The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns needed to eat clock.

With a little more than 10 minutes remaining in Thursday’s game at Sun Belt Conference rival Arkansas State, Louisiana took possession of the ball with a 28-27 lead. The goal was simple — eat as much clock as possible.

So naturally the Ragin’ Cajuns ate all of it with a 20-play, 90-yard drive that featured 18 running plays that helped seal the win.

“We felt that the matchups were good to rush the ball,” Ragin’ Cajuns fourth-year coach Billy Napier said. “Once the game got declared in what we needed to do, we knew that we needed to go chew up some clock to finish the game and we did that.”

That final drive helped seal the 28-27 win and helped Louisiana avoid an upset.

The Ragin’ Cajuns offense struggled to get anything going early on.

After Levi Lewis completed a nine-yard pass to former Catholic High star Peter LeBlanc on the first offensive play, the Ragin’ Cajuns were stuffed on back-to-back runs up the middle by Chris Smith.

Louisiana (6-1, 4-0 SBC) appeared to be putting together a touchdown drive with a 12-play, 49-yard drive but on fourth-and-one at the goal line, Lewis’ pass to John Stephens Jr. was broken up by Arkansas State’s Elery Alexander.

Arkansas State got on the scoreboard first in the second quarter, as the Red Wolves put together a 13-play, 94-yard touchdown drive capped with a six-yard touchdown pass from Layne Hatcher to Corey Rucker.

Louisiana answered as Lewis gave the ball to Montrell Johnson who took the handoff, made one cut and rushed down the field for a school and Sun Belt Conference record 99-yard touchdown. Johnson ended the game with 150 yards on 17 carries.

“He kind of pulled away a little bit,” Napier said. “That’s a true freshman. That’s a guy that we worked hard to recruit. We closed right there before signing day. He’s not only a talented player but a good teammate, really smart, he’s been humble and continues to work hard in practice.”

Arkansas State (1-6, 0-3 SBC) put together a 10-play, 66-play drive before halftime as Blake Grupe made a 32-yard field goal but left Louisiana with enough time for a touchdown drive. Lewis guided the Ragin’ Cajuns on a quick nine-play, 80-yard drive capped with Smith scoring on a six-yard touchdown run.

Arkansas State opened up the second half retaking the lead as Hatcher threw a 76-yard touchdown pass to Te’Vailance Hunt. Louisiana answered with a three-yard touchdown run by Johnson.

After being forced to punt, Arkansas State’s defense got the ball back after recovering a fumble by Smith. Three plays later, Hatcher found Emmanual Stevenson for a 15-yard touchdown.

Arkansas State’s defense forced yet another turnover in the third as Kenneth Harris picked off a Lewis pass intended for Jalen Williams. Louisiana’s defense didn’t give up a touchdown this time around and forced Arkansas State to settle for a 35-yard field goal.

That proved to be a turning point.

“I think that was the biggest turn event in the game,” Napier said. “We turn it over and they get it on a short field now and we go out there and put the fire up and force a field goal. That kept it in range, that kept it a one score game.”

The Red Wolves held a 27-21 lead but that was short lived as the Ragin’ Cajuns answered quickly with a 74-yard touchdown run by Smith. The Louisiana running back led all rushers with 238 yards on 24 carries as the Ragin’ Cajuns rolled up a season-high 424 rushing yards.

Arkansas State would only get one more drive in the final quarter but Louisiana’s defense forced a punt. That would be the final time the Red Wolves offense touched the ball.

Louisiana began the 20-play, 90-yard drive which featured 18 run plays but none bigger than facing fourth and one from the Arkansas State seven-yard line. The Ragin’ Cajuns took a time out and then pitched the ball to Johnson who picked up five yards.

“We actually practiced that exact situation against our defense in Friday’s situational script,” Napier said. “The exact same scenario. Fourth and one, hard count. We actually used a timeout to make sure it would be there. We’ve been holding that one in our pocket for a while.”

After two kneel downs, Louisiana celebrated a hard-fought one-point victory and survived a scare to remain in the driving seat in the SBC West Division race.

“You’ve got to give our kids credit,” Napier said. “A lot of things didn’t go our way. Early on we go for it on fourth and one and don’t get it. We turned the ball over a couple of times. We got penalties and they made some unique plays that broke for them.

“But to finish like that is pretty special,” Napier added. “We needed to do it and we did it.”