Welcome everyone to the return of the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns previews! For every game that the Ragin Cajuns have during the regular season, I’ll preview the matchup with some storylines to watch for and what each team will have to do to win. This week it’s the Southeastern Louisiana Lions headed to Cajun Field.
Last Week: Neither team played during the “week zero” festivities.
Last Meeting: Surprisingly, it has been quite some time since these two teams have faced off. In fact, it’s been since 1981 that these two teams faced off and the Lions took that game by the score of 7-0. Prior to that, the Ragin Cajuns had won the last seven dating back to 1966.
What to Watch For:
Wet and Wild Opener: With everything that has happened over the last few days regarding Tropical Storm Harvey, there’s no doubt that the Ragin Cajuns are thankful for having a brand new turf to play on this Saturday. That being said, that won’t stop the home opener from getting a little wet and wild at Cajun Field.
“With it being a wet field, it not only affects you with the football, it affects your tackling. You’ve got to wrap up even better in a wet game because everybody is much more slippery.” Hudspeth said on Monday during his press conference about the struggles of playing on a wet field. Could the field dry up within the next 72 hours? Odds are it will dry up for the most part, but there’s still a chance, albeit slim of getting a little precipitation on Saturday and the Cajuns will need to focus in on wrapping up those tackles on the defensive side of the ball if they want to slow down the Lions.
Battle in the Trenches: One of the big positives for the Cajuns this season is the experience they have between the trenches on both sides of the ball. Both teams have some big hosses, but it looks like you could give the edge to Lions due to the fact that there is some solid experience there with some notable transfers on the team including former LSU Tiger Maea Teuhema.
While the Mississippi native has been a bit of a problem child during his time in Baton Rouge, the talent he has is there and will be sliding into the offensive line more often than not according to head coach Ron Roberts.
FBS Talent on FCS School: Speaking of FBS talent, there’s quite a bit of that on this team with Maea’s brother Sione at linebacker and Fred Brown at defensive tackle. However, there is one ace in the hole for this team that could be either a boom or bust and that’s Lorenzo Nunez. The former South Carolina QB didn’t play last season, but had a pair of starts in 2015 throwing for 376 yards and three touchdowns.
If he is able to step things up for the Lions, it could be a real test for the Cajuns secondary. However, those statistics he had in 2015 it might be a look that’s all too familiar for the Cajuns after the Anthony Jennings experiment had mixed results.
The Cajuns Will Win If:
The Cajuns will need Jordan Davis to show some of that maturity that Hudspeth has talked about throughout the season if the Cajuns want to start off the season 1-0. His pocket presence should be improved because of the kind of offensive line he has that will be working hard to keep their guy vertical.
The front seven will also need to do what they did most of last season and shut down the run game with the veteran players that the Lions have in the backfield.
The Lions Will Win If:
When it comes to Southeastern Louisiana, they will need a big performance out of the relative unknown quarterback in Nunez. His performance, much like with Davis, will rely on the performance on the offensive line. Nunez will have a lot of big targets to throw to, but if he’s pressured all game long by the Cajuns defensive line, it’s going to be a long day for the former Gamecock.
-Clint Domingue