Braxton, Marshall beat Louisiana-Lafayette 31-3, win Sun Belt Conference title

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) — Braylon Braxton threw two touchdown passes and Jordan Houston had 117 yards rushing, including a 9-yard TD, on 17 carries to help Marshall beat Louisiana-Lafayette 31-3 on Saturday night and win the Thundering Herd's first Sun Belt Conference Championship.

Marshall (10-3), which joined the Sun Belt in 2022 after 17 seasons in Conference USA, has won seven games in a row in the same season for the first time since 2020 and has double-digit wins for the first time since the 2015 campaign.

Kenneth Almendares kicked a 40-yard field goal for Louisiana (10-3) to open the scoring with 6:42 left in the first quarter. The Thundering Herd immediately answered with a seven-play, 75-yard drive to take the lead for good when Braxton hit a wide-open Tychaun Chapman in the end zone for a 37-yard touchdown.

Rece Verhoff made a 32-yard field goal and Ethan Payne ran for a 15-yard touchdown in the second quarter. Braxton threw a 20-yard TD pass to Bralon Brown in the third to make it 24-3.

Freshman Daniel Beale replaced starter Chandler Fields midway through the second quarter and completed 10 of 25 for 96 yards with an interception for the Ragin' Cajuns. Fields, who became the starter when Ben Wooldridge suffered a season-ending shoulder injury in a 24-22 loss to South Alabama on Nov. 16, finished 4-of-8 passing for 104 yards. Wooldridge passed for 2,392 yards and 17 touchdowns in 10 games and was named the conference's offensive player of the year.

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