2011 New Orleans Bowl The 2011 R + L Carriers New Orleans Bowl , part of the 2011 – 12 bowl game season , took place place on December 17 , 2011 , at the Mercedes - Benz Superdome in New Orleans , Louisiana . The 11th edition of the game featured the Louisiana – Lafayette Ragin ' Cajuns from the Sun Belt Conference ( Sun Belt ) , and the San Diego State Aztecs from the Mountain West Conference . The game was telecast at 8 : 00 p . m . CT on ESPN and ESPN 3D . Louisiana – Lafayette accepted a bid to compete in the 2011 edition of the game on November 21 , while San Diego State accepted a bid on December 4 . Teams . University of Louisiana at Lafayette . On November 21 , 2011 , the UL Lafayette Ragin ' Cajuns accepted an invite to represent the Sun Belt Conference . Prior to the start of the 2011 season , the Ragin ' Cajuns were expected to finish last in the Sun Belt Conference and be ranked last among the 120 FBS school . However , the Ragin ' Cajuns team was a surprise and finished the regular season with a 8 - 4 record . The New Orleans Bowl marked UL Lafayette ' s first ever division I FBS bowl appearance and their first bowl appearance since the 1970 Grantland Rice Bowl . Because of UL Lafayette ' s close proximity to New Orleans , the New Orleans Bowl set an attendance record at 42 , 841 . San Diego State University . On December 4 , 2011 , the San Diego State Aztecs accepted an invite to represent the Mountain West Conference . The Aztecs entered the bowl with a record of 8 – 4 . SDSU ' s season was helped by Ronnie Hillman , who rushed for 1 , 656 yards and 19 touchdowns . This marked SDSU ' s sixth bowl appearance and their second consecutive following the 2010 Poinsettia Bowl . The bowl game also marked the first time the Aztecs appeared back - to - back division I bowl games . Neither team previously appeared in the New Orleans Bowl . The bowl game marked the first ever meeting between the two schools . Game summary . The Aztecs scored first with a 27 - yard field goal from Abelardo Perez . The Ragin ' Cajuns responded with a touchdown to make the score 6 – 3 , after the point after was blocked . In the second quarter , the Ragin ' Cajuns went up 13 – 3 when Darryl Surgent scored on an 87 - yard punt return . Lafayette added to their lead when they scored a touchdown in the third quarter to go up 19 – 3 ( the PAT failed ) . However , the Aztecs closed the deficit to two at the end of the third quarter with two San Diego State touchdown passes from quarterback Colin Lockett . Lockett ' s second touchdown pass capped off a seven - play , 99 - yard drive . Louisiana - Lafayette scored another touchdown in the fourth quarter to make it 26 – 17 . The Aztecs responded with their own touchdown to make it 26 – 24 with 5 : 40 left . On their next possession , the Ragin ' Cajuns marched towards the three - yard line but had to settle for a field goal with 2 : 09 left . The Aztecs then scored a touchdown to take the lead 30 – 29 with 35 seconds left . The Aztecs attempted go up by three points on a two - point conversion , but failed . With no timeouts left , Lafayette managed to get in range for a 55 - yard field , before the Aztecs were called for an " illegal stemming " penalty , thus reducing the field goal range to 50 - yard . Placekicker Brett Baer made the kick , sealing a 32 – 30 victory for the Ragin ' Cajuns . UL Lafayette ' s Blaine Gautier had 470 passing yards in the game , breaking the previous New Orleans Bowl record of 387 passing yards set in 2010 . Gautier ' s performance in the bowl game also helped him finish the season with 2 , 958 yards passing and 23 touchdowns , breaking the previous school single - season record set by Jake Delhomme . Aztec running back Ronnie Hillman was limited to only 55 yards ; Hillman had been averaging 138 yards per game coming into the New Orleans Bowl . Reaction . Controversy . Prior to a 55 - yard field goal attempt by the UL - Lafayette Cajuns with four seconds to go , an official called a five - yard " illegal stemming " penalty against the SDSU Aztecs to set up the Cajuns ' 50 - yard game - winning field goal . Following the game , Aztecs coach Rocky Long said it was a " phantom call , " claiming that no one was moving on the Aztec ' s side . However , replays clearly show the Aztec defender illegally moving .