LAFAYETTE – Louisiana scored on the last play of the first half and twice on fourth down while running away with a 49-14 victory against winless Ohio on Thursday night at Cajun Field.

Despite a bad start, the Bobcats (0-3) had a chance to stay in the game but could not get key goal-line stops as the Ragin’ Cajuns (2-1) piled up 562 yards of offense.

Montrell Johnson kept his balance as he spun off of a defender and fell down the ground short of the goal line, but the ball was ruled to have reached the end zone on a run from the 1-yard line as time expired in the first half, giving Louisiana a 21-7 lead. The call was upheld after replay.

Johnson scored again on a fourth-and-goal play on the first possession of the second half to make it 28-7 and then did the same early in the fourth quarter to give the Rajin’ Cajuns a 35-14 advantage. Johnson also had a 6-yard touchdown run early in the second quarter and finished with 84 yards on 13 carries.

Emani Bailey added 89 yards on 11 attempts, quarterback Levi Lewis ran 12 times for 61 yards, and Chris Smith added 68 yards and a touchdown on 11 attempts. Lewis went 21-of-29 passing for 212 yards.

Ohio could not muster consistent offense once again, finishing with 250 yards, but hung in the game until the final quarter. Kurtis Rourke’s 25-yard touchdown pass to a diving O’Shaan Allison along the right sideline after Rourke took a lateral pass from Armani Rogers made it 14-7 in the second quarter.

Tyler Walton also made a diving catch in the end zone of a Rourke pass from 21 yards out late in the third quarter, making it a 28-14 game before Louisiana scored three times in the final quarter.

Rourke was 12-of-22 passing for 122 yards, while Rogers rushed seven times for 58 yards. Allison had 48 yards on 11 carries and caught two passes for 44 yards.

The Bobcats face Northwestern at noon Sept. 25 at Ryan Field in Evanston, Illinois.