It took UL-Lafayette 41 years to get to this position, in a bowl game, but the Ragin’ Cajuns took it to another level Saturday night, beating San Diego State 32-30 and winning the New Orleans Bowl in front of 42,841 at the Superdome — their first postseason game since the 1970 Grantland Rice Bowl, their first postseason win since the 1944 Oil Bowl — behind a 50-yard walk-off field goal from Brett Baer.

Down 30-29 after a late San Diego State touchdown, game MVP Blaine Gautier put the Cajuns in position by capping off a night in which he completed 24-of-40 passes for a New Orleans Bowl-record 470 yards and three touchdowns.

Gautier wound up passing not only longtime NFL quarterback Jake Delhomme’s school record for touchdown passes in a season, which had been 20 and now is 23, but also became UL’s single-season leader for passing yards in a season.

Baer lined up for a 55-yard field goal with four seconds on the clock, but an offsides penalty on SDSU bought the Cajuns another 5 yards. The drive was capped off with the infamous game-winning fieldgoal for the bowl victory.