2011 Louisiana-Lafayette Football Predictions

Written by Steve Janus

After a 2-2 start to the 2010 season, the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns went just 1-7 over their final eight games to finish a disappointing 3-9 overall and 3-5 in the Sun Belt Conference. The poor finish led the school to part ways with head coach Rickey Bustle, who never finished with more than six wins in his nine seasons with the program. Louisiana has replaced Bustle with Mark Hudspeth, who has been an assistant at Mississippi State the past two years. Hudspeth steps into a difficult situation as the Ragin’ Cajuns returns just 13 starters and lose 24 lettermen (36%, most in Sun Belt). Here is a closer look at what Louisiana will send to the field in 2011, plus my prediction on where they will finish in the Sun Belt.

Offense:

The Ragin’ Cajuns will bring back starting quarterback Chris Masson, who has started 21 games in his three years at Louisiana. Masson doesn’t have a ton of talent, but he should be able to use his experience to put together another solid season. In 2010, Masson threw for just 1,842 yards and 11 touchdowns. One thing that could set Masson back is he will have to learn a new offensive system this season.

Masson doesn’t get much help from the running game, as the Ragin’ Cajuns averaged just 101 yards a game on the ground last year. Aaron Spikes led the way with just 339 yards and two touchdowns, while fellow sophomore Robert Walker finished third with 182 yards. While Spikes was the more productive back in 2010, it appears that Walker will be the starter this fall. Junior quarterback Blaine Gautier was second on the team with 280 yards and had a team-best five touchdowns, but it’s hard telling how much he will be used now that Hudspeth is in charge.

The biggest pass threat the Ragin’ Cajuns have is senior tight end Ladarius Green, who led the team with 44 catches for 794 yards and seven touchdowns. The next biggest threat was Spikes out of the backfield, who had 23 catches for 398 yards and six touchdowns. The top true wide out in 2010 was junior Javone Lawson, who had just 19 catches for 271 yards and one touchdowns. Senior Adnrew Joseph and sophomore James Butler will join Lawson in the starting lineup this season.

What really has me worried about the Louisiana offense in 2011, is the fact that they are extremely weak on the offensive line. They return junior starting tackles Leonardo Bates and Jaron Odom, but neither is all that impressive. If this unit is as bad as it looks heading into the season, it will be hard for the Ragin’ Cajuns to just make first downs, let along score touchdowns.

Defense:

Even though the Louisiana had eight starters back on the defensive side of the ball last year, they had a major setback on this side of the ball, allowing 37.0 ppg. This year they have seven starters back, including three up front on the defensive line. Senior defensive ends Nate Douglas and Bernard Smith both return on the outside, along with senior defensive tackle Derreck Dean. LSU transfer Cordian Hagans will step in and start alongside Dean on the inside. The other player you have to watch out for is junior defensive end Emeka Onyenekwu, who led the way with 3.5 sacks last season.

At linebacker the Ragin’ Cajuns return both starters on the outside in senior Devon Lewis-Buchanan and junior Jelani Smith, but will have to turn to senrior Richard Brooks in the middle. Lewis-Buchanan is the top tackler back from last season, but a lot of those tackles were a result of Louisiana’s defense being on the field all the time. Overall this is probably the best defensive unit, but still not enough to really make a difference.

In the secondary, Louisiana returns senior strong safety Lionel Stokes and senior corner Dwight Bentley, but the player that figures to have the biggest impact is sophomore free safety Cooper Gerami, who really impressed in five starts last year. Senior corner Melvin White is expected to come in and start opposite of Bentley. This unit has the potential to really improve in 2011, but I don’t know that it will be enough to keep opposing offenses from scoring at will.

2011 Prediction: 9th Sun Belt – With an offense that looks like it will struggle to move the ball and a defense that couldn’t stop anybody in 2011, I have a hard time finding a conference game where the Ragin’ Cajuns will come in as the favorite. You also have to factor in that this team will likely struggle in the first year under Hudspeth.

Sun Belt Football Predictions by Team
Troy Football Predictions	Florida International Football Predictions
Arkansas State Football Predictions	Louisiana Monroe Football Predictions
Middle Tennessee State Football Predictions	North Texas Football Predictions
Western Kentucky Football Predictions	Louisiana Lafayette Football Predictions
Florida Atlantic Football Predictions

College Football Predictions
ACC Football Predictions	Big 12 Football Predictions
Conference USA Football Predictions	Independents Football Predictions
PAC 12 Football Predictions	SEC Football Predictions
Big East Football Predictions	Big Ten Football Predictions
MAC Football Predictions	Mountain West Football Predictions
Sun Belt Football Predictions	WAC Football Predictions

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