Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 2024 College Football Preview
Posted June 20, 2024
2023 Recap
Record – 6-7
ATS – 5-7-1
The Cajuns were in decent shape (5-3) just past the midway point of the season. They were coming off a road win over South Alabama (!) and had a pair of winnable conference games up next. With a game at Troy a week later, they still believed they were in the Sun Belt mix. Sadly, those “winnable” games both turned out to be losses (Arkansas St, Southern Miss) and they had to scratch and claw to get to a bowl game. The New Orleans Bowl was one of the more entertaining postseason games and the Cajuns fell short in OT to the JUGGERNAUT Jacksonville St Gamecocks. That’s back-to-back 6-7 seasons for the once proud program. Let’s see if they can get back on track in 2024.
Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns 2024 Outlook
OFFENSE
Louisiana did a decent job on the ground LY (176 YPG, #3 Sun Belt) but they didn’t get enough out of the THROW GAME (#10 Sun Belt). Electric dual-threat QB Zeon Chriss has left the program (Houston) but they’re still in fine shape at QB with Chandler Fields back in the mix (67%, 7-3 TD to INT LY). Fields doesn’t bring the insane mobility to the position like Chriss did for the Cajuns so they’ll have to get their rushing yards the old-fashioned way. They’ve also got QB Ben Wooldridge kicking around on the depth chart who’s a proven GUNSLINGER when healthy (21-6 career TD to INT). Three of the top-four RBs are back for duty and they’ve got a good group despite losing their leading rusher Jacob Kibodi. We’re skeptical about the WR/TE situation as nobody on the team had more than 500 receiving yards LY and they’ll be without their best WR (in our opinion) Peter LeBlanc and ace TE Neal Johnson. We’ll see if some dangerous options emerge during fall camp. The OL looks great as it’s talented and experienced with good size.
DEFENSE
The Cajuns were mediocre on defense last season (#73 total defense) and they had major problems stopping the run (171 YPG, #100). They allowed five opponents to rush for 200+ yards so fixing the run D has to be job #1. There’s reason for optimism on this side of the football as Louisiana has a new DC and eight returning starters to try and right the ship. Twelve of their top-15 tacklers return for battle and they’ve got legitimate talent at each level. The pass rush should be potent with the return of DE Jordan Lawson (7 sacks LY) and LB/DE Cameron Whitfield (8 sacks) and they’ve added some beef on the interior of the DL. Leading tackler MLB KC Ossai is back to dominate in the middle, and they’ve got a talented and experienced secondary that’s almost certainly going to be much improved in 2024.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Yes, guy.
Louisiana finished #10 in the Phil Steele special teams rankings LY and they look strong coming into this season despite losing their excellent punter/kickoff specialist Thomas Leo. PK Kenneth Almendares is back to dominate (14/16 FG, 50/51 XP LY) as is dangerous KR Zylan Perry (34 returns, 25.4, TD LY).
Schedule Analysis
Overall – The Cajuns will get off to a 2-0 start but then they must face a pair of tough non-conference foes (Tulane, at Wake Forest) before FUN BELT play begins. They got a tough draw from the East (App St, at Coastal Carolina) but get to face Troy and South Alabama at home. Overall, it’s a fair and balanced ** set of assignments.
** “fair and balanced”, as opposed to “safe and effective” which is government-speak for “deadly”
Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at Coastal Carolina (Oct 19)
This will be Louisiana’s 3rd road game in four weeks and HC Michael Desormeaux is just 4-8 SU in true road games.
Season Win Total
Market consensus June 20
Over 7.5 -155
Under 7.5 +120
MEGALOCKS says:
No leanage.
We prefer the ‘over’ but it won’t be easy to get there. They’ll almost assuredly be 2-2 in non-conference games and betting on them to fire up a 6-2 mark in Sun Belt action feels like a toss-up.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
The legendary BRAD POWERS reminds us that the Cajuns are just 2-9 SU (!) in one-score games the L2Y under this HC. There could be some coaching issues down there, yo.
Your boy Billy Napier had a SPICY 40-12 record with the Cajuns (2018-2021) and he booked an impossible 16-0 (!) mark vs members of the Sun Belt West Division. Oh ya, he also led them to four consecutive West division titles and a pair of Sun Belt Championships. So far Napier is off to a bit of a slow start with the Florida Gators (11-14).
MEGALOCKS Forecast:
It’s hard to get used to Louisiana being a bit of an afterthought in the Sun Belt after such a long history of success. This team looks good on both sides of the football and they’ll be a tough out if the defense makes moderate improvement. The Cajuns are a notch down from Texas St in our estimation but they’re still a contender to win the division. Beware!