Cajuns Fall To Jaguars, 32-25

Louisiana's Ragin' Cajun football team fell to 4-5 Thursday night after falling on the road to the South Alabama Jaguars by the score of 32-25.

Up 25-24, Louisiana held the ball with less than 4 minutes to go, but their first turnover of the game gave the Jaguars a short field and momentum.

Brooks Haack attempted to hit Gabe Fuselier on a curl route, but South Alabama defender E.J. May read it, picked it off, and set up the Jaguars with a short field.

Two plays later, Xavier Johnson carried several Cajun defenders into the end zone for a 16 yard touchdown run, followed by a two point conversion to give South Alabama the lead.

"Boy, we had ourselves in position to win this game," said Louisiana head coach Mark Hudspeth. "Just overall, not good enough."

The glaring deficiency for the Cajuns was the run game. Louisiana only mustered 43 rushing yards on 24 carries. Talented running back Elijah McGuire finished with 21 yards, 11 carries and 1 touchdown, unable to find room to roam.

"The run game, for some reason, has absolutely disappeared," said Hudspeth after the loss.

Another struggle for the Cajuns was tackling, as Louisiana struggled to wrap up for four quarters.

Louisiana used the two quarterback system often in the first half, bringing in Jalen Nixon for snaps in the middle of several series. Nixon finished with 30 rushing yards and a touchdown on six carries, but never attempted a pass.

Haack finished with 21 of 34 for 270 yards passing, a touchdown and the interception late in the fourth quarter.

Perhaps the biggest bright spot for the Cajuns was senior wide receiver Jamal Robinson, who finished with a career-high 188 yards receiving, 10 catches and a score.

Otha Peters led the Cajuns on defense with 13 tackles. Cornerback Savion Brown had an 85 yard interception return for a touchdown.

Louisiana's next opponent is New Mexico State (2-7), who will visit Cajun Field on November 21rst.