New Orleans, LA (SportsNetwork.com) - Once again, the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns felt right at home in the Big Easy.
Terrance Broadway threw for 227 yards and Hunter Stover kicked three field goals as the Ragin Cajuns won an unprecedented fourth straight New Orleans Bowl with a 16-3 triumph over Nevada.
Broadway completed a crisp 26-of-31 passes with a first-quarter touchdown to C.J. Bates, though it was Louisiana's defense that played the biggest role in the program's latest successful venture into the Superdome.
Louisiana (9-4) held the Wolf Pack to season-low totals in points and total yards (213), with Nevada (7-6) mustering just 89 on the ground after rushing for 223 or more in five straight games coming in.
Cody Fajardo, Nevada's dual-threat quarterback, was kept squarely in check in his final collegiate game, throwing for a mere 124 yards on 14-of-29 passing and gaining 49 yards on 13 carries.
"We put together four quarters of possibly the best football we've played this season," said Ragin Cajuns head coach Mark Hudspeth. "Terrance was spot-on and our running game was efficient. We played really solid defense and were able to apply pressure."
Elijah McGuire put up 153 yards from scrimmage to help the Cajuns close out the season with an eighth win in nine tries, with James Butler recording eight catches for 53 yards in the victory.
The 10 a.m. local time kickoff seemed to affect the West Coast-based Wolf Pack, as Louisiana thoroughly dominated the first quarter of play. The Ragin Cajuns outgained Nevada by a 137-35 margin in total yards for the period, while scoring on their first two drives to build a 10-0 lead.
Broadway, who completed his first 14 passes, marched Louisiana 77 yards in just eight plays on the game's opening possession, which the senior quarterback capped with a 17-yard touchdown strike to Bates on 3rd-and-9.
The Cajuns grinded out 60 yards in 13 plays on their second series, positioning Stover to knock through a 46-yard field goal with 2:55 left in the first quarter.
Nevada was able to move into the red zone on its third drive of the day, with Fajardo's 9-yard connection with Jarred Gipson on 4th-and-4 extending the sequence. The Wolf Pack came up empty, however, when Sean Thomas knocked the ball loose from Wyatt Demps following a short catch and Louisiana recovered at its own 11.
An 8-yard shank by Ragin Cajuns punter Daniel Cadona shortly after the turnover gave Nevada back the ball at the opposing 26-yard line. The Wolf Pack later had a 1st-and-goal from the 1, but a false start penalty and two Fajardo incompletions forced them to settle for Brent Zuzo's field goal that cut the lead to 10-3 late in the second quarter.
"I look at the first half as a case of missed opportunities," said Nevada head coach Brian Polian. "Give Louisiana all the credit. They made all the plays and didn't do the things to shoot themselves in the foot."
Lenny Jones came up with a big defensive play for Nevada midway through the third quarter to keep it a one-score game, sacking Broadway with the Cajuns in scoring range and recovering the resulting fumble. However, the Wolf Pack offense crossed midfield just once in the second half, when they were stopped on downs at the Louisiana 35 with around nine minutes left.
"(This) was our best defensive effort by far," Hudspeth said. "We wanted to get pressure on (Fajardo). He was able to get out of the pocket a couple of times. But we were able to get him to. Got some big sacks and lost yardage plays that allowed us to come after him again."
The Ragin Cajuns created some more distance by putting together a 15-play, 77- yard trek that overlapped the third and fourth quarters and consumed nearly 7 1/2 minutes. It again ended in a Stover field goal, this one from 30 yards away with 11:51 to play.
Stover tacked on a 35-yard kick with under five minutes remaining to increase the lead to 16-3, with Broadway's 31-yard pass to Gabe Fuselier on third down setting up the attempt.
Game Notes
Nevada had scored at least 20 points in every game this season, while its previous low mark for total yards was 256 at San Jose State on Sept. 27 ... McGuire, the 2014 Sun Belt Player of the Year, had 99 rushing yards on 16 attempts and five catches for 54 yards ... Fajardo became the first FBS player this season to pass for over 2,000 yards and rush for more than 1,000 ... Stover's three field goals tied a New Orleans Bowl record held by former Cajun Brett Baer, who did so against East Carolina in 2012 ... Louisiana's four New Orleans Bowl wins are the most in the game's history, breaking a tie it had held with Southern Mississippi ... The Sun Belt has now won each of the last six New Orleans Bowls ... Nevada has lost seven of its last eight bowl appearances.
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