual other than Brandon McKee in program history to post a mark above 50 yards per kick in a game.
-It was announced prior to kickoff that Xavier Johnson has been suspended for the rest of the season; Tra Minter made his second career start in place of the senior running back, leading the Jaguars with 50 yards on 13 carries.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Joey Jones
On the disappointment of the loss: "It's tough.  We knew it was going to be a big game for us and a big game for them.  We didn't come out of the gate very well only scoring seven points until a minute left in the game on offense; we've got to do better than that.  I thought we had a good game plan and the kids played hard, but we didn't make a lot of plays and had a lot of missed opportunities early missing some receivers that were wide open."
On what you tell the players after the game: "I know you saw that they fought out there, because they did; they stood together and were encouraging each other as a team.  We were able to score late to give us a chance to win the football game, but it was a little too late.  We can't be that far behind in the fourth quarter and expect to win ball games.  We have to come out better and play better offensively in the first half."
On ULL quarterback Levi Lewis: "We found out today that he was going to play and had no idea about that in our preparation.  They changed up their offense a little bit with a little bit more of a quarterback running game.  I thought our defense adjusted well once we got to see what they were doing with him in the first half."
On Cole Garvin coming off the bench: "I thought Cole came in and changed things up for us and played pretty well.  I thought he threw the ball extremely well."
On bad breaks in the game: "We have to be able to make some of those plays.  We had a fumble on the ground in the fourth quarter that we had our hands on that would have given us the ball around midfield.  I think right now the biggest concentration for us though is to be able to come out of the gates better.  We can't play catch up.  The last two games we got behind early and had to play catch up and if you miss a couple of plays here and there you're going to lose ball games.  If you're up on people, you can afford to make some of those mistakes, but you can't be behind and make those mistakes."
On Arkansas State coming in next: "We're going to line up and be ready to play; I promise you that.  Arkansas State has a really good football team.  We know we have a big game ahead of us.  Our backs are certainly up against the wall right now for us to get to a bowl [game]; we have to win all three of our remaining games starting with the conference champion four of the last five years.  We have to be ready for them."

Cole Garvin
On the loss: "We just have to work on not breaking our own momentum.  We had momentum a lot that game, and the offense would mess it up for ourselves and that hurt us.  Getting in the red zone and not scoring – we have to stop doing that."

Jeremy Reaves
On Louisiana quarterback Levi Lewis: "He's more versatile and is better with his feet.  We were prepared for deep balls, but with him being so small he couldn't see over the line of scrimmage so everything was outside.  He gave us a different look; he was a running back, basically, at quarterback."
On the loss: "It's a tough pill to swallow when you go out there and fight.  There were too many plays left on the field.  We just have to get in the film room and in practice, and we have to take that stuff seriously.  We have to take mistakes seriously in practice, because it translates to Saturday.  I put that on the seniors; we're the leaders and we're responsible for that.  We have to get that corrected."
On ULL touchdown passes: "One was on me; I was trying to do someone else's job and essentially lost my man.  It's the same thing that hurt me last week too.  I can't make those mistakes; my teammates look to me to make the play and not blow it up.  The other was just guys being aggressive and looking to make plays, and we left a guy open."

Darrell Songy
On the loss: "Early on, there were just mental busts that happened and got them [ULL] ahead.  Just small, basic plays we need to take care of to help take away their momentum at the beginning of the game.  As we got into the game, we felt more into position and adjusted to the quarterback.  But it was just too little too late."

Louisiana head coach Mark Hudspeth
On the win: "I'm really proud of the way this football team responded.  We talked all week about starting out fast and we did that.  Overall I was proud of our offensive production, especially in the first half.  Even in the second half we were able to drive the ball out and pin them deep.  Defensively, I thought this was one of our better performances of the season.  Our guys were really into the game tonight.  I thought we were the more physical team.  We talked all week about coming out and setting the tone physically."
On the momentum change late in the game after Posey's interception, a big run and a punt to pin South Alabama deep: "That was three big scenarios in a row right there.  To me, that's what I call good team football.  That was just a solid team victory tonight.  Everybody did their job.  I thought we were physical and that's what tonight was all about, all three phases being solid." 

Up next: The Jags will play host to Arkansas State on Senior Day Saturday at 4 p.m. (CDT)

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