Louisiana quarterback Jordan Davis (3) runs for yards against New Mexico State in the Cajuns win Saturday.

LAFAYETTE — Jordan Davis had lost his job but never lost hope of getting it back.

The Louisiana-Lafayette starting quarterback was forced to watch from the sidelines after getting benched after the quarter mark of the season. Then he was forced to hold a clipboard while not one but two other quarterbacks, including true freshman Levi Lewis, started instead of him in the next three games.

The redshirt junior though never lost faith that he would get another chance and when he got the surprise start during Saturday’s homecoming game against New Mexico State, Davis stepped up and delivered.

Davis completed 18-of-31 passes for 203 yards with two passing touchdowns, while adding another 71 yards and another score on the ground as the Cajuns defeated the Aggies 47-34.

“Throughout the week me and Levi were splitting reps,” Davis said. “So I was preparing to be the starter and I am thankful to be the starter.

“I hugged him after the game,” said Cajuns coach Mark Hudspeth who didn’t tell Davis that he was starting until 20 minutes before kickoff. “I gave him one of the game balls there in the locker room. When you keep a good attitude like he did, and for him to come in and perform there way he did says a lot about his character.”

The Cajuns (5-5, 4-2) set the tone right off the bat with a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive which was capped by a three-year run by Wildcat quarterback Dion Ray. The Cajuns would go on to add another long scoring drive — this one 13-plays and 75 yards which saw Davis throw a three-yard touchdown to Michael Jacquet.

The Cajuns would dominate the first quarter piling up 147 yards while the Aggies ran only three offensive plays and managed negative six yards. The Aggies did manage to get on the scoreboard with a 97-yard kickoff return by Jason Huntley.

The Cajuns would add to their lead in the second quarter with a 31-yard touchdown run by Trey Ragas, a 43-yard touchdown run by Davis and a 30-yard field goal by Stevie Artigue. Ragas led all rushers with 132 yards and two touchdowns on the night.

At halftime, the Cajuns held a comfortable 31-17 lead.

The Aggies (4-6, 2-4) though made adjustments and began to move the ball extremely well in the third quarter against the Cajuns defense, and outscored them 14-3 in the period. Then they would tie it up at 34 all at the beginning of the fourth quarter with a short field goal.

“They got a little momentum,” Hudspeth said. “It swung their way for a little bit. We knew they had some big play potential.”

That’s when Davis made his best throw of the evening as on the ensuing drive he found Rhyeem Malone on a slant route which resulted into a 33-yard touchdown. Malone led all receiver with seven catches for 113 yards.

“The line came out and did great job blocking all day long,” Davis said. “New Mexico State threw an extra stunts at us that we had planned for and we picked those up. It was a good offensive day as a whole.”

That score seemed to swing the momentum back to the Cajuns, as the defense then came up big with three interceptions, one which set up a four-yard TD run by Ragas, in the final quarter to help seal the win.

Despite Davis helping place the team within one win of becoming bowl eligible for the sixth time in the past seven seasons, Hudspeth when asked who would be his quarterback against Georgia Southern next week declined to commit.

“That is a good question,” Hudspeth said. “We are not going to worry about that tonight.”

As for Davis, his mindset isn’t going to change regardless of what decision Hudspeth and his staff make in the following days.

“I would be lying to say that it the easiest thing to do when you don’t know if you are going to be the starter or not,” Davis added. 

“But you always have to prepare to start. That’s what I am going to do.”