Louisiana football rides turnovers, early lead to Sun Belt Conference win at South Alabama

South Alabama quarterback Carter Bradley may have Cameron Whitfield haunting him in his nightmares after Saturday night.

Whitfield terrorized Bradley and the Jags offensive line all-night long, forcing three fumbles, one of which was returned 55 yards by Kendre' Gant for a touchdown late in the third quarter. The sophomore outside linebacker's wreaked havoc lifted Louisiana football to a 33-20 victory over South Alabama at Hancock Whitney Stadium.

The Ragin' Cajuns (5-3, 2-2) weren't stifling by any stretch on defense. South Alabama (4-4, 2-2) did outgain the Cajun offense 440 to 348 and Bradley threw for more than 380 yards, but Whitfield disruptions were perfectly timed.

Louisiana football leans into run game with Jacob Kibodi. It pays dividends

The Ragin' Cajuns ran 16 plays in the opening 15 minutes in Mobile. Thirteen of those were run plays — granted a couple of those were scrambles by Chriss. But UL coach and playcaller Michael Desormeaux leaned into the run game with 61 of the offense's first 69 yards came on the ground.

A stark difference from the loss to Georgia State last week. Running backs Jacob Kibodi and Dre'Lyn Washington were able to get going early for the Cajuns. And the early efficiency on the ground opened up the pass game enough for UL, which had to contend with deep zone coverage from the Jaguar defense.

UL finished with 203 rushing yards. Kibodi ripped off a 56-yard touchdown run and ended with a game-high 119 yards on 23 carries. Washington had 52 yards.

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Ragin' Cajuns defense force South Alabama mistakes, turn them to points

Outside linebacker Cameron Whitfield and defensive line Nijel McGriff formed an opportunistic and unblockable duo against the Jaguars.

Whitfield stripped South Alabama quarterback Carter Bradley twice in the first half and both times, McGriff fell on the loose ball.

For the game, Louisiana finished plus-5 in the turnover margin. Another key component was UL scoring off of the mistakes, ballooning its lead in the first half and boisterously stamped by linebacker Kendre' Gant's 55-yard scoop-and-score late in the third quarter that put UL up, 33-14.

Cajuns finished with five sacks and three quarterback hurries.

Cajuns garner big Sun Belt Conference West division win

Last week's loss to Georgia State shrunk UL's margin for error in conference play. The remainder of its games are Sun Belt West contests and ones that would factor into the divisional race, as well as tiebreaks.

Louisiana has two wins against Western division rivals, Texas State and now South Alabama. And that matters as that number is tied for tops, as of now, with the Jaguars and the Bobcats. But UL owns the head-to-head tiebreak over both of those teams.

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana football rides turnovers to big win at South Alabama