MONROE - There were a few scary drives in the first half, but once the UL Ragin' Cajuns discovered some solutions on defense, it was a convincing 42-21 road victory over the ULM Warhawks late Thursday at FMOL Heatlh/St. Francis Stadium in Monroe.

The stars of the game for the Cajuns (7-3, 4-2) was the defense forcing two criticla fumbles and redshirt freshman running back JJ Garner continuing ot shine.

Linebacker Micah Johnson recovered two fumbles in the third quarter and Garner rushed for two touchdowns in helping UL score 28 unanswered points after trailing 14-7 early on.

Garner finished the game with 104 yards and two touchdowns on nine carries.

Steven Blanco added a career-high 114 yards and a touchdown on 15 tries. It was the first time since the Cajuns had two 100-yard rushers since Drelyn Washington and Jacob Kibodi against Buffalo in 2023.

Quarterback Lunch Winfield added 37 rushing yards on seven carries, while going 7-of-13 passing for 65 yards. The Cajuns finished with 275 yards rushing in the win.

Midway through the fourth quarter, ULM had run 72 offensive plays to only 40 for the Cajuns. .

ULM quarterback Austin Carlisle finished with 102 yards and a score on 21 carries, while running back Bryson Roland added 108 yards on 19 tries. The Warhawks rushed for 250 yards as a team

After the offenses had fun in the first half, UL's defense made the first big statement in the third quarter with a forced fumble. Collin Jacob stripped Carlisle and linebacker Johnson executed the scoop-and-score from 20 yards out for a 21-14 Cajuns lead.

The two defenses continued to perform better in the third quarter, until UL's defense did it again. Maurion Eleam forced the fumble this time and again Johnson recovered it - this time at the ULM 19.

It was Johnson's fourth fumble recovery on the season to set a new single-season school record.

On the next play, Garner scampered 19 yards for a touchdown and 28-14 Cajuns lead with 2:36 left in the third. It was the seventh straight game with a touchdown for Garner.

UL's defense encored that effort with a three-and-out punt to set up the Cajuns' 8-play, 69-yard drive in 4:00 to build a three-touchdown lead.

And again, it was Garner wrapping up the drive with an 18-yard touchdown run to the right corner for the 35-14 lead with 11:32 left to play.

After the offenses had fun in the first half, UL's defense made the first big statement in the third quarter with a forced fumble. Collin Jacob stripped Carlisle and linebacker Micah Johnson executed the scoop-and-score from 20 yards out for a 21-14 Cajuns lead.

The two defenses continued to perform better in the third quarter, until UL's defense did it again. Maurion Eleam forced the fumble this time and again Johnson recovered it - this time at the ULM 19.

It was Johnson's fourth fumble recovery on the season.

On the next play, Garner scampered 19 yards for a touchdown and 28-14 Cajuns lead with 2:36 left in the third. It was the seventh straight game with a touchdown for Garner.

 It was pretty apparent in the first half the two defenses didn't respond very well to the short five-day break since Saturday's games.

For most of the first half, the two offenses moved the ball at will. The Warhawks got the track meet started with a 15-play, 73-yard drive in 8:18 for the quick 7-0 lead. Quarterback Carlisle made it very clear on the first drive that he would make life difficult for UL's defense with six carries for 36 yards and a 1-yard touchdown.

He would finish the first half with 96 yards to help ULM total 191 over the first two quarters.

It was the time any opponent scored on its first drive against the Cajuns this season. Also, the 8:18 drive was the longest possession with 6:50 being the previous longest drive.

UL answered in a much quicker fashion, covering 57 yards on six plays in 2:57 to tie the game at 7-7 with 3:36 left in the first quarter. Out of the six plays, the Cajuns got first downs on five of them, including completions of 10 and 12 yards to tight ends Caden Jensen and Brock Chappel, respectively.

A 13-yard TD toss to Shelton Sampson finished off the drive.

UL's defense didn't find any answers on the second drive either. Carlisle ran for 24 yards to spark the drive, before throwing a 5-yard TD pass to Jaiden Tucker with 13:34 left in the second quarter.

Curiously, both coaches decided to go away from the run and both promptly punted for the first time on the night.

On the third-and-7 play just prior to ULM's first punt, the game took a very unfortunate and scary turn. UL edge rusher Ashley Williams collided with a teammate to hold the Warhawks to no gain, but a cart was called for seconds after the play ended.

After a long time to stabilize Williams, he was carted off the field on stretcher and rushed to St. Francis Hospital in Monroe

Meanwhile, the Cajuns hit jackpot again on their next drive with an 8-play, 80-yard drive in 3:59 to tie the game at 14-14 with 40 seconds left until halftime.

Garner's 23-yard run ignited the scoring drive and KeDarius Wade's 8-yard run produced the game-tying touchdown.