Kessinger's walk-off field goal pushes Eastern Michigan over Louisiana-Lafayette 34-31
YPSILANTI, Mich. (AP) — Rudy Kessinger drilled a 41-yard field goal with three seconds left and Eastern Michigan beat Louisiana-Lafayette 34-31 on Saturday for its first win of the season.
The Eagles trailed 24-21 after Courtline Flowers jumped a route and returned an interception 35 yards for a third-quarter touchdown. Tavierre Dunlap answered, though, capping the next drive with a 6-yard score — his second of the day and the first multi-score game of his career.
Kessinger then added a field goal to make it 31-24. Zylan Perry tied it for the Ragin’ Cajuns with a 10-yard run with 47 seconds remaining, setting up Kessinger’s walk-off winner.
Louisiana-Lafayette built an early 14-0 lead on Perry’s 23-yard dash and a short plunge before the Eagles flipped the game to take a 21-17 halftime lead. Bill Davis ripped off a 45-yard touchdown run, and Noah Kim ran three yards for a score and found Joshua Long for a 15-yard strike.
Kim went 21 of 31 for 226 yards passing with one touchdown and one interception. Dontae McMillan ran for 126 yards on 19 carries and eclipsed 2,000 career yards rushing in the first quarter. Dunlap added 45 yards and two scores.
Perry led Louisiana-Lafayette with 110 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Davis added 78 yards rushing. Daniel Beale threw for 217 yards but was intercepted twice.
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