Cajuns Upset Blue Raiders 34-24

The Cajuns upset Middle Tennessee behind 528 yards of total offense and solid defensive play, allowing the Blue Raiders only 3 points in the second half.

Louisiana’s Ragin’ Cajuns overcame an early 14-0 deficit in the second quarter to rally from behind and shock Middle Tennessee, 34-24, in front of 19,227 at Floyd Stadium Saturday.

The Cajuns came back with consecutive touchdowns on drives of 62 and 80 yards to even the score, with Tyrell Fenroy leading the Cajun rushing attack on the first drive with 33 yards. Deon Wallace scored the first touchdown on a one yard run, making the score 14-7 Middle Tennessee. Michael Desormeaux would lead the Cajun offense down the field on the second scoring drive, with a 84 yards run down to Middle Tennessee 12 yard line. Tyrell Fenroy would score on a two yard rush to even the game at 14-14, in the second quarter.

But Middle Tennessee answered with a DeMarco McNair touchdown to extend the lead to 21-14 going into halftime.

The Cajuns would come out after half and drive the ball down the field, to score on a 4-yard touchdown pass to Kevin Belton and tie the game again at 21-21 with 10:59 on the clock in the third quarter. Desormeaux completed passes of 16 yards to Jason Chery and 20 yards to Tyrell Fenroy to lead the Cajun offense down the field.

After the Cajuns tied the score, 21-21, on their first drive of the second half, David DeFatta nailed a 20-yard field goal to give the Blue Raiders a 24-21 edge with 6:40 remaining in the third quarter. It would be the final points for the Blue Raiders.

The Cajuns came back with an eight-play, 97-yard drive to go ahead, 28-24, on a 51-yard swing pass to Deon Wallace with 10:57 remaining in the fourth quarter. Jason Chery put the finishing touches on the come-from-behind upset with a 31-yard run midway through the fourth quarter.

The Blue Raiders were held to 256 yards total offense against a Ragin' Cajun defense that was allowing 491 yards per contest.

Cajun quarterback Michael Desormeaux led the offense with 329 yards of total offense. Desormeaux rushed for 175 yards and passed for another a 152 yards. Tyrell Fenroy added another 100 yards of rushing, on 24 carries on the day.

The Cajuns travel to Florida next week to face a winless FIU team.