SportsDirect Inc. staff
Dec 7, 2013
South Alabama 30, Louisiana-Lafayette 8: Qudarius Ford returned an interception for a touchdown and the host Jaguars held the Ragin' Cajuns to 212 yards while becoming bowl eligible.
Kendall Houston rushed for two scores as South Alabama (6-6, 4-3) became the seventh Sun Belt Conference team to earn a chance to play in a bowl game. Jay Jones rushed for a career-high 105 yards while Ross Metheny was 13-of-23 for 171 yards for the Jaguars, who led 30-0 at halftime.
Jalen Nixon threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to Ricky Johnson in the fourth quarter for Louisiana (8-4, 5-2), which settled for a share of the Sun Belt title with Arkansas State. The Ragin' Cajuns had already accepted their third straight bid to the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl and a meeting with Tulane on Dec. 21.
Louisiana committed three turnovers in the first half, with the biggest coming when Ford intercepted a pass by Brooks Haack and took it 42 yards to the end zone with 16 seconds left. Houston scored on runs of 1 and 4 yards in the first quarter while Aleem Sunanon connected on field goals of 40, 19 and 20 yards.
The Jaguars forced the Ragin' Cajuns into three-and-outs on their first five drives of the second half before their touchdown capped a seven-play, 86-yard march. South Alabama's Wes Saxton led all receivers in receptions (five) and yards (88).