Second half helps Aggies rally past Cajuns, 45-21

COLLEGE STATION, Texas – Freshman quarterback Kellen Mond completed 21 of 34 passes for 301 yards with three touchdowns and Texas A&M scored 31 unanswered points to rally from a halftime deficit to defeat the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns, 45-21, before an announced crowd of 98,412 on Saturday at Kyle Field.

Mond threw first-half TD passes to Christian Kirk and Jhamon Ausbon while the Texas A&M defense held Louisiana (1-2) to 82 yards of total offense in the second half after the Ragin’ Cajuns took a 21-14 lead heading into the locker room.

Louisiana trailed 7-0 early in the second quarter when Tracy Walker intercepted a Mond pass and Trey Ragas capped a four-play, 12-yard drive with a 3-yard TD run. The Aggies quickly regained the lead as Mond found Ausbon for a 24-yard TD pass before Louisiana scored twice to quiet the Kyle Field crowd.

The Ragin’ Cajuns benefited from a muffed punt by Kirk and needed six plays to reach the end zone as Jordan Davis connected with Ryheem Malone on an 8-yard scoring pass. Louisiana took the lead with an impressive 13-play, 81-yard drive as Davis found Jordan Wright on a 1-yard scoring pass with seven seconds remaining in the first half.

A&M capitalized on an interception on Louisiana’s opening drive as they drove 81 yards in nine plays to tie the game at 21-21. Mond capped the drive with a 5-yard run off the left side before finding Camron Buckley for a go-ahead 12-yard scoring pass with 6:23 remaining in the third quarter.

Tyrel Dodson returned an interception 40 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the fourth quarter for the Aggies before freshman Jacob Kibodi iced it with a 67-yard TD run with 6:41 remaining.

Davis was 27-for-43 for 197 yards with a pair of TDs for Louisiana with Keenan Barnes posting career-highs with 12 receptions for 118 yards. Ragas gained 93 yards on 14 carries for the Ragin’ Cajuns with Kevon Perryand Damar’ren Mitchell recording nine tackles each.

Louisiana will return to action next Saturday (Sept. 23) when it opens Sun Belt Conference action against ULM in a 4 p.m. contest at Cajun Field.

GAME NOTES
• Louisiana won the coin toss and deferred to the second half.
• The announced attendance of 98,412 was the largest crowd for a Ragin’ Cajuns football game.
• The Ragin’ Cajuns helmet design with the scripted “Cajuns” was a throwback to the 1996 team.
• Louisiana’s 13-play drive to end the first half was its longest scoring drive of the season
• Senior Tracy Walker’s eight tackles moved him over the 200-tackle mark in his career; Walker is now at 205 tackles.
• Keenan Barnes set career-highs in both receptions (12) and yards (118) for Louisiana.
• Calvin Linden’s PAT on the Ragin’ Cajuns first touchdown of the game was the first of his career.
• Punter Sam Geraci averaged a season-high 43.4 yards on eight attempts. His 53-yard punt in the fourth quarter his longest of the season.
• Simeon Thomas and Darius Hoggins each made their 2017 debuts for Louisiana. Thomas finished with three tackles and three pass breakups for the Ragin’ Cajuns with Hoggins tossing a 19-yard pass to Jordan Davis on second-and-14 to the A&M 9 that set up Jordan Wright’s 1-yard TD reception heading into the half.

Team Statistics

Game Stats	LA	A&M
First Downs	17	27
Total Off. Yards	309	480
Passing Yards	216	301
Rushing Yards	93	179
Penalty Yards	4-25	3-17
3rd Downs	4-15	5-13
4th Downs	1-1	0-1
Time Of Poss.	29:10	30:50

Scoring Summary

1st Quarter	LA	A&M
03:43 – A&M – Christian Kirk 1 yd pass from Kellen Mond (Daniel LaCamera kick ) 4 plays, 51 yards, TOP 1:37	0	7
2nd Quarter	LA	A&M
14:10 – LA – Ragas, Trey 3 yd run (Linden, C. kick ), 4 plays, 12 yards, TOP 1:51	7	7
13:52 – A&M – Jhamon Ausbon 24 yd pass from Kellen Mond (Daniel LaCamera kick ) 1 plays, 24 yards, TOP 0:18	7	14
09:15 – LA – Malone, Ryheem 8 yd pass from Davis, Jordan (Artigue, Stevie kick ) 6 plays, 37 yards, TOP 3:00	14	14
00:07 – LA – Wright, Jordan 1 yd pass from Davis, Jordan (Artigue, Stevie kick ) 13 plays, 81 yards, TOP 2:55	21	14
3rd Quarter	LA	A&M
10:27 – A&M – Kellen Mond 5 yd run (Daniel LaCamera kick ), 9 plays, 81 yards, TOP 2:19	21	21
06:23 – A&M – Camron Buckley 12 yd pass from Kellen Mond (Daniel LaCamera kick ) 10 plays, 74 yards, TOP 3:04	21	28
00:43 – A&M – Daniel LaCamera 28 yd field goal 11 plays, 67 yards, TOP 3:41	21	31
4th Quarter	LA	A&M
14:51 – A&M – Tyrel Dodson 40 yd interception (Daniel LaCamera kick )	21	38
06:41 – A&M – Jacob Kibodi 67 yd run (Daniel LaCamera kick ), 2 plays, 61 yards, TOP 0:56	21	45