Defensive shortcomings and other takeaways from Georgia Southern's bad loss at Louisiana

The Georgia Southern football team had played in eight consecutive close games decided in the fourth quarter.

The contest Thursday night was not one of them.

It was no contest as host Louisiana surged from an early 7-7 tie to score the next 23 points and beat Georgia Southern 36-17 in a nationally televised game on ESPN2 from Cajun Field in Lafayette.

"We got down too much too early," Georgia Southern coach Clay Helton said on the Georgia Southern Sports Network's postgame show.

Here are key takeaways as the Ragin' Cajuns improved to 5-5 overall and 3-4 in the Sun Belt Conference in their final home game, and the Eagles fell to 5-5, 2-4 in the SBC.

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Georgia Southern's defense exploited

The Eagles' struggles stopping the run this season are well-chronicled, but the defense as a whole had no answers for a Ragin' Cajuns attack that hadn't exactly sparkled this season.

Louisiana scored the last 20 points of the first half and it could have been more if not for GS nickelback Derrick Canteen's interception at the goal line to stop UL in the red zone.

By halftime, Louisiana had 295 total yards, 147 rushing and 148 passing. By the end of the third quarter, the numbers were 405 total yards, 219 rushing and 186 passing.

Louisiana went into a clock-chewing offensive mode to protect its large lead, and took advantage of favorable field position for short scoring drives. When it was over, the Ragin' Cajuns has totaled 435 yards on 193 passing and a season-high 242 yards rushing.

On the other side, Georgia Southern's running game was anemic as the offense had to play catch-up and relied on a shorthanded passing game.

The Eagles gained just 72 yards rushing and averaged 2.9 yards per rushing  play, compared to 6.1 for the hosts.

Georgia Southern's final numbers for total offense were 430 yards with 358 passing.

Kyle Vantrease was 28 of 49 (57%) for 325 yards and one 28-yard scoring pass to Marcus Sanders Jr. to continue his school record of games with at least one TD pass to 10.

Connor Cigelske entered in the final minutes and was 1 of 3 for 1 yard. Freshman tailback OJ Arnold threw a 32-yard TD pass to Derwin Burgess Jr. in the second quarter that had tied the game at 7, but it was Louisiana that dominated after that score.

Beaten and beaten up

Georgia Southern, like many teams 10 games into the season, is dealing with injuries.

Thursday night was a busy night for the GS medical staff.

Long snapper Mark Langston, a redshirt junior and Savannah Christian graduate, was knocked out of the game early with a knee injury. Jackson Wheeler took over his duties.

Defensive lineman Latrell Bullard, a 6-foot, 345-pound freshman, left the game later with a knee injury. The line already was missing redshirt sophomore Trevon Locke, a Benedictine graduate who did not make the trip because of injury.

Wide receiver Derwin Burgess Jr. was sidelined with a lower leg injury in the second half and went for an X-ray, the Georgia Southern Sports Network reported near the start of the fourth quarter. Later, it announced Burgess would not be returning to the game.

The Eagles already were shorthanded at wide receiver with season-ending injuries to Sam Kenerson in Game 2 and Amare Jones in Game 8. Starter Jeremy Singleton suffered a low ankle sprain against South Alabama and saw limited action on Thursday. Then starter Burgess went down.

"Whoever's next on the roster, whoever's the next up, they have to take advantage of their opportunity," Vantrese said on the postgame show. "They have to put in the work, come in and watch film, come in and talk to the guys that are going to help them in the future, the guys are going to go out there and make plays on game day."

Vantrease completed passes to 11 different receivers, and Singleton wasn't one of them. Among the receivers were true freshmen Joshua "Jet" Thompson, Dalen Cobb and Sanders.

"We've got a lot of promising young talent out there all over the field," Vantrease said. "I'm really excited about where those guys' futures are heading. Obviously, you hate to see people get injured, but everything happens for a reason. The comeback story is something I'm looking forward to seeing how it unfolds."

Senior receiver Khaleb Hood, who entered the game needing four receptions to become Georgia Southern's all-time receptions leader, finished with a game-high six catches for 68 yards. Raja Andrews made 127 catches from 2005-08 in the Eagles' run-heavy offense. Hood's 66 catches this season are a program high, breaking Andrews' mark of 64 set in 2008.

Special teams were special — for Louisiana

It wasn't just a great night for the Louisiana offense and defense. The special teams were big as well.

Kenneth Almendares was 5 for 5 on field-goal attempts, tying a UL record, by making kicks of 48, 34, 27, 42 and 40 yards. He also made three extra-point attempts.

Louisiana's Rhys Byrns, an All-Sun Belt Conference first-team punter last season, was a non-factor. He didn't punt until 7:45 was left in the third quarter. Byrns punted twice for 98 yards, a 49-yard average.

That's how much Louisiana was in control of the game.

Kickoff returner Chris Smith returned two for a 37-yard average. Louisiana returned four punts for a 23-yard average.

Third-down and fourth-down conversions

When Georgia Southern lost a 31-17 lead and the game last Saturday to South Alabama 38-31, Eagles coach Helton pointed out the importance of converting on third down. Had a few third-and-1 situations been converted, Eagles drives could have continued and the USA offense would have been kept off the field.

On Thursday night, Georgia Southern was only 2 of 14 on third down, and Louisiana was ineffective as well at 3 of 14.

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But Louisiana did so well on first and second down, as well as on fourth down (4 of 5), that diminished the importance of third down.

Georgia Southern, one of the best FBS teams in the red zone, was 1 for 3; Louisiana was 3 for 4.

Bowl implications

Both Louisiana and Georgia Southern still need to earn a sixth victory this season to becoame eligible for a bowl game. The Ragin' Cajuns might have felt even more urgency as it was their last home game, and they have road games remaining at No. 25 Florida State (6-3) on Nov. 19 and at Texas State (3-6, 1-4 SBC) on Nov. 26. Louisiana is out of the running in the West Division.

Georgia Southern is now 2-4 in the Sun Belt with no chance to catch East Division leader Coastal Carolina (5-1 SBC, 8-1 overall). The Eagles have two home games remaining against Marshall on Nov. 19 and Appalachian State on Nov. 26. Those opponents are each 5-4 overall, 2-3 in the league and making their own mad dashes for at least six victories.

Nathan Dominitz is the Sports Content Editor of the Savannah Morning News and savannahnow.com. Email him at ndominitz@savannahnow.com. Twitter: @NathanDominitz

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Georgia Southern Eagles football team loses at Louisiana Ragin Cajuns