Louisiana topped Connecticut for the second time this season, securing an American Conference Championship with a 23-6 win that never really felt like it was even that close.
Brooks Haack connected with senior receiver Scott Austin for a 14 yard touchdown in the first quarter. Jeffrey Yatkowski hit one of his three field goals in the second quarter and Haack hooked up with tight end James Moody for a five yard score to give Louisiana a 17-0 lead at halftime. A lead that would prove to be more than sufficient.
Yatkowski's pair of third quarter field goals made it 23-0.
Connecticut finally got on the board midway through the fourth quarter, scoring when Cochran found tight end Clint Fields who rumbled in for the score from 13 yards out.
“Hated giving up the shutout man, not too many of those opportunities out there.” Brandon Wilson said after the game, shaking his head.
The Cajuns defense held UConn in check, allowing only 170 total yards of offense and nine first downs. The Huskies were 0-7 on third down but did convert both fourth down attempts.
“Hate those, don't care if we're up by 100. Hate giving up fourth downs.” Head coach Porter Davis said after the win, before mentioning anything about winning the conference championship.
“That's coach.” Senior QB Brooks Haack said with a smile. “We could win 38-6 and he's talking about the six we gave up before anything else.”
Connecticut Casey Cochran, one of the better passers in the conference, was harassed all day and completed just nine of 18 pass attempts for 106 yards. He was sacked three times and picked off once.
Louisiana continued to lean on the ground game, running the ball 39 times for 185 yards and possessing the ball nearly twice as long as the Huskies. Haack was very efficient passing the ball, he completed 12 of 19 passes for 140 yards and a pair of touchdowns. ULL converted eight of 11 third downs.
“Kept those drives going, kept the ball, defense stayed fresh and made plays. Textbook.” Davis added. “Danny doesn't like those games a whole bunch but I think he might be the only one.” Davis added, referring to punter Daniel Cadona, who did not punt.
Louisiana improves to 13-0 on the season, their first undefeated season and their third straight conference championship. This is their first conference championship in the American Conference, which they just joined prior to this season.
Despite the undefeated season the Ragin' Cajuns are likely to be on the outside looking in at undefeated Ohio State and Army playing in the National Championship.
“It's really en vogue to bitch about that when you get left out.” Davis said. “We can't control that and Ohio and Army both had incredible seasons too so who's to say we deserve it more? We'll focus on whoever we get and take care of our business. That's all we can do.”
AUSTIN SCORES ON A PASS FROM HAACK IN THE FIRST QUARTER
JEFFERSON DRAGS DOWN COCHRAN FOR ONE OF HIS SACKS
MOODY'S SECOND QUARTER SCORE
FIELDS SCORES UCONN'S FIRST POINTS IN THE FOURTH QUARTER
LOUISIANA FUMBLED THE BALL AWAY IN THE FOURTH, GIVING UCONN THE SLIGHTEST GLIMMER OF HOPE
Scoring
UCONN|00|00|00|06|
06
ULL |07|10|06|00|
23
1Q ULL Austin 14 pass from Haack (Yatkowski kick)
2Q ULL Yatkowski 44 Yd FG
2Q ULL Moody 5 Yd pass from Haack (Yatkowski kick)
3Q ULL Yatkowski 25 Yd FG
3Q ULL Yatkowski 27 Yd FG
4Q UCONN Fields 13 Yd pass from Cochran (2-Pt failed)
Key Player Stats

Passing: Haack 12/19 140 2TD
Rushing: Haack 15/73, Hicks 16/70, Nixon 8/42
Receiving: Austin 6/63 1TD, Hicks 2/29, Palmero 1/21, Guerrero 1/15, Carter 1/7, Moody 1/5 1TD
Tackles: Palmer 5, Batiste 4, Williams 4
Sacks: Jefferson 2, Batiste 1
Takeaways: Boudreaux 1Int
Special Teams: Yatkowski 3/3FG 2/2XP, Nixon 25 Ret Yds, Guerrero 28 Ret Yds

Passing: Cochran 9/18 106 1TD 1Int
Rushing: Williams 14/58, Mariner 1/7, Cochran 3/-1
Receiving: Green 2/31, Lemelle 1/31, Rice 2/25, Fields 2/18 1TD
Tackles: Williams 11, Washington 7
Sacks: Anderson 1
Takeaways: Britton 1FF, Stevens 1FF, Washington 1FF, Williams 1FR
Special Teams: Mack 5Pt 171Yds, Bradley 32 Ret Yds, Green 22 Ret Yds
Coach Davis' Player of the Game
Everyone!
Next Game
| 
BOWL SEASON