LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) - Blaine Gautier threw two touchdowns and Louisiana-Lafayette's defense forced three turnovers as the Ragin' Cajuns shut out Lamar 40-0 on Saturday night in both teams' season opener.
Gautier was 7-of-18 passing and threw two touchdowns from two yards out.
Louisiana-Lafayette's Effrem Reed and Alonzo Harris each recorded 55 yards and a touchdown while kicker Brett Baer converted four first half field goals to help create the final margin.
Baer, who led the NCAA last year in field goal accuracy (18 of 20), connected from 52, 40, 39, and 32 yards out and has converted 15 straight attempts dating back to last season.
Lamar's offense struggled to move the ball, netting just 38 yards rushing on 37 attempts.
Ryan Mossakowski was efficient for the Cardinals, completing 12 of 19 attempts, but only managed 81 yards before being replaced by Caleb Berry in the fourth quarter.
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| Scoring Summary |
| LALAF | Brett Baer 52 yd FG |
| LALAF | Jacob Maxwell 2 yd pass from Blaine Gautier (Brett Baer kick) |
| LALAF | Brett Baer 40 yd FG |
| LALAF | Alonzo Harris 1 yd run (Brett Baer kick) |
| LALAF | Effrem Reed 2 yd run (Brett Baer kick) |
| LALAF | Brett Baer 39 yd FG |
| LALAF | Brett Baer 32 yd FG |
| LALAF | Javone Lawson 2 yd pass from Blaine Gautier (Brett Baer kick) |
| Team Stats | ||
| LAMAR | LALAF | |
| First Downs | 13 | 15 |
| Third Down Efficiency | 6-16 | 7-14 |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 0-2 | 0-0 |
| Plays-Net Yards | 66-194 | 61-346 |
| Rushes-Yds | 37-38 | 34-143 |
| Passing Yds | 156 | 203 |
| Kick Return Yds | 56 | 41 |
| Punt Return Yds | 0 | 47 |
| Passes | 18-29-1 | 13-27-0 |
| Punts | 6-261 | 3-125 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 6-3 | 1-1 |
| Penalties-Yds | 4-34 | 7-50 |
| Time of Poss. | 34:22 | 25:38 |
| Individual Stats |
| RUSHING |
| LAMAR: Herschel Sims 14-42, DePauldrick Garrett 7-35, Sean Robertson 0-7, Michael Handy 1--2, Caleb Berry 7--7, Ryan Mossakowski 6--8, Team 2--29 |
| LALAF: Effrem Reed 7-55, Alonzo Harris 16-46, Montrel Carter 6-27, Terrance Broadway 3-9, Blaine Gautier 2-6 |
| PASSING |
| LAMAR: Ryan Mossakowski 12-19-81-0, Caleb Berry 6-10-75-1 |
| LALAF: Blaine Gautier 7-18-142-0, Terrance Broadway 6-9-61-0 |
| RECEIVING |
| LAMAR: Barry Ford 5-48, VanLawrance Franks 4-23, Jordan Edwards 2-27, DePauldrick Garrett 2-15, Cory Soto 1-21, Reggie Begelton 1-8, Michael Handy 1-6, Jacob Hanna 1-4, Herschel Sims 1-4 |
| LALAF: Javone Lawson 3-33, Jacob Maxwell 3-23, James Butler 2-20, Jamal Robinson 1-86, Harry Peoples 1-20, Devin Figaro 1-12, Ian Thompson 1-5, Larry Pettis 1-4 |
