Appalachian State Mountaineers at Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns: Betting Guide
The Appalachian State Mountaineers try to stay perfect in conference play when they take on the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns in a Sun Belt contest on Tuesday night. Appalachian State is trailing Coastal Carolina in the conference’s East Division. Louisiana is also perfect against Sun Belt foes at 2-0, but needs a win to hold off second-place Texas State in the West Division. Tuesday might seem early in the week to bet online on football, so we’re going to give you a look at the college football odds to help you make your winning wagers on this one.
| Game: Appalachian State Mountaineers (4-1, 1-0) at Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (4-1, 2-0) Location: Cajun Field Time: 7:30 p.m. ET Television: ESPN2 |
Betting Lines
| Team | Point Spread | Moneyline | Over/Under | Team Total |
| Appalachian St. | -5 | 57 | ||
| Louisiana | +5 | 57 |
Head-to-Head
Appalachian State has dominated the all-time series between these two foes, 8-1, though its only loss came in last year’s game in Boone, N.C. Louisiana won 24-21 last December when a last-second field-goal attempt by the Mountaineers sailed wide left.
Two of the matchups between these two schools have been in the Sun Belt Championship Game, with the Mountaineers coming out on top in both 2018 and 2019. Appalachian State has a perfect 3-0 record in games played at Cajun Field.
Appalachian State Mountaineers
Next game: vs. Coastal Carolina
Last Game
The Mountaineers opened their conference schedule with an easy 45-16 victory at Georgia State. Appalachian State got 326 passing yards and three touchdowns from quarterback Chase Brice as it methodically pulled away with scores in every quarter.
Three different players had at least 80 receiving yards, led by Corey Sutton, who had four catches for 106 yards and a touchdown. Malik Williams had a team-high seven receptions for 93 yards and a score while Christian Wells had two catches for 83 yards and a touchdown.
Appalachian State finished with 502 yards of total offense while holding the Panthers to 381 yards. The Mountaineers’ defense had three interceptions in the game.
The Mountaineers were 10-point favorites, so the easy win improved them to 3-2 against the spread. Appalachian State is 2-0 on the road ATS compared to 1-2 at home.
Injury Report
Running back Camerun Peoples, who is averaging 88.2 rushing yards to rank second on the Mountaineers, sat out Appalachian State’s game against Georgia State. He’s expected to play in this game.
Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns
Next game: at Arkansas State
Last Game
Louisiana looked like it would dominate South Alabama after jumping out to a 20-0 lead in the second quarter, but the Ragin’ Cajuns had to hang on for a 20-18 victory to improve to 2-0 in conference play. The Jaguars missed a potential go-ahead field goal in the fourth quarter and failed to convert any extra-point attempt in the game, having one kick blocked, missing one kick and getting stopped on a two-point try after their third score.
Emani Bailey rushed seven times for 81 yards and a touchdown to lead the Louisiana offense, which managed just 283 yards of total offense, 238 of that coming on the ground. Quarterback Levi Lewis was 9 of 20 for 49 yards passing.
The Ragin’ Cajuns allowed South Alabama to pass for 243 yards in the contest, though all three of the Jaguars’ touchdowns came on short runs. Chauncey Manac and Ferrod Gardner tied for the team lead with seven tackles, with Manac recording one of Louisiana’s two sacks.
Louisiana is now 1-4 against the spread after failig to cover the 12 points vs South Alabama. The Ragin’ Cajuns’ only ATS victory came in a 35-point blowout of Ohio.
Betting on the Game
Point Spread
The Mountaineers have never lost at Louisiana, which is part of why they are favored. The Ragin’ Cajuns’ performance in their last contest didn’t exactly inspire confidence, but they could catch Appalachian State looking ahead to its game with unbeaten Coastal Carolina next week.
This will be a clash of the second-best offense in the Sun Belt (Appalachian State, 35.2 points per game) and the second-best defense in the conference (Louisiana, 17.8 ppg). The Mountaineers have a number of weapons to go to to be able to open this game up and cover the spread, but Louisiana has shown the ability to hold teams from big scores.
Brice leads the Sun Belt with 272.0 passing yards per game, and the explosiveness of the Mountaineers’ receiving corps is going to be difficult for Louisiana to contain. The Ragin’ Cajuns just allowed South Alabama to pass for 243 yards, so this could be a long night for the Louisiana defense.
Keeping the ball on the ground to eat up some clock and keep possession will be a key for the Ragin’ Cajuns’ chances of keeping this one close. If Appalachian State’s defense can come up big, it could make this a blowout quickly.
Over/Under
The 54½-point total on this game seems a little large. Even if the Mountaineers hit their average of 35.2 points, it would take a solid effort from the Louisiana offense to get the total to the over. This game seems more like a slug-it-out affair that comes up way short of that total. When making your college football picks, the safe bet is going under the total.
- Final Score: Appalachian State 31, Louisiana 18
