MONROE – The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns are going bowling again.
Playing in a driving rain for nearly the entire game, Trev Miller and Otha Peters each returned a pair of second-quarter fumbles for touchdowns, Elijah McGuire rushed for 110 yards and a touchdown and Stevie Artigue booted three field goal as Louisiana forced five turnovers and defeated ULM, 30-3, in the Sun Belt Conference regular-season finale on Saturday at JPS Field at Malone Stadium.
The win by Louisiana (6-6, 5-3 SBC) was its second straight to end the regular-season and its sixth straight win in Monroe dating back to 2005. The Ragin’ Cajuns, who competed in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl from 2011-14, secured one of the Sun Belt Conference’s five designations and will find out their bowl destination on Sunday.
With temperatures in the upper 40’s and both teams combining to complete five passes in 19 attempts, Louisiana took a 7-3 lead after the first quarter before extending its lead to 24-3 at halftime.
The Ragin’ Cajuns capitalized on their second possession after Savion Brown picked off ULM quarterback Caleb Evans on the Warhawks’ first play from scrimmage at the ULM 47. McGuire, who reached the 1,000-yard mark for the third straight season, capped an eight-play, 47-yard drive with 1-yard run off right tackle with 8:53 remaining in the first quarter.
ULM (4-8, 3-5 SBC) cut the lead to 7-3 after driving 51 yards in eight plays, with Austin Vaughn sparking the drive with consecutive runs of 13, 16 and 12 yards. The Warhawks got as far as the UL 7 before the Ragin’ Cajuns held and Craig Ford booted a 23-yard field goal with 5:22 left in the first quarter.
After that it was all the Ragin’ Cajuns defense.
ULM looked to capitalize on after Justin Backus returned an Anthony Jennings interception 18 yards to the UL 37. The Warhawks drove inside the Ragin’ Cajuns 20-yard line before Brown knocked the ball away from Evans and Miller scooped it up and rumbled 73 yards for a touchdown for a 14-3 lead with 10:58 remaining in the second quarter.
Peters found his way to the end zone later in the quarter when he scooped up a Duke Carter fumble that was forced by Karmichael Dunbar and ran 29 yards to give Louisiana a 21-3 lead with 5:10 remaining in the half.
Artigue, who moved into a tie for second-place on the single-season field goal list with 19, capped a 10-play, 63-yard drive with a 26-yard field for a 24-3 lead at halftime before booting field goals of 35 and 37 yards in the third quarter.
Dunbar, Travis Crawford, Jarvis Jeffries and Denarius Howard had four tackles each to lead Louisiana, which held ULM to 147 yards of total offense and eight first downs.
Darius Hoggins added 78 yards on the ground for Louisiana, which recorded all 240 yards of its total offense on the ground. The Ragin’ Cajuns controlled the football for just over 38 minutes