Box Score

Louisiana-Lafayette (3-2) scored nine points in the last 25 seconds of the fourth quarter, breaking a 34-34 tie and propelling the Ragin' Cajuns to a 43-34 win Saturday night in Miami, spoiling the Golden Panthers delayed home opener in front a crowd of 10,022. It was the first time a Division I-A program had played a game at FIU Stadium.

With 1:42 remaining in the game and the score tied, 34-34, FIU apparently forced a Lafayette punt on a fourth-down and four, but a substitution penalty against the Golden Panthers gave the Cajuns new life at midfield. UL quarterback Jerry Babb then completed a 23-yard pass to Chester Johnson before a quarterback sneak took the ball to the 23 and set up a Sean Comiskey 41-yard field goal with 29 seconds to play.

Down 37-34, with 11 seconds remaining, FIU (1-1) had one more chance. On a first-and-10 from the their own 15 yard line, Golden Panthers quarterback Josh Padrick thought he had receiver Chandler Williams in the middle of the field. But the ball ricocheted off Williams' hands and was intercepted by UL's Antwain Spann, who returned the pick 31 yards for the final margin of victory.

Louisiana-Lafayette got on the scoreboard first on an FIU miscue early on, when a Padrick pass was picked off by Travis Bass and ran back 36 yards for a touchdown just 4:19 into the game.

Later, after a short UL punt, FIU gained possession at the 41 yard line and four plays later, Padrick found Williams in the far corner of the end zone for an apparent touchdown, but a holding call against the Golden Panthers nullified the score. FIU had to settle for an Adam Moss 44-yard field goal that put the Golden Panthers on the scoreboard with 4:14 to play in the first quarter.

The Cajuns came right back; however, on a drive that consumed 80 yards and 7:58 on the clock. UL took a 14-3 lead at 11:16 in the second quarter when Dwight Lindon punched it in from the two-yard line on the 15th play of the drive.

And then, after a quick four and out for the FIU offense, UL got the ball in good field position following an unnecessary roughness penalty that started the drive near midfield. A 47-yard Comiskey field goal moved Louisiana to a 17-3 lead.

FIU got to within a touchdown at 17-10 when Padrick found tight end Samuel Smith for a 17-yard TD and then the Golden Panthers tied the game when Greg Moss took an interception 77 yards for a touchdown--the longest interception return in school history. Moss, however, suffered an apparent concussion later in the period, and didn't play the entire second half.

But UL came back just before the halftime, going 54 yards in 1:30, which culminated with a four-yard touchdown pass from Babb to Travis Smothers. With that score, Louisiana took a 24-17 lead into the intermission.

After stopping UL on its opening drive, Padrick engineered an 11-play, 67-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Harold Leath. The PAT attempt went wide right but Lafayette was called for off sides. Moss' second attempt was good for the tie score.

The Cajuns reclaimed the lead just prior to the end of the third quarter when a 29-yard Comiskey field goal up UL up, 27-24. But back came the Golden Panthers with 9:26 remaining, tying the scored when Moss' 41-yard field goal hit the cross bar and bounded over.

The two team traded touchdown runs with Lindon going in from five yards and FIU's Rashod Smith plunging in from the one with 2:29 to play in the fourth quarter.

Padrick finished the game completing 22 of 35 passes for 265 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions. His main target, this week, was Cory McKinney who tied the school record of 10 catches, set last game against Youngstown State by Samuel Smith. Rashod Smith, with 94 yards on 28 carries, was the leading rusher.

"Josh Padrick played well," said head coach Don Strock. "He had some overthrows and Lafayette put on a pretty good pass rush. He made some big plays and kept us in the football game. He made a couple of mistakes but the interception at the end wasn't his fault. The early interception put us behind 7-0, but he fought back and got us right back into the game. That's how you judge a quarterback.

"We had opportunities to make plays tonight and that's the most disappointing part about it," Strock said. "But we'll learn from those mistakes and hopefully will get better week-by-week. I don’t think there is any question that we have as much talent as the team we played tonight. But they mad e the plays when it counted and we didn't."

The Golden Panthers must now get ready to face Stephen F. Austin on the road next Saturday in Nacogdoches, Texas.