Michael Desormeaux said this week his Louisiana (Lafayette) team would have to learn how to win close games to turn around its slow start to this season.
But the coach admitted he couldn’t have predicted how exactly the Ragin’ Cajuns (2-3, 1-0) ultimately did so Saturday in their gritty 17-point rally and double-overtime outlasting of Marshall, 54-51, with overflowing storylines and style points headlined by the breakout performance of backup quarterback D’Wanye’ “Lunch” Winfield.
“I don’t know I’ve ever been prouder of a group of people in my life than these guys right here, knowing everything that they’ve been through,” Desormeaux said. “We knew that we were gonna have to scratch out a win, and that’s what it’s gonna be the rest of the year. I told ’em before. I didn’t know how. I didn’t see it being like this. But we’re gonna have to find a way to win at some point. And to be down 17 points like we were early in the third quarter, that just tells me everything I need to know about this group.”
Louisiana’s hope for a fresh start in Sun Belt Conference play appeared to be quickly swinging sideways with 24 unanswered points by the Thundering Herd (2-3, 0-1) during the middle of the game.
Marshall had needed just 4:12 of game time to flip a 17-10 deficit into a 31-17 lead with three quick touchdowns, hen stretched the margin to 34-17 with a field goal midway through the third quarter.
The Thundering Herd cruised 75 yards in 1:20 to answer the Cajuns’ first lead with a 32-yard touchdown from Carlos Del Rio-Wilson to Demarcus Lacey through 25 yards of broken tackles after the catch to pull back even, 17-17, at the break.
Junior running back Michael Allen popped a 68-yard, breakaway touchdown on the second play of the half to put the Herd back ahead with his second score of the game.
And junior defensive lineman Paul Hutson III batted a Louisiana pass six plays later, corralled the interception and rumbled 46 yards to the house to continue mounting momentum, further underscored by a Boogie Trotter interception two plays later.
“I thought Daniel (Beale) played really well in the first half and really towards the end of the half got us moving and got us going,” Desormeaux said. “It was just kinda slipping away a little bit there. He’s done some really good things for us. Last week was disappointing in the way that he played, and he was disappointed as much as anybody. But that was the time to try to do it. I thought maybe it was too late even when I did it, but after a couple turnovers it was time. We had to try to figure something out. And (Winfield’s) competitive spirit was phenomenal.”
Winfield, already with his first college touchdown secured in the first half, took over the offense full-time and provided a much-needed spark and relentless fight.
The Cajuns scored on each of their next six drives, all the way through the former Lutcher star’s powerful dive through contact and across the goal-line for the walk-off touchdown in the second overtime.
“Coach Des called my name and was like, ‘Get ready. You’re going in,'” Winfield said. “I told ’em, ‘Seventeen points ain’t nothin.’ It was third quarter, seven minutes left in the third quarter, but I was like, ‘Second half just started. We’re gonna win this game, we’ve gotta fight.’ That was all it was, and everybody believed, man. That’s just us.”
A promising first drive with Winfield at the helm stalled after he came up from a hit limping a bit, and Louisiana settled for a 35-yard Tony Sterner field goal.
The Cajuns would find the end zone every subsequent time they touched the football and would manage just enough defensive stops to keep Marshall within striking distance to chip their way back.
“Somebody just landed on my ankle,” he smiled. “It was all right. Fought through it.”
Winfield shook off the banged-up ankle to kick off the next possession with a 38-yard dash into Thundering Herd territory on his way to an eventual 2-yard keeper to cut the margin to 34-27.
Louisiana forced a quick punt with one of its best defensive possessions of the night, highlighted by a third-down sack by safety Collin Jacob (Loreauville) and linebacker Jake St. Andre (Haughton) on a dialed-up blitz.
And the Cajuns pulled back even with an 81-yard drive, the longest by either team, and a 45-yard touchdown on a pretty deep ball from Winfield to sophomore receiver Charles Robertson (Zachary) set up by a third-and-14 strike between the duo three plays earlier.
“I said it from the beginning that I didn’t think that (Winfield) was just a wildcat option,” Desormeaux said. “He’s a really good athlete, but when he was in high school, you go back to the state championship game and he accounted for every play in the offense, I think, except for like four. He threw for 200-something years and three or four touchdowns and ran for another three or four. He’s done it before. To step in that situation, though, was pretty big-time.”
Almost as quickly as the home crowd could marvel at the valiant comeback, Marshall appeared to be authoring a too-familiar heartbreak.
Del Rio-Wilson led a 71-yard drive the other direction with a beautiful throw-and-catch with Lacey to reclaim a 41-34 lead with 1:01 remaining, seemingly following Eastern Michigan’s blueprint from a week earlier of absorbing a game-tying Louisiana score late and managing one more answer to escape.
But Winfield and company would not be denied.
The Cajuns needed just 45 seconds to go 75 yards in seven plays and force overtime as Winfield dropped another dime over the shoulder of former walk-in quarterback Dale Martin (North Vermilion) in the back corner of the end zone.
“There are so many guys in that locker room that go through so much,” said Desormeaux, appearing to compose himself through some emotions. “He was a quarterback in the quarterback room whenever I took over as the head coach. We had seven quarterbacks, and he wasn’t gonna get reps. And we asked him to move to receiver. We felt like that’s where he could help us. And from the day he moved there, he worked his tail off in everything he does.
“He’s a great teammate. He shows up every day. Every rep you ask him to take, it doesn’t matter what it is — I mean, you ask him to run 20 posts, and he’s gonna run 20 posts. Not getting the ball? It doesn’t matter to him. And this week at practice we really just kinda moved him to X as a depth piece. And all week at practice, he just kept making plays, and he kept catching the ball. And so I told him, ‘You’re gonna start on Saturday,’ and my goodness.”
Junior running back Zylan Perry (Franklin) dashed 25 yards to a Louisiana lead on the first play of overtime.
Marshall eventually answered with a fourth-down goal-line play from Del Rio-Wilson to junior receiver Adrian Norton.
Jacob, St. Andre, junior outside linebacker Jaden Dugger and company forced the Thundering Herd to settle for a long Lorcan Quinn field goal to start the second extra period.
And Winfield got behind his new-look offensive line weathering a slew of injuries and carried the Cajuns to victory with four rushes for 25 yards and the score.
“The whole team was believing, man,” he said. “That’s all it takes. Just that ‘whatever it takes’ mentality, and everybody had it, so it was just cooking.”
The 54 points marked the program’s highest scoring output since a 55-19 rout of Arkansas State on Nov. 23, 2024, and just the fourth time since 2020 surpassing the 50-point mark.
Winfield finished with 129 yards and three touchdowns on 29 carries and 125 yards and two scores on 7-for-13 passing, including the eye-catching downfield shots late.
“It means a lot,” he said. “A lot of people just say, ‘Oh, he’s a running quarterback, or he’s a running back.’ I believe in myself. I know I’ve got my family and God who believe in me and know what I can do and give me the power to do what I do, so I just keep faith in myself and my progress and everything I do.”
Perry rushed 14 times for 75 yards and two scores, and Robertson led eight pass-catchers with two receptions for 61 yards and the score and also recovered a fumbled punt that set up an early field goal.
Jacob led all players with his career-high 14 tackles in an expanded role, and St. Andre added a career-high nine stops.
“It’s a great feeling,” Jacob said. “I was ready for my opportunity. My opportunity came, and I took advantage of it. That’s all that I tell myself: ‘When your opportunity comes, take advantage of it,’ because you don’t know when another opportunity will come for a time like this. I know my coaches, (defensive coordinator Jim) Salgado) and my teammates for trusting and believing in me that I can go in there and perform the way I did.”
