Louisiana bounced back in a big way against the McNeese State Cowboys. Bill Davis and the Cajuns sent the Cowboys packing back down I–10 after a sound 34–10 win.
The game kicked off at 7 p.m., in front of 26,071 fans as the sun set over Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium.
The game started off quickly for the Cajuns thanks to a 50-yard kick return by Robert Williams. Louisiana would end that drive with a Bill Davis touchdown run, his first of the game.
McNeese would respond quickly with their own touchdown, tying the game 7–7. The rest of the first quarter and most of the second would be a slug as neither offense could score. Louisiana’s junior kicker, Tony Sterner, struggled at first, missing two field goals in that time.
The game started picking up toward the end of the second quarter, starting with an interception by senior safety Jalen Clark. It was a spectacular interception, stealing the ball from the McNeese receiver in midair.
The Cajuns drove down the field with penalties and massive rushes from Daniel Beale, Zylan Perry and a 36-yard touchdown from Davis.
Louisiana would get the chance to score again, quickly forcing the Cowboys to punt with 39 seconds left in the first half. A penalty and a big 19-yard pass to KaDarius Wade from Beale would allow Sterner to redeem himself, burying a 38-yard field goal as time expired in the half.
Following halftime, the Cowboys would score their last points of the night with a 45-yard field goal. Those were the only points in the third quarter; the fourth was all Cajuns.
Louisiana would start the fourth quarter in the middle of a six-minute drive that would end with another Sterner field goal, bringing the score to 20–10.
Cajuns would once again force a quick three-and-out by the Cowboys, beginning another long drive that saw eight straight runs from the Louisiana offense. The drive would be capped off with a Beale touchdown pass to Landon Baptiste, extending the Cajuns lead 27–10.
The following McNeese drive would seemingly end with another interception at the two-minute warning, but it would be overturned on review. Louisiana, feeling that the interception should have stood, immediately forced a fumble. The Cajuns would recover it at the McNeese 34-yard line.
While many thought that the Cajuns would take this chance to run out the rest of the clock, freshman running back Steven Blanco had other plans. On the first carry of the drive, Blanco would rip off a 34-yard run for a touchdown, shaking a defender out of his shoes in the process.
Blanco’s touchdown would bring the game to its final score of 34–10, bringing the Cajuns record to 1–1 on the season.
This game was entirely won on the ground, as Louisiana combined for 315 yards on the ground, averaging 7.0 yards per carry as a team.
The man who led the way was sophomore Bill Davis, who ran for 132 yards on 19 carries, including two touchdowns in the first half. His 6.9 yards per carry was second-best on the team.
Junior running back Zylan Perry, who got the start in the game, would fall just short of the 100 yard mark. He would finish the game with 94 yards from 14 carries, averaging 6.7 yards per carry.
Yet, even when the two main backs for the Cajuns began to tire, Blanco proved that the McNeese defense was not able to rest. He turned a mere six carries into 69 yards and a touchdown, averaging an insane 11.5 yards per carry.
Beale would also add to the ground game with 18 yards on three carries, though a sack would hurt his total.
Beale did not do much through the air. He finished the game with only 86 yards and a touchdown.
While he did not wow in his first start, he did his job by not turning the ball over, finishing the game without a fumble or an interception.
The defense did not make any spectacular plays outside of the Clark interception and fumble toward the end of the game. They did play another great game, though, holding McNeese to under 200 yards through the air and less than 50 on the ground.
Louisiana will not get a chance to improve on this momentum as they will travel north to take on the 25th-ranked Missouri Tigers on Sept. 13.