Arkansas State Louisiana Lafayette Odds

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The Arkansas State Red Wolves (4-3) visit the Louisiana-Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns (4-2) Tuesday night in a nationally televised matchup on ESPN2.

Odds makers have listed the Ragin’ Cajuns as a four-point favorite.

After back-to-back blowout victories over Florida International and Tulane, Louisiana-Lafayette suffered a 30-23 loss at North Texas last Tuesday. The Ragin’ Cajuns jumped out to a 20-6 lead but couldn’t hold on.

Quarterback Terrance Broadway completed 26 of 41 passes for 265 yards with a touchdown and interception. The touchdown toss went to Harry Peoples, who had a team-high seven receptions for 56 yards.

Javone Lawson had five catches for a team-high 78 yards.

Broadway led the team in rushing with 84 yards and a touchdown on five carries.

While Louisiana-Lafayette is looking to bounce back, Arkansas State is seeking its third straight win. The Red Wolves defeated South Alabama 36-29 at home Oct. 13 in their last game.

They couldn’t have gotten a much better performance from quarterback Ryan Aplin, who completed 17 of 22 throws for 203 yards and three touchdowns against the Jagaurs.

One touchdown pass found Taylor Stockemer, who finished with four catches for a team-high 65 receiving yards.

David Oku led the rushing attack with 84 yards and a score on 22 totes.

The odds makers appear justified in making Louisiana-Lafayette the favorite as the home team has won 12 of 13 meetings in the series dating back to 1994. The Ragin’ Cajuns are 7-0 at home during this span.

Arkansas State won last season’s meeting 30-21 at home.

Lousiana-Lafayette won 31-24 Sept. 11, 2010 when it last hosted the Red Wolves.

If the Ragin’ Cajuns are going to continue their dominance at home against Arkansas State, they better do something about their pass defense.

Louisiana-Lafayette ranks 117th in the country against the pass with 292.5 yards allowed per game. The Ragin’ Cajuns allowed North Texas’ Derek Thompson to pick them apart last week. He connected on 17 of 28 passes for 282 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Aplin is capable of picking them apart as well.

The senior quarterback has completed 62.8 percent of his passes for 1,572 yards with 11 touchdowns and two interceptions this season. He connected on 20 of 32 throws for 226 yards and two touchdowns in last season’s victory over Louisiana-Lafayette.

Arkansas State’s kryptonite has been its run defense. It ranks 105th in the nation against the run with 206.3 yards allowed per game. The Red Wolves could be tested by a Louisiana-Lafayette rushing attack that averages 176.3 yards per game. The average jumps to 208.0 yards at home.

The Ragin’ Cajuns are 4-0 this season when rushing for more than 110 yards. They’ll have a good chance to surpass that mark Tuesday as Arkansas State has given up 132 rushing yards or more in six of its seven games.

Betting Trends:

The Red Wolves have failed to cover the spread in each of their last four games against the Ragin’ Cajuns, but they are 5-2 against the spread in their last seven road games and 7-3 against the number in their last 10 conference contests.

In regard to the total, the under has been the play in Lafayette where these two have finished below the number in four of the past five meetings.

About the Author: Jimmy Boyd is known for his consistency. He's a proven winner in college and pro football, college and pro basketball and pro baseball. He finished as the No. 1 ranked MLB handicapper in 2007 by earning $1,000/game bettors $50,050. He also finished as the No. 1 ranked basketball handicapper in the 2008-09 season, profiting $1,000/game bettors 38,530. His basketball plays have banked $1,000/game bettors nearly $80,000 the last five years. Check out Jimmy's premium picks for tonight!

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