9/1/2016 football Edit

Know the opponent: Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns

Brad McMurdie

Blue-Turf Staff Writer

Heading into each game we at Blue-Turf want to give you a breakdown of who the Broncos will be facing. There’s not much worse than game day and y

Who: Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns

Where: Cajun Field (31,000 seats) in Lafayette, Louisiana (21-7 home record since 2011)

When: September 3, 2016 at 10:00AM

How (to watch): Game will exclusively be streaming on ESPN3, bring your laptops

Louisiana-Lafayette running back Elijah McGuire, right, runs the ball while being chased by Kentucky safety Marcus McWilson during the second half of an NCAA college football game in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015. Kentucky won the game 40-33. (AP Photo/David Stephenson)

What (to watch for):

2015 was a down year for the Ragin’ Cajuns at 4-8 on the season, but prior to that the Cajuns were 9-4 the previous 4 years. I would fully expect the Cajuns to return to their winning ways this season and they’ll be looking for an upset opening week to get them back on track. On offense look for Elijah McGuire to get a bulk of the carries in the Cajun offense as the returning starter surpassed 1,000 yards rushing for the second straight season. The 5’11 208 lb back was the Sun Belt Conference Player of the year in 2014 and looks to return to form. New starting quarterback Jordan Davis completed 63% of his passes last year and will only be looking to improve on those numbers heading into the season. Defensively the Cajuns return ten of their top thirteen tacklers from 2015 led by Tracy Walker and Otha Peters.

Louisiana-Lafayette head coach Mark Hudspeth watches his team from the sidelines during the first half against Kentucky in an NCAA college football game in Lexington, Ky., Saturday, Sept. 5, 2015. Kentucky won the game, 40-33. (AP Photo/David Stephenson)

Why (This game matters):

For both schools this starts off the 2016-2017 season and it’s a way to see how all the offseason practices benefited each team. Boise State looks to make a run at another New Year’s Six Bowl game and will need to go undefeated or have very few slip-ups to make that run a success. ULL on the other hand is simply trying to get back to their winning ways and get back to competing for a conference title and bowl game. This game should have some miscues with it being the first game of the season, but ultimately the team with less mistakes and bigger plays is going to walk away victorious.

Series Record: Boise State 1-0 (won 34-9 in 2014)

Odds: Boise State -19.5 up to -20.5