LAFAYETTE, La. – Levi Lewis threw for 252 yards and three scores to lead No. 25 Louisiana to a 38-10 Sun Belt Conference football victory over the University of South Alabama Saturday at Cajun Field.

The quarterback completed 21-of-31 attempts while guiding the Ragin' Cajuns (7-1, 5-1 Sun Belt) to 506 yards of total offense.  Chris Smith rushed for 99 yards and a score, Trey Ragas had 78 yards, and Elijah Mitchell supplied 61 yards and a touchdown as UL added 254 yards on the ground.

Terrion Avery paced South (3-5, 2-3 SBC) with 63 yards on 14 carries, while Kawaan Baker caught six passes for 43 yards and a touchdown, and Cade Sutherland and Jalen Tolbert added five receptions each.  Nick Mobley paced all players with 11 stops for the Jaguar defense as well.

#25 Louisiana 38, South Alabama 10 (game stats)
South Alabama/Louisiana photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-Louisiana scored on each of its first two possessions to take a 14-3 lead at the end of the first quarter.
-The Cajuns nearly doubled the Jags' figure in total offense in the opening half — outgaining USA 301-157 — while building a 28-10 advantage.
-Kenneth Almendares hit a 25-yard field goal for the only points in the third period to help UL extend its lead to 31-10.
-Ragas closed out the scoring with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Lewis with just under 11 minutes to go in the contest.
-The Jaguars were limited to 123 yards rushing and 145 yards through the air.

NOTES
-This was the first time in program history that the Jaguars have faced top-25 opponents in back-to-back weeks after playing No. 15 Coastal Carolina last Saturday.
-The Ragin' Cajuns have now won all five meetings in the series in Louisiana.
-Baker moved into the top five on the school's all-time all-purpose yardage list with his first reception of the contest, finishing with 85 total yards on the afternoon and 2,597 in his career as he passed former WR Jeremé Jones with the effort.
-Tolbert entered the top 10 all-time at South in receptions, passing both Danny Woodson II and Josh Magee to move into eighth place as he now has 76 in his career.
-The reception total was a career high for Sutherland, surpassing the four catches has had in the Jaguars' 2019 debut at Nebraska.
-It was the first time an individual other than Carlos Davis paced South's rushing attack as Avery finished the day with career-high totals in both attempts and yards.
-Mobley posted a double-digit tackle total for the first time since the Jags began the campaign with a win at Southern Mississippi on Sept. 3, marking the sixth occasion he has made 10-plus stops in his career.
-The junior added his first interception as a member of the program as well, picking off a deflected pass in the end zone on the Ragin' Cajuns final offensive snap of the first half.
-With Doug Sullivan recovering a fumble earlier in the period, it was the first time that USA's defense has recorded multiple takeaways in consecutive games since turning the trick in the first four outings last fall.
-Dewayne Betts Jr. was credited with a career-best eight stops.
-In addition to making seven tackles, Keith Gallmon equaled a career high with three passes broken up.
-Wy'Kevious Thomas was credited with his first-ever tackle for loss after posting an assist behind the line in the second quarter.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell
Opening statement: "I'm very disappointed.  We were playing for first place in the division and I really thought we would play better today.  I thought we practiced great on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We had a couple of guys come down positive [with Covid-19] after Wednesday, but the guys who stepped up and took their place were not why we didn't play better than we did today.  We won't use that as an excuse.  I don't know why we didn't play well today.  Give credit to Louisiana, they have a good football team." 
On bouncing back from this result: "We just have to take each game one at a time.  We have to practice well, but we practiced great this past week.  For all these guys have been through, the came out and practiced their butts off Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.  We had some issues Wednesday and they overcame them and bounced back.  I don't feel that we blinked or backed down today.  We need to find a way to have a good week of practice and take that and apply it on Saturday, so that we can find a way to beat a very good Georgia State team."
On the offense's struggles to finish drives: "Obviously we have not come up with the answer yet.  We need to keep searching and find that answer and put the ball in the end zone."

Senior WR Kawaan Baker
On the game: "We just have to execute on offense, defense and special teams.  We practiced well, but we have to bring that to the game."
On the wide receivers making tough catches: "It's just an everyday thing that we have to be able to do.  As receivers, we just have to do our job and make the best plays we can."
On what the offense needs to do to finish drives better: "We have to dig a little bit deeper and continue to grind.  We need to give it our all and even more, and do our job."

Junior LB Nick Mobley
On Louisiana: "They are a good team, but we didn't didn't execute how we should've and I definitely had a few plays that I need to execute better.  We need to get back to the drawing board, we have to do better"
On bouncing back from the loss: "We need to win the next game, to do that we just have to come out next week ready to work and take it one step at a time."
On the Jaguar defense: "Giving up 38 points is not acceptable.  We made some plays, but we didn't make enough of them."

Up next: The Jags return to Hancock Whitney Stadium to play host to Georgia State Saturday, with kickoff on ESPNU scheduled for 3 p.m.

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

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