2011 R & L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Odds

Written by Steve Janus

The San Diego State Aztecs are set to take on the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns in the 2011 R&L New Orleans Bowl. The game is scheduled for Saturday, December 17 at 9:00 ET and will be played in the Superdome. This will be the Ragin’ Cajuns first ever bowl appearance, while the Aztecs make their second straight postseason appearance.

Taking a look at the college football bowl lines, oddsmakers currently have San Diego State favored by 5-points over Louisiana with the total set at 59.5 points.

Louisiana-Lafayette:

While the Ragin’ Cajuns ended the season with a couple of close losses at Arkansas State and Arizona, they made a remarkable turnaround in the first season under head coach Mark Hudspeth. Louisiana went just 3-9 last year in the final season under Rickey Bustle. There’s no question that this team will be extremely excited to play in the school’s first bowl game.

The Ragin’ Cajuns are led by junior quarterback Blaine Gautier, who finished up with 2,488 passing yards with 20 touchdowns to just five interceptions. Gautier has a number of weapons at his disposal in the passing game. The most dangerous is junior Javone Lawson, who had a team high 54 receptions for 899 yards with six touchdowns. Harry Peoples (53 catches/647 yards/1 touchdown), Ladarius Green (46 catches/485 yards/7 touchdowns), and Datryl Surgent (25 catches/ 425 yards/ 6 touchdowns) have also been a huge part of what the Ragin’ Cajuns like to do offensively.

The ground game wasn’t quite as effective. Freshman running back Alonzo Harris led the way with just 638 yards and eight scores, while Gautier finished second on the team with 464 yards and three scores.

For Louisiana to upset the Aztecs they might have to rely on their ground game a little more than normal. San Diego State is just 78th against the run (177.3 ypg), but are 31st against the pass (199.2 ypg).

San Diego State:

There were some concerns that the Aztecs would suffer a big drop off after head coach Brady Hoke left to take the Michigan job, but first year coach Rocky Long was able to continue the winning ways with a respectable 8-4 season. San Diego State finished fourth in the Mountain West Conference at 4-3. Last year the Aztecs beat Navy 35-14 in the Poinsettia Bowl for their first bowl win since beating Boston University in 1969.

The Aztecs have come in with a balanced offensive attack behind senior quarterback Ryan Lindley and sophomore running back Ronnie Hillman. Lindley failed to match his 3,830 yards and 28 touchdowns from last season, but still had a very productive year with 2,740 yards and 20 touchdowns to just eight interceptions.

Hillman on the other hand backed up his huge freshman season with 1,656 yards and 19 touchdowns. That gives him 3,188 yards in his first two seasons, leaving him just 1,401 yards behind Marshall Faulk’s school record of 4,589 career rushing yards.

San Diego State should be able to move the ball against an average Louisiana defense. The Ragin’ Cajuns come in 54th against the run (144.5 ypg) and 91st against the pass (248.7 ypg). In fact, Louisiana’s defense is the main reason why this team ended up on the losing end. In their four losses to Oklahoma State, Western Kentucky, Arkansas State, and Arizona, they allowed a whopping 44.5 points per game.

Betting Trends:

Louisiana is 7-1 ATS in their last 8 games as an underdog of 3.5-10.0.

San Diego State is 1-4 ATS in their last 5 games as a favorite.

Predicted Score: San Diego State 32, Louisiana 27

Be sure to stop back and check out who Steve Janus has picked to win this college football bowl season.

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