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Expert Picks
Appalachian State has been a thorn in the side of the Ragin' Cajuns for quite some time now. This season, while they Mountaineers are a very solid team, App State doesn't have the explosive talent on both sides of the ball. Look for the Ragin' Cajuns, who have been much better defensively this season, to finally get over the Mountaineers.
Neither of these teams has a glaring weakness, but if there is one, it's the Louisiana run defense. The Cajuns rank 95th nationally in success rate against the run at 45.8%, though they do a good job of limiting explosive runs, as they allow only 4.26 yards per carry (70th). Tonight they'll be facing an Appalachian State offense that ranks 22nd nationally in rushing success rate and averaged 5.59 yards per carry. Also, whenever you see a ranked team as an underdog to an unranked team, it should raise an eyebrow. That's just enough to push me to the Mountaineers here.
Appalachian State will have 2,100 fans in its Kidd Brewer Stadium that normally holds 30,000. The biggest question coming in is how Louisiana reacts to losing its last eight meetings with App State, which is out of contention for the conference title. Louisiana has a national ranking (No. 25) and a date expected with Coastal Carolina, the only team to beat the Ragin' Cajuns in 2020, in the Sun Belt championship game. The Cajuns have averaged over 517.8 yards of offense per game in their last four and come in firing on all cylinders. The wrong team is favored here. Louisiana finally gets the win.