Appalachian State vs Ragin’ Cajuns: Preview & Prediction

Game Time: Saturday, October 20th , 2018, 3:30PM

Location: Kidd Brewer Stadium, Boone North Carolina

TV: ESPN+

Radio: Appalachian IMG Sports Network

Spread: -25.5 App State, 68 O/U

Previous Meeting: App State won 63-14 in 2017

Series History: App State is 4-0 All time against UL

Outlook

Coming off a big Tuesday night win over Arkansas State, App State returns to Boone for family weekend to battle the Cajuns of Louisiana. Appalachian will need to avoid the classic spot of looking ahead to a big time battle with rival Georgia Southern (just 5 days from Saturday) down the line.

Of course the big news coming into this game is Appalachian State being without Star running back Jalin Moore who has been lost for the year with an ankle injury. The offense will now fall heavily on sophomore Zac Thomas and push him to lead even more. One plus for Appalachian has been the lights out defense this team has played since the Penn State game. Appalachian is only giving up 15.4 points per game and have not given up a 2nd half touchdown since the Penn State game.

UL is coming off a blowout win of former Sun Belt foe New Mexico State 66-38. Andre Nunez is the QB to watch for the Cajuns. To date he is 84/123 passing for 1,080 yards with 11 touchdowns and 4 interceptions. Trey Ragas is the leading rusher over Elijah Mitchell with 90 carries and 599 yards and 4 scores on the season. The problem with UL has been the defensive woes as the Cajuns give up an average of 37.3 points per game and also give up 475 yards of offense per game.

Prediction

UL has not faced a defense this good since the Alabama game and I look for App State to really set the tone to show they are ready for the big Thursday night showdown that looms in Statesboro. The RB battle for Appalachian will also be entertaining to see how many different guys get reps. Call me crazy but App State is 5-0 against the spread in 2018 and I believe their undefeated streak will last another week.

App State 47-20