Lamar University scored 35 first half points and put up nearly 500 yards of offense to defeat Northwestern State, 42-14, Saturday evening at Provost Umphrey Stadium. The win – LU’s third straight – improves the Cardinals to 4-1 (.800) overall for a second-straight season. More importantly, Lamar opens Southland Conference play 2-0.
Junior Aiden McCown was near perfect behind center leading an offense that recorded 480 total yards, including 250 on the ground. McCown completed 9-of-11 (.818) passes for 172 yards and two touchdowns. He also carried the ball four times for 49 yards and a score.
As a group the Lamar quarterbacks were 15-of-20 (.750) for 230 yards and two touchdowns (and no interceptions). Sophomore Blake Thomas led all LU receivers with four receptions for 80 yards and a score as nine different Cardinals recorded a receptions Saturday.
Junior Jojo Uga led the Cardinals’ ground attack with six carries for 85 yards and a score, while Parker Jenkins added 45 yards (and a touchdown) on three carries. Uga, McCown and Jenkins all averaged better than 12 yards per carry in the victory.
Lamar’s defense once again turned up the pressure on an opponent holding the Demons to fewer than 300 yards (275) with just 67 of those coming on the ground. Transfer T.J. Nelson led the Cardinals’ defense with seven stops, including an assisted tackle for a loss behind the line of scrimmage. Big Red ended the night with six tackles for losses and two sacks (Andrew Huff and IyiolaOluwa Solomi).
The Cardinals struck first and did so in quick fashion when Uga took the ball on the second play of the drive and carried it 45 yards for the score. It was one of three scoring drives that took less than a minute off the clock. While Northwestern State would answer near the end of the first half, Lamar had a response less than a minute later. This time it came on the third play of the drive as McCown hit McDowell on a short pass and the New Orleans native sprinted 37 yards for the score. McDowell’s score would break the tie and would be as close to victory as Northwestern State would get as the Cardinals would follow up with 28-unaswered points to build a 42-7 lead heading into the fourth quarter. The Demons tacked on a score early in the fourth when the game was out of reach.
The Cardinals are back home next Saturday when they face UIW on Hall of Honor weekend. The game against the league’s other Cardinals will kick off at 3 p.m. from Provost Umphrey Stadium. It will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live on ESPN+.
Photo by Jeff Kellum
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