Louisiana football at Arkansas State: Score prediction, scouting report

Jonesboro, Arkansas has historically been a house of delusion and confusion for Louisiana football.

Squeaking out 1-point wins as the far superiorly talented team or getting shellacked by more than 40, Arkansas State's friendly confines have served up plenty of trouble for the Ragin' Cajuns. They are looking to not sweat it out this season, as the Cajuns (5-3, 2-2) will once again take a more talented bunch to face to Red Wolves (4-4, 2-2) in a Sun Belt Conference West division showdown at Centennial Bank Stadium Saturday afternoon (2 p.m. ESPN+).

There's a lot on the line for UL heading to Arkansas State, firstly bowl eligibility can be reached with a victory but further down the line, a win allows the Ragin' Cajuns to stay undefeated in Sun Belt West play, which keeps them in the forefront to play for the conference championship.

The need to play well is evident. How will Louisiana play?

Does Louisiana football have pull away ability?

There's one thing all Arkansas State opponents have in common this season — the ability to score on the ASU defense. The Wolves give up 34 points per game, almost 100 points more scored this season than their offense has put up.

The trick is putting the game to bed and winning comfortably. Only three teams that have beaten Arkansas State have done so and those were Oklahoma, Memphis and Troy have been able to cruise to victory. Coastal Carolina had the game tighten up some in the final minutes.

Can UL keep its foot on the gas? It has the talent level to do it with freshman Zeon Chriss at quarterback and his ability to run and pass, and with how well the offensive line and running back Jacob Kibodi is playing right now.

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Cajuns coach Michael Desormeaux earlier this week said his team needs to continue to play fast. This week against Arkansas State is a good place to maintain consistency.

Ragin' Cajuns should worry about Arkansas State QB Jaylen Raynor

Wolves freshman signal caller Jaylen Raynor can play and shouldn't be taken lightly. He's played in the last five games and has thrown for 1,454 yards and 13 touchdowns while completing 58.3% of his throws.

He's had two 300-plus yard games passing and has thrown multiple TDs in a game three times. Arkansas State coach Butch Jones and his offensive staff do enough with Raynor in the run game to keep defenses honest as he averaged 45 yards per game.

Mobile quarterbacks have caused some issues for UL's defense this season but it's played better of late.

Louisiana defense creating turnovers vs. Red Wolves something to watch

Through eight games, the Red Wolves have a negative turnover margin. And UL's defense is coming off a plus-five turnover romp in the win at South Alabama, spearheaded by sophomore outside linebacker Cameron Whitfield's three strip sacks and junior safety Tyrone Lewis' two interceptions.

Raynor threw two picks at Coastal Carolina a couple of weeks ago and Arkansas State has lost all three of its fumbles on the season.

If the Ragin' Cajuns stay hot on defense, they should put the game away.

Score prediction

The Cajuns' talent gap and how its playing defensively will be enough to carry it in Jonesboro. No sweat this year. Louisiana 31 Arkansas State 13

Cory Diaz covers the LSU Tigers and Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns for The Daily Advertiser as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his Tigers and Cajuns coverage on Twitter: @ByCoryDiaz. Got questions regarding LSU/UL athletics? Send them to Cory Diaz at bdiaz@gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Daily Advertiser: Louisiana football-Arkansas State: Score prediction, scouting report