New Orleans Bowl: San Diego State vs. Louisiana-Lafayette
By Ty Duffy
The Big Easy will be toasting quite a few teams this winter. Here are the first.
San Diego State Aztecs [SRS 60]
Best Wins: Air Force (63), Washington State (74), Fresno State (88)
Losses: Boise State (8), Michigan (9), TCU (18), Wyoming (78)
Famous Alum: Carl Weathers
This is the Aztecs’ last pleb bowl before moving on up to the Big East. Natural rivals UConn will be a mere 2,500 miles away. Brady Hoke left and left a fairly solid team, for his former defensive coordinator Rocky Long. Most notably, SDSU sophomore running back Ronnie Hillman, who gained 1,877 yards on 307 touches and had 20 total touchdowns.
Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin-Cajuns [SRS 85]
Best Wins: FIU (79)
Losses: Oklahoma State (2), Arkansas State (54), Arizona (61), Western Kentucky (89)
Famous Alum: Ali Landry
The Ragin Cajuns have reached their first bowl game since the 1970 Grantland Rice Bowl (as University of Southwestern Louisiana) under first-year coach Mark Hudspeth. Their junior quarterback Blaine Gautier was 19th in the country in passer rating. Worryingly, they went 1-4 against teams ranked in the SRS Top 95 and lost their last two games of the season.
Key: Lousiana-Lafayette needs a huge game from their defensive line. SDSU likes to set the tone on the ground (19th in the country). They don’t allow pressure to get to quarterback Ryan Lindley, allowing less than a sack per game. If the Ragin-Cajuns can’t disrupt the running game and force an erratic Lindley into mistakes, they will lose.
Recreational Prediction: SDSU (-4)
[Photo via Getty]