2016 R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl Preview Southern Miss vs. Louisiana Lafayette

Written by Charlie Beuttel

Twitter: @charlie_cds3

Southern Miss Golden Eagles (6-6) vs Louisiana-Lafayette Rajun Cajuns (6-6) Overview

The 2016 New Orleans Bowl continues a proud college football postseason tradition entering the game’s 16th year. The inaugural game was played in 2001 between Colorado State and North Texas. But the two teams meeting this year, Southern Miss and Louisiana-Lafayette, are no strangers to the New Orleans Bowl making for an exciting Conference USA vs. Sun Belt Conference showdown on Saturday.

The Golden Eagles and Ragin Cajuns are both making their fifth appearance in the New Orleans Bowl. Louisiana-Lafayette won their four previous appearances from 2011-14 topping San Diego State, East Carolina, Tulane, and Nevada vacating the 2011 win against San Diego State and the 2013 victory against Tulane. Southern Miss is 3-1 in the Big Easy bowl game with their only loss coming in their last appearance, a 42-32 defeat in 2009 against Middle Tennessee. The Golden Eagles won their first three appearances in New Orleans in 2004, 2005, and 2008 taking down North Texas, Arkansas State, and Troy respectively.

Louisiana-Lafayette

The Ragin Cajuns opened the season 2-4 and looked to finish the season in rough shape. Luckily, Louisiana-Lafayette started to turn their season around by winning two of their next four games to get their record to 4-6. The Ragin Cajuns then beat Arkansas State (24-19) on Nov. 26 and Louisiana-Monroe (30-3) on Dec. 3 to punch their ticket to a bowl game.

The Ragin Cajun’s balanced offense scored 23.83 points a game revolving around senior running back Elijah McGuire and senior quarterback Anthony Jennings, a transfer from LSU. ULL rushes for 180.8 yards a game and passes for 185.17 yards per contest.

McGuire, a four year starter, has rushed for 1,028 yards on 215 carries and averages 85.67 yards per game. Jennings has completed 185-of-303 passes for 2,083 yards and 11 touchdowns. Jennings’ favorite target is senior wide receiver Al Riles who has caught 55 passes for 665 yards and has two receiving touchdowns. Another player to watch on the Cajun’s offense is sophomore wide receiver Keenan Barnes who is second on the team with 30 receptions and 406 receiving yards but leads the team with six receiving touchdowns.

Louisiana-Lafayette’s defense gives up 25 points game. The Cajuns did a good job by limiting opponents to 128 rushing yards a game but surrenders 242 yards in the air per contest. ULL’s leading tackler is senior linebacker Tre’maine Lightfoot who has racked up 95 tackles including five tackles for a loss and one sack in 2016. Junior defensive back Tracy Walker, normally lining up in the nickel, leads the team with three interceptions and also has 56 tackles including seven for a loss. The leader of the defensive line is redshirt-freshman Joe Dillon who has 49 tackles including 11.5 for a loss and six sacks. Another player to watch on the defensive side is senior linebacker Otha Peters, an Arkansas transfer, who has 88 tackles including 11 for a loss and two sacks.

Southern Miss

The Golden Eagles opened the season 4-1 and looked to battle for the Conference USA title but unfortunately lost five of their final seven games to finish a disappointing 6-6. However, some notable wins came against Kentucky (44-35) to open the season and a 39-24 win over Louisiana Tech to end the regular season on Nov. 26.

Southern Miss scores 33.2 points game and averages 294.2 passing yards and 177.8 rushing yards a game. The leader of the Golden Eagles offense is senior quarterback Nick Mullins who has thrown for an incredible 2,926 yards while completing 218-of-344 passes. Junior running back Ito Smith is the team’s leading rusher as he has racked 1,321 yards on 239 carries and has 15 rushing touchdowns.

Allenzae Staggers, a junior wide receiver, is the Golden Eagle’s leading receiver as he has grabbed a team high 52 passes, leads the team with 935 yards, and is tied for the team lead with six receiving touchdowns. Senior wide receiver D.J. Thompson also has six receiving touchdowns and has caught 43 passes for 470 yards. The anchor of the offensive line is center Cameron Tom.

The Golden Eagles give up 30 points a game and let opponents gain 149 yards on the ground and 181.6 in the air per contest. Senior linebacker Antoine D’Nerius leads Southern Miss with 82 total tackles including two for a loss. D’Nerius has also broken up five passes and has forced one fumble. The anchor of the defensive line is senior defensive lineman Dylan Bradley who has 59 tackles include 14 for a loss with seven sacks and one fumble recovery. Three defensive backs junior Picasso Nelson Jr., senior Devonta Foster, and junior Curtis Mikell are all tied with a team high of two interceptions.

Game Information

Date: Saturday, December 17

Game Time: 9 p.m. EST

Venue: Mercedes-Benz Superdome, New Orleans, LA

Network: ESPN

Betting Line: Southern Miss -4.5

Keys to Victory

If the Ragin Cajuns want to win another New Orleans Bowl, they will need to continue to halt their opponents run offense like they have all year. Georgia was the only team to get over 200 rushing yards against them.  Another key for Louisiana-Lafayette is the play of Elijah McGuire.  McGuire has been of the best backs in the conference for the last four years and once again eclipsed the 1,000 yard mark this season. He has yet to do have a great bowl performance but this could be the year as Southern Miss does not have a great run defense.

If Southern Miss want to win this game they must use their aerial attack to manipulate a weak Cajun secondary. Mullins will have the protection of a great offensive line led by Tom, who is a Louisiana native. Look for Mullins to throw darts all over the Superdome. Another key will be the Southern Miss secondary. The Golden Eagles defensive backs make plays all over the field and have several ball-hawks in the lineup as the team has combined nine interceptions.

Final Review

Louisiana-Lafayette will have home field advantage in a night game in New Orleans so it’s a fact that the Superdome will be rocking with fans. From 2011-14, in the other appearances by the Cajuns in this bowl game, there was on average 45,000 fans attending the game.

Southern Miss is more talented and has more playmakers to control the clock. However, if the Cajuns can catch a break and take advantage of any mistakes by Southern Miss in this hostile environment then Louisiana-Lafayette will squeak out with a victory.

Both teams match up well against each other so the New Orleans Bowl should the game of the day on the first day of bowl season.

Prediction: Southern Miss 28, Louisiana-Lafayette 24

Picture: NOLA.com; Louisiana-Lafayette RB Elijah McGuire