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LAFAYETTE, La. – Elijah McGuire ran for 223 yards while Al Riles caught eight passes for 139 yards to lead Louisiana-Lafayette to a 28-23 Sun Belt Conference football win over the University of South Alabama at Cajun Field on Saturday.

The Ragin' Cajuns (2-1, 1-0 Sun Belt) had gained 134 yards in the opening half, but held a 223-135 advantage in total offense in the third quarter to take control of the contest as Riles scored on a 71-yard pass in the period while McGuire's 68-yard score providing the final margin of victory.  ULL outgained the Jaguars (1-2, 0-2 SBC) 512-338 as Anthony Jennings completed 18-of-26 attempts for 256 yards and three touchdowns.

"Louisiana-Lafayette had two big pass plays on us and a couple of long runs, including one late.  We've got to be able to stop those types of plays," said Jag head coach Joey Jones.  "The defense fought good for us in the first half, but we just gave up too many big plays."

After going ahead 9-7 on Stevie Artigue's 31-yard field goal 37 seconds before the break, the Cajuns got the ball back to begin the second half.  McGuire started the drive with a 42-yard run, but after moving inside the USA-10 Kalen Jackson stopped Jalen Nixon short on fourth-and-two to end the threat.  After a three-and-out, however, ULL's second play of its next possession was a 71-yard touchdown pass from Jennings to Riles that made the score 15-7 — the Ragin' Cajuns again missed the extra point — with less than 10 minutes remaining in the period.

That lead would grow to 15 points on the Cajuns' next possession after ULL put together a four-play, 82-yard march.  Jennings had back-to-back completions to Riles for 17 and 14 yards, and after a 13-yard McGuire run the ULL quarterback hit Keenan Barnes, who took the ball across the field from the sideline for a 38-yard touchdown catch with less than five minutes to go in the quarter.

"They weren't doing anything we didn't expect," stated Roman Buchanan.  "All I know is we weren't executing or playing our gaps right and we blew some coverages.  We're just not executing right now."

USA closed to with 22-14 with a drive that covered 74 yards in seven plays and just under three minutes before Dallas Davis hit Grant Powell for his first career touchdown reception from 18 yards out on third-and-seven.  Davis — who finished 21-of-29 passing for 264 yards — connected with Kevin Kutchera for a gain of 31 yards on second play of the possession, and two plays later he found Gerald Everett for 18 more.

The Jags then forced the first turnover by ULL this season, with Neiko Robinson picking off an errant pass — forced by pressure from Darrell Songy — and returning it eight yards down the left sideline to the Ragin' Cajun 24-yard line.  Gavin Patterson converted a 23-yard field goal on the third play of the final period to make the score 22-17, but McGuire answered with a 68-yard touchdown run that built the lead back to 11 points after the two-point conversion failed.

Davis made it a one-possession game when he threw an 11-yard touchdown pass to Everett to cap a three-play, 50-yard drive that began with a 34-yard pass to Quinton Lane — the score was 28-23 with just over three minutes remaining — but Jennings and Riles combined for a 22-yard reception for a first down and McGuire added another with a 24-yard carry to close out the contest.

Everett paced USA with seven catches for 83 yards, while Kutchera finished with 39 yards on three receptions.  Davis would hit eight individuals on the night, with Josh Magee, Powell, Sam Harris and Tyrone Williams all recording multiple catches.

Jackson led all players with 12 tackles, while Roman Buchanan supplied six with two for loss.  Jeremy Reaves added his first interception of the year, broke up another pass and had five stops including one behind the line of scrimmage, SirCalvin Wallace was credited with five stops, and the trio of Randy Allen, Devon Earl and Songy posted four apiece.

The Jaguars took the opening kickoff and moved into Ragin' Cajun territory, but on fourth-and-eight from the UL-32 Kutchera was stopped one yard shy of the line to gain after catching a pass from Davis.  ULL opened with a 17-yard completion from Jennings to Barnes, with the Cajun quarterback also finding Nick Byrne for a 21-yard pick up on third-and-18 to keep the drive alive.  Two plays later, Jennings hit Michael Jacquet for a 13-yard score, completing an 11-play, 75-yard march that took more than five minutes off the clock.

Karmichael Dunbar forced a fumble that Tracy Walker recovered on USA's first play of the ensuing drive, but the Jaguar defense allowed just two yards around pass break ups from Buchanan and Quinton Dent to set up a 40-yard field-goal try that sailed wide left as teh ULL lead remained six with just over three minutes to go in the opening quarter.

The Jags took advantage of the opportunity, taking their only lead of the night as Tyreis Thomas crossed the goal line from six yards out on the second snap of the second quarter.  Xavier Johnson opened the possession with a run for 15 yards, with Davis then hitting Magee for seven yards and Thomas for six more to convert on third down.  After his first incompletion of the contest on a deep pass for Magee, Davis connected with Everett for 34 yards to move to the UL-16 and followed with a 10-yard pass to Magee.

"We played well at the end, but we didn't start that way," Davis explained.  "We have to start faster.  Only scoring seven points in the first half puts us in a tough position."

Johnson led the Jags with 58 yards on 17 attempts — he finished with a season-best 148 all-purpose yards after adding 90 running back kicks — while Thomas carried 11 times for 25 more.

Tre'Maine Lightfoot had 10 tackles to lead the Ragin' Cajun defense, while Otha Peters collected 1½ stops for loss among his nine total tackles; he also broke up two passes and forced a fumble.  Travis Crawford finished with seven stops and Taboris Lee had five as the unit was credited with nine tackles for a loss of 35 yards.

It marked the fifth time in as many match-ups in the series that the home team has won the contest.

The Jaguars return home for back-toback contests at Ladd-Peebles Stadium, with the first — Saturday against Nicholls — set to kick off at 6 p.m. (CDT).

"The bottom line is you just want to win," said Jones.  "Nicholls State is going to be a big game for us.  We've got to get back in the win column and if we're able to do that, we're 2-2 before moving on to San Diego State who is playing well.  The world of Division I and Sun Belt Conference football is tough.  You've got to be ready every week.  Nicholls is certainly not a win by any means.  They took Georgia down to the wire, so we better be ready to play next week."

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/USAJaguarSports. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

—USA—