The Georgia State Panthers continued to struggle in the fourth quarter falling to the University of Louisiana at Lafayette at home 35-21 continuing a winless season.
The Panthers (0-10, 0-5 Sun Belt) were 21-point underdogs to the Rajin’ Cajuns (8-2, 5-0 Sun Belt), the No. 1 team in the Sun Belt.
The Ragin’ Cajuns victory continued their eight game winning streak. The last time the Ragin’ Cajuns won eight in a row was in 1976.
The Panthers kept the game close tied at 21 late in the third quarter, but two touchdowns by the Ragin’ Cajuns and late penalties killed the Panthers chances from upsetting their conference foe.
“We’ve proven that we can play toe-to-toe with anybody,” head coach Trent Miles said. “What happens is we make critical errors in critical situations…that’s what’s keeping us from getting the W on the field.”
The Panthers trailed by a touchdown going into the fourth quarter working on a drive that started at their own 22.
The drive appeared over as Matt Hubbard came out to punt on fourth-and-10, but Hubbard faked the punt running left picking up 12 yards for the first down.
“It was something I told him to do,” Miles said. “If they had the right look, I told him to take off.”
“All game we noticed they were kind of doing a hold-up, so [there was] really no pressure,” Hubbard said. “I knew I was going to do it. I took a few steps left and it was there, so I took it.”
The Panthers couldn’t capitalize, however, going for it on a fourth-and-3 at the Rajin’ Cajuns 16-yard line handing the ball off to running back Kyler Neal who was just shy of the first down causing a turnover-on-downs.
“We had [Neal] in the game. We didn’t have time to sub,” Miles said when asked why he went with the true freshman on a crucial fourth down adding that the defense was showing pass protection.
The Panthers had three turnover-on-downs in the game all on the Ragin’ Cajuns side of the field. The Panthers finished the game 2-of-5 on fourth downs.
Things turned for the worst for the Panthers defensively on the next drive the as Ragin’ Cajuns made their way from their own 14 to the end zone ending on a 13-yard pass from Broadway to Jamal Robinson who managed to get a foot down in the end zone.
The pass-and-catch put the Ragin’ Cajuns up by two possessions solidifying the victory.
Back-to-back pass interference calls on Brent McClendon and Demarius Matthews, respectively, coincided with a unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on Tarris Batiste put the Rajin’ Cajuns all the way to the Panthers 15-yard line helping the drive end in points.
Broadway finished the game 10-for-16 with four touchdown passes on 234 yards.
Broadway’s longest pass was a forward toss to freshman Elijah Harris who ran 80 yards for the touchdown giving Louisiana-Lafayette the lead early.
Harris finished with 107 yards on 11 carries and received for 53 yards. Harris is among the frontrunners for the Sun Belt freshman of the year award.
The Panthers defense was strong in the first quarter bringing the blitz and holding the Ragin’ Cajuns to 30 yards rushing on nine attempts in the first quarter.
“We had a great scheme all week,” linebacker Joseph Peterson said on the defense adding that the blitzes in the game were all called.
Joe Peterson had two sacks on Broadway in the first quarter, the first sacks of his collegiate career.
“I give it up to my [defensive]-line to open the gaps up for me to come straight through,” Peterson said.
Panthers quarterback Ronnie Bell was suspended for the first quarter against for academic-related reasons.
Backup Ben McLane started the game fumbling twice in the first quarter, losing one on a third-and-goal at the three and ending the Panthers chance of getting points.
“You can’t turn the ball over twice in the red zone in the first half,” Miles said. “Sometimes its ourselves we have to overcome. When we figure that out, we’ll start winning games.”
The Panthers did have several positives coming out of Saturday’s game.
Bell set the school record for career passing yards with 2,569 surpassing former quarterback Drew Little. Bell also passed Little for the record of career total offense with 2,772 yards.
Albert Wilson tied his career high of eight receptions in a game and broke the school record for receptions in a season with 58 surpassing current receiver Danny Williams.
Wilson also passed his own record of all-purpose yards in a season finishing the day with 1,832 yards this season.
“It’s a great feeling, but it doesn’t matter right now,” Wilson said adding all he cares about is getting a win.
The Panthers have one road game and one home game left in the season. They hope to earn a win in one of those games so not to end the season winless.
