Cajuns fall 24-22 to the Jaguars, despite heroic efforts by Fields 

The win streak for the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns has come to an end. 

The Cajuns fell to the South Alabama Jaguars last Saturday 24–22, despite a valiant second half effort from the team led by backup quarterback Chandler Fields. 

This was the Cajuns first loss since their loss to Tulane, their second at home despite being undefeated on the road. 

The Cajuns still have a chance to clench the Sun Belt Championship and host it if they win out. 

The Jags came into Cajun Field ready and prepared to play, especially compared to the sluggishness the Cajuns played with in the first half. 

The defense especially seemed confused for much of the first half of the game. 

Louisiana would get the ball to start the game first, starting at their own 34-yard line thanks to a good return by Zylan Perry. 

The Cajuns would drive 40 yards down the field, converting a fourth down along the way before failing another fourth down conversion to turn the ball over to the Jags. 

Not letting this chance go to waste, the Jags would quickly drive down field, their offense cooking the Cajun defense as they scored a touchdown after moving downfield 74 yards in nine plays. 

The Cajuns next drive would stall out after six plays, forcing the team to punt the ball back to South Alabama. 

South Alabama would quickly convert that touchdown for another touchdown, going up 14–0 early in the game. 

Louisiana would finally get on the board with their third drive of the game thanks to the leg of Kenneth Almendares who easily made a 35 yard field goal to make it a 14–3 game, it would be the only points the Cajuns would score in the half. 

South Alabama would score yet another touchdown, going 75 yards in 10 plays to increase their lead 21–3. 

The rest of the half would be South Alabama punts and Louisiana turnovers, including a Ben Wooldridge interception that helped set the Jags up for a field goal to end the half up 24–3. 

Whatever happened during halftime woke the team up though as the Cajuns came out of the tunnel after half was completely different from their first half counterparts. 

The defense would quickly force South Alabama to punt the ball during their opening drive, giving Louisiana the chance to finally score. 

Louisiana’s first drive of the half would be slow and methodical, a perfect drive for the Cajuns, though a toll was levied upon the team. 

On the fourth play of the 15 play drive, Wooldridge would scramble for a 12 yard gain and a first down, but would injure himself going down and taking him out for the rest of the game. 

In his place senior, backup Chandler Fields, who had started the last four games of the season in 2023, would come out to finish the game. 

Fields was just what the Cajuns offense needed as he led the team down the field to the redzone, where the team was stopped and forced to kick a field goal to cut the lead 24–6. Louisiana would get the ball back again as the defense began to play clutch, forcing the Jags to turn the ball over on downs, setting up the offense in great field position. 

Despite the great play by the defense, the offense once again stalled in the red zone. Crucial passes were dropped in the red zone despite great placement by Fields who was playing much better than the previous season. 

Louisiana was once again forced to go for three despite being down multiple possessions and being in the red zone. Luckily for the Cajuns, the defense were playing lights out and forced another Jag punt. 

The Cajuns would waste no time on this drive, as on the third play of the drive Fields would roll out left looking for a receiver. 

While being chased by a defender he told running back Dre’lyn Washington to go deep and Fields would find him, throwing deep on the run and connecting with the back for a 66 yard touchdown. 

An Almendares PAT would finally put the Cajuns within one possession of tying the game as they were only down 24–16. 

Defense would once again try their best to save the day as freshman safety Kody Jackson would intercept a deep pass to give the offense a chance to tie the game. 

Fields and the Cajun offense would not let the defense down. 

Louisiana would move down field to the two yard line where Fields would punch in the touchdown with a QB run. 

The Cajuns would go for two to tie the game, running another QB run for Fields. 

The two point conversion would fail, as despite seeming to get in a flag for illegal formation would put an end to the hope for a comeback. 

South Alabama would kneel the ball to end the game, sealing the Cajuns 24–22 loss despite a spot in the SBC Championship on the line. 

Fields did his best, showing how much he prepared as he was thrust into a situation many others would crumble in. Fields would finish the game completing 14/17 of his passes for 185 yards and a touchdown, with an additional 28 yards and a touchdown on the ground. 

The biggest reason for the Cajuns loss was the lack of a good run game. Louisiana out rushed the Jags 137–68, yet the Cajuns could not run where it mattered the most, the redzone. 

The Cajuns leading rusher for the game was Bill Davis who only gained 50 yards on 16 carries, an average of 3.1 yards per carry. 

Washington averaged 8.2 yards per carry but was only given five carries the entire game. 

Harvey Broussard and Lance LeGendre would lead the team in receptions and receiving yards but only Washington ended the game with a receiving touchdown. 

Defensively, the Cajuns performed much better in the second, led by Tyrone Lewis Jr. who ended the game with nine tackles, including 1.5 TFLs. 

The Cajuns will have another chance this Saturday to clinch a spot in the Championship game with a win against Troy, and will still be able to host the game if they win out.