The Nevada Wolf Pack and the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns will get together in the R+L Carriers New Orleans Bowl. Louisiana-Lafayette (8-4) has won four of its last five, while Nevada (7-5) has lost two of its last three. Players will take the field Saturday at 11:00 a.m. ET and the game will air on ESPN.
In its last game, Louisiana-Lafayette beat Troy 42-23. Elijah McGuire had an outstanding performance on the ground in the win, running it 14 times for 169 yards and two TDs. Alonzo Harris also had a great game with 86 yards and three TDs on 17 attempts. Nevada smashed UNLV 49-27 in its last game before the bye. Jerico Richardson had a solid game for the Wolf Pack, pulling in one pass for 12 yards and one TD.
Nevada is a narrow one-point favorite as they take on the Ragin Cajuns. The Over/Under (O/U) is sitting at 61 points for this matchup. Sitting at 8-4 Straight Up (SU) and 6-5-1 Against The Spread (ATS), the Ragin Cajuns will look to improve as they head into Week 17. In the past five games, Louisiana-Lafayette is 4-1 SU and 3-1-1 ATS. Over the last five games, Louisiana-Lafayette’s rushing attack has thrived, averaging 233.0 yards per game in that time span. The Wolf Pack are matching up with Louisiana-Lafayette’s defense at an inopportune time as well. Louisiana-Lafayette usually allows 27.9 points per game, but over the last five that number has fallen to 22. During those last five games, Louisiana-Lafayette’s opponents have struggled to do anything with the run game, only managing 96.8 rushing yards per contest. The Wolf Pack should put Louisiana-Lafayette away early because the Ragin Cajuns are one of the top teams at putting points on the board during the fourth quarter of home games. So far this year, they’ve averaged 10.7 fourth-quarter points at home.
Over on the other sideline, the Wolf Pack have a record of 7-5 both ATS and SU. The Wolf Pack went 3-2 both SU and ATS over the last five games. They sport the 22nd-ranked scoring offense in the country, averaging 34 points per game. Odds are Nevada will continue to rely on its run game, where its 225.3 rushing yards per road game ranks 24th in the nation. Moving on to the Nevada defense, it has some favorable matchups that it may be able to take advantage of. The Ragin Cajuns are matching up with Nevada’s defense at an inopportune time. Over the last five games, Nevada’s opponents have only averaged 201.0 yards through the air. The Wolf Pack make it hard on their opponents down the stretch, averaging 12.4 points in the final quarter. Nevada’s offense should have a lot of time with the ball this week. The team averages a time of possession of 32:28 per away game, the 23rd-highest in the land.
Predictions: SU Winner – NEV, ATS Winner – NEV, O/U – Over
Notes
Nevada is 4-2 SU in its last 6 games.
The total has gone UNDER in 14 of Nevada’s last 18 games.
Nevada is 3-0 SU when leading at the half this season. Louisiana-Lafayette is 5-0 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Nevada is only 1-4 SU this season when turning the ball over more than its opponent.
Nationally, the Louisiana-Lafayette passing attack is ranked 102nd, while the Nevada pass defense is only ranked 115th. The Wolf Pack passing game is ranked 94th, compared to the 120th-ranked pass defense of the Ragin Cajuns.
