Welcome everyone to the latest game preview for the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns! This week, we break down the Cajuns matchup against the Georgia Southern Eagles.
Last Week: The Cajuns got one step closer towards becoming bowl eligible with a strong performance offensively against New Mexico State, winning 47-34. Georgia Southern shocked the Sun Belt on Saturday with their first win of the season being a 52-0 shutout against South Alabama. It also had some reverberations when it comes to the future of the Jaguars with Joey Jones resigning on Monday afternoon following the loss.
Last Meeting: The only other time these two teams faced off was last November and the Cajuns came away with a 33-26 victory in Statesboro.
Storylines to Watch:
Is Jordan Davis the Guy In Home Stretch? After everything that’s happened with the quarterback position in the last month, Jordan Davis’ performance gives him a strong case to be the guy in the last two games of the season. Just last Saturday, the junior put up 203 yards through the air with two touchdowns and used his legs to get another touchdown.
Based off of how the Cajuns have made decision this season, Davis will be the guy against Georgia Southern, but will be pulled if he can’t get the job done. Based off of how the Eagles defense had been prior to last week’s game, I like his chances to stay in for the full four quarters.
Playing Motivated: It’s been a tumultuous time for the Eagles in Statesboro since Willie Fritz left to coach the Tulane Green Wave in 2016 and one of the biggest reasons why was Tyson Summers underwhelming as the head coach of Georgia Southern, going 5-13 as a head coach in one and a half seasons. This program seemed to be poised to have a firm spot at the top of the Sun Belt in terms of football, but that went out the window in the last couple of seasons.
With all that being said, interim coach Chad Lunsford has this team playing for him and the big win is proof of that. Will they keep him as the permanent head coach? Odds are he won’t be the coach when the calendar flips over to 2018, but a team with nothing to lose is pretty dangerous against a team like the Cajuns that are close to becoming bowl eligible.
Ground and Pound: Both of these teams love to run the ball and Georgia Southern ran it with a lot of efficiency against South Alabama thanks to their triple option. Shai Werts can hurt defenses with his legs and the Cajuns have struggled against the more mobile quarterbacks this season and could be a similar site if the Cajuns aren’t prepared for the triple option.
Looking at the Cajuns run game, it’ll be interesting to see if Ragas can sustain the kind of game he had last weekend with 132 yards and two touchdowns. He was well-rested after being suspended for the Ole Miss game the week before. The Eagles run defense is towards the bottom in the Sun Belt, but they wound up stifling the run against the Jags, allowing 29 yards on the ground.
Louisiana Will Win If:
The Cajuns can become bowl eligible on Saturday if they can keep the scoring below 30 points. Despite winning by 13 points, it was a little too close for comfort early on in the fourth quarter against New Mexico State. If not for Tyler Rogers being out with a shoulder injury, the Aggies could have gotten a win late in the ballgame. While the quarterback play will take a significant dip on Saturday with Shai Werts largely being a dual-threat quarterback, they can score with some frequency with the wrinkles their offense has.
Georgia Southern Will Win If:
The Eagles can get a big win and spoil the Cajuns bowl aspirations by shutting down the run game. Georgia Southern’s run defense was strong last weekend and will need to sustain that performance in order to play spoiler on Saturday.
-Clint Domingue