Welcome everyone to the latest game preview for the Louisiana Ragin Cajuns! This week, the Cajuns are opening up conference play against in-state rival the UL Monroe Warhawks.
Last Week: Last week, the Ragin Cajuns had a rough second half that led to Texas A&M taking down the Cajuns 45-21. The Warhawks kept it competitive throughout their matchup against Southern Miss, but came up short by the score of 28-17.
Last Meeting: The last time these two teams faced off, The Cajuns took the season finale in a sloppy game that was largely won by the defense with quite a few defensive touchdowns en route to a 30-3 win for Louisiana. The Cajuns have won four of their last five against the Warhawks and lead the overall series 14-12.
Storylines to Watch:
How’s the Knee? Late in the second quarter of the Cajuns loss, Jordan Davis suffered a knee injury that was late found out to be just sore. That injury wound up being the turning point of the ballgame and Texas A&M sensed blood in the water and dominated the second half.
With the junior quarterback ready to go for the conference opener, the offensive line needs to hold up if the Cajuns want to keep him healthy for the rest of the season as that knee soreness could become worse if he takes more hits on Saturday. The most important part will be how Davis throws the ball on his first pass. If he’s using his back foot a little too much, expect some overthrown passes.
Can the Cajuns Stop the Run? Louisiana did manage to stop the run game last weekend in College Station, allowing 179 yards rushing. While that number was helped by a couple of botched snaps in the first half, it’s a lot better than what they had allowed in the first two games.
The Warhawks have a solid run game with Caleb Evans and Derrick Gore leading the way and they put up a combined 186 yards on the ground against a solid Southern Miss team. The front seven for the Cajuns looked improved last week, but they will still have a test this Saturday with a dual-threat quarterback and a solid backfield could be a real test for this team.
Warhawks Record May be Decieving: While the Warhawks may have started out 0-2, how close these first two games have been makes it a little bit deceiving. The Cajuns really can’t take any team lightly this season with the internal expectations that this team has had in place with what is on the field.
UL Monroe since hiring Matt Viator after the 2015 season has started to gain some ground in the recruiting game and win in the Cajuns home would be huge for the program’s future with the amount of talent coming out of Lafayette.
Louisiana Will Win If:
The Cajuns will get the win if Will Hall completely opens up the playbook offensively. There were some flashes of that last weekend in College Station, but expect to see a lot more flashes against a Sun Belt Conference opponent to show that the offense has changed in front of potential recruits.
UL Monroe Will Win If:
The Warhawks can come away with a win if the Cajuns run defense falters once again. Louisiana’s run defense is still considered the worst nationally and if they can exploit the issues with the front seven, you can expect UL Monroe to win the big one.
-Clint Domingue