In their first matchup against a Power Five opponent this season, the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns traveled to Tallahassee, Florida to take on the 19th-ranked Florida State Seminoles. This game would not have been easy, as the Cajuns were 24-point underdogs as reported by the New York Post. It would only get harder with the news that quarterback Ben Wooldridge, who had been starting for the Cajuns since the game against Marshall, was out with injury for the rest of the season. This paved the way for Chandler Fields, the original starter this season, to take the reins today.
Louisiana won the toss, so the Seminoles’ offense took the field first. They steadily drove down the field. Jordan Travis led the ‘Noles offense to a quick touchdown on a 36-yard run by Treshaun Ward. As quickly as the game started, the Seminoles led 7–0.
With Wooldridge out, Fields led the offense out on their first drive. The offense was stymied by the ferocious Florida State defense, and as such, were forced to punt their first drive.
Florida State would get the ball with good field position as the sun broke through in the Sunshine State. Seminoles tailback Lawrance Toafili would break for a big gain to put his team in the red zone, capped by a Travis scamper into the end zone to extend the lead to 14–0.
Fields would respond by leading the Cajuns down the field, crossing midfield before turning the ball over on downs. The Seminoles took it personally that the Cajuns went for it on fourth down, going down the field and scoring on another rushing touchdown by Travis. Florida State went up 21–0.
Rinse and repeat. Another three-and-out by the Cajuns to end the first quarter. The second started with the ‘Noles driving, but the Cajuns finally forced a punt.
Louisiana did absolutely nothing once again on offense. Deja vu once again, the Seminoles scored a touchdown to go up 28–0 on another Treshaun Ward touchdown.
The outmatched Cajuns once again had to punt the ball away, and the Seminoles went up by 35 on a Travis pass to wideout Malik McClain. Towards the end of the half, the Cajuns drove down the field and stalled out at the 2-yard line, with kicker Kenneth Almendares kicking the field goal to avoid a shutout, ending the first half with the Seminoles up 35–3.
Out of the halftime break, Louisiana started with the ball but were stymied again, with the Seminoles responding with a touchdown from Trey Benson, putting Florida State up 42–3.
The Cajuns fumbled on their first play from scrimmage, which was recovered by the ‘Noles in the Cajuns’ red zone. Within two plays, Duffy threw a beautiful pass to Markeston Douglas, caught in the end zone to make it 49–3.
Fields drove down the field late in the third quarter. They were stopped on third down at the Florida State 45-yard line, but once more failed to convert. Luckily, FSU showed mercy and gave the ball back to the Cajuns as the third quarter expired.
The fourth quarter, which was entirely garbage time, saw more Cajuns points on a Fields pass to Michael Jefferson, Jr. to cut the lead to 49–10. Then Fields ran it in on the next drive to make the score 49–17.
Simply put, the Cajuns were outclassed against the ranked Florida State, from the opening kickoff until the clock hit triple zeros. The defense allowed over 250 rushing yards, and the offense was putrid. The Seminoles completely dominated the Cajuns, and I tip my hat to them. If you’re a sports better, you should have picked the ‘Noles to win by more than 24 points.
The Cajuns will look to clinch bowl eligibility against the Texas State Bobcats next week in San Marcos, Texas. Kickoff will be at 4:00 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 26.