The Texas State Bobcats (1-3) will travel to take on the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (1-3) this week in a battle between two teams off to slow starts. The SBC’s second-leading rusher, Elijah McGuire (415 yards, 6 TDs), will be featured in this game. It will air Saturday, Oct 10 at 7:00 p.m. ET on ESP3.
In last week’s matchup, Louisiana-Lafayette had an ugly loss against Louisiana Tech 43-14. Elijah McGuire had a good performance running the ball in the loss, rushing 12 times for 84 yards. He was a threat catching the ball with 70 yards and a TD on six catches. Jalen Nixon put up 161 yards and a TD through the air. Texas State also struggled, losing big against Houston 59-14. Demun Mercer had a quality performance for the Bobcats, pulling in six receptions for 71 yards.
The Bobcats are a five-point underdog against the Ragin’ Cajuns and the Over/Under (O/U) for the matchup is unavailable currently.
Sitting at 1-3 Straight Up (SU) and 2-2 Against The Spread (ATS), the Ragin’ Cajuns will look to improve heading into Week 6. A focal point of Louisiana-Lafayette’s offense is the running game, which ranks 24th in the country with 217 rushing yards per game. Louisiana-Lafayette can likely capitalize on how the Bobcats are one of the worst in the country at preventing scoring in the fourth quarter, allowing an average of 13 points.
As for their opponent, the Bobcats head into Week 6 with records of 1-3 for both ATS and SU. Running the ball has resulted in very positive outcomes for the Bobcats, who average the 22nd-best yards per carry in the nation with 5.5. Moving on to the Texas State defense, it has some favorable matchups that it may be able to take advantage of as well. The Ragin’ Cajuns need to be careful with the football against the Bobcats. Their defense ranks 18th in the country with one fumble recovered per game. Teams need to stay focused in the first quarter against the fast-starting Bobcats, who average 11.2 points in the first 15 minutes. Texas State has put in some strong special teams performances this season. The team has averaged 125.8 return yards per game, ranking them 16th in the nation.
Predictions: SU Winner – Texas State, ATS Winner – Texas State
Notes
Louisiana-Lafayette is 9-4 SU in its last 13 games.
The total has gone OVER in 13 of Louisiana-Lafayette’s last 18 games at home.
Louisiana-Lafayette is 20-5 SU in its last 25 games at home.
Texas State is 1-1 SU when leading at the half this season. Louisiana-Lafayette is 1-0 SU when taking a lead into halftime.
Among all FBS teams, the Louisiana-Lafayette offensive passing game is ranked 94th nationally, while the Texas State pass defense is only ranked 126th. The Bobcats passing attack is ranked 29th, compared to the 77th-ranked pass defense of the Ragin’ Cajuns.
