Louisiana Ragin Cajuns vs Texas Longhorns Prediction, Odds and Preview - 09/04/2021

Game Time: 4:30 pm ET, Saturday, September 4, 2021

Venue:  DKR-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, TX

Where to Watch:  FOX

DraftKings:  Point Spread:  Ragin Cajuns +8, Longhorns -8; Over/Under:  58 points

Bet365:  Point Spread:  Ragin Cajuns +8, Longhorns -8; Over/Under:  58 points

BetMGM:  Point Spread:  Ragin Cajuns +8, Longhorns -8; Over/Under:  58 points

 

Louisiana Ragin Cajuns:  0-0 (Sun Belt Group B)

Texas Longhorns:  0-0 (Big 12)

 

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Louisiana Ragin Cajuns:  7 game winning streak

Texas Longhorns:  2 game winning streak

The ULL Ragin Cajuns are taking on the Texas Longhorns for their first matchup of the college football season. The Ragin Cajuns finished last season in 1st place of the Sun Belt Conference Group A with a 10-1 overall record, going 7-1 in conference games. They were a perfect 6-0 in road games where they will be in this one. The Longhorns finished last season in 4th place of the Big 12 with a 7-3 overall record, going 5-3 in conference play. They were 3-2 in home games where they will be in this college football game.

Louisiana Lafayette is carrying over a 7 game winning streak going back to last season. Their last win of the season came against Appalachian State 24-21, the Sun Belt Championship game after that was cancelled but they would have played Coastal Carolina in it. They went on to beat UTSA in the Servpro First Responder Bowl 31-24. The Ragin Cajuns' offense managed to move the ball well last season. They were averaging a 58.1% completion percentage, 208.5 passing yards, and 1.8 touchdowns per game through the air. They also averaged 213.3 rushing yards and 2.3 touchdowns per game with their ground game. The Ragin Cajuns' defense was pretty good with passing but allowed a lot of yardage on the ground. They were allowing teams a 51.9% completion percentage, 170.6 passing yards, and 0.9 touchdowns per game through the air. They also allowed 184.7 rushing yards and 1.7 touchdowns per game on the ground. Overall, both their offense and their defense had a pretty good year. Billy Napier returns for his 4th season with the team and he has had major success all 3 years he has been there. His first year there the team finished with a 7-7 record overall. The next year they went 11-3 and now last season is coming off of a 10-1 year. The title game was cancelled last season but they were ready to take it home. They will definitely have their eyes set on winning that title this year after 2 impressive seasons in a row.

The Texas Longhorns are carrying over a 2 game winning streak from the end of last season. Their last loss came against Iowa State 23-20 last November. They went on to win their last game of the season against Kansas State 69-31 and then won the Alamo Bowl 55-23 over Colorado. Texas’ offense had a pretty good season last year. They were averaging a 60.3% completion percentage, 280.1 passing yards, and 3.2 touchdowns per game through the air. The Longhorns' offense also averaged 195.3 rushing yards and 2 touchdowns per game on the ground. Texas’ defense did not have a great year with the passing but was alright with the run game. They were allowing teams a 62.6% completion percentage, 266.4 passing yards, and 1.7 touchdowns per game through the air. The longhorns’ defense also allowed 140.8 rushing yards and 1.6 touchdowns per game on the ground. Their offense was very efficient at scoring in both the passing and the run game which will be important for them this season especially when in the red zone. Steve Sarkisian is starting his 1st year as the head coach for this team. He is a very decorated football coach. In the last 5 years he has spent 3 of them as the offensive coordinator at Alabama, arguably the best school in college football, and also spent 2 years as the offensive coordinator for the Atlanta Falcons in the NFL. The NFL style of play is very different from college style but all of that experience carries tons of value with him. He will be ready to come in and make the necessary changes to help this offense excel as best as it can.

The Ragin Cajuns are coming off of a great year while Texas is ready to start fresh with a new coach. Texas is the favorite in this one and will be at home looking for a big win to start their season off on the right foot. Both offenses and defenses played well last year but it could be the offenses that catch fire for both teams in this game. There should be a lot of points between these 2 which could push this one over the total.

 

Ragin Cajuns Longhorns Prediction:  Our NCAAF Pick for Saturday, September 4, 2021 (4:30 pm ET start time) is Longhorns 42 Ragin Cajuns 35.

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Louisiana Ragin Cajuns: 4-1 ATS as an underdog over the last 3 years.

Texas Longhorns: 5-1 ATS in non-conference games over the last 3 years.

 

 

Louisiana Ragin Cajuns:  A. Landry (DL) Out for the season with an undisclosed injury.

Texas Longhorns:  B. Liebrock (TE) Out for the season with a shoulder injury.T. Omeire (WR) Out for Saturday with a knee injury.

 

 

Louisiana Ragin Cajuns: Quarterback Levi Lewis returns for his 5th season with the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin Cajuns. His first 2 seasons he did not play much but his last 2 seasons he has been on fire. Last year he played in 11 games completing 177/297 passes for 2274 yards, 19 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. The year before he was even better playing in 14 games completing 243/378 passes for 3050 yards, 26 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. He will want to extend his great play and build up his college resume as a QB so keep an eye on him to see what he does here.

 

Texas Longhorns: Hudson Card was given the go ahead of the 2 starters in this one but there is no no. 1 QB for the year yet as both will be playing in this game. He does not have much experience playing in college football games so keep an eye on him to see what he does here. With no clear starter yet, he has a chance to win the job here or even lose it depending on how he plays and runs this offense. 

 

“Those two continue to take a step forward.” - Billy Napier on the heated battle between quarterbacks for the no. 2 spot.

 

 

"Neither guy's ever started a game in their career, so we'll look at it after one week. But the good part for both those guys is I think we're improving as an offense." - Steve Sarkisian on playing both quarterbacks in week 1 as there is no starter set in stone just yet.

 

 

 

 

WR LeBlanc, Peter 

WR Williams, Jalen 

WR Lacy, Kyren 

TE Johnson, Neal 

TE Lumpkin, Johnny 

QB Lewis, Levi 

RB Smith, Chris 

RB Wisham, T.J. 

 

 

WR Worthy, Xavier 

WR Moore, Joshua 

WR Whittington, Jordan 

TE Brewer, Cade 

QB Card, Hudson 

RB Robinson, Bijan 

RB Johnson, Roschon 

 

 

 

Coaches:

Louisiana Ragin Cajuns: Billy Napier (4th season)

Texas Longhorns: Steve Sarkisian (1st year)

 

97 degrees F mostly sunny, 55% humidity, 0% chance of rain, up to 7 mph wind speeds S.