By Dan McDonald (Special for ESPN1420)

All it took was a coin flip, and that set Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns to partying like it was 2013.

At least, that’s how it looked to Texas State’s Bobcats, who must now be thinking that the Cajuns are the Alabama, Florida State or Green Bay Packers of the Sun Belt Conference.

For the second straight year, UL embarrassed a team that has been more than competitive against the rest of the league. Tuesday night’s 34-10 victory in San Marcos was the second straight 24-point Cajun win in the two-game series between the clubs, and neither one was as close as the score indicated.

Last season, the Bobcats came to Cajun Field to celebrate their first-ever Sun Belt game and found themselves trailing 45-3 at one point late in the third quarter in a game that finished up 48-24. On Tuesday, for the game’s first 52 minutes, UL was firmly in control, and the only reason the game wasn’t worse than the 34-3 fourth-quarter score was two Cajun almost-merciful fourth-quarter field goals. Had they gone for first downs on those marches (and at that point they were 7-of-9 on third down in the second half), it would likely have been worse.

Texas State had eight first downs, less than 200 yards of offense, no plays over 25 yards and no drives over 40 yards until only 2:04 remained. At that point, Texas State drove 77 yards in five plays against a backup-laden Cajun defense -- much like the previous year when the Bobcats got their only offensive touchdown almost at the final horn.

For Cajun quarterback Terrance Broadway, Tuesday’s win wasn’t just a reminder of 2013. It was a flash-back to the 2012 season, when the Baton Rouge native was a free-wheeling swashbuckler, coming in to replace the injured Blaine Gautier and finding his running stride to the tune of three 100-yard rush games. On Tuesday night, Broadway looked like that same rusher, the one that the Cajuns tried to keep under wraps last year for fear of injury.

He finished with 113 yards rushing, to go with a 14-of-21, 225-yard passing effort. Apparently, the rush yards came as a shock to the Bobcats ... a Broadway acquaintance on the TSU team said after the game that his squad hadn’t prepared for the quarterback running on the read option.

A lesson in English: the term option is used for a reason.

“It paid off for us to have it (the QB-rush option) in our back pocket tonight,” Broadway said after the Cajuns had improved to 2-0 in Sun Belt play.

Between Broadway, Alonzo Harris’ tough-yardage pounding when it was needed (79 yards on 18 carries and a score) and Elijah McGuire’s deft moves – one “stanky-leg” run wound up on ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays – a Bobcat team that was the league’s best-rounded offensive unit entering the week was given a swift lesson in offensive production.

It started early. Rather than deferring after winning the toss, the Cajuns chose to receive the opening kickoff and were up 7-0 after only two plays when Broadway faked a running play and no TSU defender could catch McGuire on a wheel route out of the backfield. The 62-yard play was the longest of the season for the UL offense.

“Let’s come out, take the football and try to set the tone,” Cajun coach Mark Hudspeth said after the game. “I liked the mindset that our guys came out with. We were way more aggressive early, taking some shots. I thought Jay called a great game.”

It’s only an assumption that Hudspeth was referring to offensive coordinator Jay Johnson and not ESPN 1420 play-by-play guru Jay Walker. But the way things were going on Tuesday, Hudspeth could have been listening to either one in his headset and the Cajuns would have still found success.

That’s now three in a row on Tuesday nights, all on the road, but an even bigger one looms next Tuesday when the ESPN2 cameras move into Cajun Field. Arkansas State matches the Cajuns with a 2-0 conference record, and the winner has the advantage in the standings and tie-breakers the rest of the way.

It’s also another chance for Cajun fans to make a national impact. With the Tuesday night game standing alone in college football, fans across the country were left with a bad impression when looking at a San Marcos crowd that was okay at the start but rapidly headed for the exits. That’s not a good impression when teams are sitting on the bubble for potential postseason bowl games.

And, no, it’s never too early to start talking about bowl games.

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