It was a tale of two halves for Ohio in its 31-23 win over Louisiana-Lafayette Saturday night.
In the first half, the Bobcats gave up 341 yards and 20 points to the Ragin' Cajun offense as they fell behind 20-10 at halftime.
The second half was a totally different story, as tailback Kalvin McRae and a resurgent Bobcat defense took over. Ohio converted on third down three times in a row to set up McRae's first rushing touchdown of the game from the 5-yard line, which pulled the Bobcats within three at 20-17.
The Cajuns would answer with a nine-play, 43-yard drive that was capped off with a Drew Edmiston 28-yard field goal to put ULL up 23-17.
Quarterback Brad Bower, who solidified his starting job by completing 17-of-28 passes for 264 yards with a touchdown and an interception, opened the Bobcats' next drive with a 21-yard pass to tight end Andrew Mooney to end the third quarter. After freshman Donte Harden carried the ball for 11 yards, McRae again reached the end zone on a 23-yard run to put the Bobcats up 24-23.
After defensive end Kris Luchsinger sacked Louisiana-Lafayette quarterback Michael Desormeaux on fourth down at the Ohio 45-yard line, the Bobcats took control of the ball and the game.
Ohio used a clock-killing 13-play 38-yard drive, which ended with McRae's third rushing touchdown of the game. He scored from 13 yards out to put the Bobcats up for good by a score of 31-23.
Despite being held to just 84 yards rushing on 20 carries, McRae scored all four touchdowns for the Bobcats, including a 44-yard touchdown reception off of a screen pass in the first half.
The Ragin' Cajuns, though, would not go down quietly. Desormeaux led the Cajuns (0-2) down to Ohio's 2-yard line after he completed a third-down pass to Louis Lee, but Lee fumbled and defensive tackle Landon Cohen recovered the ball with 38 seconds left in the game.
Although the Bobcats allowed running back Tyrell Fenroy ' 136 yards on 24 carries ' and Desormeaux ' 101 yards on 19 carries ' to rush for over 100 yards and gave up 534 yards of total offense, most of it came in the first half. In the second half, the Bobcats allowed just 193 yards.
The win allowed the Bobcats to go 2-0 for the second straight year and become the only team in the Mid-American Conference without a loss.
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Matt O'Donnell
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The Bobcats' Kalvin McRae powers his way downfield against Gardner Webb's defense Saturday, Sept. 1. McRae scored four touchdowns Saturday in the Bobcats win over Louisiana Lafayette.
McRae scores 4 touchdowns as Bobcats defeat Cajuns
