LAFAYETTE, La.—At least the NIU football team was able to crawl out of “the swamp” alive.

Offensive mistakes led to a 45-0 drowning of the Huskies by the quicker Southwestern Louisiana Saturday at Cajun Field (“the swamp”). The Homecoming shutout was witnessed by 27,300, the third largest crowd in USL history.

“I didn’t expect this at all,” NIU coach Jerry Pettibone said. “I thought it would be a close game. We were real concerned about the speed and quickness of USL, but I had no idea that it would ever get to 45-0.

“They’ve got as much pure talent as any football team we’ve played this year. They’ve got players that can run and catch the ball, and they’ve got excellent quickness on defense. You don’t get the concept of how fast they are on film until you see them in person.”

USL made a quick jump to light up the scoreboard, tallying on each of its first three possessions in the first half. A one-yard touchdown by running back P.D. Broussard, a 25-yard field goal and a seven-yard run by quarterback Brian Mitchell combined for a 17-0 halftime score.

The Huskies, who dropped to 4-3 with the loss, had a couple of strong drives during the first half but none that ended in any points.

Not even placekicker John Ivanic, who has saved the day for NIU more than once before, could prevent the shutout. Ivanic’s only chance to score came in the second quarter with a 29-yard field goal attempt.

Trailing 17-0, the Huskies moved the ball from their own 24-yard line to USL’s 11 after QB Marshall Taylor’s 40-yard pass to tight end Claude Royster and a series of rushes by halfback Rodney Taylor. The Huskies tried a field goal on the fourth down and five, however, a bad snap led to the demise of Ivanic’s school, record-setting field goal streak of 11.

In the series following Ivanic’s attempt, NIU made its second-best effort to score in the first half.

From its own 44, the Huskies converted on the fourth down when they faked a punt. Linebacker Mike Higgins took the snap and scrambled to the right for an 18-yard pickup into USL territory.

Taylor connected on a 21-yard reception to halfback Brett Schroeder—one of Schroeder’s team-leading five receptions for the game—to chalk up another first down on USL’s 17.

After two rushing plays resulted in a one-yard gain, Taylor tried to go long into the end zone where USL’s Patrick Taylor picked it off and dashed upfield for a 20-yard return.

The game was still within reach when the Huskies came out of the locker room for the second half. But during the first play after the kickoff, Huskie fullback Adam Dach fumbled on NIU’s 33, which in turn snowballed to a touchdown drive by USL. The Cajuns again scored on each of their first three possessions in the second half.

“We were our own worst enemy, fumbling the ball, throwing interceptions and just creating momentum for USL,” Pettibone said. “You can’t do that against a football team with that kind of talent.”

The talent of the 5-1 Ragin‘ Cajuns showed in their numbers.

The run-and-shoot USL offense collected 300 yards rushing and 209 yards passing, opposed to the NIU wishbone’s 148 on the ground and 151 in the air. USL dominated in third-down conversions as well, 9-of-16, compared to NIU’s 3-of-17.

But the ending could have been worse for the Huskies, who have not scored in their last five quarters.

In the last three minutes of the game, USL’s Dexter Gatewood recovered an NIU fumble from second-string quarterback Stacey Robinson on the Huskie’s 38-yard line.

Rather than take advantage of USL’s successful air game (13 completions of 20 attempts), backup QB Richard Pannell handed the ball off for short ground gains. In the last two plays of the game, Pannell sacrificed yard lossage and downed the ball, despite being within nine yards of a 50-point plus shutout.

“I didn’t think that (going for another touchdown) was necessary,” said USL coach Nelson Stokley. “It wouldn’t have done us or them any good.”