Louisiana-Lafayette made the most of its short drive to the New Orleans Bowl.
For the Ragin’ Cajuns, it was their first bowl game in 41 years, and their first as a Division 1-A school.
What a way to start off. ULL needed a last-minute miracle drive to beat San Diego State by a final score of 32-30 after leading most of the game.
And it was a heckuva game that featured few lead changes, but plenty of momentum swings. SDSU had five come-from-behind victories in the regular season. When quarterback Ryan Lindley threw a 12-yard touchdown to Colin Lockett with just 35 seconds left, it looked like the Aztecs were going to make it six.
They forgot that this is New Orleans, though. Someone, somewhere, had a Voodoo doll of the Aztec’s defense.
Quarterback Blaine Goutier marched the Ragin’ Cajuns down the field and kicker Brett Baer knocked a knuckleball through the uprights from 50 yards away. Interestingly enough, Baer’s kick should have been from 55 yards out, but a SDSU penalty moved the play up five yards. Special teams miscues and penalties plagued both sides tonight, but Baer’s kick might have been good from 60 yards.
ULL finishes the season 9-4. Not bad for a team that was picked by some preseason publications to finish last in all of Division 1.