Blocked punt! Louisiana football rallies off Dalen Cambre's late block to down Texas State
Stopping Texas State was going to take clean execution and high-level efficiency.
Louisiana football didn't produce either Saturday at Cajun Field and the red-hot Bobcats, led by sophomore quarterback T.J. Finley and a grinding ground game mixed in, put up 516 yards in a game where it worked the ball up the field instead of feasting on the big play.
But what the Ragin' Cajuns did get was a massive special teams play when it mattered most with a Dalen Cambre blocked punt that set up the offense up at the Texas State 22, trailing by 2 with a little over four minutes to go.
Four plays later, freshman quarterback Zeon Chriss squeezed passed the Bobcat defense on an 8-yard scamper into the end zone to give UL its first lead of the game, 34-30, with 2:21 left.
Ensuing offensive possession, UL linebacker K.C. Ossai forced a fumble and Tyree Skipper's recovery sealed Louisiana's 34-30 victory.
Chriss accounted for four touchdowns going 13-for-17 for 205 yards while adding 53 rushing yards and the late, go-ahead TD run, for the Cajuns (4-2, 1-1), who got their first Sun Belt Conference win on the season.
Texas State's unexpected run game efficiency
It's likely because Louisiana full-on expected Texas State to come out the gate slinging the ball around, but Bobcats first-year coach G.J. Kinne dialed up the run game with Ismail Mahdi and it worked in the early going.
Mahdi scored the game's first touchdown and had 13 carries for 78 by halftime. Madhi ended the game with 174 rushing
The Cajuns are middle of the road in rush defense, coming into the game ranked 76th in FBS, and Kinne obviously found something on Louisiana's run defense that his guys could exploit. Texas State averaged 4.4 yards per rush and how effective it was provided the passing attack enough room to operate.
Finley threw for 314 yards with two touchdown passes.
Red zone defense gave Louisiana football chance to win
Coming into the game, the Bobcats scored touchdowns in the red zone 83% of the time.
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But in its first six trips inside the 20 Saturday, the Ragin' Cajuns gave up just two TDs and forced the red hot Texas State offense to settle for several field goals and had a couple of turnovers in the red zone. The bend-don't-break performance kept UL in the game because if the Bobcats had kept its average, the Cajuns would've ben blown out in their own stadium.
UL corner Jalen Clark picked off Finley at the 19 to halt the Bobcats from possibly padding a 23-21 lead. Finley did toss this second TD on the day with 10:14 left that made it a two-score game.
Turnovers inside 10-yard line continues to be major issue for Ragin' Cajuns
It's happened three times in six games this season.
The third took what looked to be a shoe-in touchdown away from UL in the first half Saturday with Dre'Lyn Washington coughing the ball up at the 8-yard line. Texas State, already winning 17-7 at that point in the second, recovered the ball on the 1 and proceeded to drive 92 yards to tack on a field goal to go up 13.
Texas State has been decent at converting turnovers into points and it used to pad an early lead.
Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana football rallies off late blocked punt to down Texas State
