Harold McCoy slipped a 45-yard field goal just over the crossbar with 53 seconds remaining to give the Middle Tennessee State Blue Raiders a precarious 31-28 lead. Moments later, backup linebacker Mark Bailey intercepted an overthrown pass to effectively end the game as the Blue Raiders used the victory formation to run out the clock thereafter. So ended a back and forth, sometimes frustrating game that saw MTSU come back from deficits on three separate occasions.

The affair was similar to last week, wherein the Middle Tennessee State defense had no shot at stopping the opposing offense early on. Thanks to a couple of offensive drives that took some time off the clock, the Blue Raiders allowed a single touchdown in the first quarter but allowed over 100 yards passing.

The Ragin' Cajuns were ahead 7-0 when they scored their second touchdown on a 6-yard pass from Harris to Phillip Ford. Backup defensive tackle Sammie Marshall darted through and blocked the point after attempt.

"I have no idea how I got through, it seemed like the offensive lineman thought it was a screen play or something. It was like I was running through a saloon door in the old west," said Marshall.

Marshall's block seemed to ignite the team similar to Terrance Haley's interception from the previous week as the Blue Raiders stepped up their play for the rest of the first half. Another big play was made at the goal line when strong safety Mike Ford corralled a pass two yards deep in the end zone that would have been a touchdown.

After finally realizing that their running game was deep-sixed due to the incredibly fast linebacker corps of the Cajuns, MTSU began running a lot of quick developing routes to counteract the blitz-heavy rush of UL Lafayette. Anthony Singleton found his groove.

It was imperative that Singleton be at his best on this day. The combination of an ineffective running game combined with the incredible punting effort of the Cajuns' Johnny Henderson put the Raiders in horrible field position all day.

Of Henderson, who pinned the Blue Raiders inside their own 10 yard line three times, coach Clark said "he was probably the best weapon on the field today."

"I felt like I was standing in my own end zone the entire game," said Singleton, who managed to narrowly escape several possible safeties.

Singleton began completing passes to his new favorite targets, freshmen Brandon Douglas and Jason Bentley. Ron Ware caught a thirty yard pass in the first half as well. The Blue Raiders scored a pair of touchdowns on runs of 12 and 13 yards by Singleton to take the lead at 14-13, due to the blocked extra point attempt.

UL Lafayette was able to regroup at halftime, and once again their offense looked unstoppable after they exited the tunnel. They took the lead on a 35-yard touchdown pass and were successful on the two point conversion to make it 21-14.

MTSU countered with another long drive thanks to Singleton's air assault and Steven Day benefited by taking it in from three yards out for the game-tying score. Other than his two touchdown runs, Day was completely bottled up in this game, averaging just over a yard per carry.

UL quickly reacquired the lead in the third quarter with another long pass play that put them inside the two yard line, and they scored two plays later on a 1-yard dive.

The Blue Raiders couldn't score again right away, but the defense was able to step it up and cover better in the meantime. Bailey was inserted for Gary Walker, who looked like he was completely out of it for the most part aside from an interception that was tipped right to him.

Thanks to the improved defensive effort Singleton was able to lead two more drives that tied and then won the game thanks to the leg of McCoy, and Bailey's timely interception.

"This was an exciting win and a great game to be a part of," said Clark. "At times this is a frustrating team to coach, because we have a long way to go. But give the kids credit, they're resilient and they've already won as many games as they did all last year."