A Wild Finish In Louisiana-Lafayette Vs. Georgia Southern Came Down To A 53-Yard Field Goal

The general weirdness of this college football season aside, the 2020 college football campaign hasn’t been quite as off the rails as we’ve come to expect from years past. Fortunately for those of us who relish the opportunities for chaos we frequently see in this sport, 19th-ranked Louisiana-Lafayette and Georgia Southern were able to satiate that desire with a crazy finish that saw the Ragin’ Cajuns come out on top, 20-18.

It did not seem like the game’s waning moments were going to go particularly well for ULL. They punted the ball to the Eagles while up seven and with a little more than 90 seconds on the clock. Five plays later, and Georgia Southern quarterback Shai Werts looked like he was going to loft a pass just past Khaleb Hood, who jumped and extended his right arm to reel in a one-handed grab.

This did not single-handedly (pun absolutely intended) make up the deficit, but it did put the Eagles in position to tie things up. Instead, they opted to go for the lead, which resulted Werts showing off some impressive balance and coordination to evade pressure, stay upright, and eventually find Darion Anderson in the end zone.

The Cajuns did get the ball back, although with 54 seconds on the clock and 75 yards between them and the end zone, they faced a major uphill battle. A 19-yard gain on the first play of the drive was immediately followed up by a holding that set them back, and despite getting onto the other side of the 50, their efforts to take the game off of the foot of their kicker were for naught. Eventually, with the ball down on Georgia Southern’s 36, Louisiana-Lafayette turned to Nate Snyder, who entered 1-for-4 on field goal tries on the season.

Still, college football has a funny way of putting guys in positions to make up for past problems. So with the game on the line and Snyder staring at what would have been the longest field goal of his career, well, you can probably guess what happened, if only based on the fact that the crowd started celebrating about a second after he booted the ball.

The Cajuns will get next weekend off before a trip to Boone to take on Appalachian State. Despite how this game ended, I’d guess they would rather pick up a slightly more comfortable win in that one.