Middle Tennessee 34, Louisiana-Lafayette 20

10/28/2006 7:31 PM

LAFAYETTE, La. (AP) -Middle Tennessee took advantage of Louisiana-Lafayette's sloppy first half Saturday en route to a 34-20 victory that brought the Ragin' Cajuns' six-game Sun Belt Conference winning streak to an end.

Four Louisiana-Lafayette turnovers led to a 14-point Blue Raiders lead that would never be in jeopardy.

Middle Tennessee quarterback Clint Marks completed 19-of-26 passing for 244 yards and had a passing and rushing touchdown.

In the third quarter, still trailing by 14, Louisiana-Lafayette moved the ball 86 yards in 13 plays on their opening possession but had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Drew Edminston. That score trimmed Middle Tennessee's lead to 24-13 with 4:50 remaining.

But Middle Tennessee (5-3, 4-0) countered. At the 9:30 mark of the fourth quarter, Colby Smith hit a 23-yard field goal to stretch their lead back up to 14 points. Middle Tennessee sealed the game with a 6-yard touchdown run by Eugene Gross with 5:53 remaining, completing a three-play, 41-yard drive.

With 4:09 left in the game, Louisiana-Lafayette quarterback Jerry Babb, who completed 12 of 24 passes for 182 yards with four interceptions, hit Corey Frederick on a 40-yard touchdown pass. After Kyle Ward recovered the onside kick, the Cajuns moved to the Middle Tennessee 31-yard line but Babb was intercepted by Damon Nickson - his third takeaway of the game. Nickson added a fourth interception with 2:26 remaining.

Tyrell Fenroy led Louisiana-Lafayette (4-3, 1-1) with 90 yards rushing on 16 carries.