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LAFAYETTE, La. -- Ohio (0-3) picked up their third loss of the season Thursday night (Sept. 16), falling to the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns (2-1) 49-14. The Bobcats were led offensively by Kurtis Rourke, who orchestrated both of Ohio's touchdowns, one to O'Shaan Allison and one to Tyler Walton. Defensively, Alvin Floyd snagged Ohio's first interception of the 2021 season in the third quarter.

"I felt like offensively we had some opportunities to put some heat on (Louisiana), the two long drives that we had the missed field goal and then the turnover in the redzone," head coach Tim Albin said after the game. "We can't do that against a good football team. We all know that they have a good football team. We had a chance to crank it up and make it a game, and didn't get it done."

Ohio started the game with possession after Louisiana deferred their decision to the second half. The Bobcats were able to drive to their 46 yard line, before being forced into a punt. The Ragin' Cajuns put points on the board on their ensuing first possession, scoring a touchdown after a 91 yard, 10 play drive, to make the score 7-0 with 7:54 left in the opening quarter.

The Bobcats' next drive progressed to Louisiana's 14 yard line, as Ohio quarterbacks Rourke and Armani Rodgers both took turns leading the offense. An untimely false start on a 4th and 1 conversion attempt forced the Bobcats to kick a field goal, which was missed wide right. The Ragin' Cajuns took advantage of the miscue, marching 80 yards down the field in 10 plays, scoring their second touchdown of the game two plays into the second quarter to make the score 14-0. The two teams traded three-and-outs during their next possessions, with the Bobcats eventually getting the ball back with 10:36 remaining in the first half. The two defenses continued to play a high level, one again forcing punts from the opposing offenses.

Ohio started their next possession with 5:08 remaining in the half at Louisiana's 13 yard line. Leaning heavily on Rodger's running ability, the Bobcats moved the ball up the field to the Ragin' Cajuns 25 yard line. The Bobcats then opened up their playbook, as Rodgers threw a backward pass to Rourke, who then connected with Allison for an acrobatic catch in the endzone. The touchdown with 2:26 remaining cut the lead to 14-7. 

Louisiana was able to respond as the half ended, scoring their third touchdown of the first frame as time expired, capping off a nine play, 64 yard drive with a rush on 4th and 1 to make the score 21-7 as the teams went into the locker rooms. 

Louisiana started the second half with a touchdown, taking the kickoff and going 78 yards in 4:53 of gametime to push their lead to 28-7. The touchdown was scored off a 4th down conversion on a rush from the half yard line. 

Ohio's first drive of the second half was jumpstarted by a targeting penalty on the kickoff return, giving the Bobcats starting field position at the 35 yard line. Ohio benefited from several Louisiana penalties during the drive, but eventually turned the ball over to the Ragin' Cajuns on a fumbled pitch just outside the Louisiana endzone. The Bobcats defense responded quickly however, logging their first interception of the season just three plays later. Rourke led the offense to their second touchdown of the game, cutting the lead to 28-14 and capping off the drive with a 21 yard touchdown pass to Walton with 2:37 remaining in the third quarter. 

"Right now, the biggest thing on my mind is making plays when given the opportunity to," said Walton. "Whether that's the smallest assignment we get from blocking and not letting your man make a tackle, or catching the ball when it's thrown to you."

The Bobcats defense utilized a "bend don't break" approach to the next drive, forcing a Ragin' Cajun field goal attempt from 49 yards out that was missed wide left. However, the Ohio offense was unable to take advantage and punted the ball back to Louisiana three plays later. The Ragin' Cajuns took advantage of an Ohio personal foul penalty that moved the ball close to the redzone, and eventually scored a touchdown on a 4th down rush from the one yard line to push their lead to 35-14.

Louisiana was able to score add two more touchdowns to the scoreboard as the fourth quarter wound to a close, with the game finishing with a final score of 49-14. 

Up Next: 

Ohio stays on the road for their next game, traveling to Northwestern on Sept. 25. The game is scheduled for a noon kickoff, and will be broadcast on the Big Ten Network.

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